When all is right in the world, investors have to make a choice between the steady income gained from purchasing bonds, or forfeit this steady income for the growth potential of stocks.  Since the 1950′s, this has been true, but recently, as stock prices have leveled out and Treasury rates have dropped, the U.S.markets have given us something that experienced investors haven’t [...]

Congratulations to Hoan Taussig on successfully completing the rigorous requirements of becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. Hoan has been an integral part of the Timothy Financial team for several years but we look forward to her taking on a bigger role in serving our clients. What does the CFP® designation really mean?  Many people don’t realize that anyone can [...]

One of the strangest laws on the books, when you think about it, is the rule that at an arbitrary age–when you reach age 70 1/2–you have to start taking mandatory distributions (RMD) from your IRA accounts.  Of course, that also means you have to stop the tax-deferred compounding on those distributions and pay taxes on [...]

Five Star Professional, a company that provides research and evaluations of a variety of top professionals, recognized Mark Berg and Timothy Financial Counsel to receive the 2011 Five Star Wealth Manager award. The Five Star Wealth Manager Award is given to professionals that have received the highest overall satisfaction score based on feedback from customers, peers, and regulatory [...]

Amazingly, the inevitability of Greek sovereign default has really been known for more than a year now but European political leaders have not publically acknowledged that they have received the memo.  We have lost count of the short-term fixes they have tried over the past 12 months.  Obviously none of them have provided lasting reprieve.  [...]

What do the weather forecast and the daily stock market movements have in common (sounds like an introduction to a bad joke, right)? To illustrate, let me quote a portion from a column I read this week by Vitaliy Katsenelson, the CIO of Investment Management Associates. “Serious business news that lacked sensationalism, and thus ratings, has been replaced by a new [...]

Many Americans are relieved that lawmakers have agreed upon a deal to raise the debt ceiling. These Americans include the seniors whom were worried about their Medicare and Social Security but now believe they can rest assured that the issue has been resolved. But, although a deal has been made, there are still several areas [...]

By now, you’ve probably heard that the Standard & Poor’s debt rating agency has downgraded all U.S. government debt with more than a year of maturity, from the top AAA rating down to AA+.  To put that in perspective, now only 17 countries enjoy the AAA rating on their government bonds.  Typically, that means that [...]

With inflation continuing to rise in today’s economy, how do we best plan clients’ portfolios to combat this issue? There is no surefire way to beat the inflation problem, but there are several strategies which can help defend against the current economic situation. With CPI currently running upwards at 3% and rising, there definitely needs [...]

The U.S. just recently finally came to terms on the debt deal, but there is another large dilemma to face: the free-falling stock market and growing concerns that have ensued and further curb the already slow economy. Signs of further slow growth have been building. Unemployment remains high, consumer spending is low, and lending is [...]