Chips and Geopolitics: May’s Risk On Cocktail
Executive Market Summary: May 2026 The US market has been split cleanly in two, with the dividing line running straight through the technology sector. The S&P 500 fell roughly 4.5% in the first quarter before climbing 19.5% since the start of the second quarter. The technology sector was down about 7.5% in the first quarter and up nearly […]
Why Blended Families Should Pay Special Attention to Estate Planning
Roughly forty percent of American families today are blended, yet most estate plans are still built as if the household has one set of parents and one set of children. Introduce children from a prior marriage, a current spouse, and sometimes children shared between them, and the standard “everything to my spouse, then to the kids” […]
Our Taxpaying ‘Golden Hour’ Won’t Last: These 4 Urgent Moves Can Help Insulate Your Wealth Before It’s Too Late
As posted by Kiplinger For most Americans, the weeks and months following Tax Day are characterized by a collective sigh of relief. Returns are submitted, checks are cut, and paperwork is filed away for another year. This year, complacency is a risk you can’t afford. As a wealth planner, I view our current environment as […]
Bond Bears vs. AI Bulls: Inflation Fears Clash With Growth Optimism
Executive Summary Stocks and bonds up on the week (bond prices up, yields down). The MSCI EAFE and MSCI Emerging Markets indices outperformed the S&P 500. The best performing sectors in the S&P 500 were utilities, health care, and REITs. Across U.S. Russell style & market cap indices, small-cap growth did the best, but the […]
Probate Isn’t the Villain: The Real Estate Planning Risks Hiding in Plain Sight
The general consensus in wealth management is that probate should be avoided, but the reality is more complicated. Probate can be genuinely painful: public, slow, costly, and emotionally draining in the wrong jurisdiction with the wrong asset mix. Massachusetts and New York have reputations for being formal and expensive for a reason. But avoiding probate has been oversold […]
Week of May 24, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
Have rising bond yields forced action on the Strait of Hormuz when rising consumer inflation rates couldn’t? If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that bond markets flexed their muscles, and it won’t be the last. Many observers believe that a moderation of the sweeping and sometimes nonsensical US tariffs announced on “Liberation Day” last April was attributable to an […]
Inflation Came In Hot Which Cooled Equity Markets
Executive Summary Most major U.S. stock indexes finished last week lower as optimism surrounding large-cap technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks was largely outweighed by concerns around accelerating inflation, rising Treasury yields, elevated oil prices, and lingering geopolitical uncertainty. Within the S&P 500 Index—which closed at a record high on Thursday before pulling back Friday—the energy sector […]
What to do with an Existing Permanent Life Insurance Policy
The decision of what to do with a permanent life insurance policy – such as a whole life or universal life policy – at the point of retirement is often treated as a binary choice: keep paying the premiums or surrender the policy and walk away. However, for most high-net-worth families, treating a permanent policy […]
Week of May 17, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
The world may not be awash in oil and gas right now, but there is a healthy supply of ministerial- level meetings discussing the oil and gas problem. Most of these meetings have concluded and will conclude that the situation with the Strait of Hormuz is awful . . . and that there is nothing […]
Week of May 10, 2026 – Weekly Economic Commentary
The healthy US job growth reported on May 8— not only the 115,000 net new jobs created but also the distribution of those jobs across a number of economic sectors — has had the effect of shining all the bright light on inflation trends and potential fiscal policy cures for rising prices. As has been previously mentioned, […]
Middle East Uncertainty in the Face of Fundamental Earnings
Executive Summary Equity Markets traded higher for a sixth consecutive week, extending the rally that began in late March and pushing several major indexes to new highs. A strong employment report bolstered hopes that the U.S. economy remains resilient in the face of higher energy prices as a result of the Iran war. Technology and growth stocks led the advance. […]
A New Chapter for the 401(k): Access to Private Markets
U.S. retirement plans hold roughly $13.8 trillion in assets, with 401(k)s alone accounting for an estimated $8.7 trillion. For decades, that money has been almost entirely confined to public markets. That may be changing. Last August, President Trump signed Executive Order 14330, “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” The order directs the Department of Labor and SEC to clear regulatory […]