• Christmas/New Years Holiday Hours – AFP will close at noon on Friday, December 22nd and remain closed through Monday, December 25th in observance of Christmas. We will also be closed on January 1st in observance of New Years.

Understanding Your Schwab Statements

• Statements can be sent by mail or electronically via eDelivery.

• You can download up to 10 years of statements and other important documents through Schwab Alliance.

• Your statement lists your current holdings and recent account transactions.

• The 'Change in Account Value' section of your statement contains key data points including deposits and withdrawals, investments purchased and sold, and any fees.

Due to time constraints, there will be no webinar in December.

Please stay tuned for future webinar announcements.

Click below to read our November 2023 Blog edition.

529 Rollover to a Roth IRA

We would enjoy receiving your feedback on our Blog. Please share any comments or suggestions for future topics with us via email.

DRIFTING APART – November marked the eleventh month in a row that survey data from ISM showed manufacturing activity contracted while the services sector expanded. Dating back to the second half of 1997, this current streak is the longest that one sector has contracted while the other has shown growth. (source: Institute for Supply Management)

POP IN PRODUCTIVITY – US economic productivity was revised up to a 5.2% annualized gain in Q3 2023. That’s the fastest quarterly growth in output per worker hour since the rebound from the COVID shock in 2020. Other than that period and the initial recovery following the Global Financial Crisis, Q3 2023 was the fastest uptick in productivity in two decades. (source: BLS)

LESS PESSIMISTIC ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY – In a recent Gallup poll, half of US non-retirees said they expect to receive social security benefits when they retire, which is the highest percentage since 2000. Broken out by age, 66% of those over 50 and 50% of those under 30 expect to receive benefits, but within the 30 to 49 bracket, only 37% expect to receive benefits. (source: Gallup)

MORTGAGE ACTIVITY PERCOLATING – Weekly mortgage applications during the week of 12/4 jumped 7.4% for the largest increase since March. Mortgage applications have now increased for six consecutive weeks, which is the longest streak of gains since August 2015. Mortgage refinances have also been on the rise with refi applications surging by 19.4% following a 13.9% gain in the prior week. (source: Mortgage Bankers Association)

THREE CHEERS FOR THE FED – On 12/13, the Powell Fed kept rates unchanged but projected up to three cuts to the federal funds rate in 2024. In response, treasury yields plummeted, and equities surged. The yield on the 10-Year Treasury fell 19 basis points from 4.2% to 4.01%. (source: Bespoke)

4th Quarter GDP Estimates

As we move into 2024, the path forward for markets may get a bit bumpier. Last week’s retail sales report surprised to the upside, after falling 1.1% the prior month. As a result, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates for Q4 were revised upwards. The Atlanta Fed’s GDP is now projected to grow 2.6%, up from its estimate of 1.2% a week prior. Healthy retail sales and favorable CPI data has provided a boost of positive news. 

Source: Census Bureau, FactSet, Federal Reserve, Bank of Atlanta, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Investing for Retirement:

Why You Might Want to Reconsider That 403(b)

By Liz Weston

Source: NerdWallet

Like many other educators, high school science teacher Robert Curtiss of Dearborn, Michigan, thought he was doing the right thing by investing in his school district’s 403(b) retirement plan. Then federal regulators charged the company handling Curtiss’ investments with fraud.

In July 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Equitable Financial Life Insurance Co. had misled investors — mostly public school employees — about what their investments cost. Equitable often issued quarterly statements showing $0 in fees, when in reality the expenses were much higher, according to the SEC. Equitable agreed to pay a $50 million civil penalty to harmed investors.

After hearing about the fine, Curtiss learned that his retirement investments were costing him two to three times what a typical 401(k) investor would pay. Getting his money out would cost even more: the investments, known as variable annuities, had surrender charges of 5% to 6%.

“I felt so frustrated,” Curtiss says. “If I would have known sooner, I would have never put my money there in the first place.”

Click here to continue reading this article.

Confused About Health-Savings Accounts?

Here's What to Know

Despite their triple tax benefits, HSAs remain an enigma to many employees. Hint: They're not FSAs

By Cheryl Winokur Munk

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Health-savings accounts, and the triple tax benefits they can bestow, aren’t necessarily a secret anymore. But these accounts remain an enigma for many Americans. 

Not everyone has the option to participate in an HSA, but even if they do, many don’t use it fully. This is underscored by data showing that about 73% of employees with an HSA contributed to their account in 2021, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America, a nonprofit trade association for employers.

Yet that still leaves many eligible workers who haven’t opened an account or, if they have, they haven’t contributed or invested the money for growth. These are missed opportunities, financial advisers say, given that deposits are tax-deductible, growth is tax-free and withdrawals are, too, as long as the money is used to pay qualified medical expenses.

Click here to continue reading this article.

“To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake,

it is necessary to stand in the cold.”

- Aristotle