By: Tina Mistry, CFP^®

Let’s talk about one of my least favorite topics, annuities! They are complicated, can be costly, and frankly, can be hard to comprehend. However, in some recent conversations I have had around the topic, I have been provided with additional perspective on annuities along with considerations to share.

Annuities are meant to help investors generate a source of regular income from the assets initially used to purchase the annuity policy. Historically, they have been commission-based products often associated with high costs, hidden fees, and complex features. Further, as financial products have evolved over time, an investor can forget that they ever purchased a policy and lose sight of how these policies may best fit (or not) into their overall financial plan.  

By: Andrew James (AJ) Flores, CFP®

By: Andrew James (AJ) Flores, CFP®

In my previous article in this series, I provided a few ideas that Jillian and I found useful as we made the decision to manage our finances together (read here for Part 1 of this series!).  In this next installment, I will suggest some proactive steps you and your partner can work towards as you build on your shared financial future.

Resolutions and goal setting are all the rage this time of year. But as excited as you’re feeling about your New Year's to-do list, you might be overlooking four important factors that could help you accomplish more in 2022.

1. Values

One of my favorite late night TV show hosts best summarized 2021 in the title of one of his segments: 2021: The least bad year of the last 2 years. When I first saw the title of this segment, it made me chuckle, but I could not overlook how much I actually agreed with it. In 2021, the headlines continued to be dominated by pandemic concerns in addition to concerns around inflation and government debt. However, with the distribution of vaccines and reduction of lockdowns, we were able to see the beginnings of an economic recovery. We have a long way to go as businesses continue to face many challenges including labor shortages and supply chain issues, but in my opinion, 2021 was an improvement upon 2020.

The biggest surprise of them all? Stock market performance. Markets continued to set records throughout 2021 as the S&P 500 Index had a return of 28.7% for the year and the MSCI World ex USA Index, representing developed international markets, increased 12.6%. (For a comprehensive recap of market performance, I highly recommend reading Dimensional Fund Advisors latest article Market Review 2021: A Recovery Amid Challenges by clicking here.)

By: The Portfolio Advisors, Inc. Team

‘Tis the season for giving! The Portfolio Advisors, Inc. Team wanted to start a new tradition this year by giving back to various community organizations that mean a great deal to each of us. Our company will be making a donation to each of the following organizations selected by each of our team members. Please read below about these organizations and our personal connection to them.

By: Andrew James (AJ) Flores, CFP®

As we progress through this holiday season, I remind myself to dedicate time to reflect on the things I am thankful for. Notably, Jillian and I recently purchased our first home together (read about our homebuying experience here!), and what was definitely a significant step for us as a couple was made easier by first establishing a foundation for managing our finances.

As we head into the holiday season and wrap up the year that is/was 2021, I would like to recognize a couple of major milestones: the 40^th year anniversary of Dimensional Funds Advisors plus Portfolio Advisors' 30^th anniversary of partnering with Dimensional Fund Advisors. (Executive Chairman & Founder David Booth wrote a great article reflecting upon his 40 year journey. You may click here to read his article.)

It was 1991 when the founder of Portfolio Advisors, Gary Leffler, was looking for a new way to do business and better serve clients.  Specifically, he was interested in changing to a business model that was not transactional or commission based.  This, he reasoned, would help to foster client centric decisions.  Gary was also looking for a mutual fund family that embraced key philosophical beliefs that allowed for broad portfolio diversification and minimized costs. 

Your IRA and 401(k) haven’t magically grown all by themselves. Your nest egg is the result of years of planning and hard work.

Unfortunately, many seniors don’t realize that their retirement schedules aren’t going to fill themselves in either. Our most successful retirees have put just as much thought and preparation into how they’ll spend their time as they have into how they’ll spend their money.

Cryptocurrency can best be summed up as “Everything you don’t understand about money combined with everything you don’t understand about computers.” (Source: HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) As we continue to educate ourselves and keep an eye on the developing industry that is cryptocurrency, we would like to invite you to an upcoming webcast hosted by Dimensional Fund Advisors: Fintech Trends with Marco Di Maggio on Tuesday, October 12^th at 8:30 a.m. PST. (Please click here to register.) Marco Di Maggio, Harvard economist and renowned fintech and cryptocurrency expert, offers deeper insights into how advances in blockchain technology and digital currency may impact the financial services industry, business, and society.

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