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24 Mar 2022 This Correction Was Entirely Normal

Posted at 12:32h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

Earlier this year, the S&P 500 experienced a "correction," defined as a drop of 10% or more from a previous high. It has rebounded slightly since then, but at its worst was down roughly 13%. In fact, the high point of the last 12 months...

24 Feb 2022 What’s $1,000 Worth?

Posted at 13:28h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

What's $1,000 worth? As with most things in personal finance, the answer is, "It depends." Are we talking about a thousand bucks received a year ago? If so, then about 7.5% more than if received today. If used to reduce debt, it's worth $1,000, unless...

27 Jan 2022 Stock Market and Beacon Portfolio Updates

Posted at 21:29h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

Through Wednesday, January 26th, the S&P 500 index is down 8.7%, which, obviously, is not a great start to the year. (Average January returns going back to 1980 are +.82%.) While prices are down, volatility is up: we've already had 6 trading days where the...

16 Dec 2021 What’s Your Gray Rhino?

Posted at 14:41h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

A few months ago, a 25-year-old Chinese company called Evergrande was all anyone could talk about, and not for any good reason. In fact, the question most commonly posed in regard to Evergrande was, "Is this China's 'Lehman moment'?" a reference to the now-defunct bank...