Bouchey Blog

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2014 Changes to Employer Based Retirement Plans and Social Security

By Samantha Masey | November 8, 2013

Every year in the fall, the federal government provides new guidelines on how much can be saved to an employer based retirement plan and annual adjustments to Social Security. Below is a summary of the major changes released this fall for 2014. The elective deferral limit (i.e., participant contribution limit) for 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b) plans remains…

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Bouchey Financial Group 3rd Quarter Market & Economic Review

By Samantha Masey | October 23, 2013

Market Overview: September marked the five‐year anniversary of the financial crisis. Although the general mood of the country doesn’t always register that we have made much progress, the markets have certainly come a long way since September 2008 (174% off March 2009 lows as shown in Exhibit 1). This strength was evident in the markets…

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The Direction of the Fed under Chairwoman Yellen

By Samantha Masey | October 12, 2013

This week President Obama named Janet Yellen to be the next head of the Federal Reserve replacing Ben Bernacke who will step down from the post at the end of January after six years in the position.  A milestone in the world of finance and economics, Ms. Yellen will be the first female to hold…

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Washington Driving the Market

By Samantha Masey | September 25, 2013

We are once again in a situation where investors find themselves more concerned with what is occurring in Washington than what is occurring in the US economy.  It started last week when the Federal Reserve decided to continue its bond buying to stimulate the economy instead of implementing its “tapering” program that it outlined in…

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When to use Active Management

By Samantha Masey | September 14, 2013

After a steady rise in the markets lasting through the first half of the year, we have seen some more volatility and uncertainty since the Fed began their discussion of tapering their stimulus over the past few months.  Mutual fund shops have increased their sales pitch during this time stating that in volatile markets an active manager…

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2013 Tax Planning

By Samantha Masey | September 7, 2013

Having spent six years working within the Financial Services tax group at Ernst & Young, two of our biggest tax deadlines annually were September 15th and October 15th. September 15th was the deadline for all corporate and partnership extended tax returns to be filed with the IRS while October 15th was the extension deadline for…

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A 529 Plan Savings Strategy for Current College Expenses

By Marty Shields | August 30, 2013

For those individuals who are saving for their children’s or grandchildren’s education, one of the best methods is to contribute to a 529 plan.  Each state has their own plan and New York’s plan is one of the better ones as far as fees and investments offered https://www.nysaves.com.   The investment are provided through Vanguard and…