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Jun 08 2020
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PPP Flexibility Act

Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act

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New Legislation Could Help Business Owners with PPP Loan Forgiveness Process After being approved by the senate early last week, House Bill 7010 was signed into law by the President on June 5th, 2020. This bill triples the amount of time allotted for small businesses to spend PPP loan proceeds and affords additional flexibility. The two primary provisions are: Borrowers now have 24 weeks to spend funds received under the PPP loan program – up from the original 8 weeks. The requirement to spend at least 75% on payroll and payroll related costs has been lowered to 60%. The bill…
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Jun 04 2020
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stocks covid

Adding to Stocks During Covid-19

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The spread of Covid-19 has been referred to as a “black swan” event by some, meaning an occurrence with potentially severe consequences that were unpredictable. The consequences have certainly been severe with disruption to jobs, schools, and everyday life (though health experts would argue whether this was unpredictable). The first quarter of 2020 saw a nearly 35% market drop from the all-time highs of February, in a matter of weeks. The volatility index, or VIX, sometimes referred to as the “fear index” shot through the roof. In the short-term, the U.S. economy, along with many others across the globe, has…
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Jun 02 2020
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ppp loan

PPP Loan Forgiveness: Creative Planning Strategies to Consider

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On May 15th the SBA released the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application for the Paycheck Protection Program loans, including detailed instructions for borrowers on how to complete the application. Additional interim final rules were issued on May 22nd. Given that the program started on April 3rd, this week marks the eighth week and first opportunity for companies to submit their request for forgiveness. The application is made to your lender, who then has 60 days to determine eligibility for forgiveness. Amounts not forgiven are to be paid back at 1% interest over two years. Payments are deferred for six months. Unfortunately,…
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May 21 2020
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planning covid

Ways to Take Financial Action During the Pandemic

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The sweeping impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have upended all of our lives in different ways. Given the seriousness of the situation and for many, a new work from home reality, there has never been a better time to re-examine you and your family’s financial plan. We have written about the need for financial planning given unexpected situations such as incapacitation before, but given this unique situation and the passage of the CARES Act, we feel it is necessary to return to a few key planning opportunities. Review Estate and Incapacitation Documents Use this opportunity for a complete review of…
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Apr 27 2020
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concentrated stock

Balancing the Risks & Rewards of Concentrated Stock in Your Portfolio

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It’s been proven that a well-diversified portfolio can be crucial in attaining long-term financial goals – spreading your investments across asset classes balances the risk and reward inherent to any one specific asset. However, if your current or previous benefits package includes company stock, you may find that this creates a concentrated position in your portfolio, a risk that could potentially derail your financial plan. While concentrated stock can generate significant wealth for a successful company’s executives and employees, it also brings added risk to their financial plans. An investment plan that lowers your risk profile while maximizing returns must…
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Apr 19 2020
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planning opportunities

Planning Strategies to Consider in a Volatile Environment

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While the Coronavirus pandemic has brought its share of fear and anxiety, it also brings some favorable financial planning opportunities that can be of significant benefit for you and your family. Below are some opportunities to consider. 1. Harvesting Capital Losses: An approximate 20% decline in equity markets from the early year high, along with volatility in sectors of fixed income markets have caused security values to decline.  As we periodically rebalance portfolios, in taxable accounts we look to realize capital losses and replace sold positions with similar, but not identical, securities to maintain desired exposures. When we “harvest” capital…
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Apr 02 2020
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scams

Scams, Schemes, and Spoofs: A Pandemic Within a Pandemic

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To say that Coronavirus has dominated our minds and headlines these past few weeks is an understatement. While most people are worried about their physical and financial health, fraudsters are opportunistically preying on that fear. So, it is more important than ever to be vigilant and aware of various ways hackers can take advantage of you during these uncertain times. Here are some of the recent threats we’ve been seeing and best practices for protecting your identity and money. Cybersecurity Threats Phishing Attacks Phishing usually involves an email or social media post that includes a link or attachment. Scammers are…
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Mar 31 2020
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CARES Act

Details of Newly Passed CARES Act: Welcome Relief Plus Planning Opportunities

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The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) was signed into law on March 27, 2020 and provides $2.2 trillion in stimulus to help the economy recover from the dramatic changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Act is designed to offer individuals and businesses significant flexibility to recover from the anticipated recession as parts of the economy are forced to slow or shut down. Details of the Act’s provisions concerning individuals and small businesses are included in the sidebar. To put this into context, this $2.2 trillion is sizable relative to the $20 trillion United States GDP…
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Mar 27 2020
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Recent Market Volatility and Satellite Fixed Income

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Our core Fixed Income managers invest in high credit quality sectors such as investment grade municipal and corporate bonds, U.S. Treasury securities, and Government Agency Mortgage Back Securities (MBS). However, many additional fixed income securities exist, primarily of lower credit quality. We call these securities and the managers that invest in them “satellite” fixed income. Two of the largest and best known of these satellite fixed income sectors include High Yield bonds and Bank Loans (aka Leveraged or Senior Loans). The first graph below shows the Yield on the High Yield Index vs. U.S. Treasuries, the “spread”. Please note that…
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Mar 20 2020
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Recent Market Volatility and Municipal Bond Markets

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You may have seen a couple of notes from us over the past few weeks discussing markets and COVID-19. To break up the tone and for additional perspective, we thought it worthwhile to relay what we are hearing from our investment managers. Below are just a couple observations from the many conversations we are having with municipal bond managers about recent volatility in the investment grade muni space. The response was fairly consistent across the board and broke down into liquidity, valuation, and credit quality. Liquidity One manager mentioned that prior to a few weeks ago, municipal bond mutual funds…
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