July 2022- Rising inflation, increasing fears of a recession, the ongoing war on Ukraine, and the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening have continued to shock markets. Developed market equities fell over 20% turning in their worst first six months in over 50 years. To make matters worse, asset class diversification didn’t work this quarter. Equites and bonds rarely fall in tandem since bonds are the safe harbor investors seek in a storm. However, rapid interest rate increases hit government and investment grade bonds nearly as hard as equities. Fixed income securities fell 10%-20% depending on the maturity. Though generally in line with benchmarks over the quarter, portfolios experienced this pain as well.

June 2022- The IRS has released the 2023 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), as well as the 2023 minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). An HSA is a tax-advantaged account that's paired with an HDHP. An HSA offers several valuable tax benefits: (1) You may be able to make pre-tax contributions via payroll deduction through your employer, reducing your current income tax; (2) If you make contributions on your own using after-tax dollars, they're deductible from your federal income tax (and perhaps from your state income tax) whether you itemize or not; (3) Contributions to your HSA, and any interest or earnings, grow tax deferred; (4) Contributions and any earnings you withdraw will be tax-free if used to pay qualified medical expenses. Read on to see the key tax numbers for 2022 and 2023.

June 2022- A challenging market environment continues in the second quarter. Though most risk assets have recovered somewhat over the past few weeks, volatility remains ahead. The economic slowdown induced by central bank tightening has begun. While we are closer to the bottom in equity markets, we are not out of the woods just yet.