Beacon Wealthcare

20 Mar 2020 Physical Distancing, Not Social Distancing

Posted at 12:22h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

The US economy is in peril and this time it's Main Street in trouble, more than Wall Street. The largest economy in the world is shutting down with increasing speed as federal and state officials issue new guidelines and requirements on individuals and businesses to...

13 Mar 2020 We Are in a Bear Market

Posted at 14:00h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

Yesterday, we officially entered a bear market when the stock market closed more than 20% from its recent February highs. On average, we experience bear markets every three years, but this one stands out in the speed with which we entered it. In fact, it’s...

10 Mar 2020 Beacon Flash: Are We OK?

Posted at 10:50h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Times are scary. Virus numbers are growing, countries are closing their entire borders and ordering their citizens to stay in their homes, and uncertainty over how long it will last and how bad it will be for economies prevails. Yesterday's shock to stocks was caused...

06 Mar 2020 Is Now The Right Time to Invest That Cash?

Posted at 07:00h in The Friday Brief by Jared Korver, CPA, CFP®

When I got to the office on Monday, the market had just had an awful seven-day period that looked something like this: The Vanguard Total Market Index was down nearly 13% in about the same amount of time it takes my four year old to find...

28 Feb 2020 What Should You Do When the Market Drops?

Posted at 07:00h in The Friday Brief by Geoff Hall, CFP®, RICP®

There are a lot of scary headlines in the news right now. I’ll forgo the commonly accepted blogging practice of listing a few examples here to avoid unnecessarily exposing you to more of them than you are already reading. Along with the scary news headlines...

21 Feb 2020 Maybe You Will Downsize

Posted at 12:07h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Last week, Ryan did a great job in his Brief titled Your Home is Not an Investment (You Probably Won't Downsize), explaining how a home is a lifestyle or 'use' investment, behaving differently than stocks, bonds or other impersonal investments that produce income or can...

14 Feb 2020 Your Home is Not An Investment (You Probably Won’t Downsize)

Posted at 08:00h in The Friday Brief by Ryan Smith, CFP®, RICP®, CTS™, MSFP

Home prices, both nationwide and in the Triangle, have surged over the past few years. The escalation in prices across the country brings back memories of the boom period prior to the financial/housing crisis of 2007-2009. There isn't evidence to suggest that is what's taking...

07 Feb 2020 Money for the Two Halves of Life

Posted at 08:00h in The Friday Brief by Jared Korver, CPA, CFP®

"One cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning; for what was great in the morning will be of little importance in the evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening become a lie." Carl Jung said that....

31 Jan 2020 ‘Tis the Season

Posted at 07:00h in The Friday Brief by Geoff Hall, CFP®, RICP®

Tax season is officially here. The IRS began accepting paper and electronic tax returns on Monday, January the 27th and the due date for 2019 federal income tax returns is April 15, 2020, for most individual taxpayers. By now you’re probably somewhere between assembling a...

24 Jan 2020 High Returns Don’t Guarantee Wealth

Posted at 10:12h in The Friday Brief by Sam Bass Jr.

Stock market returns last year as measured by the S&P 500 were a remarkable 31.5%. Gains this large are tempting. But return percentages can be misleading for several important reasons: Returns don't necessarily correlate with improving wealth, returns come at a cost, and whole portfolio...

Blog