Delmarva Financial Group

10/29/2026

There are four basic steps to calculating the value of an estate.

Determining the value of your estate, or for someone who has passed away, can be a complex undertaking.

10/29/2026

Nationwide's 2026 study surfaced three key lessons from parents:

🎯 Not starting early enough.
More than 25 percent of recent retirees wish they had started sooner. Fifteen years of compounding early in a career can make a HUGE difference.

🎯 Not raising the contribution rate as your income grows.
Thirteen percent of recent retirees wish they had contributed more to their savings each year.

🎯 Claiming Social Security at 62.
More than a third of boomers plan to claim benefits the moment they become eligible, even though doing so cuts the monthly benefit by 25 to 30 percent for life.

According to the SSA, waiting past full retirement age adds 8 percent per year, up to age 70.

Across the research, three things seem to matter most:

1️⃣ Starting early
2️⃣ Getting an outside perspective rather than relying on instinct alone
3️⃣ Treating retirement as something that unfolds over decades rather than a single date on the calendar

10/28/2026

Beau Breeden, Managing Partner & Wealth Advisor, is representing our team at Schwab’s IMPACT conference this week. He's bringing back timely insights we can put to work for clients.

Our focus is simple: stay current on what’s changing in markets, planning, and policy so our clients' strategy stays aligned with their goals.

A few notable stats shared in the opening keynote:
• 68% of affluent Americans say they’re willing to pay for advice (up from 38% in 2010)
• 74M households have recently moved or are considering moving assets
• An estimated $10T could transfer between generations over the next decade

Highlights from the Day 1 Kickoff:
That “allocation” isn’t just about how you invest. It’s also how an advisory firm prepares to serve you. We think about allocating our own resources so we can show up well in the moments that matter:

Time and attention: building processes and capacity before clients need them
Technology: using tools to create more room for planning and relationships—not just more activity
Talent: developing professionals with both analytical rigor and emotional intelligence.

Readiness is rarely accidental. It’s a series of decisions made ahead of time.

Economic & Market Outlook: Recent moves in Treasury yields appear tied more to shifting expectations around Federal Reserve policy and resilient growth than to a big change in long-term inflation expectations.

Several strategists also note today’s environment feels less like “uncertainty” and more like ongoing shifts—where factors like energy-price swings, hidden leverage, and rapid leadership changes among stocks can shift quickly.

Key Takeaway: in periods like this, having a plan matters.

A few helpful checkpoints:
• Reconfirm time horizon and cash needs
• Review diversification and risk levels
• Avoid reacting to short-term headlines

With the 2026 midterms approaching, headlines are focused on tight races and the possibility of delayed results in close contests. At the same time, investors are paying closer attention to rising federal debt and interest costs. Politics can set the tone, but your plan shouldn’t depend on election outcomes.

AI infrastructure is booming, but not without pushback. Recent polling suggests many Americans don’t want data centers nearby due to power, water, noise, and local utility cost concerns.

Investors are also asking tougher questions: cost of capital, return on invested capital, and which companies can show real productivity gains.

In fast-moving themes, fundamentals matter.

Credit markets are sending mixed signals. Recent reports show strong investment-grade issuance even with higher rates, while parts of high yield (especially lower-quality issuers) are showing more strain, including wider spreads and fewer new deals.

For investors, it’s a reminder to review credit quality, liquidity, and diversification within bond holdings.

Market sentiment can be confusing: what investors say in surveys doesn’t always match what they do with portfolios and cash flows.

A key takeaway: the pace of Fed policy shifts has often mattered more for stocks than the absolute level of rates.

For long-term plans, tuning out the noise and sticking to a disciplined strategy can help.

A Major Announcement for the independent advisory community: Feb. 17, 2027 will mark the first National RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) Day.

The goal is to create a shared moment to recognize the fiduciary model—and to help more families understand that advice can be built around a duty to act in their best interest.

Planned activities include:
• University campus events introducing students to the advisory profession
• Advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. supporting the fiduciary standard
• A closing bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange

A theme we're watching in the advisor space: firms investing “beyond custody” to help advisors deliver a more modern client experience.
• A focus on accessible, low-cost investment solutions and continued ETF expansion
• More personalization tools (like indexing and custom model portfolios)
• Ongoing market research and commentary to help navigate uncertainty

For clients, the takeaway is simple: better technology, research, and service can support more tailored planning—especially when markets or life events get complicated.

Beau is bringing back timely insights on markets, planning strategies, and best practices to help us serve of our clients even better.

Stay tuned—we’ll share highlights from Day 2 tomorrow!

10/28/2026

🎃 Filling the candy bowl is costing more this year.

Candy and chewing gum prices have climbed 8.1% over the past year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chocolate prices are up, too, though estimates vary by source. 🍫

But higher prices aren’t necessarily keeping Americans out of the candy aisle.

The National Retail Federation expects Halloween spending to reach $13.5 billion this year, with 96% of Halloween shoppers expecting to buy sweets.

For many households, the holiday is one of those small traditions worth making room for, even when everyday expenses are taking a bigger bite out of their budgets.

Whether you’re picking up candy for trick-or-treaters or sneaking a few pieces for yourself, what’s the one Halloween candy you can’t resist? 🍬👻

Average prices for chewing gum and candy have soared 8.1% over the last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

10/27/2026

The price you see on the shelf may not be the exact amount you pay at checkout.

With penny production ended, some merchants have started rounding cash purchases up or down to the nearest nickel. Depending on the total, that could mean a few cents more or a few cents less.

Paying by credit card may come with another wrinkle. Some retailers and service providers are adding surcharges to help offset card processing costs, which may increase the final price.

That means the same purchase could cost slightly different amounts depending on whether you use cash, debit, or credit.

Before you pay, take a second to compare the total for cash, debit, and credit so you know which option makes the most sense for that purchase.


Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/cash-rounding-credit-card-surcharges-penny-production-ends.html

10/27/2026

If you thought that payouts from life insurance are tax-free in all cases, think again.

Life insurance proceeds are generally tax-free. But not in all cases.

10/26/2026

💳 Carrying a credit card balance is becoming more common among Gen Z, even as other generations are moving in the opposite direction.

A Deloitte and ConsumerSignals survey found that the share of adults ages 18 to 29 carrying a balance from month to month rose more than 19% between late 2023 and mid-2026. Over that same period, the share declined among every other adult generation.

And with average credit card interest rates around 21% in August, those balances can become expensive.

For younger adults juggling housing costs, student loans, and everyday expenses, there's another challenge: deciding how to balance paying off debt with saving for the future.

High-interest debt can make it harder to build emergency savings or contribute toward long-term goals. But factors such as interest rates, available savings, and workplace retirement benefits can all influence which financial priorities deserve attention.

The important takeaway? A credit card balance isn't just about what you owe today. It's also about how interest may affect what you have available tomorrow.

Deloitte finds the share of Gen Z borrowers carrying credit card balances rose nearly 20% from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026.

10/26/2026

Long-term care costs can be significant—and many people underestimate them. Use this tool to get a sense of what care might cost and how to prepare.

Estimate potential long-term care costs and what coverage may help address them.

10/26/2026

How many years before you are ready to be “retired”?

It’s one of the most important numbers yet.

TIAA's 2026 longevity literacy research found that workers who expect a shorter retirement save less consistently than those who expect a longer one.

That makes sense, but it also means the people who assume their retirement will be short are the same ones who may be building portfolios with shorter time horizons.

Once someone has already reached 65, the numbers shift.

According to Social Security Administration data:

📌 A 65-year-old man has roughly a 24 percent chance of living past 90

📌 A 65-year-old woman's chances are higher, closer to 35 percent

📌 For a 65-year-old married couple, there is about a 50 percent chance that at least one spouse lives past 90

The practical implication is not "assume you will live to 100."

It’s that a retirement income strategy built around the “average lifespan” often assumes a person will die on schedule. Most people do not.

If retirement is on your horizon, the question to ask is, "What happens to my income strategy if I live to 95?"

10/25/2026

As artificial intelligence reshapes the future of technology, a growing community of collectors is looking back.

Vintage computer enthusiasts are restoring and preserving the machines that helped launch the digital revolution, including classic Atari, Commodore, IBM, and Apple systems.

For collectors, these machines are more than old hardware. They are artifacts of computer history.

At the Vintage Computer Festival in Mountain View, California, more than 3,500 people gathered to see restored systems, celebrate Apple’s 50th anniversary, and explore the early technology behind today’s laptops, smartphones, and wearable devices.

Some rare machines can carry significant value. The Apple-1, Apple’s first product, can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But for many collectors, the appeal is also personal: the sounds, games, interfaces, and hands-on repairs that make early computers feel understandable from the inside out.

In an age of invisible algorithms and cloud-based tools, vintage computers offer something different: a tangible connection to how modern technology began.


Source: https://apnews.com/article/vintage-computers-silicon-valley-technology-apple-history-43d28a08d77cc477cdcd6951315d2f2d