U.S. stocks finished lower Friday with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average turning red for the year as fear of a global growth scare builds and doubts regarding the trajectory of corporate earnings are on the rise.  In the wake of disappointing 3rd quarter results from tech giants Amazon & Alphabet (formerly Google) markets collapsed today with the Dow falling more than 500 points in early trading, paring some losses throughout the day, but still got lumped by 296.24 points, or 1.2%, with the average falling to 24,688.31.

In February of 2018, after a huge, parabolic-like move upward in January, extreme volatility returned into the markets and investors saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average correct by over 8% in a matter of 6 trading days.  Sound familiar? 

Kevin Garnett had an amazing career in the NBA. He goes down as the all-time leader in “on court salary” in history earning $326 million during his career…Today, he is suing because his retirement nest egg is missing a whopping $77 million. Garnett has filed suit against his accountant, Michael Wertheim, for allegedly allowing his wealth manager, Charles Banks, who is facing a 4-year sentence in federal prison for defrauding NBA legend Tim Duncan, to steal money from Garnett’s accounts.

As we say goodbye to the summer of 2018, wrap up those last minute mini-vacations, and send the kids off to school, it might be a good time to get back to basics and open up those old 401(k) statements that have been pouring in all summer.  Statistics show that when people separate service from an employer, they will leave at least one retirement account behind when changing jobs and, for many, three or more employer-based retirement plans are left in the dust as employees hop from job to job throughout their careers. 

Did you know that the age at which many workers will qualify for full Social Security benefits has risen to 67 from 65? If that's news to you, you're not alone: The majority of workers are still in the dark about Social Security eligibility requirements and m any expect to qualify for benefits payments sooner than they actually will.

The obscure nature of financial rules and regulations provides investment companies, with an information advantage when selling products and services to clients.  Most investors do not understand the jargon and complexities that define investment products as a whole and what’s most misunderstood are fees and expenses.  In fact, it’s safe to say that many investors have no idea how much they are paying, what kinds of fees are being charged, and how fees and expenses erode future retirement savings.    

When managing investments, we, at Capstone Wealth Management Group, consistently emphasize the importance of diversification.  Being properly diversified allows us, as investment advisors, to control risk and to provide balance within an investor’s portfolio.  The term diversification is thrown around quite a bit in the investment industry, but what does being properly diversified actually look like?  And how can you tell if your portfolio has “balance”?  Well, today’s market action provided all of us with a “real life” example of how the actual mechanics of diversification work – all in one single day.