Q3 2026
Market Update
By Jon Parks
Quarter in Review: Turn! Turn! Turn!
The quarter in stocks, bonds, international markets, and alternatives, with source charts and Jon’s closing perspective.
Read articleInsights
Market updates, client letters, and perspectives from Jon Parks.
Q3 2026
Client letters
Innovation, forecasts, and disciplined diversification
Jon shared Matt Ridley's essay on why innovation often looks inevitable in hindsight but remains difficult to forecast in advance.
For planning, the useful point is humility. We do not know the future, so the better approach is to invest broadly, diversify intelligently, and keep behavior from becoming the largest threat to a long-term plan.
Original article: Ridley: The forecaster's paradox, Matt Ridley, The Rational Optimist Society, Sep 10, 2026.
Planned planning notes
These pieces are not published yet. Each one will be reviewed before it appears here.
Cash balance plans
When a cash balance plan deserves a closer look
The owner profile, workforce, cash flow, and commitment that decide whether an illustration is worth commissioning.
Planned
Business owners
What your business is actually worth to your retirement
Concentration, succession, protection, and the personal wealth that has to exist outside the company.
Planned
Retirement
The five years before work becomes optional
Decisions that get harder to reverse after the final paycheck, from brackets to health coverage to withdrawal order.
Planned
Maryland
Maryland has both an estate tax and an inheritance tax
Plans built in another state routinely account for one and miss the other.
Planned
Retirement plans
Reading a 401(k) fee disclosure in 10 minutes
Where revenue sharing hides, and the 3 numbers worth writing down.
Planned
This material is general and educational. It is not individualized investment, tax, or legal advice.
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