Kyle D. Dennehy

Now more than ever, keeping your personal information away from prying eyes can be difficult. There are dozens of schemes and tactics meant to confuse the everyday user into willingly handing over their data. So, how can you help to ensure the confidentiality of your data, and what should you look for to help you identify scams and hack attempts?

Financial Advisors like me require personal identifying information to do our jobs properly. Websites like BrokerCheck allow you to look up financial professionals to confirm their credentials and licenses. Once you have confirmed an advisor’s legitimacy, they should also offer you a secure way to exchange personal identifying information like through a secure online portal service. Additionally, full account numbers, social security numbers, important documents, and other personal identifying information should never be sent through normal email.

What about day-to-day hack prevention? If you receive an email that looks wrong (font changes, grammar mistakes, embedded links that you don’t recognize, etc.), you can look at the sender’s email address. Any email addresses with seemingly random assortments of numbers and letters should put you on high alert for a scam attempt. Additionally, any email that asks you to verify your information by clicking an embedded link should give you pause as well.

Don’t fall victim to scams and hackers. Remember to stay vigilant, and always perform due diligence before trusting any online sources.

For the past year, the headlines have been immensely focused on the decisions the Fed is making with the Federal Funds rate. However, there isn’t a lot of discussion about what the Fed’s decisions actually mean for the average investor aside from “interest rates are increasing” and “the Fed is hoping to reduce inflation”.

Can a rising interest rate affect your loans that originated before 2021? What does this mean for your next credit card bill? Are there any benefits of rising rates that you can take advantage of? How can rate hikes change the value of your portfolio?

Understanding how the Fed’s decisions affect all different areas of your finances can be the difference between reaching your financial goals on time, ahead of time, or not at all. Know what to expect with your financial plan, and talk to a financial advisor about what you can expect with the Fed’s latest monetary policy decisions.

It’s a new year, and with 2023 comes new rules when it comes to your retirement. Out of the 100+ provisions within the newly signed Secure 2.0 Act, some of the most consequential concern required minimum distributions (RMDs) on your retirement accounts.

Effective in 2023, the required beginning age for taking RMDs has been increased from 72 to 73. Additionally, that starting age increases to 75 starting in 2033. A couple more years may not seem impactful, but keeping that money in your accounts for an extra few years can make a world of difference for your retirement.

The Secure 2.0 Act changes more than just the RMD age. Talk to your financial advisor to learn about what the new law means for your retirement and for your financial plan.