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Tax Wise Charitable Giving as Simple as 1, 2, 3 The April 15th tax deadline is in the rear-view window. As you review your 2014 activity and filings, did you maximize available tax deductions and credits? By partnering with the giving experts at the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines and your Foster Group financial advisor, meeting your charitable giving goals...

One way Foster Group looks to add value for our clients who are accessing their investment accounts for income (due to retirement or otherwise) is by optimizing withdrawals from their accounts and generating income in the most tax-efficient manner. For our clients who have the bulk of their investment assets accumulated in tax-deferred accounts (such as an IRA or 401k) there’s not much strategizing to be done – withdrawals...

Well, if you get tired of hearing us talk about timeless financial planning disciplines (aka avoiding pitfalls), then enjoy and embrace this quick read from another source.  Fantastic, simple advice we can all adhere to in bettering our investment experience while increasing probabilities for success.  No magic here.  You can do this, and we can help.  Stay diversified (#6 for those keeping score at home). https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/slideshows/7-bad-investing-habits-that-are-holding-you-back/1  ...

Perspective can be defined in many ways, but when I think of perspective, I think of attitude as well. In the past year, I have known of four friends who have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer, and each of them has had a different perspective on their diagnosis.  One very good friend was diagnosed late last summer with Multiple Myeloma at the...

I recently had a client tell me that he finally “got it.”  I asked what he meant, and he said that he had looked at a lot of retirement calculators online and wondered why our projections for distributions differed from online calculators he had tried where he plugged in a couple of numbers and it quickly spewed out the amount of income he’d receive at retirement. What he realized was...

Companies represented in the S&P 500 recently announced that, in aggregate, $104.3 billion in stock buybacks were made in February.  This not only is twice the $55 billion repurchased a year ago, but a record for equity repurchases in any single month.  The previous monthly high was $99.8 billion, set in July 2006, following which the S&P returned 23% over the next 14 months.  Well over $2 trillion has been...

Buds on the trees, grass is turning green, birds are singing, all around us are signs spring is coming.  With spring comes the start of America’s pastime, baseball! When I think of baseball, I think of exciting moments like a home run or a grand slam when that batter crushes the ball out of the park.  But when I think about an actual game of baseball, those exciting moments don’t happen...