Tuning out the noise
The markets have seen several ups and downs over the years, but remember – Volatility is normal. At Rockbridge, we believe financial advisors play a vital role in helping you understand what you can control while providing expertise, perspective and encouragement to keep you focused on your long-term goal. We are here to help you […]
Understanding your heirs and knowing your beneficiaries
Estate planning has often had an air of mystery to some people. The terms used and bantered about by lawyers or planning professionals are not words we use in everyday conversations. Do you have heirs? Answer: No you don’t – it is a trick question. If you are reading this article, it’s presumed you are […]
Income tax planning – how Rockbridge can help
It’s tax time again and as you gather your W2s, 1099s, and maybe even your K-1s, we thought it would be a good time to explain our income tax planning approach. Income tax planning is a crucial aspect of the overall financial planning process. To some degree, taxes impact every area of your financial plan. […]
Sorting through the market shifts
Yesterday evening, Rockbridge’s own Ethan Gilbert, CFA was featured on our local Spectrum news network. Check out the interview below where Ethan discusses the recent market shifts, how these swings can affect your retirement accounts, and how to protect your accounts from this volatility. Click here to learn more about Ethan!
When investing, don’t think about the patriots
This past weekend, the New England Patriots did it again. Down 10 in the 4th, star quarterback Tom Brady orchestrated two scoring drives to pull off another comeback victory. In two weekends, the Pats will try to win their 3rd Super Bowl in 4 years – headlining a host of impressive statistics dating back to […]
Market commentary – january 2018
Stock Markets Returns from various stock market indices over several periods ending December 31, 2017 are shown below. The past quarter was good for stocks – REITs lagged. Over the past year, returns from stock indices, especially emerging markets, were well above longer- term averages. Over longer periods, domestic market indices were well above those […]
Ten best financial practices to jump-start your new year
Happy New Year! Now that 2017 is a wrap, one of the best presents you can bestow on yourself and your loved ones is the gift of proper preparation for the rest of the year. Want to get a jump-start on it? Here are 10 financial best practices to energize your wealth management efforts. […]
A look at the new U.S. tax law
As you are likely aware, Congress has recently passed significant changes to the tax law. These changes are effective beginning in tax year 2018, with many of the changes for individuals set to sunset after 2025. The summary below is a high-level overview of many of the most relevant changes that will impact people’s taxes. […]
The ABC’s of behavioral biases: S-Z
We’re coming in for a landing on our alphabetic run-down of behavioral biases. Today, we’ll present the final line-up: sunk cost fallacy and tracking error regret. SUNK COST FALLACY What is it? Sunk cost fallacy makes it harder for us to lose something when we also face losing the time, energy or money we’ve already […]
The ABCs of behavioral biases: O-R
So many financial behavioral biases, so little time! Today, let’s take a few minutes to cover our next batch of biases: overconfidence, pattern recognition and recency. OVERCONFIDENCE What is it? No sooner do we recover from one debilitating bias, our brain can whipsaw us in an equal but opposite direction. For example, we’ve already seen […]