With interest rates on the 30-year mortgage below 3%, now might be a good time to refinance or even pay off your mortgage balance early. When does it make sense to choose one or the other?
Nearly everyone is familiar with the expression "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush." On its face, this proverb conveys the risk of exchanging a sure thing for the uncertain prospect of something better. But underlying this time-tested truism is a core concept of finance: The Time Value of Money (TVM).
Nobody likes to consider the possibility that they could fall ill or become incapacitated, yet the current health crisis is putting these concerns into sharp relief. One way to mitigate this anxiety is to have a well-considered estate plan in place beforehand, just in case it is needed.
As fiduciaries, we continually question whether our investment process is sound and likely to deliver the returns that our clients need to reach their goals. We draw from history, academic studies, common sense, and apply the lessons to today’s environment. We are generally skeptical of the oft-repeated phrase: “This time it’s different.” It is often abused to justify poor assumptions and flawed decisions. Yet, the current pandemic triggered some unprecedented policy responses from governments around the world.
On March 27, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the third piece of relief legislation tied to the Coronavirus outbreak. With an estimated $2.2 trillion cost, it is the largest fiscal stimulus in the history of the U.S.—more than twice as large as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (...) Below are some of the highlights applying specifically to workers, investors, retirees, and small business owners.
(...) Beyond that time-tested advice, retirees with large IRA balances have a couple more tools at their disposal to mitigate the pain of a market decline by sharing some of it with Uncle Sam.