Your Weekly Update - Accessing Your 2015 Tax Documents

	Weekly Market Recap This week saw further volatility in the oil price, as has been a theme of recent weeks. US manufacturing activity contracted for the 4th consecutive month based on survey data in January, though US consumer income increased in December. Overseas, German unemployment fell to a new low of 6.2%, hitting the its lowest level since German reunification. This week we want to remind you of the potential value of 401(k) matching if you're an employee. 401(k) matching can boost your savings rate, and approximately 60% of employers offer a matching program. For many, 401(k) matching means that, for every dollar you put into your retirement plan, your employer will ultimately also put in a dollar. Matching can improve the return on your 401(k) investment even before any tax benefits which 401(k) plans can also offer. However, also note that 401(k) matching can vest over time. This means that you may only receive any matching benefits over a period of years, and when you leave your employer some matching benefits may be lost. So, if you do have a 401(k) from your employer, then your ability to take advantage of 401(k) matching benefits is something to investigate. This can be true even in cases where your 401(k) fees are a relatively high or the fund options more limited, simply because the matching itself can be valuable. There are limits to 401(k) matching in terms of the level of contributions your employer will match up to, often around 4% of salary, and whether it's simple dollar for dollar matching on offer or something lower. However, if your employer came to you with a 4% pay rise, it's unlikely you'd pass because you didn't fill out the paperwork. However, with 401(k) matching many workers may be in a similar situation by not taking advantage of the money that their employer is offering. Make sure that you are aware of your options on 401(k) matching, and that you aren't letting a potentially good deal pass you by. Also remember that any employer 401(k) match does NOT count towards your annual deferral limit (currently $18,000 for those under age 50). Also of note, even if you elect Roth 401(k) contributions, employer matching dollars are always Traditional contributions, as required by law. Notes: US Manufacturing: http://ism.files.cms-plus.com/ISMReport/MFG_JAN_16_Final.pdf US Personal Income: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm German unemployment: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-02/german-unemployment-rate-falls-to-record-low-as-job-market-booms Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic political conditions, and as subsequent conditions vary. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. This material may contain "forward-looking: information that is not purely historical in nature. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Summary $8,643.37 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
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Your Weekly Update - Fed Holds Rates Steady

	Weekly Market Recap The Federal Reserve (Fed) met this week and unanimously decided to hold interest rates constant after raising them for the first time in almost a decade last month. The Fed saw strength in many areas of the US economy including the labor market, household spending, business investment and housing. Counterbalancing this, the Fed saw declining exports and slowing inventory investment, and also noted that US economic growth slowed late last year. Overall, the Fed's view on the US economy is positive, and is still expecting to see the economy expand at a "moderate pace". The Fed's relatively positive outlook stands in contrast to the recent volatility we've seen in many financial markets. Part of this may be because the areas that appear to have caused concern in the markets recently, such as Chinese growth, are less immediate concerns to the Fed given their domestic mandate. On the other hand, as the economist Nouriel Roubini has quipped, the stock market has predicted "twelve of the last eight recessions". What this means is that even though the stock market can be a leading indicator of economic decline, it can also be misleading. Historically, there have been several downturns in the stock market that wrongly forecasted a coming recession. In fact, at times, these downturns lead to several years of continued growth. Just as the stock market can be ineffective at forecasting, so can many experts. For example, research by Prakash Loungani from the International Monetary Fund has highlighted that many economists have a dismal record of forecasting recessions, such as failing to predict the 2008-9 recession even in September 2008 when it was in progress. This is one reason why we aim to design our asset allocation for the long-term rather than make frequent adjustments based on short-term predictions. Notes: Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Release: http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/monetary/20160127a.htm Roubini Quote: http://people.stern.nyu.edu/nroubini/bci/bciintroduction.htm Economists Forecasts Of Recession: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/14e323ee-e602-11e3-aeef-00144feabdc0.html Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic political conditions, and as subsequent conditions vary. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. This material may contain "forward-looking: information that is not purely historical in nature. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Summary $8,798.05 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
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Your Weekly Update - Oil Swings Sharply

	Weekly Market Recap This week saw oil move below $27 a barrel only to rebound to over $32 by the end of the week. In addition, Chinese fourth quarter GDP growth came in a 6.8%, and Chinese industrial production for December grew 5.9%. These numbers represent high growth rates as compared to many countries in the world, but imply slowing growth in China relative to recent history. More generally, the IMF also nudged down its forecast for global growth for 2016 to 3.4% anticipating a deeper and longer Brazilian recession and slightly softer US growth for 2016 based on a stronger dollar impacting US exports and a weaker energy sector. The IMF's forecast for 2016 global GDP growth is above estimated growth for 2015 and in line with 2014. Given the weak start to the year for global markets, it's worth noting that fixed income instruments are performing as we would expect in this environment, and thereby providing some stability to portfolios. As a proxy for broader bond markets, the 10 year Treasury currently yields very close to 2% after starting the year above 2.2%, and, as a reminder, a falling yield means a higher bond price. This is one reason why we believe fixed income is an important component of portfolios, because when stocks dip on growth concerns, certain bonds can perform more strongly, and that's what we've seen so far in 2016. Notes: Oil Price: https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DCOILWTICO Oil Market Report: https://www.iea.org/oilmarketreport/omrpublic/ IMF World Economic Outlook January 2016: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2016/update/01/pdf/0116.pdf 10 Year US Treasury: http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/USGG10YR:IND Chinese Industrial Production: http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/201601/t20160119_1306463.html Chinese GDP Growth: http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/201601/t20160119_1306072.html Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic, or political conditions. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Summary $8,641.69 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
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FutureAdvisor | Market movements have created an opportunity to rebalance

	As part of our 24/7 monitoring of your investments and the markets, we want to alert you that it may be a good time to rebalance your portfolio based on recent market movements. Based on the market fluctuations since our last rebalance email on September 23, 2015, we are recommending that you take action in 1 of your accounts. Sign in for the most up-to-date rebalancing recommendations. If you have any questions or want to talk to an advisor just reply to this email. Thanks again for using FutureAdvisor. If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
	FutureAdvisor | 116 New Montgomery St, Suite 300, San Francisco 94105 Drop us a note anytime: advisor@futureadvisor.com

Your Weekly Update - Market Volatility Rises

	Weekly Market Recap This week saw improving US job market data as the Kansas City Fed's Labor Market Conditions Index posting its highest reading since 2008. However, internationally data was weaker - industrial production declined for November in both the UK and India. As 2016 has started with volatility for investors we want to take a moment to explore what that means. If we examine the performance of the S&P 500 back from January 1950 to the present day, we see that on a little over one fifth of trading days, the S&P 500 was trading at levels 10% or more below its 52 week high. So declines have been a fairly routine occurrence for the US market historically. However, looking back at recent history from January 2012 to the present, the market only spent 1% of its trading days at 10% or more under the market's 52 week high. So based on the S&P 500, the last 4 years of history have been unusually stable for the US stock market relative to its broader history going back to 1950. So what we are seeing currently may be more of a return to the traditional pattern of market volatility rather than something new or unheard of. Of course, aside from offering rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting opportunities for our Premium clients, we don't believe that volatility has a significant impact on longer term return prospects for your portfolio. This is very important to remember during volatile times like these, especially since when we look at the S&P 500 over the past 60 years, after periods of decline, the market has often returned to make new highs. We don't believe this time will be any different. Notes: Labor Markets Conditions Index: https://www.kansascityfed.org/research/indicatorsdata/lmci UK Industrial Production: http://www.econoday.com/economic-calendar.aspx?link=http://global-premium.econoday.com/ India Industrial Production: http://www.econoday.com/economic-calendar.aspx?link=http://global-premium.econoday.com/ Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic, or political conditions. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. The S&P 500 is a registered trademark of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. and is an unmanaged index of the common stock prices of 500 widely held U.S. stocks. The figures for the S&P 500 index reflect the reinvestment of dividends but do not reflect the deduction of any fees or expenses, which would reduce returns. References to market or composite indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time (each, an "index") are provided for your information only. Reference to an index does not imply that the portfolio will achieve returns, volatility or other results similar to that index. The composition of the index may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed in relation to expected or achieved returns, portfolio guidelines, restrictions, sectors, correlations, concentrations, volatility or tracking error targets, all of which are subject to change. Investors cannot invest directly in indices. Your Portfolio Summary $8,546.16 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
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Your Weekly Update - Chinese manufacturing weakness concerns markets

	Weekly Market Recap This week saw a volatile start to the markets for 2016, and survey data showed both Chinese and US manufacturing activity declining last month. Chinese concerns particularly weighed on markets with the Chinese stock market twice hitting its circuit breaker for daily declines. A circuit breaker is a market regulatory control to end trading for the day when market declines exceed a predetermined level. However, there was positive news too, with employment data in the US remaining robust and European economic confidence reaching its highest level since 2011. The media, thus far, has made much of this early soft patch for the markets after 5 trading days of 2016. However, as a long-term investor, though short term market movements aren't always what we would like, remember that your investment horizon to retirement typically spans decades. The MSCI ACWI index covers 46 countries and represents approximately 85% of global equity markets. This index has delivered annualized gross returns for the past decade of 5.31%. Given the impact of compounding, the total growth of that stock index over those 10 years becomes 67.7%, though some think of this period as a 'lost decade' for stocks given returns were lower than in many prior decades. In addition, remember, that this 5.31% annualized gross return actually includes a decline of 42% in 2008, a decline of 6.8% in 2011, and a decline of nearly 2% in 2015. So, historically speaking, investors in equity strategies tracking the MSCI ACWI index who have been able to avoid a focus on shorter term declines and look at the broader picture may have seen their money grow, despite several years of absolute declines within the period. In essence, the broader picture for stocks historically as measured by the MSCI ACWI index is not necessarily one of steady growth each and every year. Rather, it's one of fits and starts with great years such as a 35% return in 2009 or a 23% return in 2013 and also periods of decline. But historically over the past decade the net of those up and down swings has been an attractive level of growth. So a weak early start to the year, though disappointing, may prove to be a minor event in the broader picture for stock markets. Especially at a time when unemployment and inflation in the US is relatively low relative to history, and growth appears to be accelerating on a global basis for 2016 according to recent IMF forecasts. Notes: Chinese manufacturing survey: https://www.markiteconomics.com/Survey/PressRelease.mvc/e6830696067b4dc5a055eee1b0cd1e70 US manufacturing survey: https://www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org/ismreport/mfgrob.cfm MSCI ACWI performance: https://www.msci.com/resources/factsheets/index_fact_sheet/msci-acwi.pdf IMF Growth Forecasts (October 2015): http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2015/02/pdf/c1.pdf EU confidence index: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/db_indicators/surveys/documents/2015/esi_2015_12_en.pdf US jobless claims: http://www.dol.gov/ui/data.pdf Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic, or political conditions. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. The MSCI ACWI index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index designed to measure the equity market performance of developed and emerging markets. The MSCI ACWI index consists of 46 country indexes comprising 23 developed and 23 emerging market country indexes. The figures for the MSCI ACWI index do not reflect the deduction of any fees or expenses, which would reduce returns. References to market or composite indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time (each, an "index") are provided for your information only. Reference to an index does not imply that the portfolio will achieve returns, volatility or other results similar to that index. The composition of the index may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed in relation to expected or achieved returns, portfolio guidelines, restrictions, sectors, correlations, concentrations, volatility or tracking error targets, all of which are subject to change. Investors cannot invest directly in indices. Your Portfolio Summary $8,741.20 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
	FutureAdvisor | 116 New Montgomery St, Suite 300, San Francisco 94105 Drop us a note anytime: advisor@futureadvisor.com

Your Weekly Update - Happy New Year!

	Weekly Market Recap Now's a great time to consider your resolutions for 2016. When it comes to your investments, we believe that having a clear written plan can help you maintain a strategy. A plan can be less than a page, but can be useful so that you, for example, can pre-commit to making smart moves in the new year; like making regular contributions to your retirement portfolio or a commitment to avoid selling during a weak market environment. We like to call this maintaining your investor discipline. Another key thing to consider is how much you save. This is a key part of most investment strategies. Currently the savings rate in America is at 5.6% as tracked by the US Bureau of Economics for October 2015. This is relatively low by historical standards. However, upping your savings rate overnight can be a challenge. So, if you'd like to achieve a higher rate of savings, it can help to edge up your savings rate incrementally every six months or so. You could also target saving a large proportion of windfalls you save that are not part of your regular spending pattern such as a bonus at work or a tax refund. You may be surprised at how an extra few hundred dollars here and there can really add up to a much larger portfolio in retirement - especially when you compound many years growth on top of your new found savings. Notes: US savings rate - https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/PSAVERT Disclaimer: The views expressed are for informational purposes only and are not intended to serve as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendations or an offer to buy or sell securities by FutureAdvisor. All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market, economic, or political conditions. The investment strategies mentioned are not personalized to your financial circumstances or investment objectives, and differences in account size, the timing of transactions and market conditions prevailing at the time of investment may lead to different results. Clients may lose money. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Any tax strategies discussed should not be interpreted as tax advice and do not represent in any manner that the tax consequences detailed will be obtained. Clients should consult with their personal tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of investing. Your Portfolio Summary $9,162.86 Your Total Assets Ways To Improve Your Portfolio 0 Accounts with Actions Your portfolio has no recommended actions right now. We'll watch over your investments and alert you with an email when there are actions for you to complete. Sign in to see detailed steps Sign in to see your full dashboard If you wish to change your email settings, visit your Settings.
	FutureAdvisor | 116 New Montgomery St, Suite 300, San Francisco 94105 Drop us a note anytime: advisor@futureadvisor.com