Open enrollment season for employee benefits is upon us. One thing worth checking out is a high deductible healthcare plan (HDHP) coupled with a Health Savings Account (HSA). HSAs offer a unique way to save for current and future medical expenses. The HSA is the only investment account in which contributions are tax-deductible and distributions […]
Does your account have so many investments, it makes your head spin?
Recently, I was reviewing a client’s account that is managed by a large retail brokerage company. The account had 31 mutual funds and a value of approximately $165,000. This equates to a little over $5,000 per fund. The funds were allocated to a diversified portfolio that was based on the client’s time horizon, investment goals, […]
My mutual funds are down. How can I have capital gains?
It’s that time of year when mutual funds make their capital gains distributions. As of Nov 23, the S&P 500 is up a little over 1% for the year. The Dow (DJIA) is actually fractionally down for the year. However, many mutual funds will be paying out large taxable distributions in the coming weeks. How is this […]
A Financial Lesson for the New College Grad
It’s that time of year again when college seniors head into the real world. First of all, we would like to congratulate all the new grads on their achievement. Luckily, the job hiring environment is better this year than it’s been in a long time, with the unemployment rate around 5.5%. New grads are often bombarded […]
Manifest Destiny
24 years ago, I quit my job at IBM’s East Fishkill semiconductor facility to go to work for a small, high tech company in California. It wasn’t an easy decision at the time. I had grown up in an IBM family in the Hudson Valley. IBM was in my blood. At that time, very few […]