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Now that 2017 is a wrap, and we are well into 2018, we wanted to share one of the best presents you can bestow on yourself and your loved ones - the gift of proper preparation for rest of the year. Want to get a jump-start on it? Here are 10 financial best practices to energize your wealth management efforts.

As the 2017 market analyses have begun rolling in, so too have the reports of long and strong positive performance from almost every corner of the market. One Wall Street Journal (WSJ) year-end report summarized: “Sure, U.S. stocks had solid gains, but investors who bought copper, Argentine stocks, and lumber futures would have also ended the year with hefty profits.”

After a period of relative calm in the markets, in recent days the increase in volatility in the stock market has resulted in renewed anxiety for many investors.

Remember, market volatility, in all its nerve-wracking forms, is one of the key factors that drive the long-term expected returns you’re seeking to capture by investing. With high volatility comes higher expected future returns. With low volatility, you get to go about your day more calmly, but you must also accept diminished expectations about your future net worth.

If we’ve been doing our job as your fiduciary advisor, you might already be able to guess what our take is on current market news: Unless your personal goals have changed, stay the course according to your personal plan.

Have you caught cryptocurrency fever, or are you at least wondering what it’s all about? Odds are, you hadn’t even heard the term until recently. Now, it seems as if everybody and their cousin are getting in on it.

Thinking about prepaying some of your 2018 state taxes in advance of limitations imposed by the Republican tax plan?

Well, forget about it.

It’s hard to believe, but another year is almost behind us. With January just around the corner, now is a great time to review various items you may want to consider as you get set to enter 2018. Many of the IRS publications referenced below are for tax year 2016. Changes are not anticipated when 2017 guides are published.

Tens of millions of Americans are looking forward to the day they retire. Others enjoy their profession and can’t imagine a life without work. Yet, even those folks recognize that one day they won’t wake up on a Monday and head into the office.

In the world of investment management there is an oft-discussed idea that blindfolded monkeys throwing darts at pages of stock listings can select portfolios that will do just as well, if not better, than both the market and the average portfolio constructed by professional money managers. If this is true, why might it be the case?

THE DART BOARD