LBT Wealth Management

01/25/2024

How many of us have been planning for retirement since the first day of work? *raises hand* 🙋‍♂️

But have you researched the top retirement planning tips to help maximize your goals?

Back in our parents’ day, many companies paid into pensions so that once employees turned 65, they could walk out of the office for the last time.

Those days are long gone…😔

Sadly, modern retirement saving is mostly self-driven. You get out what you put in, and not doing it correctly could mean retirement is way farther away than you want — if ever!

Here are 3 things you can start doing to ensure you retire when you want and how you want:

💲Maximize your 401(k) employer match.

If your employer offers a retirement plan, make it your first priority to take advantage of the entire match.

💲Aim to save 15% per year.

My rule of thumb is to try to save 15% of your pre-tax income for retirement. That includes your contributions to workplace plans and any additional IRAs.

If you're not yet able to save the full 15%, don't worry—just try to make small cuts in everyday spending.

💲Automate your contributions.

One of the easiest and most popular ways to make saving a regular habit is to set up auto-contributions, so you never have to think about it.

01/24/2024

Many people have a goal in mind. Retire at 62, make a million dollars, buy a big house, travel around the world.

What goals do you have set for your life? Do you have a plan of how to achieve those goals? Are you on track?

Whatever your goals are, we are here to put a financial plan in place to help you achieve them.

If you need help with your plan or want to make sure you’re still on track, please send us a DM.

10/31/2023

That scary bump in the night...

The noise in the woods...

The first few steps into a dark room...

These are all classic experiences that bring on fear.

Fear is an interesting emotion that can lead us to do silly things.

However, at Halloween, we try to get scared. We search it out by watching scary movies and going through haunted houses.

Where we don’t want fear is in our financial future.

That’s where I can help.

The noises in the woods and the bumps at night are scary because they are unknown.

My goal is to be sure nothing is unknown when it comes to your long-term financial strategy.

I’ve been writing about scary terms used by the financial industry in an attempt to make them known.

As a bit of fun, I’ve been using terms that might relate to Halloween.

But, it’s the terms that are often used but not understood that can make things really scary.

So, here’s my offer to you...

Ask me any questions on any financial topic or term you’ve heard before.

I can almost guarantee that others have asked me about it too, so no judgment from me.

Feel free to message me and ask me everything from “What exactly is a stock?” to “What does a reference to Riders in my annuity mean?” I look forward to hearing from you.

10/30/2023

It’s always the unknown that is scariest, right?

In scary movies, the characters walk backward into dark rooms to build suspense and scare you.

We have no idea what they’ll be facing in that room. It’s also why lights just don’t work in scary movies.

Keeping things in the dark keeps them unknown and scary.

Here’s the thing, though...

I’m not scared of anything in the market, and I don’t want you to be either.

I want you to invest, looking forward, with the lights on.

But, sometimes, the financial industry uses scary terms to keep people away or even keep things in the dark.

Today’s term isn’t terrifying.

But the name is fitting for Halloween...

It’s Zombie Companies.

You’ve likely seen this term when describing some Chinese real estate. It was often used when discussing some banks and corporations through the financial crisis.

A zombie company has just enough money to pay their obligations and the interest on debt, but nothing more.

They can’t pay off debt. They are not turning a profit.

Essentially, the company is dead but keeps stumbling around without moving forward.

The interesting thing is that some of these Zombies get all dressed up and put on a little makeup by building out complex debt structures. That can make it hard to tell what’s underneath.

So, how can you avoid investing in a company that’s going nowhere?

It just takes a little research.

Every publicly traded company must disclose their financial information.

They do it in different formats, but you can easily find that information online.

Of course, you can also save yourself time and just ask me or my team.

We’d be happy to let you know if you’re dealing with a Zombie or a potential investment.

10/27/2023

Throughout history, we’ve used scary terms to define things we don’t understand.

Sometimes, we even use these scary ideas to keep people away.

You’ve probably heard the term “the Witching Hour.”

Used for that time of night when kids should be home in bed, not out causing mischief. Of course, the stock market couldn’t be left out of a nice scary term.

But why not up it a little bit?

They call it the Triple Witching hour.

Have you ever heard that term?

It is the term used to define the final hour of trading on the third Friday of every March, June, September, and December.

Why Triple Witching?

Because three things happen that day and culminate in the final hour.

Stock Options, Stock Index Futures, and Stock Index Option Contracts all expire.

Rather than explain how each of those contracts works here on social media, let’s focus on why it was given a “scary” name.

Due to the contracts expiring, many traders need to purchase or sell stock to hedge their positions on their contracts.

This increases the volume and volatility of trading leading up to the triple witching hour.

How much does it increase?

On average, it opens at 10 times higher volume and closes at five times higher volume. That higher volume can mean all kinds of things for prices of stocks in the days leading up to and after a triple witching.

The trading during a triple witching, however, doesn’t typically have a long-term effect on prices.

So, unless you are a professional trader dealing with expiring contracts yourself, it’s best to stay away and let the specialists do their thing.

It’s kind of like the witching hour; don’t be afraid to stay up past midnight, but why not get some sleep instead?

10/25/2023

Black Days, the Death Cross, and Triple Witching.

Sounds more like the Halloween season than stock market movements.

Isn’t it fascinating how, throughout stock market history, we’ve used scary things to label those aspects of the market we don’t understand?

So, in an attempt to leave the scares to haunted houses and corn mazes, let me shed some light on these market terms.

The Death Cross is considered to be a bearish stock market signal. It happens when a long-term measurement passes below a short-term measurement.

If the average price of the S&P 500 stock index over a 200-day period moves below the average price of the S&P 500 stock index as measured over a 50-day period, that’s considered a Death Cross.

Here’s the critical thing to keep in mind...

From 1950 to 2020, the stock market went through a Death Cross 38 times.

The median drop after a death cross in that time frame was -7.75%. Not pleasant, but not anything to be scared about.

A good financial strategy will account for market movements like that happening.

Over the next few days, I’ll post more about the other “scary” terms you shouldn’t be scared about.

03/22/2022

I just paid $100 to fill up my tank!

Why are gas prices so high and what will that do to the economy?
It’s a question I’ve been asked often.

While it is a complex answer, here is some basic information:

🛢️ AAA puts the price of oil at about 55% of the reason behind the current price of gas. The rest of the price comes in from supply, demand, taxes, and some other factors.

The price of oil is driven by supply, demand, and speculation. All of which were influenced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As for the second part of the question, it isn’t exactly clear how much gas prices will affect the economy.

Gasoline makes up a small portion of consumer spending – roughly 2.6% according to Reuters. That means that higher spending on gas doesn’t have a significant impact on overall consumer spending.

But higher fuel prices typically mean less travel, which affects airlines, hotels, and tourism. It also makes production and shipping costs higher.

Honestly, it’s mostly a guessing game as to how much these high gas prices will affect production. At a time when shipping and transport are already backlogged no one knows what the impact will be.

I’m feeling it in my wallet.

I just paid $100 to fill up my tank!

My biggest concern is how this is affecting you.

Has it changed your plans or income needs?

09/07/2021

Rick Taborda has earned the Certificate in
Blockchain and Digital Assets® from the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and New York Institute of Finance. He joins an exclusive group of financial professionals with the credentials to serve investors who are curious about bitcoin, blockchain and digital assets.

The Certificate in Blockchain and Digital Assets® course is the only program designed for financial professionals. Graduates of the Certificate program have the essential knowledge about this emerging ecosystem can that their firms and their firm’s clients need and can rely on.