Markets & Fiscal Drama

What’s going on with markets? Why does the federal government keep getting into fiscal fights? A lot is going on, so let’s discuss. Why did markets melt down? A combination of things. Some negative news about home sales and consumer confidence created fresh concerns about the state of the economy.1

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How Should You Choose a Financial Planner?

Finding a financial professional, or even evaluating the one you currently use, is a hard task. There seem to be so many in the marketplace working for different companies. We will discuss our 5 reasons as to why an advisor at Paragon is different and could be the right fit

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How High Will Rates Go?

How high do you think the Federal Reserve will have to push interest rates to fully tame inflation? Some good news first: inflation is much, much lower than it was last summer. From its 2022 peak, headline inflation has plummeted to 3.2% in July after rising slightly over June’s reading.1

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How to Find Your Ideal Retirement Spot

What if you could blink and suddenly be living the retirement of your dreams? What would that look like? Would you be relaxing by glittering waters on a warm, white sandy beach? Would you be on a new adventure in the great outdoors? Or maybe you’d be enjoying more time

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Alternative Investments

It has been a good run. Ten years after the 2008 “meltdown,” the bull market in securities is beginning to show its age. And, after a very placid 2017, volatility in the market is showing it’s alive and well. That volatility has been driven by interest rate expectations, trade/tariff discussions,

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Thanksgiving-Turkey or Dressing?

Thanksgiving week, 2018 was an interesting one for the stock market. The S&P dropped 3.8% for the week putting us officially into a market correction. We closed the week down 10.2% from our last market high. This Thanksgiving week was the worst week since 1939. Monday, November 26, 2018 did

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Goals Set-Goals Met!

The base of your financial planning should be your goals and objectives. Goals are basically a result or achievement toward which you are willing to expend time and effort. Goals vary with the individual’s wishes; hence, you set your own. Defining effective goals requires developing some particular characteristics for those

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Social Security, If Not Now-When?

Social Security benefits are a component in the retirement planning of most Americans. However, those benefits pose questions for both younger and older employees. Younger employees are faced with the long term viability of the system (see our previous posting of “Social Security, Medicare, and You”. Older employees are faced

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Social Security, Medicare, and You

Each year the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds provide a report on the financial status of these programs—current and projected. The information below is from a summary of the 2016 Annual Reports www.ssa.gov, Office of the Chief Actuary, 2016 Trustees Report-Jacob J. Lew, Sec. of the

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