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Russia launched attacks on Ukraine yesterday, marking the start of the next phase in the Ukraine crisis. It makes sense that the markets are already reacting. Before the market opened, U.S. stock futures were down between 2 1/2 percent and 3 1/2 percent, while gold was up by roughly the same amount. The yield on 10-Year U.S. Treasury securities has also dropped sharply. International markets were down even more than the U.S. markets, as investors fled to the more comfortable haven of U.S. securities.

With the recent market pullback, investor concerns are starting to mount. To be sure, there is plenty to worry about—the Omicron wave, inflation, interest rates, and a potential war in Ukraine, just to name a few. Given all the things that could go wrong, is a stock market crash an inevitable outcome?

We’ve all made decisions we wish we could change. If you enrolled in Medicare Part C, also known as Medicare Advantage, during the annual fall open enrollment and now doubt whether it’s the right health insurance for you, you may have the opportunity to complete a do-over.

As 2021 wrapped up, the world looked different from a year ago—and yet very much the same. Another wave of the virus emerged, with a new variant more contagious than its predecessor. 

Looking forward into 2022 (albeit with some sense of pandemic-related trepidation), we wanted to share our thoughts, reflections, and well wishes to you as the new year begins.

Everyone needs an estate plan, no matter the size of the estate. Not only does this plan help carry out your wishes after your passing, it benefits you while you’re living. A good estate plan includes a plan to manage your financial affairs and health care decisions in the event that you cannot. It can prove invaluable in easing the administrative burden for your family and friends during a time of emotional distress.

Yesterday (September 20, 2021), global markets slumped on the news that Evergrande, a Chinese real estate developer, was headed for bankruptcy. For some, it’s brought to mind the great financial crisis in 2008, when a collapsing real estate sector almost took the U.S. and global banking system down, starting with the Lehman Brothers investment bank. In other words, many now fear that Evergrande could kick off China’s “Lehman moment.”

In 2021, the news has been full of reports of proposed tax increases contained in bills submitted to Congress under the Biden Administration. Whether these bills will be approved is uncertain as of this writing (July 30, 2021). With so much legislation making its way through Congress, the time may be right to start thinking about how to play defense against potential tax hikes.

Halfway through 2021, we can finally see the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. There has been much progress with public health and the economy. Vaccines have controlled the virus and brought new case growth down to pandemic lows. Millions of jobs have returned as the country has reopened. But as we enter the second half of the year, new problems have emerged: those of success. Labor and supply shortages, plus the shadow of inflation, are calling the recovery into question. The initial bounce back has been strong, but will we get back to normal by year-end?

We’ve all seen the stories about bitcoin over the past few years—the triumphs and the pitfalls. For many investors, this cryptocurrency has raised a lot of questions and a lot of curiosity. Is bitcoin just a “scam” that will end in a meltdown? Or does it have the potential to revolutionize financial markets as we know them?