Blog | Journey Tree Financial Planning & Investments

RATES ARE GREAT (FINALLY!)

December 9, 2022

As the above chart indicates, interest rates have been historically low for much of the time since the Great Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. This unprecedented condition has been a penalty to savers and conservative investors who were not able to make decent returns from traditionally safe investments such as Certificates of Deposit (CDs) or government or investment grade bonds. Courtesy of the Federal Reserves belated fight against inflation, interest rates have risen abruptly over the last eight months and…

GOODBYE TINA, HELLO CINDY!

August 25, 2022

Market Update

Over the last several years leading up to 2022 the acronym TINA was a very popular description for investment strategy. TINA stands for There is No Alternative (to stocks). The belief was that, with the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates at 0% and rushing to bail out the stock market each time it was in danger of declining significantly, stocks were the only place one could make any money. Certificates of deposit, government bonds, and money markets all offered extremely…

Journey Tree Plants Trees!

May 31, 2022

General

On April 9th Journey Tree sponsored and took part in planting trees with Friends of Trees. The weather was perfect, just a bit overcast without any rain and the Journey Tree team (along with a few Journey Tree clients) planted trees along Willamette & 15th as well as 15th and Charnelton. A total of 49 trees were planted around the city that Saturday, including many at Charlemagne Elementary School. We all enjoyed it and are looking forward to our next…

Investing for the Long Run

May 31, 2022

Market Update

Journey Tree looks at investment returns over a long-term cycle that includes both up and down markets to ensure that clients get the returns they need with the least amount of risk. Due to a variety of factors, we have just been through an abnormally prolonged period of positive performance for both stocks and bonds. That highly unusual period fueled by low interest rates, government stimulus, and low inflation appears to have ended. Stock and bond markets have been artificially…

I-Bonds

February 28, 2022

Investing

Given the current low interest rates and record setting inflation, many investors are looking for different ways to earn interest on their more liquid assets. Enter the I bond. A relatively unheard-of Treasury Department offering, the I-Bond is unique in that it’s rate is based on a combination of “Fixed Rate” and “Inflation Rate” to come up with it’s “Composite Rate”. The current “Composite Rate” the bond is paying is a whopping 7.12% annualized. With any deal potentially this good,…

New Era for the Stock Market

February 28, 2022

Market Update

“No living investor has experienced a global pandemic or the extraordinary monetary and fiscal policies that have been deployed to keep economies afloat. Without a playbook in hand, investors should beware of assuming that trends in recent years will repeat in the future.” – Chris Hogbin, Alliance Bernstein The stock market rose to historic levels in 2021. By some counts, as many as 70 record highs were recorded during the year. Buoyed by rock bottom interest rates (making it cheap…

Roth Conversions: What are they and when do they make sense?

December 6, 2021

Financial Planning, General

A Roth conversion is the process of moving traditional IRA dollars, which are taxed when withdrawn, to a Roth IRA which can be withdrawn tax free. Benefits of a Roth conversion Tax-free income in retirement Ability to pass assets tax-free to heirs Lower Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) For example, you have a traditional IRA with a $100,000 balance as of 12/31 in 2021 and you turn 72 in 2022. Your RMD for 2022 would be roughly $3,600. But let’s say…

Money with an line chart and arrow over it

Inflation – Where are we Headed?

December 6, 2021

General, Uncategorized

Over the past four decades, inflation has been a non-issue. Until now. While hovering around 2% for decades, inflation rates jumped to 6.2% in October 2021. Higher than it has been for over 30 years. 10 – Year Inflation Rate The Investopedia website says, “Inflation is a decrease in the purchasing power of money, reflected in a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.” Prices of goods and services have indeed been rising. Lumber prices…

Group of people wearing graduation gear and throwing graduation hats in the air

Student Loans – Due in 2022?

August 30, 2021

Financial Planning, General

The Department of Education announced in early August the final extension of the student loan payment pause until January 31, 2022. With this comes relief measures for eligible loans including: Suspension of loan payments 0% interest rate Stopped collections on defaulted loans Even with the extension, this highlights the need to plan for the resumption of loan payments for student loan borrowers in February 2022. Here are a few important questions every borrower should ask themselves soon to be ready…

Investing in a Sideways Market

August 30, 2021

Market Update

Today there are many signs that we are in an investment “bubble.” Michael Finke, Professor of Wealth Management at The American College of Financial Services defines a bubble this way: “A bubble occurs when the price of an asset inflates well beyond its fundamental value.” He goes on to say, “Bubbles often form when the imaginations of investors (speculators?) are inflamed by unrealistic expectations, sharp price increases, and fear of missing out.” These descriptions could well apply to everything from…