The SKG Team at Barnum Financial Group

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The SKG Team at Barnum Financial Group At SKG, a team within Barnum Financial Group, we work to bring you closer to your financial goals. We take a different approach. Member SIPC (www.SIPC.org).

The growth of The SKG Team is the direct result of our philosophy: we believe our clients deserve more. You deserve personal attention, tailored solutions, and expert advisors who are in it for the long haul with you. Our desire to deliver timely advice and insightful guidance is born from seeing how the old paradigms fall short. We factor in every aspect of your life—short-term objectives and long-term goals, personal dreams and business ambitions. Yes, you get a dedicated advisor. But you also get the collective knowledge and extensive resources of a team. Securities and investment advisory services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Supervisory address: 6 Corporate Drive, Shelton CT 06484. 203-513-6000

It’s not about if there will be a down market. In fact, it’s about when the down market happens that is one of the most ...
10/26/2026

It’s not about if there will be a down market. In fact, it’s about when the down market happens that is one of the most underappreciated risks in retirement

Sequence of returns risk is the danger that market losses occur early in retirement, right when you're also making withdrawals from your portfolio. Even if the market eventually recovers, selling investments at depressed prices means less capital available to participate in that recovery. Over time, that can increase the risk of running out of money.

The good news? There are strategies designed specifically to address this.

The approach our team favors is the three-bucket approach. This is a framework that separates your retirement assets based on when you'll actually need them.

🪣 Bucket 1 is for short-term needs. It holds roughly 2–3 years of anticipated withdrawals in cash or conservative, liquid investments. When markets are down, you draw from this bucket, not from your long-term investments.

🪣 Bucket 2 is your intermediate layer. It's invested in a more income-oriented, balanced allocation, designed to provide moderate growth while managing volatility. As Bucket 1 gets drawn down, Bucket 2 is used to refill it over time.

🪣 Bucket 3 is your long-term growth engine. With greater equity exposure and a longer time horizon, these assets have the runway to ride out market downturns and potentially recover.

The objective is to create a disciplined withdrawal framework that reduces the likelihood of being forced to sell growth assets at the wrong time.

This structure can improve the durability of your retirement income and reduce the risk of depleting your assets too soon.

If you'd like to explore whether a bucket strategy makes sense for your retirement plan, reach out to a member of the SKG Team today.

Market downturns are frustrating. But they can also come with a silver lining, if you know how to take advantage of them...
10/22/2026

Market downturns are frustrating. But they can also come with a silver lining, if you know how to take advantage of them. Tax-loss harvesting is that silver lining. It’s a strategy that turns portfolio losses into a potential tax advantage. Here's how it works.

When an investment has declined in value, you can sell it to realize a capital loss. That loss can then be used to offset capital gains elsewhere in your portfolio, reducing the taxes owed on those gains. In some cases, if your losses exceed your gains, up to $3,000 of that excess can be used to offset ordinary income in a given year, with any remaining losses carried forward to future years.
When does tax-loss harvesting make sense?
It’s worth considering when you're holding investments currently worth less than what you paid for them. And you've either already realized gains elsewhere in your portfolio, or you expect to before the year is out.

A few important things to keep in mind:

The goal isn't to simply sell at a loss and walk away. Typically, you'd reinvest the proceeds into a similar (but not identical) investment to maintain your market exposure. This keeps your long-term strategy intact while capturing the tax benefit.

It's also worth being aware of the wash-sale rule, which disallows the loss deduction if you buy back the same or a substantially identical security within 31 days before or after the sale.

Tax-loss harvesting is a layer of tax planning that can be woven into your broader investment approach. It’s one more way to keep more of what your portfolio earns.

If you'd like to explore whether tax-loss harvesting may be relevant to your situation, reach out to a member of the SKG Team today!

Households often hold far more cash than their plan requires, or far less than their next 24 months demand. Both are dec...
10/21/2026

Households often hold far more cash than their plan requires, or far less than their next 24 months demand. Both are decisions, even when they are made by default.

Worth mapping out:
• Known liquidity needs over the next one to three years
• Where reserves sit and what they are actually earning
• Tax treatment across account types
• Whether a credit line serves better than selling assets at the wrong moment

The right amount of cash is the amount your plan calls for. We can help you find that number.

You've probably heard of a Roth IRA. But have you heard of a Roth conversion? More importantly, do you know if one makes...
10/20/2026

You've probably heard of a Roth IRA. But have you heard of a Roth conversion? More importantly, do you know if one makes sense for you?

Here's what it is and when it's worth considering.

What is a Roth Conversion? 🔄
A Roth conversion involves moving money from a pre-tax retirement account, like a traditional IRA or 401(k), into a Roth IRA. The amount converted is included in your taxable income for that year, meaning you're voluntarily paying taxes today in exchange for tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals down the road.

When Might it Make Sense? 💡
• Years where your income is temporarily lower like a gap year, early retirement, or a career transition. In fact, any period where your income dips that creates a window to convert at a lower tax rate.
• During down markets. Converting when your account value is lower means you pay taxes on a smaller amount. And all the growth from that point forward happens tax-free. This is often called a timely Roth conversion.
• Earlier in life. The earlier you convert, the more time that money has to grow tax-free. Time is one of the most powerful variables in this equation.
Why Consider It? 🤔
• Tax diversification. Having a mix of pre-tax and after-tax retirement dollars gives you control over your tax situation in retirement. If tax rates are higher when you retire, you'll be glad to have money you can withdraw without a tax bill.
• Flexibility for your beneficiaries. When a Roth IRA is inherited, distributions are generally tax-free to the beneficiary. That's an advantage compared to inheriting a traditional IRA where every dollar withdrawn is taxable.

A Word of Caution ⚠️
Roth conversions aren't automatically the right move for everyone. The decision should factor in your current and projected tax brackets, the amount being converted, other income sources, Medicare-related considerations, investment growth assumptions, and your legacy planning goals.

Done thoughtfully and at the right time, a Roth conversion can be one of the most powerful tools in a long-term financial plan.

The SKG team helps clients evaluate whether a Roth conversion makes sense as part of their broader strategy. We're happy to take a look at your situation. Contact us today!

It is National Estate Planning Awareness Week, and the most common gap we see is not a missing will. It is a plan that n...
10/19/2026

It is National Estate Planning Awareness Week, and the most common gap we see is not a missing will. It is a plan that no longer matches reality.

Worth confirming this month:
• Beneficiary designations on every retirement account and policy, since they override your will
• Titling on accounts and property after any marriage, divorce, or move
• Who holds your powers of attorney and healthcare directive, and whether they know it
• Whether your trust is actually funded, not just drafted

We coordinate with your attorney and CPA so the documents and the strategy agree. We are here to help guide you if it has been a few years.

If you are on Medicare, this is the one window each year to change your Part D or Medicare Advantage coverage. Plans adj...
10/15/2026

If you are on Medicare, this is the one window each year to change your Part D or Medicare Advantage coverage. Plans adjust their formularies and networks annually, which means the plan that fit you last year may not be the right one now.

For higher income households, there is a second layer worth watching: IRMAA surcharges are based on your tax return from two years prior. A Roth conversion, a property sale, or a large distribution can raise your premiums well after the fact.

Coverage decisions and tax decisions are connected. We look at them together.

Happy Birthday, Anthony! 🎂As a financial planner and partner on the SKG team, Anthony does more than help clients work t...
10/14/2026

Happy Birthday, Anthony! 🎂

As a financial planner and partner on the SKG team, Anthony does more than help clients work toward their goals. He also mentors and trains the next generation of advisors so they can deliver at the same level.

Thank you for your leadership and everything you put into this team, Anthony. Wishing you the happiest of birthdays!

Markets have given investors plenty to think about this year. What matters is knowing what to do with it.Join The SKG Te...
10/14/2026

Markets have given investors plenty to think about this year. What matters is knowing what to do with it.

Join The SKG Team on Wednesday, October 28 at 12:00 PM ET for a Market Update with Michael Pollgreen, Investment Director at Capital Group. He will cover strategies for navigating volatility, what history tells us about periods like this one, and portfolio rebalancing and allocation considerations.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4yKGM5H

Modern Portfolio Theory 101: What is Alpha & What is Beta?Whenever you’re investing and analyzing a portfolio, two measu...
10/13/2026

Modern Portfolio Theory 101: What is Alpha & What is Beta?

Whenever you’re investing and analyzing a portfolio, two measures of Modern Portfolio Theory worth paying attention to are alpha and beta.

Let’s start with beta.

Beta measures how sensitive a portfolio is to movements in its reference benchmark.

For example, if you were to compare your portfolio to the S&P 500 and it had a beta of .60, that would mean that, historically, a 1% move in the benchmark has been associated with roughly a .60% move in the portfolio, on average. If a portfolio has a beta of 1.20, a 1% move in the benchmark has historically been associated with roughly a 1.20% move in the portfolio, on average.

This is important because investors may think their portfolio is conservative, but it might have a much higher or lower sensitivity to the market than they realize. The opposite can also be true.

Then there is alpha.

I sometimes refer to alpha as “bang for your buck.”

Portfolio alpha is the portion of an investment portfolio’s return that is above or below what would be expected given its exposure to a benchmark or market.

When analyzing a portfolio, alpha is calculated in relation to the portfolio’s beta. In other words, was your “bang for your buck” above or below what would have been expected given the portfolio’s sensitivity to the market?

This is important.

If one portfolio returns 10% with a beta of 1.0 while another returns 10% with a beta of .60, the second portfolio generated the same return with substantially less sensitivity to movements in the market. That doesn’t necessarily mean it experienced less overall volatility, but it’s an important distinction.

Once you’re retired and begin taking regular, meaningful withdrawals, consistency can become even more important. Market declines early in retirement can be particularly challenging when withdrawals are occurring at the same time.

As such, many retirees may benefit from examining ways to reduce their portfolio’s sensitivity to major market movements while also considering whether the portfolio has historically generated returns above or below what would be expected given its market exposure.

If you need help examining these characteristics and determining whether changes to your portfolio may be appropriate, please don’t be shy. Reach out.

10/13/2026

Your HSA may be one of the most flexible tools in your financial plan. 💡

Unlike a traditional or Roth IRA, a Health Savings Account offers the potential for tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. You can also invest your HSA funds, giving them the opportunity to grow for healthcare costs in retirement.

Want to learn how to make the most of yours? The SKG Team is here to help.

Address

565 Taxter Road, Suite 625
Elmsford, NY
10523

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 1pm

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+19143722895

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