Author: Scott Neal

&FRONT Finance 

Investment Markets: Problem? or Opportunity?

June 1, 2022June 22, 2022 Scott Neal 9% year-to-date, aggregate U.S. Bond market, allocation, asset, asset allocation, asset class, basket of security, bond, bond loss, bond market, cash, cash remains, chief risk, correction territory, drawdowns, entire portfolio, ETFs, federal reserve policy, hold security, image001 image002, inflation, interest rate, investment, investment market, investment protocol, investor, longer-term bond, market cycle, market turn, market-like return, momentum, momentum growth strategy, near-zero interest rate policy, portfolio, portfolio objective, portfolio performance, prescribed allocation, preservation, price of the bond, rate of longer-term bond, reduce volatility, reduce volatility of the entire portfolio, risk tolerance, S&P 500, Scott Neal, specific rate of interest, stock, strategy, tenet of traditional asset allocation, tolerance, towel, traditional asset allocation, traditional asset class, traditional stock, treasury inflation, U.S. Bond, U.S. Bond market, uncertainty of the situation, upside volatility, usual asset class, volatility, wealth, wealth preservation, wealth preservation strategy

The current economy, marked by the combination of high and rising inflation, low unemployment, and the near-zero interest rate policy

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Finance 

Four Common Financial Mistakes to Avoid

April 1, 2022June 22, 2022 Scott Neal advisor, age 62, alternative scenario case study, benefit pay, combination ginormous, common financial mistake, common mistake, Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff, Dr. Laurence Kotlikoff claim, Drawdown, egregious mistake, financial impact of the decision, full-blown multi-year tax projection, ginormous, high school basketball coach, impact of a section, investor, large bold print, Laurence Kotlikoff, life 's big danger, longevity risk, loss of benefit, maximum lifetime family benefit, mistake, multi-year tax projection, non-financial factor, piece of rental property, possible combination ginormous, possible month, potential longevity risk, prudent estimate, prudent estimate of the unknown, scenario case study, Scott Neal, security benefit, significant capital gain, start benefit, start of benefit pay, take social security benefit, tax impact, tax impact of decision, tax-free exchange, volatility

My high school basketball coach put up a poster in our locker room. In rather large bold print it read,

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Finance 

Five Types of Risk and How to Deal with Them

February 1, 2022April 19, 2022 Scott Neal alert, alternative future scenario, annuity payout, asset, asset allocation, chief risk, chief risk control, defensive stock, Drawdown, Drawdown risk, estate work, financial plan, flavor of risk, future regret, future use reasonable assumption, good dividend, good hedge, good perform asset, inflation, inflation beater, investment, investment hit, investment turn, investor, investor face, let 's look, long-term goal, loss of purchase power, mind of investor, portfolio, purchase power, rational investor, real estate work, risk budget, risk tolerance questionnaire, S&P 500, Scott Neal, short term bond, short-term promise, short-term promise of gain, standard deviation of the distribution of return, stock, type of risk, volatility, volatility risk, x., x% return

Investors face several types of risk, and I contend that it is a mistake to get so focused on just

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Finance 

Inflation: The Cause and Effect

December 1, 2021February 15, 2022 Scott Neal 1.75% inflation, 6% inflation, ABCs of inflation, asset, average price of gasoline, bond, bond market, brand_new Z28 Camaro, brand-new model, cause of inflation, Chevy dealer, curve, deficit, double of the cost, dreaded word, fed, flow of wealth, good year, high interest rate, impact of sustained 6% inflation, importance of time-dimensioned goal, inflation, interest rate, long term bond, magnitude of inflation, near-term, near-term impact, near-term impact of inflation, plan scenario, price of good, regular broadcast of the news, result of 6% inflation, rise of price, S&P 500, Scott Neal, show room floor, store of wealth matter, supply curve, sustained 6% inflation, term bond, term rate, time horizon, time-dimensioned, time-dimensioned goal, true impact of the rise, wealth matter, Z28, Z28 Camaro

If you are the one in your family who fills up at the gas pump or shops at the grocery

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Financial 

End-of-Year Planning Becomes Urgent

October 1, 2021December 10, 2021 Scott Neal accredited investment, backdoor, Backdoor Roth IRA, Biden 's campaign promise, Congress, contribution, conversion, financial toe, future tax save, high income limitation, implement tax, implement tax save strategy, income limitation, IRA, IRAs, large retirement account, married filing, Means version, Mega-Backdoor Roth IRA, new RMD rule, non-deductible, non-deductible contribution, outright contribution, qualified charitable distribution, retirement, retirement account, retirement account balance, retirement plan, RMD, Roth, Roth contribution, Roth conversion, Roth IRA, Scott Neal, strategy, tax save strategy, taxable income, threshold, traditional IRA

Last month I advised to be on your financial toes and to pay attention to what is happening around you

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Finance 

Get Ready for Post-COVID Investing

August 1, 2021October 18, 2021 Scott Neal 10% average return, average inflation, capital gain, Crestmont, Crestmont research, curve, demand curve, dividend, dividend yield, E expansion, E ratio drive dividend yield, E., earnings, Ed Easterling, Ed Easterling of Crestmont research, Es, expected return, expected return of stock, financial plan, forecast of the market, horizon, Ibbotson, Ibbotson chart, inflation, let 's explore, let 's make, long run average, long-standing average, magnitude of change, P., personal time horizon, plan horizon, Post-COVID invest, price earnings, run average, Scott Neal, share growth, stable inflation, start point of the P, stock, stock market, supply curve, time horizon, total return, valuation, valuation metric, yield

You’ve probably heard it said that the U.S. stock market average annual total return is about 10%. That’s widely publicized,

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Finance 

A Look Forward

June 1, 2021September 9, 2021 Scott Neal accommodative federal reserve, accumulated disposable income, actual sell price, big deficit, bond, bond market, buy bond, cash build, charge of long-term rate, curve, data collection tool, deficit, demand curve move, economic detail, economist, economist call wealth effect, face of inflation, Harvard economist estimate, hearty growth, huge pent-up demand, inflation, inflation kick, interest rate, keep interest rate low, long-term rate, low short-term rate, mean high rate, month-over-month, month-over-month growth, movement of supply, negative real return, net of inflation, next major round, next major round of inflation, pent-up, pent-up demand, positive rate of return, rate low, reasonable degree of certainty, rise interest rate, robust increase, Scott Neal, supply curve, unparalleled stimulus, year-over-year, year-over-year comparison, year-over-year number

I don’t suppose that I need to spend a lot of time reminding you that 2020 and Q1 2021 have

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Finance 

Back to Basics

April 1, 2021June 16, 2021 Scott Neal Alka-Seltzer commercial, amount of payoff, asset, balance, balance sheet, balance sheet date, basics, cash, cash flow, categorization of the asset, checkup, coronavirus vaccine, debt, dynamics of a balance sheet, fizz, foolish action, inflow, JTWROS, liability, liquidity of the asset, negative net worth, net worth, old Alka-Seltzer commercial, payoff, payoff date, plop, right of survivorship, rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, Scott Neal, sheet, snapshot of a point, spouse 's asset, tax-deferred, tax-deferred retirement account, Tax-Deferred retirement asset, taxable asset, track of net worth, worth

Remember that old Alka-Seltzer commercial that began, “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is?” I don’t think

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Finance 

At a Crossroads

February 1, 2021April 14, 2021 Scott Neal $, 1.9, 70% success, absence of trump, agenda of national survival, American prophecy, Biden, Biden 's $1.9 trillion dollar request, Biden administration, boom generation, boomer, Boomer script, brand-new culture war, Care act, Congress raise, COVID-induced, COVID-induced recession, crossroad, culture war, dollar request, generous relief, gray champion, history turn, Joe Biden, Joe Biden 's policy, long-lived life, mark of a true elder statesman, maximum danger, missionary elder, new strain, new strain of the virus, next Gray Champion, overwhelm post-inauguration sentiment, PE, PE ratio, post-inauguration, post-inauguration sentiment, presence of Biden, pro-choice secularist, pro-life evangelical, rally, rd turn, recovery, Saecula, Scott Neal, significant new fiscal stimulus, steady decline of employment, stock, stock market, strong stock market, time of maximum danger, true elder statesman, typical business cycle, unfamiliar challenge, unfamiliar challenge of self-restraint, unraveling-era, unraveling-era skirmish, vaccine, vaccine rollout, virus, Woody Brock, young millennial

While a few people have told me this month that they are afraid of a Biden administration, the overwhelming post-inauguration

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Finance 

Where Do We Go from Here?

December 1, 2020February 17, 2021 Scott Neal -contribution limit, 70½, B., Biden, Biden victory, calendar move, Care act, catch-up limit, contribution, COVID, Dr. Woody Brock, duration of the market, employer 's match, entire employer 's match, entire final paycheck, financial house, firm 's sale, FOMO, free money, inherited IRAs, interest rate, IRA, IRA contribution, K., late market move, let 's keep, minimum amount necessary, owner of inherited IRAs, paycheck, plan administrator, polarized electorate, prospect of future earnings, QCD, required minimum distribution, RMD, RMD wrinkle, RMDs, Roth contribution, Roth IRA, Scott Neal, smart folk, steep sell-off, stock, stock market, tax year, tax-year contribution, tortuous decline, traditional IRA, trap of FOMO, upward bias, v-shaped recovery, wall street analyst, wash sale, year-end

For the nation, 2020 has been one of the most difficult years in memory. We are grappling with COVID and

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