OUR BLOG
December 2019
3 Tips for Financial Health for the New Year
A recent Northwestern Mutual survey found that 41% of Americans are stressed about retirement planning, and 46% worry about outliving their savings.[1] And with 62% of Americans stressed about money in general[2], it’s surprising that only 28% of Americans will actually make New [...]
Budget Checkup: Tax Time Is the Right Time
Every year, more than 147 million Americans, just like you, file federal tax returns, according to the Tax Policy Center. Many of my clients often tell me how much they dread searching through their files to locate their mortgage, retirement, and investment account [...]
3 Tips for Traveling During the Holidays
“I’m traveling for the holidays.” Just those words can make blood pressures rise. Gridlock traffic, delayed flights, and crowded train stations come to mind. Add in high travel costs and making a trip during the holidays seems like a downright bad idea. But [...]
Phase-One Trade Deal Reached – Weekly Update – December 16th, 2019
The Week on Wall Street The U.S. and China announced a limited trade agreement last week. That news lifted U.S. and foreign stocks, leading to weekly gains. Advancing 0.91% on the week, the Nasdaq Composite outperformed the S&P 500 (up 0.73%) and Dow [...]
Reminder: 4 Important Things To Do by December 31st
You might have a Christmas to-do list to help you stay on track this holiday season. And while it may be an overwhelming list already, there are a few important financial deadlines you should add to it. It’s the season of giving, so [...]
Alternative Gift ideas
You could say that the law of diminishing returns applies to Christmas gifts as we age: As time goes on, we can use less and less material gifts. At a certain point we accumulate so many possessions that when we say “I don’t [...]
Stocks Ride Out a Choppy Week – Weekly Update – December 9th, 2019
The Week on Wall Street Key Wall Street benchmarks were up and down last week – or rather down and then up. A Tuesday retreat was offset by a Friday rally spurred by the Department of Labor’s November jobs report. While the S&P [...]
Reminder: Don’t Forget to Take RMDs by December 31st
Tax-advantaged retirement accounts like traditional 401(k)s and IRAs offer many advantages, but some of these don’t last forever. The government eventually reaps the reward of years of tax-free compounded interest by forcing you to withdraw funds from your own retirement accounts and inherited [...]
Disclosure: This commentary reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of the O’Donnell Financial Services, LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded as a description of advisory services provided by O’Donnell Financial Services, LLC or performance returns of any O’Donnell Financial Services, LLC client. The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice. Nothing in this commentary constitutes investment advice, performance data or any recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. O’Donnell Financial Services, LLC manages its clients’ accounts using a variety of investment techniques and strategies, which are not necessarily discussed in the commentary. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.