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Giftee

The holiday shopping season is now in full swing. Ready or not, Christmas is a mere 19 days away. There are many different kinds of gifters and giftees in the world. Some gifters like to work from a precise list so they know that their gift will be appreciated while others enjoy conjuring up appropriate…

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IAG Grapevine

From the Jayme Heineck Family: Her son, Justin’s UW Intramural Volleyball team won first place. Justin’s sand volleyball team took first place and his innertube water polo team (who even knew this was a thing?) have taken first place for the 3rd year in a row. Both the sand volleyball and innertube water polo are…

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The IAG Charitable Foundation

Foundation Focus

Grants provided through the IAG Charitable Foundation paid out $5,500 in the 4th quarter to the following organizations: American Parkinson Disease Association – Wisconsin Chapter Pauline Haass Public Library Foundation Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Milwaukee Saint Agnes Catholic Parish Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra If you would like to submit a grant request for a charity…

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Praisegiving

You likely have never heard of Praisegiving because I just made it up. However, I have it on reasonably imaginary authority that President Lincoln considered this alternative option to the Thanksgiving we currently celebrate. In fact, President Lincoln’s official proclamation declared the last Thursday of November a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” There are always…

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Two to Go

Following a little snow on the pumpkin yesterday, today we find ourselves a full 10 months through 2023. This means there are only a mere two months remaining in what has been an unpredictable year. This year started with concerns about a recession which still has not arrived, optimism about bond prices benefiting from falling…

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Trick

After a rough August and September, traders and investors alike looked forward to finally turning the calendar to October. Their expectations were that October would be a treat relative to the previous two months. Historically, this is the case. But so far, this October has been a great example of how past performance does not…

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Day 450

Today, Wednesday, October 18th, is day number 450. If you were stranded on an island or locked in a dungeon, imagine tallying the days as they go by. One singular vertical line every day the sun comes up. One slash every fifth day. Knowing in advance that there was a chance you would encounter the…

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Bonds

While they are usually the relatively boring part of your portfolio, bonds have been financial market troublemakers over the last few weeks. There are likely several contributing factors to bonds’ recent bad boy attitude. First, the U.S. government has issued over $500,000,000,000 in Treasuries over the last three weeks, boosting the total federal debt from…

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This is a Test

Later this afternoon (Wednesday, 10/4) at around 1:20 pm (CDT) your cell phone will likely receive an emergency test alert. In August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it will be conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) today. If you are within range of…

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Plot Your Dots

For those of you fearful that today’s blog lesson will involve a graphing calculator, you will be thankful to learn that it does not. It involves something far more gray than the black and white of mathematics. This week is full of central bank meetings and announcements. The Bank of England gets together on Thursday,…

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On Average

On Sunday, Jordan Love completed his first game as the Packers’ new starting quarterback. It went pretty well. Well enough that a fan could start to imagine how his career could unfold. Thankfully, we have the past 30 years of statistical evidence on Packers quarterbacks to help us gauge how Jordan Love’s career could develop.…

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September

Ah, September! Kids and college students are back in school. The first month of fall with cooler temperatures and the first sign of color in trees. The worst month of the year. From a short-term stock trader’s point of view, September is historically the worst month of the year. And it is not even close.…

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Winds

This past weekend many of our financial advisors and several of our team members traveled to San Diego for a national conference hosted by LPL Financial. One of the keynote speakers during the event was retired Col. Nicole Malachowski, the first female U.S. Air Force Thunderbird pilot. She shared her story about overcoming very long…

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Top Heavy

Sometimes being top heavy can have very negative consequences. If your vehicle is top heavy, the laws of physics are unkind when making sudden directional changes. Being top heavy increases the odds of tipping over. Sometimes being top heavy prevents an organization from reaching peak performance. If a company has more people working at the…

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IAG Grapevine

Jesse Sindorf and his wife, Hannah, welcomed their third child, Bennett, on April 6th. Jennifer Von Ruden’s daughter, Rebecca, graduated from Carthage College with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a double minor in Communication and Religion. Susan Kuhlenbeck’s granddaughter, Sara, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated suma cum laude from…

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Foundation Focus

This quarter the IAG Charitable Foundation made a grant to support Hope for Hadley sponsored by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Oconomowoc. Hadley McCormack is a six-year-old girl battling a brain tumor. You can learn more about Hadley’s story by visiting this website. If you would like to submit a grant request for a charity…

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Applying the Brake

It appears that the President and Congress have arrived at an agreement on raising our country’s debt limit and small spending reductions for the next two years. Pop the champagne! Celebrate this glorious achievement in our country’s history! At least this fleeting victory will temporarily distract us from the long-term fiscal nightmare that lies ahead.…

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Less is More

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   How many companies strive to make their customers happy by offering them less while increasing the price?   This season Major League Baseball is implementing new rules that are expressly intended to increase fan happiness by offering them less baseball. These new rules…

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Leftovers

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Leftovers have been much more palatable since the widespread adoption of the microwave oven. There is nothing like a bunch of overstimulated water molecules to convert cold leftovers into a warm lunch or dinner the next day.   The SECURE 2.0 Act which…

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Trial Balloon

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   On Saturday, January 28, the military identified a large balloon north of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. It peacefully floated southeast across the North Pacific Ocean into Canada, and by last Tuesday reached the Idaho/Montana border.   The balloon then successfully and likely inadvertently captured…

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Flip the Script

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Scene 1: Flush with abundant money provided by Congress and the Federal Reserve, consumers and traders celebrate an astounding recovery from the economic impact of a global pandemic and expectantly welcome an exciting new year by pushing stock prices to record highs.  …

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Dis Inflation

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Toward the end of last year, expert market prognosticators continued their tradition of revealing their forecasts for the financial markets for the following year.   While they are, in my opinion, about as useful as the always entertaining Farmer’s Almanac, many of these…

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Changes

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   A new year always bring some changes to your life.   Some of 2023’s changes will likely have little impact on your day-to-day life. For example, it is now legal (but still risky) to jaywalk in California, Mississippi has a catchy new state…

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New Year

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Early Sunday morning a brand-new year was born, full of high hopes and resolutions.   Every new year is a chance to put the past in the past, to look to the future with optimism, and to reflect on the changes that could…

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Loss of Control

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Last week Friday’s snow created an excellent educational opportunity.   My middle child was granted his driver’s license by the State of Wisconsin in September. His mandated 50 hours of parent driving time started a mere 6 months prior to that and, as…

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On Paper

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer “It’s one of the best defenses on paper that we’ve had,” said Aaron Rodgers during training camp in August. “On the field it looks even better,” extrapolated safety Darnell Savage. And then the reality of the regular season set in. Currently the Packers defense…

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Foundation Focus

This quarter the IAG Charitable Foundation made a grant to support Flight to the North Pole. This Milwaukee-based organization focuses on providing a memorable event for children fighting cancer (and their entire family) during the Christmas season. You can learn more about their mission by visiting their website. If you would like to submit a…

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Welcome, Lindsay!

Lindsay Lavine joined the IAG team as a Financial Operations Associate in July. She works primarily with Mike Koerner and his clients, but also contributes as other team needs arise. Lindsay passion is helping people. In her previous role with Hub International she assisted employees with their group benefits. Lindsay was drawn to IAG because of…

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Inflation Optimism

Last week’s October inflation report created a surge of optimism about the future. Traders enthusiastically embraced signs of slowing inflation and went on a buying frenzy that created significant one-day gains last Thursday.   Bond traders were happy that the Federal Reserve may not have to raise their overnight interest rate as much as they…

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Election Aftermath

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   I am writing this blog on Monday afternoon, envisioning what reality will be on Wednesday morning. That is always a dicey proposition.   First, on Wednesday morning I envision that I will be very happy that the onslaught of gloomy, accusatory, negative advertisements…

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Fearage

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Hiking through deserts poses a real threat to your physical and mental well-being if you do not plan ahead. High temperatures, low humidity, and a noticeable lack of bubblers create just the environment to whither with your body and mind.   For those…

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Sirens

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Sirens are often associated with unfortunate events in life.   Sirens respond to car crashes. Sirens respond to medical emergencies. Sirens respond to house fires.   But how do you respond to sirens?   If you are driving, hopefully you safely pull over…

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7 Reasons to Invest in Women Owned Businesses and How to Get Started

In 2021, women-led companies only received 2% of all venture capital funding, a figure considered the lowest percentage in more than five years.1  Data shows this figure does not necessarily reflect the potential success of female-owned businesses, but possibly more of a reluctance for male investors or male-led funds to green-light these projects. The reasons…

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The Financial Planning Process: Why and How

Planning personal finances used to be the worry of the wealthy and their worry—usually preservation of wealth—was attended to by teams of trust officers and lawyers. Many of today’s middle class families have different concerns: funding retirement; educating children; protecting assets; and coping with unexpected changes in health, employment, and marital situations. But, whether your…

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Is it Time?

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Recently we have heard from a number of clients asking “Is it time?”   Some are concerned about recent market events and are asking if it is time to switch to a more conservative investment approach.   Others are cautiously optimistic about the…

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Jitters

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   Miriam-Webster lists the origin of the word jitters as “unknown.” While the origin of jitters may be unknown, it is the unknown that will likely be creating jitters for short-term traders in the next few months.   Today bond traders believe the Federal…

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LVII

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   On Thursday evening the National Football League’s (NFL) 2022 season begins with the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams hosting the Buffalo Bills.   To make an NFL team’s roster requires significant personal commitment by the players. They must commit to keeping their…

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September Inside the Beltway

The President signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act on August 16. This mono-partisan 730-page bill addressed several Democratic priorities and passed the Senate and House on strictly party-line votes. With this budget reconciliation bill out of the way, Congress departed for their traditional August recess. When they return to Washington in mid-September, they plan…

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Welcome BJ!

B.J. Sabol joined your IAG team as a Financial Operations Associate on April 22nd. He grew up in the Lake Country area and graduated from Lake Country Lutheran High School in 2014. After graduation, he headed west to attend a junior college in California with the dream of one day playing Division One baseball. After…

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Brake Check

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   I had an interesting experience driving my daughter home from camp on Sunday.   We were driving through a small town in central Wisconsin when a vehicle made a right turn at an intersection a block or so in front of us. Everything…

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Alternative Savings Options: When You Already Have A Knack for Budgeting and Saving

  If you’ve moved beyond basic financial advice—live below your means and set aside funds for a rainy day—you may be wondering what to actually do with these rainy-day funds. With inflation on the rise, keeping excess cash in a checking or savings account could erode your purchasing power over time.1 What should you do to put these…

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Market Math

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer   If you made it past the title of this blog, congratulations! Most people likely saw “math” in the title and casually walked away without making eye contact.   Whether you like it or not, math runs your world. You can either choose to…

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Critical Decision

This Week’s Blogger: Scott D. Heins, CFP®, IAG Chief Investment Officer Within the next few days you will face a critical decision. Your June investment statements will arrive via e-mail or in the mail. There are three potential approaches you could take because you honestly already know what your statements will tell you.   Option…

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Variable Annuities

Some basics A variable annuity is a contract between you (the purchaser) and an insurance company (the issuer). In return for your premium payments, the issuer agrees to make periodic payments to you (if you elect this option), beginning either immediately or at some future date. Annuity premium payments may be made with after-tax dollars…

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Inside the Beltway

Legislation update Having expended a significant amount of political capital pushing the Build Back Better without passing it, Congressional leaders are mulling how to pass pieces of this legislation before the end of the 117th Congress. Given current inflation readings, it is unlikely that additional government stimulus is needed. Thus, legislators are more likely to…

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May IAG Grapevine

Jennifer Von Ruden assumed responsibilities as IAG’s Chief Compliance Officer on April 1 and also joined as a partner in our firm. Anne Sapienza and her fiancé, Tim Johnson, are planning a small wedding on September 24, 2022. Tom Peterson’s son, Gabe, graduated from Marquette High School and plans to attend the University of North…

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Welcome, Kyle!

Kyle Bence joined our IAG team on January 17 as a Financial Operations Associate and will be working primarily with Lori Watt’s clients. His plans include learning the financial planning process, passing the required regulatory exams, and becoming a financial advisor. His primary goal is to serve others while listening carefully. This served him well…

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Older Americans: Growing Targets of Financial Fraud

America’s older generations grew up in a different world where it was customary to be courteous and trusting. Unfortunately, these exemplary standards of conduct could get some individuals into trouble. Con artists bank on the willingness of older Americans to trust in a variety of too-good-to-be-true investment “deals.” Therefore, many people already experiencing financial difficulties…

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CHRISTOPHER W. MITCHELL, CFP® RECOGNIZED IN FORBES AS A 2022 BEST-IN-STATE WEALTH ADVISOR

Chris Mitchell of IAG Wealth Partners, LLC was recently ranked No. 61 in WI in the 2022 Best-In-State Wealth Advisors list published by Forbes. This is the fourth consecutive year he has made the statewide ranking. According to Forbes, the annual list spotlights the nation’s top-performing advisors, evaluated based on a methodology developed by SHOOK…

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The Principles of Financial Literacy

Financial literacy refers to the skills and knowledge that allow an individual to make informed and effective decisions through their understanding of finances. Financial literacy starts by building a basic understanding of ‘money matters’ to create a sense of economic well-being, self-trust, and financial confidence. The principles of financial literacy include: Saving- Saving is preparing…

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Pi

You may not have thought about pi since your high school geometry class, but it is a magic number. It starts with 3.1415926535 and goes on from there forever. Pi was also the main character in the book (and movie) “Life of Pi,” a fictional tale of a young boy who survived 227 days on…

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Apprehension

These two words can strike terror in a parent’s heart: student driver. My middle child started drivers education class this quarter. As his book knowledge of driving grows, so does his input regarding his parents’ driving habits. I am choosing to use such opportunities as positive educational experiences instead of reacting to the slight jabs…

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Magawa

While most of you likely have a fairly negative impression of rats, they have many redeeming qualities that could benefit you if you can overcome centuries of negative press coverage sensationalizing their shortcomings. Just last week a heroic rat was memorialized globally for his efforts to save lives. According to this article, Magawa was an…

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Spike

There have been quite a few spikes in the news over the last month. From the Badgers’ women volleyball players capturing the national championship to the spike in COVID cases to the Omicron variant’s more effective spikes. However, no spike has caught our attention more in the new year than the spike in interest rates.…

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Expectations

The optimism of high expectations can either be highly motivational or grudgingly disappointing. Did 2021 meet your expectations? Going into 2021 most people were fairly optimistic that 2021 would bring an end to the COVID pandemic and a return to normal life. Those high expectations were seeded by the lows of 2020, and 2021 simply…

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POST GRID Element

Giftee

The holiday shopping season is now in full swing. Ready or not, Christmas is a mere 19 days away. There are many different kinds of gifters and giftees in the world. Some gifters like to work from a precise list so they know that their gift will be appreciated while others enjoy conjuring up appropriate…

NOVEMBER WAS LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE AWARENESS MONTH

November was Long-Term Care Awareness Month.  While November is behind us, any month is good for learning about long term care insurance. Even the U.S. Congress has urged “the people of the United States to recognize (this) as an opportunity to learn more about the potential risks and costs … and the options available.”   We’re…

Inside the Beltway: Federal Reserve

After a tame October inflation report, almost everyone thinks the Federal Reserve is done raising their target overnight interest rate for this cycle. The Federal Reserve is not so sure. Federal Reserve speakers have continued to emphasize that future actions are dependent on future data, and they will continue to take steps to bring inflation…

Inside the Beltway: Congress

After grinding to a Speakerless halt, the U.S. House of Representatives has regained a limited form of functionality. How long this remains true is the big question. There are a relatively small, yet vocal, number of Representatives that are laser-focused on reducing federal spending. They also are demanding that all of the annual appropriations bills…

IAG Grapevine

From the Jayme Heineck Family: Her son, Justin’s UW Intramural Volleyball team won first place. Justin’s sand volleyball team took first place and his innertube water polo team (who even knew this was a thing?) have taken first place for the 3rd year in a row. Both the sand volleyball and innertube water polo are…

Foundation Focus

Grants provided through the IAG Charitable Foundation paid out $5,500 in the 4th quarter to the following organizations: American Parkinson Disease Association – Wisconsin Chapter Pauline Haass Public Library Foundation Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, Milwaukee Saint Agnes Catholic Parish Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra If you would like to submit a grant request for a charity…

Delightful December

On Friday the calendar will turn over to the final month of 2023. Despite a very uneven showing so far this season, it is statistically pretty much guaranteed that the Green Bay Packers will win all five of their games in December and likely make the playoffs. Let the delightful celebrations begin! From whence does…

Praisegiving

You likely have never heard of Praisegiving because I just made it up. However, I have it on reasonably imaginary authority that President Lincoln considered this alternative option to the Thanksgiving we currently celebrate. In fact, President Lincoln’s official proclamation declared the last Thursday of November a “day of Thanksgiving and Praise.” There are always…

Voluntary Taxpayer

Voluntary and taxpayer are two words that usually are not found residing next to each other. Corporations and individuals spend millions of dollars every year to hire tax professionals whose primary job is to legally minimize the amount of income taxes they are required to pay. They would rather pay people to find ways to…

Interest Rate Psychology

Last week there was a fascinating public conversation between bond traders and their chief psychologist, Jerome Powell. Mr. Powell’s primary job is to be the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. In this position he is responsible for maintaining full employment and a growing economy while keeping the flames of inflation near his self-designated 2% annual…