Brian Hepp
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| Brian Hepp is a financial consultant for Santa Monica-based A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. Member SIPC. He can be reached at (310) 453-0077 or at brian.hepp@agedwards.com. A.G. Edwards is a full-service retail brokerage firm that offers a complete spectrum of financial products and services, including stocks, bonds and mutual funds, financial retirement planning and tax-advantage investments.
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Articles by this Author
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MARKET MATTERS
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Investors have been keeping a close eye on the Federal Reserve as it has continued to raise interest rates over the past year and a half. After 13 consecutive increases, many are hoping that an end may soon be in sight.
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MARKET MATTERS
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You’ve put in long hours at the office for years, saved diligently even during the hard times and raised your children to be independent adults. Now, with early retirement quickly approaching, you know that your planning has finally paid off. But, before you set out for some wild adventure, there might be some unfinished business you need to consider as an early retiree.
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MARKET MATTERS
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After nine months of receiving baby blankets from relatives and immersing yourself in endless pages of reading material, you’ve suddenly become a proud parent building a priceless bond with your child. Although ecstatic about your new adventures in parenting, it doesn’t take long for you to realize that nothing could have prepared you for such an undertaking. Sleepless nights and diaper dollars are just the beginning.
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MARKET MATTERS
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When tax season is over, and the hassles of filing are through, many Americans anxiously await the arrival of good news — a refund check. And while many people already have that money spent before it even gets there, your tax refund could provide a valuable opportunity to start saving for the future. So, if you can muster the courage and resist spending it right away, there are several options that could make very good use of your refund. Following are a few ideas to consider.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Every year we, as Americans, face the annual ritual of filing tax returns. While the process is unavoidable, investors frequently look for effective ways to lessen the impact of taxes on the overall returns of their portfolios. More investors — particularly those in higher tax brackets — are finding that municipal bonds can help reduce their tax burden, and at the same time add stability and diversification to their portfolios.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Your ideas are fresh, the plan is complete and you’re ready to begin building your business. While your dreams of becoming an entrepreneur may seem to be right around the corner, consider the challenges before you leap too far. On the road ahead, there could be financial uncertainty and loss, but even in the land of risk, debt and development, abandoning your nest egg is a mistake. While investing in your new business may be the first thing on your mind, don’t forget about funding your future.
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MARKET MATTERS
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It’s tax time again and deadlines are looming. But as you begin preparing to file your 2005 tax return, now is a good time to review your overall financial picture as well. As with all your investments, it’s important to have a good handle on your tax situation so you can maximize any savings opportunities that may exist.
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MARKET MATTERS
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It’s no secret that personal credit card debt is currently at an all-time high, and it keeps growing every day. And it probably won’t come as a shock that the personal savings rate in the United States, coincidentally, is at its lowest level since the Great Depression. Although some forms of debt may be necessary, allowing your debt to get out of control can rob you of valuable savings opportunities. Reining in credit card and other types of debt will allow you to focus your efforts on establishing and growing your financial nest egg.
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MARKET MATTERS
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For the millions of taxpayers who have recently completed their income tax filing, another annual ritual is beginning — the anticipation of waiting for a tax refund. If you’re one of those who will be receiving a refund this year, you may already be making plans for how you’ll spend that money. But before you get caught up in the excitement of spending that check right away, you may want to consider some other options that could provide you with significant benefits down the road.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Even if you weren’t glued to the constant news coverage, you’re probably well aware of the tragedies that have unfolded throughout our nation and around the globe as a result of natural disasters. All of those catastrophic events have served as a reminder that we can be significantly affected by unexpected events at any time. Whether a major disaster, or even a fire in your home strikes, it’s important to be prepared financially ahead of time for such an event.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Changes in the economy occur regularly, but unfortunately they rarely follow any set schedule and they can be hard to predict. At times you might wish you could figure out some way to know when economic conditions were about to change, or what adjustments you should make in your portfolio when a shift appeared to be on the horizon. It’s a tricky topic, and even economists disagree about the nature and causes of economic cycles. But we can at least take a look at some of the issues you need to be aware of, and help familiarize you with how it all works.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Juggling all the important responsibilities in your life, it’s easy for things to get complicated in a hurry. Even with all the advances in technology that were supposed to make things simpler, some days it seems like there are too many demands on your time. With so many things competing for your attention, you probably welcome any opportunity to simplify things wherever you can. While there are many areas you could choose to work on, one good place to start may be your family finances.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Not that long ago, a good number of workers in this country would spend an entire career with one employer and retire with a company pension plan. In many respects, that scenario is a thing of the past. Not only are traditional pension plans disappearing, chances are you may end up changing careers — not just jobs — at least once or twice before you’re ready to retire.
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MARKET MATTERS
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As any seasoned investor will tell you, the markets are constantly fluctuating. As a result, deciding when to invest can sometimes be a complicated process. And usually few people “win” when they try to time the market. To help alleviate the stress of making such difficult timing decisions, you can use a strategy known as dollar cost averaging to maintain a regular pattern of investing and help smooth out the effects of market fluctuations.
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MARKET MATTERS
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In a time of super spenders and discontinued company pension plans, saving for retirement has become an increasingly difficult task. Because we must rely primarily on our own plans and estimates, it is quite common for us to look to conventional wisdom when planning for life after we’ve quit working. Personal finance literature, savings programs and expert advice may seem endless, each offering ‘tricks of the trade,’ but it is important to examine each of our unique personal circumstances before settling with the standard. After all, nesteggs come in many different sizes and situations.
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MARKET MATTERS
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To build a secure retirement, you will likely take advantage of multiple building blocks to establish your overall plan. Two of the important pieces people most often take advantage of are Social Security and Medicare. Unfortunately, while many will eventually rely on these programs to assist in their retirement funding, relatively few have a good understanding of how these programs work. Following are the answers to a few commonly asked questions, to help educate you a little more on the subject. We’ll also provide sources you can turn to for more information about these programs.
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MARKET MATTERS
Among the many responsibilities of adulthood, managing personal finances is one of the most important skills you can learn. Unfortunately, many of us have had to learn this lesson the hard way, without any formal education on the subject. If you want to help give your kids a headstart on the road to financial independence and success, there are many simple tips you can use to get them started early.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Two weeks ago we gave you a half dozen ideas to help your kids learn about managing their money. Here we add to that list, rounding it out with another six simple steps you can use to teach your children good personal finance skills.
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MARKET MATTERS
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After years of accumulating assets to fund your retirement, you eventually reach a point when it’s time to start making use of those funds. When preparing to access your employer-sponsored retirement plan or IRA balances, you’re going to need to make some important decisions. By understanding your alternatives, you can make the appropriate choices for your retirement distributions.
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MARKET MATTERS
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When the leaves start to change colors, we’re reminded of the changing of the seasons. And while most people are beginning to turn their attention to the upcoming holiday season, investors should actually begin preparing for another season that arrives in the spring.
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MARKET MATTERS
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We are all familiar with the need for charitable giving. Oftentimes, not-for-profit organizations host an annual telethon, churches raise money for a member in need, and shelters look to volunteers for support. The spirit of goodwill is obviously the most important factor in these situations, but it is also important to understand the financial implications of your charitable gifts.
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MARKET MATTERS
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No matter how well-versed you are on the subject of investing, it’s important to remember the fundamentals. They help you stay grounded, and keep you from getting too far ahead of yourself. Today, we offer a few cornerstone ideas of basic investing that will help you remember the rules that got you to where you are.
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MARKET MATTERS
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To help you save money for retirement, there are a number of options available. One of the most common is the Individual Retirement Account (IRA). While hundreds of investment alternatives are accessible through an IRA, there are some types of investments and transactions that the IRS doesn’t allow in IRAs. Therefore, it’s important that you, as an investor, understand exactly what you can and can’t do with these types of accounts.
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MARKET MATTERS
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Following the significant increases in short-term interest rates by the Federal Reserve over the past two years, and given the current downturn in the domestic housing market, there’s not much question whether the U.S. economy is slowing down. The big debate now, however, is whether the country will experience a “hard” landing — in other words, a recession — or come in with a “soft” landing by slowing and posting a modest growth rate.
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MARKET MATTERS
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While all of us would love to be able to predict what will happen with our investments, the market reminds us that it has a mind of its own. However, as we look to the future — specifically to the new year just around the corner — we can use certain guidelines to help us at least get an idea of where the markets appear to be headed. By paying attention to these indicators, we can make educated decisions on where to place our investment dollars.
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MARKET MATTERS
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While all of us would love to be able to predict what will happen with our investments, the market reminds us that it has a mind of its own.
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MARKET MATTERS
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When talking about investments, you often hear about some companies — or other investment vehicles, for that matter — referred to by interesting nicknames. While you may be familiar with the term “blue chips,” other terms such as “The Big Kahuna,” “The Big Fish” or the “Giants of Wall Street” have been used by some to describe the stocks of companies that are categorized as large cap. But what does this mean?
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MARKET MATTERS
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Recent statistics show that Americans are not doing a very good job of saving. The U.S. Department of Commerce continues to report a negative national personal savings rate and the December 2006 A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Score survey found that, while 64 percent of adults have a retirement plan in place, solid savings habits don’t seem to kick in until people reach the age of 40.
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