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2020 has been an eventful year for the financial markets and the past few weeks have been no different. As we approached the election, nerves were frayed. Given the jarring personal and financial impacts of the pandemic, economic uncertainty and the election, it seemed like everyone was on edge.

Video of August 2020 Market update.

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #8.

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #7.

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #5

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #6

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #4

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #3.

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #2.

Video of Covid-19 Actionable Strategy #1

The global economy continues to react to the threat of the coronavirus. After partially stabilizing last week, the volatility has returned. Bond yields fell as investors rushed for the safety of U.S. Treasuries. In light of these recent movements, we want to share with you our thoughts on this volatility. The most-important action you can take is to maintain perspective.

Over the past few days, global markets, both equity and fixed-income, have experienced considerable volatility. Stocks around the globe declined as news of the emerging, rapidly evolving spread of the novel coronavirus gained momentum moving from China to South Korea, Iran and Italy. The Federal Reserve responded with concerns that the virus would slow economic growth by affecting the global supply chain.

Investors were amply rewarded in 2019. Stocks turned in their best performance since 2013, and the gains were very broad. About 90% of S&P 500 stocks advanced for the year. Markets were buoyed by a strong economy, falling interest rates and solid employment. Progress was also made in trade talks, further pushing up returns. Bonds turned in solid returns as well, boosted by three interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The first half of 2019 brought good news to investors. The economy was strong. Unemployment was lower than it had been in decades and interest rates were low. This brought strong returns for both stocks and bonds. Life was good. As we entered the second half of the year, there were lingering concerns.

Alex and Brad, both in their mid-forties, had just celebrated the tenth anniversary of Consulting, Inc., their market consulting business. The next morning, before going to work, Brad suffered a heart attack while jogging and died later that day. Alex suddenly lost his long-time business associate. What's more, after the estate was settled, he found himself with a new co-owner, Brad's wife.

The equity and fixed-income markets have experienced considerable volatility over the past few weeks. Some of this has been related to a recent escalation of trade tensions with China and falling interest rates.

In 2008, the financial world was in a dark place. The markets were in the midst of the subprime crisis. The sell-off in equities was broad and brutal. At the depths of the decline, equity markets fell by over half. The news media blared that the worst was yet to come.

First growth, then income. If you're like most investors, you want to achieve growth while you're working and income after you retire.

For most investors, even those with significant wealth, a secure financial future doesn't simply happen. Instead, it must be carefully crafted to help meet your most important goals and leave nothing to chance. Of course, the future is unpredictable and your own personal situation changes over time. That makes it all the more challenging to answer the most crucial of financial questions: Are you on track towards achieving your financial objectives?

When you buy life insurance or an annuity, join an employer's retirement plan, or open an Individual Retirement Account, you'll be asked to designate a primary beneficiary to receive the proceeds or benefits at your death. Too often, people give little thought to this decision. They simply jot down whoever seems the most logical choice at the time, generally a spouse or child. Sometimes they don't designate a beneficiary at all.

How much money will it take for you to retire in style? Will $1 million do the trick? How about $5 million? Or perhaps you can get by on less. If the question leaves you scratching your head, you're not alone.

As we entered 2019, most investors were cautious. We had just finished a challenging year. Stocks and bonds gyrated throughout the year, buffeted by macroeconomic events.

With so much media attention spotlighting retirement planning these days, you'd think the United States is a nation of hardcore investors, well-versed in the intricacies of all sorts of financial products. But the truth is most Americans know relatively little about one of the most effective tools for securing their financial futures: the Individual Retirement Account.

Americans are living longer than ever, thanks to advances in health care, improved diets and better exercise. About one out of every four 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and one out of 10 will live past age 95, according to data from the Social Security Administration. This is great news of course. But, it also presents you with a significant financial challenge: making sure your money lasts as long as you do.

Longer lives and better health translate into longer retirements and new concepts of what retirement should be. Many of today's retirees view retirement as a time to shift gears but not necessarily to slow down.

Working with a Financial Advisor: Six Steps to Help You Get the Most Out of the Relationship

You've heard the old investment adage, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." It's good advice. A diversified portfolio should be at the core of any well-planned investment strategy. While a worthy goal at any age, it's especially desirable as your net worth grows over the years. The basic purpose of diversification is to reduce your portfolio risk and volatility.

Escalating health care costs can undermine the best-laid retirement plans. One of the biggest risks lies in the cost of long-term care. Unfortunately, health care costs in general have been outpacing inflation, and this trend to may continue. Even if you're currently in good health, you can't guarantee that it'll continue in your later years. Not being prepared can be very expensive.

This week's blog post is brought to you by guest blogger, Sara Bailey of www.thewidow.net Enjoy! 4 Essential Steps to Financial Planning for Parents.

Well, where to begin on this post. I had planned to write a post today about successes and what matters most in life, but after my experience over the weekend with a large wireless company, I felt that it was time better spent to discuss what makes you and I as small business owners different and what large corporations could learn from us and the way that we run our businesses.

This has been a great couple weeks for our family as my oldest child has received his first two college acceptances and has 3 outstanding. He has already received one full tuition scholarship offer and expects to receive a similar offer from the second acceptance that he has received. As you can tell, he is a great student and I am sure you can surmise from that he has a really smart mother and you would be 100% correct on that.

Well, it has been nearly a month, since my last blog post. I tried to take some time off for the holidays and I have also been sick on and off for several weeks, so let's pretend that this blog post went up the first week of January, ok??

In the day of The Home Depot, YouTube videos, Pinterest, etc, I think we all tend to see DIY projects as a badge of honor. Building something by yourself, or completing a project yourself can be rather fulfilling, but are all DIY pursuits, better than paying a professional? Although, I grew up in a family of farmers, truckers and construction workers, I am not always considered the handiest person to have around for those types of projects.

I am sure that those of you who know me well, and maybe even those who don't, have been wondering about the posts that I made about my grandparents and my father/step-father and no mention of my mother. Have you heard of saving the best for last??

For those of you who visit my LinkedIn profile, Facebook page, follow me on Twitter or are frequently on my webpage (this is not nearly enough of you, by the way! :)), you may have noticed that I have gone through a bit of a re-brand.

Today, I want to take a moment to honor a man that I consider my hero. I think that in this day and age, all too often, kids are growing up with athletes and entertainers as their heroes, rather than a stalwart person in their personal life. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my parents were divorced when I was very young, which is why my grandfather was a very important person in my life, but a few years later, my mother re-married a man named Michael Peterson.

In my last blog post, I introduced you to why I do what I do and how I ended up choosing a career in financial services, but today I want to talk about why I am the person that I am. Not as a financial advisor, although, it makes a big difference in the financial advisor that I am, but more the person that I am and why that is important to my current clients and my prospective clients.

I figure for a first blog post, I should introduce why I do what I do. It is somewhat of a long story that started my freshman year of high school. You see, I was sure that law school was where I was headed. I felt like arguing a case in court would be the ultimate job for me. Well, I needed to fill a part of my schedule with an elective class and the one that fit was a one semester course on entrepreneurship. My life changed forever!