Insights - What's on our mind

The current level of the stock market is an enigma for many. Stocks appear to be reflecting rosy future growth projections and many large cap index funds are seeing their returns driven primarily by the growth of stocks like Apple, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla, Microsoft and Amazon. For any new investor, this frothy environment represents a difficult starting point for their portfolio. The good news is that if you have a long term time horizon, namely more than ten year and up to 50 years depending upon your current age, the stock market is still a great tool for you to help grow your savings. Distortions within indices tend to be temporary and over the long term the index will readjust to reflect the performance of the index asset class.

The number one priority is to save as much as you possibly can. There are two ways to do this, one by increasing income the other by cutting expenses. Most people can't take on another job given their day job, but everyone can manage their expenses. Cut out extraneous expenses and live beneath your means. If you accustom yourself to living well without a lot of luxuries, you can save money and set yourself up to retire well and have some cushion for a few extravagances.

A while back I was quoted in US News and World Report in an article related to savings. Here is my sage advice: "Something is always better than nothing; more is always better than less," says Jamie Ebersole, a certified financial planner in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.

As parents, we all want to help our kids develop great saving habits. One way to do so is to help your kids save for retirement. Starting early and saving regularly is a recipe for long term success. Here are three reasons why you should consider starting a Roth IRA for your child or children.

I am often asked by my younger clients and those in their mid-career stage (ages 50 - 60) whether or not they should consider retiring early. This is a great question to ask and unfortunately I don't have a straight answer for you. As with most things in life, the answer depends and it is a highly personal decision. In order to help clients assess their readiness for retirement, both financially and psychologically, here are some of the questions I like them to answer. While this list is not exhaustive, nor necessarily in order of importance, it will give you a good place to start on your path to deciding your retirement plans and will hopefully open up new areas for consideration and exploration. At the end of the day, the goal is to help you make the best retirement choices possible, for you, your spouse or partner, your family and your friends.