Wild Stock Market? Stay the Course.

By: Patrick Cote, CFA, CFP®

As we near the end of the year, it is worth taking a step back to think about where we are from an investment perspective.  Although 2020 has been a challenging year for society as a whole, both stocks and bonds have posted good returns year-to-date

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Death and Taxes – 3 Reasons Why You Need an Estate Plan

By: Patrick Cote

Ben Franklin famously said nothing is certain except death and taxes.  Given that estate plans are focused on both, you would think we would all want to get an estate plan in place.  However, since they involve paperwork and thinking about our own death, it is no surprise that many of us have not updated, or even started, our estate plans.  The pandemic has made many of us more aware of this

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Give, Grow, Grant

By: Kate Hennessy

According to a recent study from Fidelity Investments, 79% of donors plan to increase or maintain their charitable giving levels this year. Despite the September U.S.

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Tax Diversification – Why We All Need It

BY: PATRICK COTE

You may not have heard about tax diversification – most people have not.  Tax diversification is making sure that investments are placed into three different account types to hedge against future tax increases:  pretax (e.g., traditional IRA or 401K), taxable (e.g., regular brokerage account) and tax-free (e.g., Roth IRA or Roth 401K).  More people should be talking about it, since it is one of the most critical parts of most investment plans and can make a large difference for yo

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Future Tax Rates

BY: KATE HENNESSY

Last month I mentioned that my husband and I were considering converting a portion of my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, otherwise known as a Roth IRA conversion.  After doing the analysis and speaking with our CPA, we decided to convert 1/3 of my Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

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Planning to Work Until 65? The Choice May Not Be Yours

By: Susan Powers

One of the first questions we ask clients when gathering information for their financial plan is, ‘At what age would you like to retire?’  Those who continue to enjoy their jobs and the challenges it brings, often plan on working well past age 65. For many others, the answer is often tied to the availability of Medicare, Social Security or other pension benefits.  

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Kids, Money & the Pandemic

By: Patrick Cote

The pandemic has affected all of our lives in many ways.  For some families, the results have been tragic with the loss of loved ones.  For others, they have faced economic hardship with the loss of jobs or businesses.  Even if you have not been impacted economically, but have kids who are teenagers or in their early 20s, you may have seen how difficult it now is to find summer jobs.

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