Market Commentary on the Threshold of Elections

As we approach election day, we expect that many of you, like us, are experiencing varying measures of anxiety, anticipation, hope and apprehension. There are many “what ifs” to contemplate, and some that may keep you up at night, but as we review historical norms, market sentiment, and analytical data, we’re comforted that elections, at […]

Financial Advisor Magazine speaks with Gianna Giusti

Financial Advisor Magazine

KBBS shareholder Gianna Giusti spoke with Ben Mattlin of Financial Advisor Magazine for an article about the final IRS rule on inherited IRAs. “The industry generally saw this coming,” said Gianna Giusti at KBBS Financial in Seattle. Two years ago, the IRS released proposed regulations that indicated what would happen, she said. But in certain […]

Elections, Markets & ZIRP Epilogue

Summer is supposed to be the season when the only thing to pursue seriously is leisure. The culture sections of newspapers (or their online equivalents) are loaded with lists of books you should read at the beach. Of course, that’s essentially an unreachable ideal, like your author keeping his truck washed. (A little Vashon humor […]

2024 First Quarter Review

With the summer travel season nearly upon us, we are put in mind of the inevitable waiting involved.  Waiting in airports.  Waiting on family members.  Waiting in line for amusement rides. Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s press conference following the most recent Fed meeting had the same feeling as when the airport gate attendant finally announces […]

Cameron Barsness Named to 2024 Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State for Washington

Cameron Barsness Named to 2024 Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State for Washington

Seattle, WA, March 6, 2024—Kutscher Benner Barsness & Stevens is proud to announce principal Cam Barsness was named to the 2024 Washington State Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-In-State list compiled by Forbes in partnership with SHOOK Research. Barsness was also among 2023 award winners. This is the eighth annual list of Forbes/SHOOK Top Women Wealth Advisors, […]

Financial Advisor Magazine speaks with Scott Benner

Financial Advisor Magazine

KBBS principal Scott Benner spoke with Ben Mattlin of Financial Advisor Magazine for an article about 2024 required minimum distributions. “And this year isn’t the best time for Roth conversions—they’re best done in lower RMD years. . . High-distribution years like 2024, in fact, show how such conversions smooth taxation over five to 10 years,” […]

2024 Estate and Gift Tax Exemptions

As we enter tax season and many of our clients are working with their tax professionals to finalize their taxes for 2023, we want to remind everyone that with the change of calendars comes new tax considerations. Every year, the IRS adjusts amounts exempt from federal estate and gift taxes to consider inflation. Also, Congress […]

2023 Year in Review & Investment Landscape

The close of 2023 finds us in mind of two overlapping trends: one short-term and recently driving financial markets to a handsome rally at year’s end, and one long-term that bodes for change and challenges in financial markets as we enter a period with marked differences, certainly from the Covid pandemic and the policy responses, […]

Second Quarter Review: Sometimes Less Is More

Sometimes less is more. We all know the saying, but seeing it effected in life—through art, sport, business, parenting, gardening—is the exception rather than the rule. Imagination more frequently bends towards complexity. With that in mind, we endeavor to make this quarterly review more compact and to share some thoughts near the end about simplifying […]

First Quarter Review: Bank Stress and The Case For Private Lending

Most of us, thankfully, only know what a bank run looks like from movies and television, most famously from the film It’s a Wonderful Life, a holiday staple of broadcast television in the past.  George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart), desperate as a young man to leave his hometown of Bedford Falls, is waylaid in […]