Blog - North Light Financial Services

Making and Keeping Financial Resolutions

Making and Keeping Financial Resolutions What you might do (or do differently) in the months ahead? How will your money habits change in 2016? What decisions or behaviors might help your personal finances, your retirement prospects, or your net worth? Each year presents a “clean slate,” so as one year ebbs into another, it is natural to think about what you might do (or do differently) in the 12 months ahead. Financially speaking, what New Year’s resolutions might you want to [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00January 4th, 2016|Personal Finance, Retirement, Saving & Budgeting, Savings and Investing|Comments Off

Holiday Wrap-Up – 2015

A look back at 2015 thus far The year in brief.While the S&P 500 surprised to the upside in 2014 versus the projections of many analysts, it has performed below expectations so far in 2015. As this year began, not many Wall Street pros thought the index would tread water. The consensus forecast among 13 top analysts (their opinions compiled by Business Insider) called for the end to benchmark this year at 2,213.At Thanksgiving, the S&P was hovering near 2,100. [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00December 17th, 2015|Bond Market, Business/Economic News, Investing, Stock Market|Comments Off

How Could a Fed Rate Hike Affect Retirees?

How Could a Fed Rate Hike Affect Retirees? As the central bank starts tightening, some positives & negatives may emerge. Economists widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month. Additional incremental rate hikes may follow in 2016. If you are retired (or soon will be), you will want to consider what gradually higher interest rates could mean for you financially. Some of the effects are already being felt. Glancing at Freddie Mac’s weekly surveys, average interest [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00December 3rd, 2015|Business/Economic News, Interest Rates, Investing|Comments Off

The End of File & Suspend for Married Couples

The End of File & Suspend for Married Couples A great claiming strategy to try & optimize Social Security benefits disappears. Congress just changed the Social Security benefit rules. On October 30, Capitol Hill lawmakers approved a two-year federal budget deal. As part of that agreement, they authorized the most significant change to Social Security policy seen in this century, disallowing two popular strategies people have used to try and maximize retirement benefits.1 Dreamstime image id 6253 The [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00November 23rd, 2015|Congress, Personal Finance, Social Security|Comments Off

Terrorism & the Financial Markets

Terrorism & the Financial Markets Wall Street has the potential to recover quickly from geopolitical shocks. The worst terrorist attack in Europe since 2004 has rattled governments and investors. The French government has closed the nation’s borders and placed thousands of soldiers on the streets of the country’s major cities.1 As an anxious world watches the response of France (and perhaps other nations) to the ISIS attacks, there is also concern about European and global financial markets. Wall Street, which [...]

By info@northlightfinancialservices.com|2017-03-28T08:17:17-04:00November 16th, 2015|Business/Economic News, International, Stock Market|Comments Off