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How much cash should you have on hand? The answer is: "Enough to accomplish your short and long-term goals".  Here are several factors we take into consideration with our clients in determining how much cash reserves they need to hold:

1. Are you retired or still working?

Our job is to help our clients make smart choices about their money so they can accomplish their goals for the reasons that are important to them.  When we get caught up in the day-to-day silliness of the market, it hinders our ability to make smart long-term decisions.  

For the first time in 40 years, the US is an exporter of oil again. With the passage of legislation barely a month old, Big Oil is once again free to ship the surplus to the highest bidder, and they aren’t wasting any time.

For investors, 2015 went out with a groan, but unfortunately, the start of 2016 hasn’t given anyone, anywhere, anything to cheer about. And just as was the case last year, the culprit and the catalyst for the market’s stumble, is China.

At the moment, I don’t believe we’re going to slip into a recession.  Our economy is growing. It doesn’t feel like it if you’re one of the millions of workers that is “underemployed”.  I hate that word.

A few days ago we posted a blog post talking about the possibility of a market correction.  We don't know if it's starting now or not, but we are going to see more volatility in the coming months.

We're six years into a surging bull market in U.S. equity markets. Bull markets usually last five to seven years. The stock market is valued above its historical average.  We're due to have a correction in the stock market.  Will it happen in August, September, or next year?  Nobody knows.

I can’t believe how fast time passes.  We’re half past 2015. A minute ago it was Thanksgiving.

Mid-year is a good time to assess our financial progress.  Here are the issue that I look at for our pre-retirees and retired clients:

It's a good idea to plan for the future.  We don't have options later in life unless we plan to have them earlier in life.  But things rarely go according to plan.  The only thing we can count on in life is change.  Sometimes we welcome those changes, and sometimes we don't, but usually things work out for the best.

Fee-Only wealth managers earn their fees for their investment management and financial planning expertise.  It's a client-centric process.  A client comes to his wealth manager, explains his objectives, and the wealth manager designs a solution.