Below is a list of upcoming and past topics for Financial Briefs. If you would like to see the full issue, simply email us at csr@icgnews.com. Please take a moment to review all of the personalization options available with Financial Briefs. Each issue of Financial Briefs has been reviewed by FINRA, but your compliance department may also require review of the newsletter before sending to your clients and prospects.

March 2025:

• Leaving a Legacy
• Should You Consider Incentive Trusts?
• Discussing Your Estate with Your Family
• Sharing an Inheritance
• Don’t Forget Digital Assets (substitute feature article)

February 2025:

• Saving Based on Personal Goals
• 8 Questions Financial Plans Should Answer
• How to Raise Financially Responsible Children
• Financial Harmony in Marriage
• Protect Your Family Security (substitute feature article)

January 2025:

• A 3-Step Asset Allocation Plan
• Assessing Your Risk Tolerance
• Watch Out for These Portfolio Mistakes
• A Portfolio Tune-Up
• Overdiversification (substitute feature article)

December 2024:

• How Do You Know If You’re Saving Enough?
• Sufficient Funds for Your Entire Retirement
• Is Your 401(k) Plan Enough?
• Don’t Touch Your 401(k) Plan
• Keeping Track of Retirement Plans (substitute feature article)

November 2024:

• What’s Better: Saving or Paying Down Debt?
• How to Improve Your Credit Rating
• Paying Off Your Mortgage
• Do You Have Too Much Debt?
• Borrow Wisely (substitute feature article)

October 2024:

• Need to Catch Up on Retirement Savings?
• How Much Should You Save in Your 401(k)?
• Small Things for a Big Savings Impact
• Retirement Planning Assumptions
• Vesting and What It Means (substitute feature article)

September 2024:

• Avoid These 10 Insurance Mistakes
• 5 Life Insurance Myths Debunked
• How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
• Changing Life Insurance Needs
• Life Insurance for Stay-at-Home Spouses (substitute feature article)

August 2024:

• Bonds: Not Just for Retirement
• 4 Reasons to Invest in Bonds
• Bond Investing Tips
• Your Bond Allocation
• Bonds and Interest Rate Changes (substitute feature article)

July 2024:

• Estate Planning Tips for Baby Boomers
• Estate Planning for Blended Families
• Organizing Your Estate
• Should You Serve as Guardian?
• Handling the Financial Aspects of Death (substitute feature article)

June 2024:

• New to Investing? Mistakes to Avoid
• Before Purchasing Stocks
• The Basics of Stock Market Indexes
• Signals to Buy and Sell Stocks
• Watching Your Stocks (substitute feature article)

May 2024:

• Tax Planning and Retirement
• Tax-Deferred Compounding
• Learning Income Tax Basics
• Where Should You Hold Investments?
• Tax Planning Tips (substitute feature article)

April 2024:

• Is It Time to Rethink College?
• Should You Use a Roth IRA to Pay for College?
• Decisions Regarding College Funding
• Financial Planning for College Students (substitute feature article)

March 2024:

• Investing Before and During Retirement
• Should You Retire Early?
• Avoid Withdrawal Mistakes
• When to Use Tax-Advantaged Accounts
• Drawdown Retirement Funds Carefully (substitute feature article)

February 2024:

• Focus on the Basics
• Overcoming Your Fear of Investing
• Factors Influencing Your Asset Allocation
• Why Teach Your Children about Investing?
• Market Timing vs. Buy and Hold (substitute feature article)

January 2024:

• Calculating Your Financial Ratios
• 4 Steps to Increase Financial Confidence
• Dreams and Goals: What’s the Difference?
• Give Yourself a Money Makeover
• What to Do If Your Budget Isn’t Working (substitute feature article)

December 2023:

• Paying Off Debt Isn’t Saving
• Is There Good Debt?
• How to Avoid Credit Card Dependence
• Ways to Get Out of Debt
• Set Your Own Debt Limits (substitute feature article)

November 2023:

• Your 401(k) Plan and Changing Jobs
• Use Conservative Assumptions
• Keep Saving after Retirement
• Tips for Your 401(k) Plan
• Choosing Beneficiaries for Your 401(k) Plan (substitute feature article)

October 2023:

• Insurance and Financial Planning
• Insurance Mistakes to Avoid
• Review Life Insurance and Retirement
• What’s the Worst That Could Happen?
• Lowering Homeowners Insurance Premiums (substitute feature article)

September 2023:

• Managing Bond Risks
• Myths about Bonds
• Diversification: Not Just for Stocks
• The Role of Bonds in Your Portfolio
• Consider Maturity Dates (substitute feature article)

August 2023:

• Enjoy Life and Save for Retirement
• Saving and Life Planning
• Should You Borrow from Your 401(k) Plan
• Nurture Your IRA
• The Need for an IRA (substitute feature article)

July 2023:

• Tax Planning for Life’s Major Events
• Taxes and Your Investments
• Why Tax Planning Matters
• Calculating Your Investment’s Basis (substitute feature article)

June 2023:

• The Basics of College Financing
• 7 Ways to Pay Less for College
• A Strategy for College Costs
• How to Finance a Graduate Degree
• Will Your Child Finish College in Four Years? (substitute feature article)

May 2023:

• Estate Planning for Complicated Family Situations
• Avoid Estate-Planning Mistakes
• Giving Back
• 5 Estate-Planning Tips for Dependents
• Distributing Personal Possession (substitute feature article)

April 2023:

• Coming to Terms with Stocks
• Take Time to Reassess
• Principles of Stock Diversification
• Understanding Stock Market Risk
• Watching Your Stocks (substitute feature article)

March 2023:

• The Practical Implications of Investment Theory
• 7 Psychological Traps
• 4 Reasons for Goal-Focused Investing
• Reevaluating Your Portfolio
• The Benefits of Low Correlated Assets (substitute feature article)

February 2023:

• Get These Decisions Right
• Financial Planning for Every Stage of Life
• Tips for the Sandwich Generation
• 6 Signs You Need a Financial Plan
• Diversifying All Your Assets (substitute feature article)

January 2023:

• Pump Up Your Retirement Savings
• Rules for Retirement Investing
• Retirement Planning for Stay-at-Home Parents
• Don’t Underestimate Inflation in Retirement (substitute feature article)

December 2022:

• Bonds at Every Stage of Life
• How and Why to Build a Bond Ladder
• How Inflation Affects Bonds
• Allocation Your Bond Investments (substitute feature article)

November 2022:

• Reducing Debt — Where to Start
• Debt and Your Retirement
• Credit Cards and Your Financial Plan
• Teaching Children to Handle Credit Cards
• Credit Issues as You Age (substitute feature article)

October 2022:

• What Should Your Financial Plan Include?
• Big Life Changes
• Can You Really Save 50% of Your Income?
• Are You Using All Fringe Benefits?
• Fun Ways to Save for the Entire Family (substitute feature article)

September 2022:

• 8 Scenarios When You Need Life Insurance
• Review Your Homeowners Insurance
• Umbrella Insurance
• Calculate Your Life Insurance Needs
• Insurance Basics (substitute feature article)

August 2022:

• How Much Will College Really Costs?
• Myths about College Planning
• Financial Management for College Students
• 4 Reasons for Your Child to Work Part-Time
• Which Goal Is More Important? (substitute feature article)

July 2022:

• 401(k) Plan Mistakes to Avoid
• 10 Ways to Boost Saving
• 5 Reasons to Start Saving
• Are You Saving Enough to Retire Well?
• You 401(k) Contribution Amount (substitute feature article)

June 2022:

• The Downside of Taxes Determining Investment Strategy
• Using Portfolio Losses
• Taxes and Retirement Withdrawals
• Tax-Efficient Investment Strategies
• Tax Planning Tips to Make Life Easier (substitute feature article)

May 2022:

• 6 Myths about Stock Investing
• To Buy or Not To Buy
• How to Select Stocks
• How You Can Use P/E Ratios
• How Much of Your Portfolio Should Be Invested in Stocks? (substitute feature article)

April 2022:

• Should You Consider Incentive Trusts?
• 5 Facts about Estate Planning
• Your Parents’ Estate Plans
• Periodically Review Beneficiaries
• Don’t Forget Digital Assets (substitute feature article)

March 2022:

• How to Catch Up on Retirement Savings
• Wat Out for Estimating Mistakes
• Do You Really Need 70%?
• Should You Stay or Should You Go?
• Staggered Retirements (substitute feature article)

February 2022:

• 5 Steps to Create an Investment Plan
• Watch Out for These Portfolio Mistakes
• Don’t Make These Selling Mistakes
• 6 Questions to Ask Before Investing
• Good Investing Habits (substitute feature article)

January 2022:

• How to Save More: Step by Step
• How to Raise Financially Responsible Children
• Protecting Your Family’s Security
• The Psychology of Saving
• Straighten Out Your Financial Accounts (substitute feature article)

December 2021:

• Is It Time to Rethink College?
• An Investment Plan for College
• A Budget for College Students
• Decisions Regarding College Funding
• Is Out-of-State Tuition Worth It? (substitute feature article)

November 2021:

• What Happens If You Are Disabled?
• Insurance Dos and Don’ts
• Review All Policies Regularly
• 6 Life Insurance Mistakes to Avoid
• Life Insurance Tips (substitute feature article)

October 2021:

• Stock Investing Mistakes to Avoid
• Evaluating Stock Investments
• Stock Selection Tips
• Stock Market Ups and Downs
• Half Still Equals the Whole (substitute feature article)

September 2021:

• Sufficient Funds for Your Entire Retirement
• Saving Based on Personal Goals
• Effective Strategies to Increase Saving
• 5 Reasons to Start Saving
• Time: Friend or Foe? (substitute feature article)

August 2021:

• Bonds: Not Just for Retirement
• 4 Reasons to Invest in Bonds
• Bond Investing Tips
• Are all Triple A Bonds Alike?
• Consider a Bond Tent (substitute feature article)

July 2021:

• Tax Planning through Life
• Tax Planning and Retirement
• What Is Tax Loss Harvesting
• Calculating Your Investment Basis (substitute feature article)

June 2021:

• How to Improve Your Credit Rating
• Start Budgeting
• Dealing with Your Spouse’s Credit Issues
• Why Credit Can Be Good
• Do You Have Too Much Debt? (substitute feature article)

May 2021:

• Retirement Planning Assumptions
• Pension Plans vs. 401(k) Plans
• Is Your 401(k) Plan Enough?
• Don’t Touch Your 401(k) Plan
• Everyone’s Plan Is Different (substitute feature article)

April 2021:

• Retirement Planning Decade by Decade
• Retirement Withdrawal Rates
• Avoid These Withdrawal Mistakes
• What Kind of Retirement Do You Want?
• Essential Tips for Saving for Retirement (substitute feature article)

March 2021:

• Avoid These Estate-Planning Mistakes
• Leaving a Legacy
• Discussing Your Estate with Your Family
• Do You Really Need a Will?
• Handling the Financial Aspects of a Death (substitute feature article)

February 2021:

• Your Financial Road Map
• Financial Harmony in Marriage
• Guarding Your Financial Information
• Tips to Teach Children to Save
• Do You Have a Rainy Day Fund? (substitute feature article)

January 2021:

• Focus on the Basics
• Assessing Your Risk Tolerance
• Overdiversification
• Why Have an Asset Allocation Strategy?
• Know When to Exit (substitute feature article)

December 2020:

• Pump Up Your Retirement Savings
• Money Personalities and Saving
• Advice for Saving for Children
• Assess Your 401(k) Plan
• The Need for an IRA (substitute feature article)

November 2020:

• Paying Off Debt Isn’t Saving
• Debt and Your Retirement
• Is There Such a Thing as Good Debt?
• How to Avoid Credit Card Dependence
• Set Your Own Debt Limits (substitute feature article)

October 2020:

• How Do You Know If You’re Saving Enough?
• How to Set Savings Goals
• Ways to Increase Savings
• Use Conservative Assumptions
• Keep Saving after Retirement (substitute feature article)

September 2020:

• Insurance and Financial Planning
• Avoid These 10 Insurance Mistakes
• How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
• Life Insurance for Stay-at-Home Spouses
• Lowering Your Homeowners Insurance (substitute feature article)

August 2020:

• Objectives Help Focus Investing
• Take Time to Reassess
• Watching Your Stocks
• NASDAQ Basics
• A Dividend Investing Strategy (substitute feature article)

July 2020:

• Estate Planning Considerations for Children
• The SECURE Act and Stretch IRAs
• Estate Planning for Complicated Family Situations
• Estate Planning Tips for Baby Boomers
• Should You Serve as a Guardian? (substitute feature article)

June 2020:

• Active vs. Passive Bond Investing
• The  Yield Curve as an Economic Indicator
• How and Why to Build a Bond Ladder
• Bond Price Fluctuations
• Consider Maturity Dates (substitute feature article)

May 2020:

• Life Changes and Tax Planning
• Taxes and Your Investments
• Tax Treatment of IRA Losses
• When to Use Tax-Advantaged Accounts
• Planning Year Round (substitute feature article)

April 2020:

• How Flexible Is Your Financial Plan?
• 4 Steps to Boost Financial Confidence
• Cut Financial Clutter
• Financial Tips for the Sandwich Generation
• What to Do If Your Budget Isn’t Working (substitute feature article)

March 2020:

• Avoid These Investor Mistakes
• 7 Psychological Traps
• 4 Reasons for Goal-Focused Investing
• Your Risk Tolerance and Retirement
• Market Timing vs. Buy and Hold (substitute feature article)

February 2020:

• Sufficient Funds for Your Entire Retirement
• Retirement Planning for Stay-at-Home Parents
• Manage Your Nest Egg after Retirement
• Tax-Deferred Compounding
• Retirement Withdrawal Strategies (substitute feature article)

January 2020:

• How Much Will College Really Cost?
• How Much Do You Need to Save for College?
• Get Your Share of Merit Aid
• Financial Management for College Students
• Encourage the Importance of Saving (substitute feature article)

December 2019:

• 10 Steps to Control Your Debt
• Interest Rates and Debt
• Paying Off Your Mortgage
• Credit Cards and Your Financial Plan
• Deciding on a Mortgage Term (substitute feature article)

November 2019:

• How to Catch Up on Your Retirement Savings
• The Psychology of Saving
• Fun Ways for the Entire Family to Save
• 5 Reasons to Start Saving
• Can You Really Save 50% of Your Income? (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs October 2019:

• Ways to Save for Retirement
• When Should You Consider a 401(k) Plan
• Help Beneficiaries Avoid IRA Mistakes
• Converting to a Roth IRA
• Your 401(k) Contribution Amount (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs September 2019:

• Dow Theory: Curbing Emotional Investing
• When Should You Sell?
• Learning Lessons from the Stock Market
• Principles of Stock Diversification
• How Much of Your Portfolio Should Be in Stock? (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs August 2019:

• Do You Really Need Disability Insurance?
• 6 Life Insurance Mistakes to Avoid
• Insurance Basics
• Reevaluate Life Insurance at Retirement
• Consider a Personal Liability Umbrella Policy (substitute feature article)

July 2019:

• Bond Investing Strategies
• Managing Bond Risks
• How Inflation Affects Bonds
• Bond Investing Tips (substitute feature article)

June 2019:

• Tax Planning and Retirement
• Using Portfolio Losses
• Why Tax Planning Matters
• Taxes and Retirement Withdrawals
• Calculating Your After-Tax Rate of Return (substitute feature article)

May 2019:

• Why Inflation Can Be Good
• Making Sense of the Federal Deficit
• Don’t Underestimate Inflation in Retirement
• Why Isn’t Inflation Zero Percent? (substitute feature article)

April 2019:

• Estate-Planning Checklist
• Having the Talk
• Emotional Issues That Prevent Estate Planning
• Distributing Your Estate to Grown Children
• What Happens to a Beneficiary’s Share If He/She Dies before You? (substitute feature article)

March 2019:

• Get These Decisions Right
• Preventing Identity Theft
• Loan Carefully
• 4 Steps to Create a Budget
• Reviewing Legal Documents (substitute feature article)

February 2019:

• 5 Steps to Create an Investment Plan
• Asset Allocation and Diversification
• Don’t Make These Selling Mistakes
• Why Teach Your Children about Investments?
• Segregating Your Risk (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs January 2019:

• How Much Do You Really Need to Retire?
• Retirement Planning Assumptions
• Avoid This Mistake
• Should You Even Consider Early Retirement?
• Drawdown Retirement Funds Carefully (substitute feature article)

December 2018:

• Insurance Dos and Don’ts
• Life Insurance as an Estate-Planning Tool
• Give Yourself a Money Makeover
• Calculating Your Life Insurance Needs
• The Best Time to Buy Long-Term-Care Insurance (substitute feature article)

November 2018:

• Growing Your 401(k) Plan
• Taking Required Minimum Distributions
• Is  Your 401(k) Plan Enough?
• Your 401(k) Plan after Changing Jobs
• Questions to Ask Before Taking Money from Your IRA (substitute feature article)

October 2018:

• To Buy or Not to Buy
• 5 Stock Investing Mistakes to Avoid
• Understanding Stock Market Risk
• Keeping Expectations in Check
• Growth vs. Value Investing (substitute feature article)

September 2018:

• Understanding and Improving Your Credit Score
• How Much Is Too Much to Pay for a House?
• Do You Have Too Much Debt?
• How Mortgage Appraisals Work
• Credit Issues as You Age (substitute feature article)

August 2018:

• Myths about Bonds
• Bonds at Every Stage of Life
• Are All Triple-A Bonds the Same?
• Why Should You Consider Bonds? (substitute feature article)

July 2018:

• Tax Planning Through Life
• Downside of Taxes Determining Investment Strategy
• Should You Defer Income Taxes?
• What Is Tax-Loss Harvesting?
• A Tax Planning Mentality (substitute feature article)

June 2018:

• Squeezed by Competing Needs
• Expenses Cutting into Savings?
• 7 Steps to Make Saving a Habit
• Saving and Life Planning
• Factors to Consider before Switching Jobs (substitute feature article)

May 2018:

• Myths about College Planning
• 7 Ways to Pay Less for College
• Help Your Teen Prepare for College
• Decisions Regarding College Funding
• A Budget for College Students (substitute feature article)

April 2018:

• Investing Before and During Retirement
• Reassess Your Retirement Plans
• Part-Time Retirement
• Should You Stay or Should You Go?
• Don’t Forget about Inflation (substitute feature article)

March 2018:

• Estate Planning for Complicated Family Situations
• Leaving a Legacy
• Distributing Personal Possessions
• 5 Estate-Planning Tips for Dependents
• Don’t Forget Digital Assets in Your Estate Plan (substitute feature article)

February 2018:

• Your Financial Road Map
• Finding Ways to Save
• Time — Friend or Foe?
• Financial Planning for Married Couples
• Straighten Out Your Financial Accounts (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs January 2018:

• Focus on the Basics
• Assessing Your Risk Tolerance
• Your Emotions and Investing
• The ABCs of Risk Premiums
• Avoid 5 Common Investing Mistakes (substitute feature article)

December 2017:

• Pump Up Your Retirement Savings
• Challenges to Your Retirement
• Encourage Your Children to Fund IRAs
• Don’t Touch Your 401(k) Plan
• Keeping Track of Retirement Plans (substitute feature article)

November 2017:

• Which Is Better? Saving or Paying Down Debt?
• Debt and Your Retirement
• Borrow Wisely
• How to Avoid Credit Card Dependence
• Set Your Own Debt Limits (substitute feature article)

October 2017:

• How Do You Know If You’re Saving Enough?
• Ways to Save for Retirement
• 5 Reasons to Start Saving More
• How to Make Saving a Part of Your Budget
• Pay Yourself First (substitute feature article)

September 2017:

• Avoid These 10 Insurance Mistakes
• How to Protect against Medical Identity Theft
• 5 Reasons to Consider Disability Insurance
• Umbrella Insurance: An Extra Layer of Protection
• Should You Buy Term of Whole Life Insurance? (substitute feature article)

August 2017:

• What’s a Reasonable Rate of Return?
• Looking for Signals to Buy and Sell
• Investing Defensively
• Tactical Allocation and Market Timing
• Watching Your Stocks (substitute feature article)

July 2017:

• Estate-Planning Tips for Baby Boomers
• Talking to Your Family about Your Estate Plan
• Estate Planning for Blended Families
• Should You Consider Incentive Trusts?
• Higher Exclusion Limits and Trusts (substitute feature article)

June 2017:

• Diversifying Your Bond Portfolio
• Incorporating Bonds in Your Portfolio
• Consider a Bond Tent
• How and Why to Build a Bond Ladder
• Consider Maturity Dates (substitute feature article)

May 2017:

• Tips for Cutting Taxes in Retirement
• Consider Investment Tax Strategies
• Will Your Social Security Benefits Be Taxes?
• A Tax Planning Perspective (substitute feature article)

April 2017:

• How Flexible Is Your Financial Plan?
• Guarding Your Financial Information
• How to Save Without the Pain
• Financial Rules of Thumb
• Why Budgets Are Important (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs March 2017:

• Managing Investment Risk
• 10 Common Investor Mistakes
• Invest at Your Own Risk
• Does a Buy-and-Hold Strategy Still Make Sense?
• Asset Correlation: What Is It and How Do You Use It? (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs February 2017:

• Start Longevity Planning Now
• The DOL Fiduciary Rule: What You Need to Know
• Your 401(k) Plan Has Some Hidden Gems
• Withdrawal Strategies Are as Important as Planning Strategies (substitute feature article)

Financial Briefs January 2017:

• Is It Time to Rethink College?
• Financing Your Graduate Degree
• The Costs of Not Planning Ahead
• An Investment Plan for College
• Shopping for Value in a College Degree (substitute feature article)