Blog Posts

If you’ve been watching market headlines, you probably heard that markets tumbled in the first days of 2016, raising the specter of corrections and bear markets. When markets swing, it’s natural to worry about your investments and question your commitment to your strategy. We have outlined 4 strategies to keep in mind when markets swing:

After a turbulent 2015, stocks tumbled in the first few weeks of 2016, causing concerns that the bull market we’ve enjoyed since 2009 may be over. We’d like to take the opportunity to help you put market corrections in perspective.

By Michael J. Searcy

My company’s slogan in the 90’s promised, “Mike Searcy will put your life in a 3 ring binder.” The financial planning industry was just starting to become popular, and for many households who were used to stuffing receipts into shoeboxes, the idea of having someone organize their finances into a binder sounded promising. However, I found many were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of paperwork they had built up through the years, paralyzing them from taking action. Others who took action would receive their financial plan and then never look at it again. My company is now celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and I find that many people today are still overwhelmed with getting their finances in order and adjusting their plan along the way – are you one of them? If you are, and you haven’t taken a look at how the industry has evolved to help you with this process, keep reading.

By Michael J. Searcy and Jessica A. Kmetty

For the past few decades, women have increasingly turned their creativity, ingenuity and business acumen into entrepreneurship, with the number of women-owned businesses near 10 million and growing. While women strive to run successful businesses and overcome the challenges of ownership today, it becomes easy to neglect setting up a retirement savings plan which could help secure a successful future. Without a retirement plan, these women and their employees could work for years, striving to build a successful company, only to fail financially in retirement.

Joe got excited about Apple and ordered his advisor to buy 100 shares; his advisor worried about the out-of-character behavior but wasn’t authorized to speak to Joe’s family. Sally thought she had won the lottery and wired $50,000 to a scammer; her bank questioned the large withdrawal, but Sally approved it anyway. Dennis gave his caregiver cash and expensive gifts that totaled over $100,000, leaving his family with no way to get the money back.