Quarterly Commentary Higher Interest Rates: What They Mean For Your Retirement Savings In his 1796 farewell address, George Washington warned against “the accumulation of debt” and “ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear.” This year, for the first time, the U.S. will spend more than $1 trillion on interest on roughly $40 trillion of debt, making interest the second-largest item in the federal budget after…
Index concentration is at a 50-year high, and the newest listings are making it worse. A record-setting debut When SpaceX launched its initial public offering (IPO) on June 12th it raised $75 billion and was valued at more than $2 trillion within a week. This made it one of the largest companies in the world, and Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire. The size of the offering is remarkable on…
Quarterly Commentary SpaceX recently made history with its June 12th initial public offering (IPO), raising $75 billion and surpassing a $2 trillion valuation within its first week. As one of the largest public entities globally, SpaceX was swiftly added to major indices like the Russell 1000 and Nasdaq-100, with more tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic expected to follow later this year. This rapid growth automatically forces massive amounts of…
A new tax-advantaged savings option for children opens for funding on July 4. Here’s how it works and what to consider. Starting July 4, a new type of retirement account for children created under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and formally known as a “Section 530A account” (and informally as a “Trump Account”) will be open for contributions. Parents and guardians can already open accounts ahead of that date,…
The first quarter of 2026 brought heightened market volatility, driven largely by geopolitical tensions and rising energy prices. Inflation increased to 3.3% annualized in March, and while this has weighed on consumer sentiment, the broader economic outlook remains stable with a recession still considered unlikely. Expectations for interest rate cuts have shifted, with markets now anticipating fewer and potentially later moves from the Federal Reserve as inflation trends evolve. Despite…
How Retirement Plan Loans Work Most retirement plans that allow loans follow similar guidelines. Participants may typically borrow the lesser of: – 50% of their vested account balance, or – $50,000 The loan is repaid through payroll deductions with interest, usually over five years, although loans used for a primary residence purchase may have longer repayment periods. Some retirement plans allow you to make payments via ACH from your bank…
Concerns about whether today’s enthusiasm for artificial intelligence represents a market bubble have become increasingly common, especially after several years of strong equity returns led by AI-related companies. While in many ways different, comparisons to the dot-com era are understandable, when excitement around transformative technology pushed valuations well beyond fundamentals and ultimately resulted in sharp market declines. History also shows, however, that while such periods can be painful for investors,…
Strong market performance driven by artificial intelligence has prompted many investors to ask whether current enthusiasm reflects durable, long-term opportunity—or a familiar cycle of overvaluation. It is a reasonable question, particularly after several years of strong returns concentrated in a relatively small group of technology and AI-related companies. Why investors are asking about an AI bubble One of the most common questions we hear from clients is, “Are we in…
