Team VNFA is hard at work this week refreshing the Community Bike Works garden for our 2022 Volunteer Challenge project.
Did You Know…? Voting is open for the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley Volunteer Challenge. Team VNFA is partnered this year with Community Bike Works.
Did you know that the first Friday in March is Employee
Appreciation Day? Employee Appreciation Day began in 1995, as a response
to Boss’s Day, and is meant to honor employees everywhere, in all
industries. We know that our employees are our company’s greatest asset
and so we sent our gratitude to them for their continued contributions and
dedication to Valley National Financial Advisors and our clients.
Cybersecurity is something Team VNFA takes very seriously. We participate in regular trainings to stay on top of the latest and to keep ourselves alert. Here are a few quick tips to protect your digital privacy at tax season and year-round:
Implement
multi-factor authentication on your accounts and make it 99% less likely you’ll
get hacked.
Update
your software. In fact, turn on automatic updates.
Think
before you click. More than 90% of successful cyber-attacks start with a
phishing e-mail.
Use
strong passwords, and ideally a password manager to general and store unique
passwords.
The IRS released a one-page guide for taxpayers to protect from identity theft. The PDF includes tips on keeping your computer and mobile phone secure, advice to avoid phishing scams and malware, and resources to protect your tax return. View and download the guide at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p4524.pdf.
The IRS accepts
online payments. To begin using the IRS online
services, taxpayers must first create an online account. New York also requires
account setups to submit payments online. Pennsylvania will allow a taxpayer to
make income tax payments without the creation of an online account. New Jersey allows one time or scheduled online payments
without a personal login. Our Tax Department has created a step-by-step guide
to setting up and using these online payment portals. It is available HERE
and on our website at valleynationalgroup.com/tax
Many other states also offer electronic payments options.
Please contact us if
you have any questions regarding these other state payments.
Third quarter estimated tax payments are
due September 15, 2021. These estimates may include federal, state and/or
local vouchers depending on your situation.
There may be situations where the
estimates were generated, but an overpayment was applied in full or in part. If
your income or withholdings have significantly changed since last year, please
contact your tax preparer to review. If you change or do not make the
estimates, please let your tax preparer know at tax filing time.
VIDEO: Saving for College 101 Saving for college can be a daunting task, but with some wise planning, one can be better prepared for the future. There are several great ways to save up. Step into our classroom and let’s review your choices. WATCH NOW
Inflation and Your Portfolio The VNFA Investment Department takes a long-term approach to managing inflation. Although our team stays abreast of all regular data points, we do not endeavor to alter the portfolio meaningfully based on short-term metrics because we feel that we are strongly positioned for a range of long-term inflationary scenarios. Our fixed income portfolio maintains a duration approximately 2/3 of that of the Barclays Aggregate Bond Index, our benchmark. In turn, our fixed income is likely to outperform in an inflationary scenario under which interest rates increase. While our fixed income holdings may underperform in a falling-rate outcome, our investment personnel believe that a persistent declining rate environment is improbable given how low rates are at present. On the equity side, we are invested with a modest growth tilt. Generally speaking, growth companies are relatively insulated from inflation as they oftentimes have pricing power, enabling them to pass higher prices onto their customers and maintain profitability. On the other hand, our equity managers have proven their long-term outperformance in recent periods, which were characterized by tame inflation.
VNFA’s Investment Department remains adaptable to new
information but disciplined with respect to a long-term outlook. WATCH
A SHORT VIDEO to learn more about the general impact of inflation on your
investment portfolio and reach out to your Financial Advisor or our Investment
Department with any questions.
The IRS has created
the ability for taxpayers to create an online account to securely access
information, view notices, make payments and more. Read about the online
benefits and create an account at IRS.gov/account.
