Whether you get a refund or end up owing, you have options.

Tax season can be a period of new possibilities – especially when it comes down to what to do with your refund or, on the flip side, how to settle your bill.

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When selecting a personal representative, consider the role’s many responsibilities.

Selecting a personal representative for your estate, also known as an executor, is no easy task. While it’s an honor to be chosen as an executor, it’s also a demanding commitment consisting of more than two dozen responsibilities and liabilities. For instance, an executor can be held personally liable for improperly spending estate or trust assets or for allowing insurance coverage on the assets to lapse.

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Learn how these well-known women stay focused in a chaotic world.

It’s easy to feel like highly successful professionals have more hours in a day than the average person. How else do they manage to accomplish so much? The truth is, maintaining a high level of productivity often stems from making deliberate choices. Here’s the inside scoop from six well-known women about how they stay focused and achieve success in a distracted and demanding world.

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When hiring tax, legal and other professionals, a spirit of collaboration is key.

Take it from legendary coach Vince Lombardi: “People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.” Similarly, a well-rounded team of professionals working in harmony can be a game changer for your finances.

As we gear up for the next American football season, we examine possible roles on your financial team and how they should work together on areas such as estate and tax planning.

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Drafting a succession plan now can help your business stand the test of time.

As a business owner, you’ve invested so much into making your business successful – hard work, time, money, energy.

It’s truly hard to imagine your business without you. But chances are there will come a day when someone else will take the reins. And a seamless succession plan, one carefully and thoughtfully devised well in advance, is essential to making sure your business enjoys continued success for generations to come.

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January 25, 2021

Doug Drabik discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.

Why do you buy a house? I don’t have any empirical evidence to back this statement, so know that I am assuming the majority of people buy a house for shelter. Sure, there are people who buy and flip properties for potential gain, but I’m presuming almost all purchases are intended to provide shelters for families.

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When it comes to investors’ decisions about the market, the election is just one factor among many.

Every four years, the U.S. presidential election brings uncertainty – something the human mind, and markets, tends to dislike. But if you’re concerned that the markets will dive or thrive based solely on who is in the oval office, historic trends show that anxiety is unfounded. Through the last century, the long-term performance of the markets has revealed little correlation with government policies, according to an analysis by Raymond James Equity Research.

Here, we address three myths surrounding elections and market performance.

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Drew O’Neil discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.

Last summer, the lower bound of the Fed Funds rate was at 2.25%. Six months after that, the Fed had lowered it down to 1.50%, and by March it had fallen to 0.00%. The slow and methodical three year climb of the Fed Funds Rate from 0.00% that started in December of 2015 was undone in a matter of months, just as we were getting used to relatively decent returns on money markets and other short-term investment options. Now here we are back at 0.00% on the Fed funds and money market yields south of 0.15%. Just because the world was a very different place just 6 months ago (in terms of both pandemics and interest rates), doesn’t mean that interest rates will return to their pre-pandemic levels any time soon. There is a good chance that 0.00% Fed Funds will be around much longer than the pandemic.

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Financial literacy is a gift that lasts a lifetime.

Financial tradeoffs, interest rates and the importance of having an emergency fund: Our current economic circumstances are full of teachable moments we can and should share with our children. After all, they’re probably not learning these topics in school. Only 1 in 6 students will be required to take a personal finance course before earning a high school diploma, according to nonprofit Next Gen Personal Finance.

That’s why we’re equipping you with money tips and topics to discuss with the children in your life, plus independent study materials (ahem, videos and games) that will hold kids’ attention while teaching them money management. Keep reading to get to the head of the class.

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Making your mark through your work doesn’t have to take a lifetime.

If you left your job today, how would you be remembered? Thinking of the legacy you’re creating through your career or business helps you focus on the big picture – and enables you to maximize your influence for decades to come.

People rarely get the chance to preview what their career legacy will be, but the inventor of dynamite did. In 1888, his brother died and newspapers mixed up the two siblings. One obituary read, “The merchant of death is dead,” which shocked the 55-year-old inventor. His name? Alfred Nobel. He famously rewrote his legacy, changing his will to leave his money to a foundation that would fund Nobel prizes – including one that promotes peace. You don’t have to have Nobel money to make your mark, though. Here are some tangible ways you can leave a legacy through your career or business.

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