BFSG Blog

Financial Resources & News

The 4 Biggest Mistakes People Make with IRA Rollovers

By:  Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, Senior Financial Planner For many individuals, their retirement account(s) is their largest asset outside of maybe their home. Over $500 billion is rolled over annually from workplace retirement plans to Individual Retirement Accounts(s) (IRAs). According to the Department of Labor (DOL), the decision to roll over assets from a workplace retirement plan to an IRA is...

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Is the Real Unemployment Rate 2.3%?

Source: Michael Liebowitz, Realinvestmentadvice.com By:  Thomas Steffanci, PhD, Senior Portfolio Manager Is the real unemployment rate 2.3%? If you back out people who quit voluntarily to look for better paying jobs, the answer is yes. Quitters are still “employed”. They are in transition to other employment opportunities and should be considered as part of the labor force. If you adjust...

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Medicare Open Enrollment for 2022 Begins October 15

Medicare beneficiaries can make new choices and pick plans that work best for them during the annual Medicare Open Enrollment Period. Each year, Medicare plan costs and coverage typically change. In addition, your health-care needs may have changed over the past year. The Open Enrollment Period — which begins on October 15 and runs through December 7 — is your opportunity to switch your current...

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Monthly Market Update: 3 Things You Need to Know

September marked a much weaker month for financial markets. Here are 3 things you need to know: Inflation moderated across a few major categories that have been the most impacted by supply chain shortages and pent-up consumer demand, such as used cars, airlines and hotels. However, energy prices surged during the month with WTI oil increasing +9.5% for the month.Expiring extended federal...

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Tax Planning Strategies to Reduce Your Tax Burden Now

By:  Arash Navi, CFP®, CPA, Controller & Wealth Manager Our goal is to help our clients build and grow their wealth and tax planning plays an important role in this process. We recommend that you mark your calendar to review your finances in the first week of October, annually. Take this time to review your income for the year from employment, businesses, investments, or any other sources....

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The Bond Bears are Waking Up from Their Deep Slumber

By:  Steven L. Yamshon, Ph.D., Managing Principal The Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) bank knows that there is too much liquidity in the system but has mixed feelings about reducing it. My sense is that the Fed will need to see that the following five factors are in place before they do anything: An unemployment rate in the neighborhood of 3.8%;Prime-age (25-54) labor force participation close to...

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Don’t Be Sold on Annuities & Mutual Funds

BFSG’s Senior Financial Planner, Paul Horn, CFP®, CPWA®, was invited to be a guest speaker for the “It’s Your Money!” workshop series. For this session, Paul focused on two of the most heavily sold products by financial brokers/dealers: #annuities and #mutualfunds. Learn the basics and what to look for by clicking the link https://youtu.be/yl7yxCQZ-Ho. Is an annuity right for you? Find out by...

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NAPA’s 2022 Top Young Retirement Plan Advisors

BFSG is pleased to announce the nominations of 3 of our own to NAPA’s 2022 Top Young Retirement Plan Advisors list.  We are so proud of @Darren Stewart, @Chad Noorani, and @Braden Priest for their dedication to serving retirement plan fiduciaries and being part of our amazing team!  Vote now by clicking here. Disclaimer: Awards and recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, companies, and/or...

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An Energy Price Rise Two-Fer Today

By:  Thomas Steffanci, PhD, Senior Portfolio Manager A series of margin calls and OPEC’s reiterating its ongoing 400,00 barrels/ per day increase in output lit a further surge in natural gas and oil today. Hedge funds and large traders have been making bets that natural gas prices in the U.S. would rise faster than in Europe. So, they shorted natural gas futures in Europe (via a futures exchange...

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October 1 is the Kickoff Season for College Financial Aid (FAFSA)

October is the kickoff season for financial aid. That's when incoming and returning college students can start filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for the next academic year. The FAFSA is a prerequisite for federal student loans, grants, and work-study, and may be required by colleges before they distribute their own institutional aid to students. How do I submit the...

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The Federal Reserve Taper Begins

By:  Thomas Steffanci, PhD, Senior Portfolio Manager The Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting last week finally put some meat on the bone by concluding they would start the tapering of their $120 billion monthly purchases of government securities. Though they were inexact as to the precise timing, it appears the program will begin in November and finish up by mid-2022. But there were a couple...

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Summary of the House of Ways & Means Tax Proposals

 “If you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.” - Otto von Bismarck Over four long days and through 66 amendments, the House of Ways and Means Committee,  the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives, wrapped up the mark-up of the Build Back Better Act. The recommendations for spending and/or revenue...

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You Have an Estate Plan – It is Called Probate

By:  Michael Allbee, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager The most popular estate plan is doing nothing. In fact, according to USA Today, 55% of Americans with children die without a will (known as dying “intestate”). However, if you have not done your own estate plan, the probate code has one for you. Probate is a court-supervised process with the courts following state statutes at death to...

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August Monthly Economic Summary

Last month was an interesting month for the markets and below is the economic summary for August.  As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss more in-depth do not hesitate to give us a call! Sources: Sources: J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Economic Update; Bureau of Economic Analysis (www.bea.gov); Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov); Federal Open Market...

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IRS Releases 2022 Key Numbers for Health Savings Accounts

The IRS has released the 2022 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), as well as the 2022 minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). An HSA is a tax-advantaged account that's paired with an HDHP. An HSA offers several valuable tax benefits: You may be able to make pre-tax contributions via payroll deduction through your...

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