December 9, 2025

Dougherty Dispatch: Happy Holidays!

Dear Valued Client,

The team here at Dougherty Investment Advisors wishes you a very happy holiday season! May you stay safe and cozy and try to get through with as many healthy food choices as possible.

Market News: Over the last month we have seen markets continue to grind slowly up despite a bit of uneasiness over future interest rates, with the S&P 500 up roughly 2% in the past month as of writing this dispatch. We always recommend to our clients high quality long-term investments, which are likely to perform well as the economy grows over time in spite of the common debates of many analysts on the news networks.

Comeback of the Year: One of our favorite stories is the company Alphabet Inc., also known as Google, Youtube and Waymo. Their stock was not the best performer at the start of the year, due to the claim that they had fallen behind on AI with their Gemini model compared to ChatGPT, and for the fear of being broken up by the government for being a monopoly. But both of these fears did not come to pass. People still search with Google, the Google AI has been seen by some to be better the ChatGPT, and a judge ruled they did not have to break up the company or stop paying Apple for being the default search engine on iPhones. Google had all wins and is up 66.31% for the year, as of this dispatch. It is an incredible story of what is possible through intelligent investing and why we stick with quality when developing the core group of stocks we recommend.

We hope you have an incredible holiday season. It is always our pleasure and honor to help you with your goals, dreams and building that hard earned nest egg. Let us know if you have any questions we can help with.

P.S. If we have assisted you or your family, we’d greatly appreciate you leaving a review (if you haven’t already) at https://tinyurl.com/DoughertyInvestments.

It is our pleasure to help you,

The Dougherty Team
A Tradition of Excellence
4048 Deltona Blvd | Spring Hill, FL 34606

August 2025

The One Big Beautiful Whoops

 Before you go out having babies and buying cars, we have a few corrections to make to this dispatch. Goes to show just how “simplified” our tax code is at the moment.

 Car Loan Interest Deduction

 Starting in 2025, you can deduct interest on a personal car loan — up to $5,000 per year for individuals, or $10,000 for married couples — as long as the car is brand new, assembled in the United States, and for personal use.

 $1,000 “Baby Accounts” 

• Tax treatment: Contributions are not tax-deductible, but the account grows tax-deferred and is taxed only when the money is withdrawn.
• Distribution rules: Funds can be used tax-free for higher education expenses at any age, or up to $10,000 toward the purchase of a first home after the child turns 18, along with certain emergency expenses. Otherwise, distributions are subject to income tax and a 10% penalty if withdrawn before age 59 ½.

Baby Account vs. UGMA (Uniform Gifts to Minors Account)

• Both types of accounts are likely to be considered for college financial aid purposes as assets owned, so the new baby account provides no advantage.

In Conclusion

If you would indeed like a simpler tax code, and thus fewer corrected dispatches, we recommend writing to your congressmen—or The White House!

It is our pleasure to serve you,

The Dougherty Team
A Tradition of Excellence

January 22, 2026

Dougherty Dispatch: What a year!

Dear Market Observer,

Warm greetings and Happy New Year from the Dougherty Investment Advisors team. We hope you have been enjoying the holidays as they come to a close and we begin to put 2025 in the rear view mirror.  Another phenomenal year for the stock market to say the least, as seen below.  Indeed, the general stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 index, has increased about 26%, 25%, and 16% in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.  The average historical annual return is approximately 10%.

Will the run continue?

We have seen an incredible three years between 2023, 2024, and now 2025. Many of our clients, and investors in general, ask if we will really achieve another great year. There is always potential for a market dip, or even a more substantial bear market, due to an unexpected glitch, or a “Black swan” (unforeseen disease, a war, or a sudden economic problem).

With the current financial landscape, analysts are nearly unanimous in predicting a positive 2026. There has been continued economic growth, as many factors such as falling interest rates and artificial intelligence work their way into our lives. We have also seen consumer-friendly income tax changes from the recent tax bill. The fall in oil prices is predicted to lead to more consumer spending power and reduced corporate costs (fuel is Royal Caribbean’s biggest expense).

Lastly, we have seen the “First Five Days Indicator” show itself this year. Since 1950, a rise in markets the first five days of a given year, as we have seen this year, correlates with a positive full year for markets 83% of the time, and a 14.2% rise in the S&P 500 on average! While it is only a loose correlated indicator, it is a sign of incredible momentum.

Markets have risen for longer periods in the past, such as in the late 90s.

Many investors have lost a great deal of potential gains by keeping money on the sidelines due to their fear that markets have been too high for the last few years. However, there is always an opportunity to purchase stocks and bonds at bargain prices even with such market optimism.

We work hard to keep you, and all our clients, well positioned to achieve your financial goals and needs regardless of short-term market movement. Most of our clients’ portfolios contain instruments such as bonds and other forms of fixed income for stability and necessary income.

As stated many times before, our firm will continue to focus on quality and patience through detailed analysis and research. Such an approach has proven successful through the long-term in all market environments.

Thank you for making this year an incredible one. Our office has been teeming with Christmas gifts and New Years greetings, and we could not be happier to serve you!

We look forward to continuing to provide you with a tradition of excellence in managing your investments.

P.S. If we have assisted you or your family, we’d greatly appreciate your leaving a review (if you haven’t already) at https://tinyurl.com/DoughertyInvestments.

Wishing you a great new year,

The Dougherty Team
A Tradition of Excellence
4048 Deltona Blvd | Spring Hill, FL 34606

November 6, 2025

A big hello to all of you from John D!

I may be retired, but I have not fallen off the Earth. I now understand, however, what many of you mean when you say you don’t know how you had time to work when you worked. As a reminder, as chairman emeritus of the firm, I continue to be the chief investment officer overseeing investment strategy and management of assets. Seann and the others in the firm continue to excel, and from time to time may consult with me on issues that only someone in the industry for more than 40 years may know. It has become a very successful team effort. 

Yesterday, I had a terrifying experience. Like I’ve told all our clients not to do, I answered my phone to a call of whose source I was not sure. I was alarmed to hear a deputy sheriff on the other end with a sweet southern accent, telling me that I had failed to appear for jury duty, and that I was in trouble. He seemed to know the area, and the caller ID did not indicate it was a bad caller, so guess what—I fell hook line and sinker for the scam. Almost.

While still believing the caller, I argued with the deputy sheriff about not receiving any notice for the jury summons, and I even pleaded that I couldn’t have done anything wrong, because, after all, I’ve been a good financial planner and CPA who is now retired! I pleaded with him to believe that I show up for all my jury duties, I answer all letters, and I do everything they require (even though I never get selected for a jury!).  He seemed patient enough and very convincing. I told him I’d drive right over to their office and turn myself in to be at the mercy of our county sheriff.

He initially agreed and then he hesitated, calling his supervisor, a Lieutenant White, to the phone. At that point, becoming a little skeptical, I said I was driving and asked if I could call right back. They both argued that I could not hang up and that I might be arrested if I showed up at their offices.  Instead, they would work out a deal over the phone.

That’s when I hung up and called the sheriff’s office directly. Believe it or not, they confirmed there was a Lieutenant White on staff!  But they also said that what I was hearing was a big fat scam.

Amazingly, just a few hours later, my neighbor told me he had received the same call earlier the same day. They wanted $14,000 from him to fix his arrest warrant!
When I was telling a friend about all this, he told me about his mother who was scammed out of $30,000 when the caller pretended to be a nephew in trouble.

If you have any similar experiences, let us know so that we can alert our other clients.

The moral of the story: Do not listen to these people when they call you and do not give them any information. Ask for a telephone number and say you’ll call them back. Then call our office or call your nearest trusted relative.  For my own experience, I suffered some humiliation, but, fortunately, no financial loss.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to catch up on my honey-do list that I put off for over 40 years! And don’t be surprised if you receive a few more dispatches from underneath the beach umbrella.

Warmest Regards,

John D.

Dougherty Investment Advisors

A Tradition of Excellence
4048 Deltona Blvd | Spring Hill, FL 34

We want to alert you to a recent scam involving fraudulent text messages that appear to be from Charles Schwab.  Scammers are sending messages that may look like legitimate Schwab communication, often claiming there is an issue with your account or prompting you to click a suspicious link.

What to Watch For:

• Texts claiming urgent account issues or login problems.
• Links asking you to verify personal or financial information.
• Unusual sender numbers or unfamiliar phrasing.

What You Should Do:

• Do not click any links or respond to the message.
• Do not share your account details, passwords, or personal information.
• If you’re unsure about any communication claiming to be from Schwab, please Contact us at 352-238-6411.

Below you will find an image of an actual text message received recently by one of our clients. We take your security seriously. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any concerns.

The Dougherty Team