Dying Intestate

If you’re in your 20s, rejoice! You’re in a great position to create the life you want, starting with a secure financial future. While it’s common to feel overwhelmed when entering the workforce full time, there are a lot of things you can do fresh out of college that will help you attain your professional and financial goals earlier than you may expect.

By: Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA

I was a wreck when my daughter Maddy went off to college three years ago. I had so many emotions about my oldest child, my first baby, leaving home and venturing out on her own. On the other hand, Maddy was so excited--without an apprehensive bone in her body. She was ready to start her college experience and for that I was grateful. But I had my concerns about her safety, her well-being, her ability to create her own structure with all that freedom, and all the other concerns that come with being the parent of a young adult.

Although Maddy was focused on how she was going to furnish her dorm room and what her roommate was going to be like, she was also looking forward to the adventures and challenges of college. The furthest thing from her mind was worst case scenarios and creating a plan for the what-ifs of adulthood. While the curtains and the rug and the mini fridge all have their place in planning for college life, so too does preparing documents that will protect you as a parent and them as an adult in the event of an emergency.

CEO of BlueSky, David Blain, CFA, walks through the history of the bear and bull markets.

I define a bear market as a decline of 20% or more from the previous market high (the bear return is the peak-to-trough return over the cycle). Since 1926, we’ve had 10 bear markets with an average duration of 25 months, and average declines of 45%. The last one, which lasted from November 2007 to March 2009, wasn’t long, 17 months, but it was the third worst on record losing 57%. FYI, the Great Depression was the worst.

Regardless of whom you supported for president, the election night panic by investors in Asia and US stock market futures was unsettling. Things stabilized quickly and the stock market is well on its way to hitting all-time highs again.

It might surprise you to learn that even in the seemingly affluent communities of Concord, Maynard and the surrounding areas of Massachusetts, some families are struggling to feed themselves.

There is a lot of flexibility built into the Social Security retirement benefit system allowing people to choose when to start their retirement benefits — but some of that will soon change. On November 2, 2015, President Barack Obama signed legislation that places limits on certain options such as “file and suspend.”  

White Paper on Social Media and Digital Marketing Tools for Financial Advisors Unveiled at T3 Technology Conference