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Planning for Retirement? Here’s What You Need to Know

Retirement planning is a combination of cash flow planning, income tax planning, investment planning, estate planning, distribution planning and lifestyle planning. In other words, you need to have a plan to retire, no matter your circumstances.

Investors see an improving economy with continued low interest rates as positive.

Welcome to the Roaring ’20s

The S&P 500 Index gained 8.1% for the second quarter and 14.4% year-to-date despite concerns over Federal Reserve policy, fiscal spending and the spreading delta variant of COVID. Most investors see an improving economy with continued low interest rates being positive for corporate earnings. Small cap stocks, which are mostly leveraged to an improving domestic economy, are leading the market higher. The best performing sectors were energy, financial, healthcare, and materials as value and cyclical companies are perceived to have more inflation-induced pricing power. The reflationary and cyclical trade into financials, industrials, basic materials, and travel-related companies is beginning to wane, however, as earnings expectations are set astronomically high. This will make the second-quarter earnings period more challenging for those companies that miss high expectations. In addition, most commodity prices appear to have peaked. Growth stocks, particularly large cap technology stocks that are known for more consistent earnings, are coming back into favor as interest rates remain lower for longer.

Buying a home? Here's what you need to know.

Before you start driving around neighborhoods looking at For-Sale signs or going online to search houses for sale, you should get your personal finances in order. That means tracking your living expenses and creating a strict budget, which will be invaluable in finding a home you can afford.