When a client has accumulated savings that they don’t plan to use in the near future, they often wonder what they should do with their money to make it work harder for them (aka grow more). One of the first questions we ask is, what is the likely timeframe for the money? If it’s less […]

We just got back from a quick trip to the beach.  Melanie had wanted to take her good friends to the beach, and they had a wonderful time making memories as they close out their junior year of high school together. (Melanie’s version) While their trip was filled with sleeping in, surfing, strolling the beach…our

We have been very fortunate to add some wonderful people to our team since starting Meridian in 2015 (!), and as they advance their careers and knowledge base, they have started to enter the regular blog rotation (shout out to Kira Topeka for next week!). It is nice to not only add their expertise and […]

Other than the Oscars, the failure of Silicon Valley Bank has been dominating the headlines. However, the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have moved swiftly to address potential risks to the financial system. We also believe the turmoil will relieve some pressure on the Federal Reserve, possibly leading to a

The very first ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) was created almost exactly 30 years ago on January 29, 1993, in the form of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (symbol: SPY). It was originally listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) which was acquired by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2008. Our industry certainly loves

A 2014 Fidelity study of the best performing 401K accounts came to an interesting conclusion…the best performing accounts over the time period of 2003 to 2013 were those held by an estate or by participants who had totally forgotten about their account.  In both cases, the accounts were marked as inactive due to

As we approach the end of the year, a lot of our clients are asking what they should be doing before 2022 comes to a close. There are plenty of things-to-consider-before-the-end-of-the-year lists out there, but if you have investments in taxable (non-retirement) accounts, you may want to consider tax loss harvesting.

To repeat the obvious, we are still in a period of extreme market volatility and overall decline in 2022. We have said it in this space many times before, but it is almost impossible to time the market. And data and history tell us that trying to “get out and get back in” often hurts […]

One of the historical realities of the stock market is that it typically has performed poorest during the month of September. The September Effect is a worldwide phenomenon; it doesn’t only affect U.S. markets. A reason could be that most mutual funds cash in their holdings to harvest tax losses. Another particular