Solomon Financial Advisors

January Market Update

travis — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:20:49 +0000

Click here or click below to view a market update for the month of January.

February Newsletter

travis — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:03:54 +0000

We are already in February of 2012 (yet it feels like March/April). We here at Solomon Financial wanted to provide you with a newsletter that discusses mortgage rates, tax considerations for 2011, retirement plan limits, and market volatility. Click here to read all articles or select a specific article from the list below.

What to Do With Leftovers in 529 Plans

travis — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:38:30 +0000

Most parents worry about not having enough money in their 529 savings plans to pay for their kids’ college expenses. But sometimes you can end up with more cash in these accounts than you need—if, say, a child doesn’t go to college or attends a state school rather than a private university.

What then? … Continue reading

Investor Alert Video: Federal Income Tax Landscape 2012 & 2013

travis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 21:04:34 +0000

6 Steps to Hiring a Financial Planner

travis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:38:44 +0000

Resolved for the New Year: I will not make a financial plan for my future in 2012. That’s the disturbing finding of a survey showing that 80% of Americans won’t focus on financial planning this year–the highest percentage found since Allianz Life Insurance of North America started asking about this three years ago in an annual New Year’s resolution survey.

Why? … Continue reading

2011 Annual Market Review

travis — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:01:11 +0000

2011 has ended and 2012 is well underway. 2011 brought with it a Japanese earthquake accompanied by a devasting tsunami, a bitter debt ceiling debate in Congress, the downgrading of the US credit rating, the European debt crisis and fears of a double-dip recession. As we know, the preceding events were not taken lightly by the market. Follow the continue reading link for a video summary of markets in 2011. Continue reading →

Bears vs. Bulls | Keeping Market Volatility in Perspective

travis — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:53:04 +0000

When markets are volatile, sticking to a long-term investing strategy can be a challenge. To keep the ups and downs in perspective, it might help to look at past market cycles to see how recent market action compares … continue reading for market volatility update

SOLOMON FINANCIAL IS MOVING LOCATIONS

travis — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:37:31 +0000

We are excited to announce that we are moving our offices to a convenient new location. We will be located in the building just south of the Hilton on County Line Road. Our new location can be accessed from the Frontage Road or from Ridgewood Road. There are designated visitor parking spaces located close to the building on the Frontage Road side.

Monday, Nov. 14^th will be our first day in our new space. A map is included below (click to enlarge) for your convenience. We will be located on the second floor (Suite 240) and will now have elevators and handicapped parking available. Drop by for a visit if you are in the area. Let us know if we can ever be of assistance to you.

College Board Releases New College Cost Numbers

travis — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:14:36 +0000

Every October, the College Board releases its Trends in College Pricing report that highlights college cost increases for the current academic year and trends in the world of higher education. While costs can vary significantly by region and individual college, the College Board publishes … continue reading

Market Volatility | Updated

travis — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:52:34 +0000

Market volatility has been the constant in the market this year. On a day to day basis it has not been unusual to see the market shoot up only to come back down and shoot up again, or vice versa, minutes before the close. This can be rather unnerving to say the least. We, as humans, don’t like to be on that roller coaster ride with our savings. However, contrary to what the media keeps saying, there are certain measurements that can be viewed to calm our nerves and give us a little more of an objective view.

One of the main pieces of data we are keeping our eyes on at this time is corporate earnings. Companies come out with earnings reports at the end of each quarter and this gives us the opportunity to see how companies did over the last quarter and give us somewhat of an idea of the direction they are going. At this point, about 75% of S&P bottom-line results have surprised on the positive side. There have been fears out there that earnings would be weak and this data should help ease those fears some. To take the earnings point further, these surprises have been broad-based across industry lines. This is positive in that one industry is not carrying every other industry. Rather, all industries are experiencing an uptick in business.

Secondly, U.S. real GDP for the 3^rd quarter rose an annualized +2.5%. This is a number that is in line if not slightly higher than consensus expectations. This number directly disagrees with the more pessimistic recession fears that the media focuses on. In fact, a 2.5% rate is similar to U.S. economic growth of the last several decades, on average.

While the market has been volatile and has not lacked in uncertainties, these two data points help put some of the volatility in perspective and give us an objective view rather than taking what the media tells us at face value. We are of the mindset that this volatility will not subside for the short-term as there will continue to be uncertainties with Europe and the U.S. economy. However, we encourage investors to stay in the long-term mindset and pay attention to the data that tells us we are growing – albeit slowly.

Data sourced from: FocusPoint Solutions, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Morningstar, Payden & Rygel, Deutsche Bank, Wells Capital Management, Bloomberg, Reuters, Standard & Poors, MSCI, Barclays Capital, JPMorgan Asset Management, Oppenheimer Funds.