Family Tree Financial Services, LLC

Family Tree Financial Services, LLC Veteran owned, fee only investment advisor. Investment and tax planning advice for those expecting to retire in 10 years.

01/03/2023

2022 Market Performance:
NASDAQ down 33.1%
S&P 500 down 19.4%
Dow Jones down 8.4%

I'm expecting 2023 to be another challenging year for the markets. It's been a long time since interest rates have been this high but American companies functioned just fine from 1985-1999. Stay the course. Cash is king. Do not add to, or go into, debt in 2023. Good advice any time but especially this year.

10/31/2022

A buddy of mine refinanced into a 30 year VA loan at 2.25%. Yeah, he’s pretty stoked as rates are now over 7%.

06/10/2022

If you have 20 or more years until retirement and you haven't changed how you're invested this year, I wouldn't start selling now. Continue adding as usual as stock indexes are down 15-30%.

UNLESS.....you're a moderate or conservative investor. Then this could be a great time to re-allocate small amounts at certain intervals (every first of the month for example) to more aggressive holdings. There are so many good companies that are extremely cheap right now. For a little less risk, the QQQ is a good choice.

My personal favorite is Alphabet (GOOG). Today's close price $2,228.45. Determine how much you'd be comfortable owning. Next month after the stock split, you'd have 20 shares worth $111.42 each (at today's price). If you're comfortable owning $5,000 worth of GOOG, buy 5 more shares after the split. Then every month buy 5 more shares until the value of all the shares is near $5,000. You've dollar cost averaged into your full position over 4-6 months. If you believe in GOOG (or you have a favorite stock down 30% or more today) and you can ride it 10-20 years I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

04/04/2022

With the Federal Reserve expected to raise interest rates several more times this year, now is the time to pay off high interest debt.

Personally, I would not pay any agency that says they can get you on a plan to pay off debt. This about you looking within, determining the changes you need to make in your financial life and having the discipline to follow through.

If you have debt, paying it off is the best investment I could recommend. If you can save 10% or more in interest by paying off a credit card there are no other better guaranteed returns in the stock market.

04/03/2022

Tax filing deadline is April 18. In addition, you have until that day to make 2021 contributions to your IRA. If you've already filed and will contribute before the deadline, you'll have to file an amended return to show those contributions. If contributions are to a traditional IRA, your refund will increase (or the amount you owe will decrease).

03/23/2022

Health Savings Accounts are powerful tools. If you are in a position financially to cash flow health care expenses, you can invest your health savings account dollars to grow over years or decades.

IRA's are taxed either on withdrawal or in the current year (for ROTH contributions). Health Savings Accounts are never taxed if used for health care expenses. What percentage of retired people need health care? I rest my case. Why not pay for it with money never taxed?

03/18/2022

What a difference a week makes. Monday was doom and gloom. Today, from the lows Monday the S&P is up 7% and the NASDAQ is up over 10%.

If you're jittery about the day to day swings, then you absolutely need a partner that can look at things objectively without emotion. Happy to talk finances with anyone. Never any pressure. Take what you hear home and determine whether my advice has merit and, more importantly, if you feel you can trust me to look out for your best interests.

03/17/2022

We're about a month away from tax filing deadline. Keep in mind, if you're getting a refund the government doesn't care when you file. If you file an extension, you must make an estimated payment. Extensions do not grant pardons on penalties and interest.

Also, 2021 IRA contributions can still be made until the filing deadline. So, if you find out you owe $200 to Uncle Sam, you're in the 20% tax bracket and can still contribute $1000 to an IRA if you make that contribution the $200 tax bill goes to zero.

Where does the S&P 500 go from here? Better questions, where are you now and how much time do you have to prepare for t...
03/09/2022

Where does the S&P 500 go from here? Better questions, where are you now and how much time do you have to prepare for those life changing events?

03/08/2022

If you've read my posts over the last 6 months, my investment theme has been diversification. That doesn't mean completely abandoning technology funds and "core stock" holdings that have gotten crushed this year (and really, since Halloween). Despite the economy doing well and people embracing a return to pre-pandemic life we have more dollars (thanks to stimulus payments) chasing fewer goods (supply chain issues) causing higher prices (inflation). The Russian invasion of Ukraine has added another layer of volatility.

If you've been investing for a while to meet future goals and you find yourself closing in on those goals, this is a great time to take a look financially at what that day will look like. Maybe it's your high school freshman, 4 years away from college or it's you, 5-10 years away from retirement.

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Austin, TX

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Monday 5pm - 9pm
Tuesday 5pm - 9pm
Wednesday 5pm - 9pm
Thursday 5pm - 9pm
Friday 5pm - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

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