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Business owners have a great deal of responsibilities to contend with on a day-to-day basis. As a business owner myself, I can understand and appreciate the sometimes overwhelming list of tasks that need to be done. Among that list, usually somewhere near the bottom, is the process of setting up a retirement plan for yourself and your employees. Although setting up a plan does involve some work on the part of business owners, it does not necessarily need to be a time-consuming or expensive proposition.

When someone says “The Stock Market,” often the images that come to mind are screaming traders in blue jackets or a large mahogany desk perched atop the glass and steel of Wall Street’s skyscrapers. While everyone has a different image of the stock market, when gauging how well the market is doing, most investors think of the same two or three market indexes. The problem with using these popular indexes as the comparison is that investors are often much more diversified and conservative than these “benchmarks.”

I have heard and read arguments by very financially astute individuals that it is unnecessary to purchase life insurance on an infant because they do not produce an economic value. Another way of saying that is because the infant does not produce an income there is no loss of income to insure against. I believe that argument is completely and utterly ridiculous.

With two tough quarters, we are not sure what the third quarter will look like. However, we know there are three questions on everyone's mind: 1. Are we in a recession? (If not now, is one coming?) 2. When will inflation (specifically gas prices) come down? 3. How long will this market last?...

I can admit when I’m wrong… Sometimes. When it comes to digital assets and cryptocurrency, I’ll admit that a few years ago, I was pretty critical and skeptical. However, I have since changed my tune and have become an investor and perhaps even an enthusiast. I could give you many reasons for my previous skepticism, but it amounts to not knowing the asset class well enough.

We are facing a bump in the road right now, and I can feel anxiety and panic coming from some clients. I’m writing this today to hopefully relieve some of those emotions and explain what has happened in markets, why it has happened, and what FSG is doing. In addition, this past Monday, the 9th, Mark Carter and I recorded a video talking about many of the same things.

Well, this past quarter was not in the 2022 roadmap! In last quarter’s market update, I outlined three potential market villains for the year: 1. A Covid Return 2. Inflation 3. Rising Interest Rates. Little did I know, a real world Bond Villain (Putin) would be the catalyst for most of the market's headwinds this year. Frankly, that is the way these things go: THE UNKNOWN IS ALWAYS THE PROBLEM. The market and its participants were just as aware of the three headline risks I assessed and, therefore, those risks were already priced into the market.

Found money is really so much more disposable than earned money. It really is easier to spend “found” money on something fun, whereas earned money feels like it must be treated with extreme prudence. A tax refund can really feel like found money and often it gets treated as such. I know many friends, clients, and even myself have spent tax refunds on fun purchases like electronics and vacations. I get it. It's nice to feel like once a year you're getting a little windfall that you can spend on something fun, but I’m here to tell you there are good reasons to not want a refund.