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Wednesday the U.S. Federal Reserve Board started the long process of ending its intrusion into the interest rate markets, by allowing rates to rise. This was the first time the Fed raised rates since 2006, and for some it will mark the beginning of the final chapter of the Great Recession.

On the surface, it seems too good to be true. You have a married couple, where (let’s say) the husband has earned higher yearly income than his wife. That means he has contributed more to Social Security over his working life. The husband files for Social Security benefits at full retirement age (currently age 66) and then immediately files to suspend those benefits.

The same time it was announced Social Security recipients won’t receive any increases in their benefits in 2016, the government was announcing that certain Medicare participants would be paying dramatically higher premiums for Medicare Part B, the highest price jump in the program’s history. Under Social Security and Medicare rules, the government is required to collect 25% of all expected Part B costs from recipients each year—in the form of premiums. The total Part B cost is anticipated to reach $171.2 billion 2016 and would have resulted in historic premium increases.

Denton, TX – Ricky Grunden, Sr., President and CEO of Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc., has been awarded 2015 Best Financial Planner in D Magazine. Appearing in the October issue of D Magazine.

Stock prices in markets around the world fluctuated dramatically for the week ended August 27. On Monday, August 24, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,089 points—a larger loss than the “Flash Crash” in May 2010—before rallying to close down 588. Prices fell further on Tuesday before recovering sharply on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Although the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively, for the week, many investors found the dramatic day-to-day fluctuations unsettling.

Global markets are providing investors a rough ride at the moment, as the focus turns to China’s economic outlook. But while falling markets can be worrisome, maintaining a longer term perspective makes the volatility easier to handle.

A typical response to unsettling markets is an emotional one. We quit risky assets when prices are down and wait for more “certainty.”

Denton, TX – Ricky Grunden, Sr., president and CEO of Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc., and Dave Ragan, Senior Financial Planning Specialist, have been awarded the Dallas/Fort Worth region recipients of the 2015 Five Star Wealth Manager award.

What is a financial advisor for? One view is that advisors have unique insights into market direction that give their clients an advantage. But of the many roles a professional advisor should play, soothsayer is not one of them.

The truth is that no one knows what will happen next in investment markets. And if anyone really did have a working crystal ball, it is unlikely they would be plying their trade as an advisor, broker, analyst, or financial journalist.

Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc. congratulates the University of North Texas’ financial planning program for winning a $50,000 grant from TD Ameritrade! Our very own Dave Ragan drafted UNT’s winning grant submission and will now implement portions of the grant’s proposals over the next two years. In addition to Dave’s attentive service to Grunden clients, he is also professor of the capstone financial planning course at UNT.

Any way you look at it, the standoff between the nation of Greece and the leaders of the European Union is a mess. But it may not be quite the problem that the press is making it out to be.

In case you haven’t been following the story, the gist of it is that the Greek government, over a period of years that included the time it hosted the Summer Olympics, issued more bonds than, in retrospect, it could possibly pay back. The total debt outstanding peaked at somewhere around $340 billion, which is actually more than the $242 billion in goods and services that the entire Greek economy produces in a year. You’ve no doubt heard about a series of bailouts organized by the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and other groups which have collectively extended loans and extensions amounting to $217 billion to date. As you can see from Figure 2, on the right-hand side, roughly $4 billion in payments are due in July and more than $3 billion in August, after which time the payment schedule becomes somewhat more forgiving through 2022.