I started my investment career in the ‘90’s by selling 5% tax free municipal bonds over the phone to retirees. People with money, I learned quickly, want reliable income and low risk. To be confident in the bonds I recommended, I sold mostly AAA or insured bonds – not the higher-yielding, but riskier, housing, hospital, or airport bonds.
But like Mary Hopkin’s classic 1960’s hit says….

The single most common estate planning mistake in the United States happens when parents put a child’s name on the deed to their house. Parents do this because they want their children to inherit their property without probate costs and delays. Well-intentioned parents do not realize that there are safer, more efficient ways to make sure their kids get their home to help everyone avoid taxes and other complications. If you are about to add your child’s name to your home, keep reading to understand why that probably is not a wise decision and learn about some better estate planning strategies.

On March 11, 2020, news organizations ran a story about a notable passing. It served as the main business story for just about every financially oriented newspaper, news program, and news website in the United States. The bull market’s historic 11-year run, beginning in the wake of the housing crisis of 2008-2009, had come to a close.

COVID-19 has impacted our lives in too many ways to count. One of the more notable changes as far as our work life specifically is the large uptick in employees working remotely. Within only a few weeks, the number of work-from-home employees went from 31% to 62% of the workforce. Working from home or “telecommuting” is a way in which employees use Internet connection and a computer to do work in the comfort of their own home. Many firms leverage the capabilities of Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, Skype, Cisco Webex, and other digital services to communicate via webcam, giving employees access to a pseudo face-to-face environment with their other remotely working coworkers. Overall, it was been a challenging time for many workers to transition to remote work life, but there are some benefits…