Financial Planning, Financial Tips
Edward Leach
The Dependent Care FSA – An Overlooked Benefit ...

In talking with clients about the benefits their employer provides during the open enrollment season, one often overlooked benefit if clients have dependents is the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA).

The Dependent Care FSA – An Overlooked Benefit During Open Enrollment Season
Financial Planning, Financial Tips, Healthcare, Investments, Life Planning, Savings
Edward Leach
3 Reasons Every High Net-Worth Family Should ...

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are not only a savvy investment option but also offer numerous benefits, especially for high-net-worth families. An HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account designed for individuals with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to help cover out-of-pocket medical expenses. While the utility of HSAs is universal, they hold advantages for high-net-worth families and have steadily grown in popularity since their inception.

3 Reasons Every High Net-Worth Family Should Fund a Health Savings Account
Financial Planning, Financial Tips, Investments, Savings
Joey Casolaro, CFP®
How Money Can Buy Happiness (Part 2)

Earlier this year, I explained two principles you can follow to obtain the most happiness from your spending https://www.highlandplanning.com/learning-center-1/how-money-can-buy-happiness-part-1. In today’s article, I will cover three more concepts that can help bring more joy in your life with your spending. Below are the five principles outlined in the book Happy Money.

How Money Can Buy Happiness (Part 2)
Financial Planning
AnnaMarie Mock, CFP®
Remember to Review and Update Your Estate Plan

In a previous article titled “The Estate Planning Essentials”, I identified the documents needed for a comprehensive estate plan. Although this can be a morbid topic most want to avoid thinking about, reviewing the documents not only ensures your financial legacy is passed in accordance with your wishes as smoothly as possible but guides your agent to ensure your medical and financial wishes are addressed. So, how often should you review your estate planning documents?

Remember to Review and Update Your Estate Plan
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Market and Economic Commentary

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Market and Economic Commentary

What a difference a year makes. This time last year we were highlighting a picture-perfect year for global stocks. In 2017, both the S&P 500 and the MSCI All Country World Index ex USA were positive for all twelve calendar months. This was the first time either index accomplished this feat and it happened with near-record low volatility while enduring geopolitical tensions, political dysfunction, massive natural disasters, and tighter monetary policy. 2017 was defined by synchronized global expansion whereby most global economies were getting stronger, with the United States leading the charge.

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Experimenting with the Truth

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Experimenting with the Truth

In the 1950s psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. Asch’s experiments were simple vision tests. A group of eight male college students were placed in a room, shown a card with a line segment on it, and then shown another card with three line segments labelled A, B, and C. One of the line segments on the second card was the same length as the line segment on the first card, while the other two line segments were clearly of a different length. Participants were asked to write down their answers and then give their answers aloud. Seems like a pretty straight forward experiment, but there was a twist.

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Herd Behavior and Market Volatility

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Herd Behavior and Market Volatility

Over the past 80 days, the US stock market has declined about 11%, and over the last 365 days, it is down about 1%.  Foreign stock markets have declined about 9% over the last 80 days and are down about 10% for the last 365 days as well.  The US bond market, typically a good hedge to the risk of stocks, hasn’t delivered much protection during the same time periods, being up about 1% in the last 80 days and down about 1% for the last 365 days.

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Tax Planning: The Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) and Bunching Charitable Contributions

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Tax Planning: The Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) and Bunching Charitable Contributions

Prior to the passing of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December of 2017 you likely enjoyed the tax deduction that came with your charitable contributions – no matter the size of the donation.  If you lived in a state where you paid state income taxes and had high property taxes you were probably itemizing your deductions (See NJ, NY, CT, and MA – just to name a few).

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Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact (SRI) Investing Conference

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Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact (SRI) Investing Conference

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to attend the 29th annual SRI Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The SRI Conference is the premier annual gathering of sustainable, responsible, and impact investment professionals working to direct the flow of investment capital toward a truly sustainable future.

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Positivity in a Sea of Negativity

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Positivity in a Sea of Negativity

Over the past few weeks the focus of our weekly posts has been on the volatility in the global equity market. We have sought to provide some insight into what’s driving global stocks lower and provide perspective on how frequently drawdowns like the one we are currently mired in occur. We hope these insights and perspectives have been valuable for you and helped to give you peace of mind.

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How Often Should You Check Your Portfolio?

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How Often Should You Check Your Portfolio?

It goes without saying, this has been a challenging year for investors. Every asset class has experienced significant loss at one point or another – International Equities, US Bonds, and recently, US Equities. As much as we say uncertainty and risk of loss is the cost of realizing long-term capital returns, times like this can make even the most rational long-term investor fear the future. 

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Beware of the Risk Associated with Some Niche ETPs

Beware of the Risk Associated with Some Niche ETPs

Exchange-traded products (ETPs) have been lauded by investors and investment professionals for helping to democratize investing. The most popular type of ETP is the exchange-traded fund, better known by its acronym ETF. Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are a lesser known type of ETP. ETNs differ from ETFs in that ETNs don’t hold underlying securities, like stocks or bonds. Rather, they are unsecured debt instruments issued by a bank that promises to pay the performance of an underlying investment, typically an index or basket of securities.

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The Biggest Sector Structure Change in GICS History

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The Biggest Sector Structure Change in GICS History

On September 21, 2018, the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) sector structure will experience the biggest change in its history. Specifically, the Telecommunication Services sector will be broadened to include companies from the Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology sectors and renamed Communication Services.

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Mortgage Points: Is it Worth Buying Down the Mortgage Rate

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Mortgage Points: Is it Worth Buying Down the Mortgage Rate

Whether you are a first time home buyer or a seasoned mover, there are many intricate details involved with taking out a mortgage. If you are purchasing or refinancing a home, there may be an opportunity to lower the interest through buying mortgage points. Although a lower interest rate sounds appealing, there may be drawbacks depending on your unique situation.

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The Changing Dynamics of Emerging Markets’ Economies

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The Changing Dynamics of Emerging Markets’ Economies

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index looks significantly different today than it did at its inception thirty years ago. For one, the market capitalization of emerging markets companies has increased from $52 billion in 1988 to $5.3 trillion as of May 31, 2018. This underscores the ability of emerging markets countries to contribute to the global economy, especially as global markets have expanded.

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Umbrella Insurance Policy for Excess Personal Liability

Umbrella Insurance Policy for Excess Personal Liability

Protecting yourself and your family is top priority for most, and households purchase different types of insurance to ensure that they are properly covered from unforeseen events.

A very important form of insurance that people frequently overlook is Excess Personal Liability, which is commonly referred to as Umbrella insurance. Umbrella insurance provides additional liability coverage above the limits established through other basic liability policies like auto and homeowner’s/ renter’s. Umbrella insurance is designed to help guard against large and potentially devastating liability claims or judgments caused from bodily injury, property damage, lawsuits, libel, and slander.

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Designating a Successor Family Chief Financial Officer

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Designating a Successor Family Chief Financial Officer

Every couple has its own unique way of divvying up the household’s financial chores. This may mean one spouse is in charge of investments and one spouse is in charge of paying the bills, or one spouse could assume all the financial responsibilities. In the latter case, the responsible spouse effectively assumes the role of the family’s chief financial officer (CFO).

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