There are many financial preparations and considerations to make as we age – do you have enough saved up for retirement? Is your mortgage fully paid off? Have you budgeted appropriately for bills and living expenses on a fixed income?

Despite equity markets nearing the end of a strong first quarter corporate earnings season, concerns of lingering regional bank pressures, stubbornly high inflation expectations, and the debt ceiling standoff in Congress have collectively weighed on investor sentiment and pulled U.S. stocks lower last week.

You’re eyeing a new neighborhood, you’ve gathered all your important documents, you’ve estimated the cost for movers – you’re all ready for your new start.

Despite a strong market rally on Friday following another upbeat labor market report, U.S. equity markets dipped lower last week as investor sentiment was weighed down by jitters over the stability of the regional banking space and the future of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

Banking system stress is in the headlines again following the failure of First Republic Bank (FRC), which surpassed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) as the second largest bank failure in U.S. history with over $230B in assets at the end of the first quarter.