Bristlecone Blog

On March 27, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the third piece of relief legislation tied to the Coronavirus outbreak. With an estimated $2.2 trillion cost, it is the largest fiscal stimulus in the history of the U.S.—more than twice as large as the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. (...) Below are some of the highlights applying specifically to workers, investors, retirees, and small business owners.

(...) Beyond that time-tested advice, retirees with large IRA balances have a couple more tools at their disposal to mitigate the pain of a market decline by sharing some of it with Uncle Sam.

With anxiety comes an urge to do something. We agree, and here is what we are doing at Bristlecone, as well as some more recommendations for you to implement.

I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, NC, a small city in the middle of the state (famous, or infamous, as the home of Camel cigarettes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts!). Both my parents were in academics; I grew up right on the campus of Wake Forest University, so that was my playground and that had a big effect on me.

If you’re a named beneficiary of an IRA account whose owner recently passed away, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed. Inherited IRA assets are subject to myriad IRS and federal regulations, several of which were revised under the recently-passed SECURE Act, creating even more confusion. As a beneficiary, understanding your options, obligations, and potential tax consequences is critical to maximizing the value of your inheritance.

Stocks rallied strongly in Q4, and full-year returns for both stocks and bonds reflected a sharply positive reversal from 2018 (when virtually every asset class experienced negative returns). In 2019, many diversified stock and bond indexes recorded their best gains in several years. Domestic growth stocks led the way, with the S&P 500 index advancing 31.5%--the index’s best return since 2013. Small-cap and international benchmarks also delivered double-digit gains.