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In our January blog we cautioned investors that the market had been “too calm” for too long. And sure enough, by late January, market volatility returned strongly with daily + / - swings of several percentage points. We have now had two declines that we -10% declines from peak to trough.

Wow! What a year markets had in 2017 and they are off to a strong start in 2018 as well. 2017 was the first time in the history of the S&P 500 that the index had positive monthly performance every month in a calendar year. Since the November presidential election in 2016, the S&P 500 has recorded 14 consecutive monthly gains and is up over 6% year-to-date as I am writing this blog.

Whether you want to leave work at 62, 67, or 70, claiming the retirement benefits you are entitled to by federal law is no casual decision. You will want to consider a few key factors first.

For the past two months we have been asked repeated what were our thoughts about the tax reform that Congress was considering.  Our answer has been simple and consistent:

If you have been around Golden Years Advisors for the past several years then you know that we enjoy Bob Doll’s very candid market outlook presentations. But the REAL reason that we love Bob’s forecasts is that he is the only Wall Street pundit that we know of who actually has the courage to report on the accuracy of their forecast.

Since Donald Trump won the Presidential election last November, the stock market is up over 9%. Last week, we watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) close at record highs for 9 consecutive days.

We keep hearing two questions: “why” and “how long will this last”?

Some simple steps may make a major financial difference over time.

Provided by Jim Yent

FINANCIAL SENSE:   A TALE OF TWO BULL MARKETS

December 7, 2016

The 1^st quarter of 2016 has been quite volatile for investors: a sharp market decline in the first 6 weeks of the year followed by an equally brisk recovery. We have been sharing with clients how we believe several large macro forces are causing rip currents through global markets: