For printer-friendly version, click here. By John S. Beliveau, CFA, CFP® Recent stock market volatility has returned to levels unseen in many years. As of mid-January, the stock market has experienced its second correction in the past six months (a correction being a decline of 10% or more) after going four years between previous corrections. […]

Joy joined H.M. Payson at the end of November, coming most recently from Fund Wisdom in Boston, MA as a research analyst. She graduated from the Clark University School of Management with a Master in Finance in 2015 and completed her undergraduate studies at Shanghai International Studies University in 2013. Joy is a native of […]

Bridget joins H.M Payson with more than 25 years in the financial services industry, the last 16 years spent as a Senior Trust Associate for the Key Private Bank Group in Portland. Prior to KeyBank she worked for Fleet Bank and also for a local law firm specializing in trust and estate law. Bridget grew […]

Jay joins H.M. Payson with more than 15 years in the financial services industry, most recently at Old Port Advisors where he was a Vice President and Portfolio Manager. After a stint in Boston, Jay “returned” to Maine in 2005 where he worked as a Financial Advisor with Legg Mason (now Morgan Stanley) before joining […]

Derek joins H.M. Payson with more than fifteen years of banking, trust and financial industry experience; most recently as Vice President and Director of Operations at Spinnaker Trust where he was a member of that firm’s senior leadership team. As the Director of Operations for H.M. Payson, Derek will direct, develop and administer operational strategies […]

At its closing low last Tuesday, the S&P 500 Index was 12.5% below its all-time high of 2,135 and well into what market observers consider to be ‘correction’ territory. Intra-day lows early Monday were even scarier, in an apparent wave of indiscriminate selling. Given the speed of the decline (10%+ in six trading days), the […]

Greetings – It goes without saying that the volatility we have experienced this week is unsettling. We are in the midst of a more detailed communication on the subject, but in the meantime we wanted to let you know that we are thoughtfully assessing the situation.  The bottom line: we believe this is much more […]

In 2011 the Baby Boom generation started turning 65 at a rate of 10,000 people per day and will continue to do so until 2030 (at which time roughly 18% of US citizens will be 65 or older). This represents a meaningful percentage of the population for which considering retirement is becoming a reality as opposed to looming on the distant horizon.

At the start of March 2015, two items made financial-news headlines: the NASDAQ’s return to the 5000 level for the first time since March 2000 and Warren Buffett’s 50th letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. While the media was awash with predictions and speculation about the NASDAQ’s surge, Mr. Buffet chose, instead, to focus on the long term.

We’ve all heard stories of individuals (e.g. lottery winners, professional athletes) who have come into sudden wealth and, within a few years, have seen their fortunes disappear. This is often due to the fact that these individuals have little practical experience or training in financial matters. Sadly, this is not an uncommon problem.