Alex Strandell Alex Strandell

WealthVest’s MYGA Educational Series: CD and MYGA

In this installment of WealthVest's Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuity Educational Series, Chad Dokken, National Accounts Manager, walks through the key differences between bank CDs and MYGAs and how financial professionals can help their clients with principal protection, guaranteed growth, and tax deferral using MYGAs.

Read More
Economic Updates, Advisor Training Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Officer Economic Updates, Advisor Training Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Officer

What did we learn this week?-Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Strategist

The Fed will successfully destroy demand. Gasoline prices may not come down meaningfully anytime soon due to the structural supply issues we discussed last week. Job openings may well stay elevated for months to come and consumer spending will continue to benefit from the dwindling stockpile of savings from fiscal stimulus and the vestiges of QE. But in one very important sector of the economy, the Fed's efforts to cool demand are already playing out. That sector is housing (OER/Shelter) which represents roughly 40% of the data that goes into CPI. To state the obvious, interest rates matter to housing and a doubling of long-term interest rates matters a lot.

Read More
Economic Updates, Advisor Training Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Officer Economic Updates, Advisor Training Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Officer

June Energy Prices Insights—Tim Pierotti, Chief Investment Strategist

This week, we focused on trying to better understand the potential durability of higher energy prices.

As a reminder, at WealthVest, we have a long-term view that potential GDP growth is going lower. That means, we see a real GDP growth rate that will average below 2% and an inflation backdrop that will be consistently problematic, quite unlike the grinding decline of inflation over the last four decades. For what it's worth, this is an increasingly non-controversial view among academic economists, but not one that is yet embraced more broadly on Wall Street.

Read More
Jackson Bolstad Jackson Bolstad

WealthVest Employees Gather for National Sales Meeting

For the first time since 2019, WealthVest, a financial services marketing and wholesaling firm, was able to bring together its nearly 100 employees and four nationwide wholesaling teams for its in-person national sales meeting in Bozeman this May.

Read More
Alex Strandell Alex Strandell

What is your inflation hedge?

Inflation is a hidden danger in retirement. Considering retirement can last 30-40 years, increasing medical costs, food costs, housing costs and transportation costs can leave retirees far poorer if their savings do not keep pace with inflation. Many retirees depend upon fixed-income investments such as bonds and bond funds during retirement, which are not designed to keep up with inflation as these investments provide fixed coupon payments. The Federal Reserve typically combats high inflationary periods by raising the federal funds rate to ease an overheated economy. Changes in interest rates are one of the most significant factors affecting bond values in the secondary market. A truth of bond and bond fund investing is that when interest rates rise, secondary bond market prices fall.

Read More
Jackson Bolstad Jackson Bolstad

USAA Life Insurance Company Partners with WealthVest

USAA Life Insurance Company, a leading financial services brand for military members and their families, and WealthVest, a field-based wholesaling firm, have announced a strategic relationship to distribute certain USAA Life annuity products to select banks and broker-dealers. The new relationship is the result of an extensive search by USAA Life for a wholesaling partner that could meet USAA Life’s exacting professional service and training standards.

Read More
Alex Strandell Alex Strandell

Consumer Price Index: A History

Inflation is the hidden danger in retirement. Considering retirement can last 30-40 years, increasing medical costs, food costs, housing costs and transportation costs can leave retirees far poorer if their savings do not keep up with inflation. Many retirees depend upon fixed-income investments during retirement, which are not designed to keep up with inflation. Social Security has cost-of-living adjustments, but sometimes it can be prudent to supplement this income. It is important to look at where inflation has been and where it may be headed to build a retirement income plan that factors in inflation risk.

Read More
Jackson Bolstad Jackson Bolstad

WealthVest Employees Organize Earth Day Cleanup

In celebration of Earth Day, employees at WealthVest, a Bozeman-based financial services wholesaling firm, spent the afternoon collecting and disposing of nearly 30 large, black trash bags full of items found along the roadways and greenways near their corporate office on Manley Road.

Read More
Alex Strandell Alex Strandell

The 2 and 10-year Treasury Spread: Why this is an important economic indicator

Investing relies on predicating future trends and U.S. treasury rates remain a popular indicator. The 10-Year U.S. Treasury can be used as a proxy for mortgage rates and consumer confidence. This rate compared to a lower term rate such as the 2-Year Treasury Rate is an important barometer of the economy. When analyzing the spread between the 10-Year and 2-Year rates, the data is plotted on a graph and the changes in shape can tell a broader story.

Read More