This Valentine's Day, take time to remind your loved ones that Social Security helps people in all stages of life. Apply for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. If your loved one is planning for retirement or interested in estimating their future benefits, they can create a free and secure my Social Security account at www.ssa.gov/myaccount and…
Advisor News
Tom Brady, considered the best quarterback to ever play football, is retiring, this time for good, and my reaction to his announcement— a chest-tightening— surprised me, but not because I’ m a Brady groupie. The news simply reminded me of a reality I try not to think about too much. People in my circle are retiring at a much faster clip than beginning new jobs.
A Lexington area investment advisor and attorney, Douglas Hawkins, of Richmond, has been found guilty by a federal jury at U.S. District Court in Lexington of investment advisor fraud, securities fraud, and two counts of mail fraud. The U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Kentucky says according to the evidence presented during the trial, while…
Wells Fargo& Co. has agreed to pay $300 million in cash as part of a settlement with shareholders addressing a federal class-action lawsuit filed in 2018.. The Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California led the class action lawsuit brought on behalf of an estimated "hundreds of thousands" of investors. According to the settlement, the $300…
Most Americans sandwiched between caring for children and aging parents are stressed about affording their financial obligations over the next decade, a new survey said. While 66% said they are at least "somewhat stressed" about the costs of having to take on the care of aging parents while still raising a family, only 32% discussed their financial needs with…
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Carlton S. Shier IV, issued the following news release:. A Lexington investment advisor and attorney, Douglas Hawkins, of Richmond, Ky., was found guilty late Friday, by a federal jury sitting in Lexington, of investment advisor fraud, securities fraud, and two counts of mail fraud. Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States…
The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John R. Lausch Jr., issued the following news release on Feb. 6, 2023:. DAVID SHELDON WELLS, 32, of Chicago, was charged with three counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern…
Dear Rusty: I have a question about the family maximum SS retirement benefit. As I understand it, if the breadwinner is drawing retirement benefits or is deceased, the family maximum is calculated from a formula that yields a figure between 150 percent and 188 percent of the breadwinner's primary insurance amount- his or her monthly benefit if claimed at full…
The Zurich- based Credit Suisse Group and the Honolulu- headquartered Trinity Investments, both investment firms, acquired the hotel at 3555 S. Ocean Dr. from Brookfield Asset Management, the same co-owner of the high-end outdoor shopping mall in the Miami Design District. The Diplomat closing is one of the largest in U.S. history, with the most recent being the…

Passage of the Secure Act 2.0 brings retirement crisis into focus
Recent statistics and surveys paint a scary picture of an aging American population that doesn’t understand the financial realities of retirement. The Secure 2.0 Act has helped shine a light on this issue.
NEW YORK- Wall Street climbed Wednesday to its best level since the summer following the latest hike to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, which said it's finally seeing improvements in inflation. Much of Wall Street is hoping that cooling inflation since the summertime means the Fed may raise rates just a bit more, before taking a pause and then possibly…
While the U.S. economy remains in growth territory this year, the odds are rising that it will stumble into a recession during 2023. Ongoing tightening by the Federal Reserve, slow growth abroad, the jump in energy prices caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the modest reversal of expansionary fiscal policy as the COVID recession recedes have combined…
Many investors were glad to see the end of 2022. But what's ahead this year? Several factors contributed to these results, including the moves by the Federal Reserve to aggressively hike interest rates to combat inflation, the Russia- Ukraine war, recession fears and increased concern over COVID-19 cases in China.

Study examines why consumers have confidence in making financial decisions
A recent study found that having – or not having – prior knowledge is what influences consumers most when it comes to making a financial decision.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers expect to deliver a "couple" more interest-rate increases before putting their aggressive tightening campaign on hold, even as they slowed their drive to curb inflation. Powell and his colleagues lifted the Fed's target for its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%.
Mortgage rates in U.S. fall again, hit 6.09%. The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced a 25 basis-point hike to its benchmark interest rate, slowing the pace of its drive to tame inflation. The Fed controls short-term rates, but long-term rates, including 30- year mortgages,“ are a function of market expectations for the path of the economy,” said Mike Fratantoni,…
Those who had specific financial goals last year were two to three times more likely to say various aspects of their personal finances improved.
Advisors think we are in the worst investment climate since 2008 but are betting on U.S. stocks to outperform this year amid a tech rebound, new research shows.
More than 80% of U.S. investors say that companies need to more openly communicate the risks and opportunities that shape their standing as “responsible investments” – and 73% also say they are more likely to invest in a company that shares with investors its plans for effectively managing those factors.