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5 Important Tax Considerations for Your Financial Planning
5 Important Tax Considerations for Your Financial PlanningAlbert Einstein reportedly once told his accountant, "the hardest thing in the world to understand is income taxes." This observation from the Nobel Prize-winning physicist remains relevant today, as our tax...
What Tariffs and Trade Wars Mean for Long-Term Investors
What Tariffs & Trade Wars Mean for Long-Term InvestorsInvestors have faced several market concerns early in the year around tech stocks, interest rates, and government policy. Among these factors, it’s no surprise that trade policy has emerged as particularly...
A Tale of Two Financial Perspectives: A Broker vs. A Fiduciary Financial Planner
I was once referred to a man named Peter. Peter was looking for investment advice, so we arranged to meet for lunch in the Little Italy neighborhood of Chicago. During our conversation, I asked Peter a lot of questions to understand what he was looking for, what was important to him and his family, and what had motivated him to seek new advice. That lunch turned into a follow-up phone call that lasted nearly two hours. He was impressed we meet clients by phone and Zoom in the evenings (7:30pm) once or twice a week. What I learned about Peter—a man in his seventies—was both inspiring and insightful.
Understanding Buyouts and Their Implications
Understanding Buyouts and Their Implications What we can learn from the Federal buyout fiasco. February 2025.Making Informed Decisions When Facing a Buyout Offer At Sterling Edge Financial, we know that unexpected career transitions can be daunting, especially when...
Why Bonds Present Opportunities in This Market Environment
Why Bonds Present Opportunities in This Market EnvironmentInterest rates are fluctuating as investors adjust their expectations around economic growth, Federal Reserve rate moves, and the Trump administration’s policies. The 10-year Treasury yield had risen as high as...
Special Update: What the DeepSeek Moment Means for Investors
In the 1940s and early 1950s, computers were the size of buildings and used vacuum tubes – large glass tubes that were fragile and consumed enormous amounts of power, generating significant heat. A former IBM Chairman is thought to have said “I think there is a world market for about five computers.” However, by the mid-1950s, semiconductor chips were invented which were far smaller, more efficient, and performed calculations much faster. This breakthrough led to the information technology revolution that continues today.
Wonka 2023 – A story of Regulatory Capture and Lower Returns
I want to talk about regulatory capture—a concept that might seem abstract but significantly impacts our lives as consumers and investors. Let’s begin with a story from the 2023 movie Wonka. In the film, Willy Wonka dreams of revolutionizing the chocolate industry, but his efforts are nearly crushed by established manufacturers who manipulate rules to maintain their dominance. While the movie is fictional, it reveals a real issue: large players in any industry often use their influence to shape regulations for their own benefit.
Applying Poker Lessons to Investing
Applying Poker Lessons to InvestingPoker is often thought of as a game of skill, luck, and strategy. However, beyond the chips and cards, poker also offers profound insights into human psychology and decision-making. Blind spots are systematic deviations from rational...
How the $36 Trillion National Debt Impacts Investors
With the election now behind us, attention has shifted to the next administration’s cabinet nominations and policy proposals. The large and ever-growing national debt, and the complex ways it impacts the economy and markets, will only grow in importance. How can investors put government spending in perspective and stay focused on what drives markets in the long run?
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How Loss Aversion and the Sequence of Returns Impact Investors
The S&P 500 index recently closed above 5,000 and set a new all-time high, less than three years after it first crossed the 4,000 mark. While some are understandably nervous any time the market is near record levels, investors also tend to grow more bullish as the momentum continues…
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Special Update: Perspective on the Fed and Market Sell-Off
To paraphrase Ernest Hemingway, shifts in the stock market often occur “gradually, then suddenly.” Over the past month, the market has rotated from large cap technology stocks to small caps and other sectors…
Why Cash Is Not a Long-Term Investment
In times of market uncertainty, investors often seek the safety of cash. This has been true over the past several years as markets have swung due to the pandemic, geopolitical events, Fed rate hikes, inflation, gridlock in Washington, technology trends, and more…
September 2024 Market Overview
Review the latest data and information regarding:
- Asset Class performance
- Breakeven Returns
- Consumer Spending
- Consumer Price Index
- Stock Market Pullbacks
- Global Stock Market Cycles
- Global Stock Market Performance
- S&P 500 Equal Weight Recent Returns
- Interest Income on Cash
- Traditional Sources of Bond Yield
- Global Market Summary,
Why the 4% Rule Is Only a Starting Point for Retirement
Planning for retirement has never been more important and yet so challenging. Given the difficult inflationary conditions of the past two years, the risk that worries most retirees continues to be outliving their savings. This is because, when it comes to markets and the economy, we can’t control the timing of events – including day-to-day market swings and whether investors begin retirement in a bull or bear market. What we can control, however, is our own behavior by staying disciplined.
How Tax Proposals and the Election Impact Investors
With less than two months until the presidential election, the policy platforms for President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are gradually forming. Through speeches and debates, each candidate is laying out what they stand for and how they would change existing policies. For investors, perhaps the most scrutinized area is taxes, and there are concerns over how changes to tax rates could impact both Wall Street and Main Street. How can investors maintain perspective as we approach November 5?
David Booth's Dimensional Stirs Up Old Passive-Investing Fears
Wall Street has long thought that one of passive investing’s biggest flaws was fading away. Not so fast, says Dimensional Fund Advisors.
The so-called Index effect, where stocks joining a major benchmark display abnormal returns in the days leading up to their addition before reversing after, is alive an well, according to the pioneering quant firm. As a result, Investors with trillions of dollars in passive products are leaving “returns on the table,” Dimensional argues in a new study…
Special Update: President Trump’s Election Victory and Investing
After a historic campaign, Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election and Republicans have won control of the Senate. For half the country, this is a cause for celebration, while for the other half, this is a disappointing result that will require time to process. This reflects the divisions in our country on both social and economic matters that we hope will heal in time.
The stock market has performed well across both parties
What the Trump Trade Means for Long-Term Investors
While the political world will focus on the election for some time, financial markets have already shifted their attention to the next administration’s policies, Federal Reserve rate cuts, and the underlying economy.
In the remainder of the week following election day, the S&P 500 gained 3.7%, the Dow 4.2%, and the Russell 2000 index of small cap stocks surged 6.1%. Bitcoin also rose above $80,000 for the first time. Even though this sudden jump in markets is positive for portfolios, it’s always important to stay disciplined by maintaining a long-term perspective and focusing on fundamentals.
3 Reasons Investors Can Be Thankful This Holiday Season
After a historic year, investors have much to be thankful for this holiday season. Despite periods of uncertainty around the Federal Reserve, the presidential election, and geopolitical conflicts, the stock market has delivered exceptional returns in 2024. With only a few weeks left in the year, the S&P 500 has gained 26.7% with dividends year-to-date, the Dow 19.5%, and the Nasdaq 27.4%. International stocks have also performed well, with emerging markets advancing 9.0% and developed markets 4.8%. Economic growth has exceeded expectations, with inflation returning to pre-pandemic levels, unemployment still low, and GDP growing steadily.
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