Saving for a child’s college expenses is becoming increasingly difficult. As a parent, the competing forces of tuition inflation and one’s own retirement preparedness can bring about stress over trying to adequately save for both. There is a balance to be struck between the two, keeping in mind that kids can get jobs and take out loans. Retirement, ideally, should not include you getting a job or taking out a...
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It’s that time of the year again, football season, back-to-school, cooler temps, and time to think about year-end tax planning. Try to contain your excitement. Here are a few things to be thinking about as you approach the end of the year:
A year ago I blogged about one of my sports passions, the Kansas City Royals (https://www.fostergrp.com/blog/blog/royal-perspective/). Hindsight being 20/20, I should have finished the blog with “to be continued…” As complimentary as I was toward the vision of the organization and the discipline to stick to their plan, I failed to voice my optimism for the yet-to-come 2015 season as I finished the article. Now World Series champions, my...
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Most of you probably opened your 3rd quarter investment statements and were disappointed and, potentially, a bit worried. We saw a lot of volatility over the past few months, and it was hard to miss the headlines, especially the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) opened down 1,000 points on August 24th. I was at home the morning of August 24th waiting to take my kindergartener to her first day...
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This article is very timely as we just found out that two more clients have had fraudulent tax returns filed. Looks like the IRS is aggressively looking for ways to prevent this from happening… https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/10/20/irs-identity-theft-protection-effort/74262804/...
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If anyone tells you they know where the market is headed, you know to run the other way as fast as you can. If anyone would have told you they predicted that the Iowa Hawkeyes would be 7-0 to start the season, you also would have laughed and found a way to escape. Well, the Hawkeyes ARE running wild on their opponents right now and the markets are having another...
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Want to leave a legacy gift and get a pretty significant tax benefit? If so, you should check out the Endow Iowa program. This is how it works:
Many Americans continue to worry about the health of our economy. Market volatility does nothing to soothe concerns. Jobs and GDP reports come with mixed messages. Things must be better elsewhere, right? Everything is relative. Foreign investors held $6.2 trillion of U.S. government debt at the close of June, an all-time high. That same group also holds 20% of U.S. stocks and 35% of outstanding U.S. corporate debt (up from...
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Some very simple, yet powerful truths and data on the fallacy of market timing from incredibly smart and successful people. This article is exceptionally well-written and worth five minutes of your time, especially if it ends up saving you from making costly mistakes. Stay diversified. https://mutualfunds.com/news/2015/09/29/market-timing-possible-to-win-but-it-s-a-loser-s-game/...
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