Insights

Small business owners wear a lot of hats, so it’s not unusual for them to put off thoughts of retirement. We want to help them feel prepared when that day comes.

The U.S. economy returned to rapid job growth last month as fewer new COVID cases and loosening restrictions increased demand for labor. Restaurants and bars accounted for more than half the net gains, as employment in this hard-hit sector increased 286,000. Despite efforts to reopen school …

401(k), SEP, Simple, Defined Benefit, rollovers, conversions, pre-tax, post-tax – there’s a lot to think about when it comes to retirement plans. This gets even more complex as a small business owner when you’re on the other side of the table. We put together this comparison chart, wh …

The impact of government stimulus checks continues to permeate economic data. Personal income rose 10% in January, and disposable income rose 11.4%. Where did the money go? It primarily bought goods or was saved. Goods spending rose 5.8% in January, and the personal savings rate jumped to 2 …

You want to maximize your tax situation, and our team wants to help. Follow the link to learn ways to reduce your taxes before you file this year.

American consumers put their stimulus checks to work last month. Retail and food service sales rose 5.3% in January, after declining 1.0% in December (Figure 1). Compared to one year ago, sales are 7.4% higher. The strong data resulted from the stimulus checks and declining virus cases. Bec …

 U.S. inflation rose 0.3% last month and is now up 1.4% for the year (Figure 1). Investor concern about inflation has increased in recent months against the backdrop of large stimulus packages and hopes of an economic recovery. Pushing back against that concern is a slowly recovering labor …

Jamie Hopkins, Director of Retirement Research at Carson, and Senior Wealth Planner, Krista Thompson, break down how the right tax planning process can help you during tax season.

 The U.S. employment situation remains lackluster. Only 49,000 new jobs were created in January. Unemployment dropped but only because labor force participation fell from 63.4% to 61.4% (Figure 1). As COVID-19 cases have dropped this year, some improvement is expected in coming months. Vacc …

Facing everything from empty sales floors to painful staff shortages, entrepreneurs have been uniquely hurt by 2020 and the extent of the damage isn’t fully known yet. A Yelp economic impact report released in September found that almost 100,000 small businesses in the country had closed th …