The P&A Blog
Seven ways we have helped our clients
We view ourselves as a financial advocate for our clients. Those of you who have been our clients for any length of time know we do a lot more than manage investments. Here are seven ways we have helped our clients in the last month. Medicare/SHIIP – Diane and...
Do you believe what we believe?
Over the years, we have found that working with people whose ideals match our own leads to a greater degree of success for both parties. We believe in: Emphasizing people over profits. Building authentic relationships. Working together as a team for our clients....
Leveraging technology to increase transparency & trust
As of October 2018, we manage over $1.5 billion in assets for 600 clients from 29 U.S. states with a full-time staff of 12 people. To operate this efficiently, we lean heavily on technology. The result is increased transparency and a deeper level of trust with our...
The fee-only & fiduciary difference
Financial advisors largely fall into one of two categories: those who sell products and those who do not. In industry parlance, advisors who do not sell products are fee-only and those who do sell products are fee-based. While their names are similar, their business...
Ka-Boom
My Dad is a pilot, and a good one at that. He started the learning process back in the late 80s, motivated to find a quicker way to get to our summer cabin in Northern Minnesota (in an effort to avoid the 4 hours of commercial connections from Lincoln – Minneapolis –...
Charitable contributions deadline looms
As we approach the end of 2018, those of you who have a Fidelity donor-advised fund (DAF) need to be aware of several tax-related deadlines. However, before we jump into these deadlines, let’s define two terms tied to DAFs that can be confusing: contributions and...
Identity theft protection
Email accounts get hacked every day because of weak passwords. Phishing campaigns succeed when the receiver unknowingly clicks on a corrupted file or link. Phone scams continue to prey on the elderly. Identity theft protection and cybersecurity are top-of-mind at...
Why investment fees matter
Do you know the amount of your monthly cable bill? How about the price of your cell phone plan? Now, the million-dollar question: how much are your investments costing you? Chances are, you can ballpark the first two, but the third is a mystery. There’s a reason...
Cybersecurity & identity theft
Cybersecurity and identity theft are top-of-mind at Pittenger & Anderson. Read through the following PDF's to learn some tips for preventing fraud, how to respond to a data breach, and the steps Charles Schwab takes to protect your information. Tips for...
2018 – 3rd Quarter Letter – Metathesiophobia
The latest P&A quarterly letter to clients is available in PDF form. You can download it here. Topics include historical stock market investment returns, bull and bear markets, corrections, portfolio management, reversion to the mean, and the meaning of...
Does your money have confidence?
Beryl Markham was a pilot, racehorse trainer, author, and adventurer. She was the first female to fly solo and non-stop across the Atlantic from east to west. While not as famous as Amelia Earhart, Markham’s life was just as interesting. She also authored a great...
Cash is King?
Since June 2011, when I started working at P&A, U.S. stocks have powered an average annual return of 14.5%. In dollar terms, that would’ve turned $100 into $267, or more than 2.5x your original investment! This is the point where I’m obligated to tell you past...
P&A has a new website!
We live in a digital world that bombards us with notifications, breaking news, and casino-like noise. Because we are constantly filtering through so much information, our attention spans have become much shorter. With this in mind, we have redesigned our website to...
What to know when inheriting an IRA
In addition to dealing with the emotional aspects of losing a loved one, there are financial elements to consider as well. Inheriting an IRA can be a relatively straightforward process or it can become more complicated. If you are the beneficiary of an IRA of someone...
A tax-advantaged NUA-nce
You are probably well aware there are many acronyms in the financial industry and the world as a whole. While most of these aren’t worth remembering, after reading Trey’s article “SIPC or ROTFL, which is your favorite acronym?” you’ll know about SIPC. In this...
SIPC or ROTFL, which is your favorite acronym?
We live in a world of acronyms. TBA, IDK, BTW and my personal favorite ROTFL. You might have to Google that one. In the world of investing, there is an acronym that you should become very familiar with, SIPC. Help me become familiar, you ask? Well OK, here goes…...
Announcement: The P&A app is here!
A few months ago, we notified our clients that we were in the process of releasing our very own mobile app. Well rejoice because it is finally available! The app will only be accessible to current clients with an active P&A client portal. If you haven’t...
On bears and corrections
Many investors live in fear of corrections and bear markets, even though they happen fairly regularly. This article is not a bear market call---we still like stocks--but if you’re interested in our proactive approach to helping you through the next one, keep reading....
