Beyond the Bell

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Street$marts: Enhancing Your Charitable Giving–The Role of Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions 

Today we’ll be discussing donor advised funds and qualified charitable distributions, which are two popular methods of charitable gifting. If you are one of the many individuals that donate to charity on a regular basis, you may find yourself wondering what your options are outside of the usual cash donation. Donor Advised Funds and Qualified Charitable Distributions are two methods of charitable giving that allow an individual to be strategic and thoughtful about how and when their donations are made.

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2025 Retirement Guide Navigating Market Volatility with Confidence

2025 has been a wild ride for investors, especially the month of April. Volatility is normal for stock market investments but the tranquil markets of 2023 and 2024 had lulled some investors to sleep as the market seemed to reach new highs every day. Stocks should be viewed as long-term investments and as investors we should not worry about daily swings in the market. Every investor is different, especially when it comes to retirement spending goals. For some investors nearing retirement or entering retirement, the market volatility begins to feel different as their time horizon begins to shrink before they need the money to fund their retirement.

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Navigating 2025 Market Volatility: Financial Strategies for Investors 

Watching stock prices fall is an uncomfortable experience for investors no matter the circumstances under which it occurs. It can feel uncontrollable and make us feel powerless over something so incredibly important to our futures. It’s perfectly reasonable to dislike that experience. As I’m checking in with my clients, I want to hear how they are feeling right now. No matter what emotions you are experiencing, it’s healthy to share that experience and maybe to get another perspective. There is some common wisdom which circulates widely in times like these, “just don’t look.” That can certainly be good advice for the right kind of person, but it might not work for everyone. Sometimes having something to do can help us feel a sense of agency in turbulent times and alleviate some discomfort. With that in mind, I want to share with you my list of action items for periods of market volatility. Hopefully, you will find a tip or two to help you feel empowered.

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Market Outlook Spring 2025

In our outlook for 2025, we wrote about the following factors that we thought would impact investment returns this year: Artificial Intelligence Investments and Commercialization of AI Applications, Labor Market Conditions, Inflation, and Fiscal and Monetary Policy. We provide our latest thoughts on each of these topics in this update, after a quarter characterized by a lot of market-moving news and a corresponding increase in stock market volatility.

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Trump’s 2025 Tariff Plan: Market Impacts and Portfolio Strategies

We’ve spoken with so many clients who are feeling completely uneasy about recent market volatility and the political landscape, and for good reason of course. So many of you have weathered market storms before, but as I said in last week’s Insights piece, it’s one of those things that unfortunately doesn’t get any easier just because you have past experience with it. We empathize with the angst and uncertainty you’ve likely felt the past month but of course particularly over the last two days regarding tariffs—and more than empathy, we feel this weight on your behalf.

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The Gift of Simplicity: Why Consolidating Finances and Logistics Matters as We Age 

If my kids were old enough to read this newsletter, they’d say “Mom, all you do is lecture people, including us.” Good thing for me, they aren’t there yet. But alas, I hope you wouldn’t agree with their presumed sentiment. The reality is that as advisors to our many, many cherished clients over decades, we believe we pick up on themes to which individuals wouldn’t otherwise be privy.

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 Street$marts: What is an Index Fund? 

Indexing is a term that is thrown around a lot in the investment space. Admittedly, I forget that this is a finance term that not all investors fully grasp or understand. So, what is an index fund?

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A Purposeful Approach to Retirement Spending 

“What should I spend my money on in retirement?” I received this question from a client a few weeks ago and it really made me pause to think. I’ve fielded countless questions like “how much can I spend in retirement?” and “how long until I can retire?” but never what should I spend money on?

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Street$marts: What to Expect When Receiving an Inheritance

People I speak with have often thought a lot about leaving an inheritance. I encourage all my clients to check their beneficiaries, make an estate plan, and review and revise it, as necessary. However, it’s not as often that I have a conversation with someone planning to be on the other side of those estate plans. Although many of us may find ourselves as the beneficiary of an inheritance at some point in our lives, it’s less common to have a plan for that event.

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