Retirees and Part-Time Work: Navigating the Tax Complexities
Businesses everywhere face the challenge of finding and retaining valuable employees. To fill these gaps, many employers are turning to retirees. With years of experience, institutional knowledge, and for many a desire to stay busy while earning income, they are an excellent candidate to help bridge the employment gap. Confronted with the offer of highly […]
3 Thoughts for the Recently Graduated Physician Assistant
Congratulations on completing your PA curriculum and good luck as you start your career in the healthcare profession! After years of hard work and sacrifice, you are finally ready to start earning a steady paycheck. Given the significant change in income, it’s important to take the time now to develop smart financial habits. Here are […]
Market Indifference: How Presidential Elections Impact Your Portfolio
With the 2024 presidential election coming up, many investors wonder how the outcome could affect their investment portfolios. Historically, there has been a perception that Republican presidents are better for the stock market, while Democratic presidents are better for the bond market. However, statistics shows that the market responds indifferently to which party wins the […]
Commentary from Fed Meeting (September, 2023)
Each month, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) issues its position on the current economic conditions and outlook on future forecasts and projections. The main areas of focus are inflation, unemployment and interest rates. Here are a few takeaways from Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference: As predicted, the FOMC voted to hold the federal […]
Staying In Your Seat
Emotional decision-making fueled by fear or greed can cloud our judgment and lead to irrational investment choices. Reacting to short-term market fluctuations or making impulsive trades based on attention-seeking headlines often leads to poor investment performance. By staying in your seat and focusing on your long-term investment strategy, you can mitigate the influence of emotions. […]
Silicon Valley Bank Commentary
The Silicon Valley Bank failure that occurred late last week caused a flurry of news articles and speculation that have driven down bank stocks across the board. Investors may be concerned about the implications, but it’s important to understand the facts and how they may or may not affect individual investors and more importantly, Rockbridge […]
Rockbridge Institutional – October 2022 Market Review
MARKET COMMENTARY Stocks Except for emerging markets, stocks were up in October. Domestic markets led the way – large cap (S&P 500) up 9%; small cap (Russell 2000) up 11%. International developed markets (EAFE Index) were up 5%, while emerging markets (MSCI Index) were off 3% due to sharply negative results in China. While uncertainty […]
NYS Unemployment Fraud – What to do if you’ve been a victim?
During the pandemic, unemployment benefits were increased significantly to help alleviate the financial burden for those who found themselves out of work. An unfortunate outcome is that unemployment fraud has become much more common, and many people have unknowingly had unemployment benefits claimed against their Social Security number in 2021. The NYS Department of Taxation […]
Bear Markets – What do they mean for investors in the long-term?
The most commonly accepted definition of a bear market is a 20% decline in value from the last market high. The S&P 500 has crept into bear market territory on and off so far in 2022, and it’s impossible to know for certain when things are going to turn around. However, when dealing with times […]
Ignore the Headlines
Recent headlines have been dramatic as “Inflation Soars to Highest level in 40 Years!” and “Stocks Plunge to 2022 Lows!” It sounds like the authors are all shouting, and we should really panic. It feels like we should “do something” but let’s take a step back from the headlines, and put today’s market in perspective […]