On Friday, October 25, 2019, the U.S. national debt surpassed $23 trillion, per the Treasury Department and the Peterson Foundation. Why it matters: The national debt met the $22 trillion mark just nine months ago and has soared $3 trillion since Trump took office, when it rested at $19.95 trillion. The White House projected in …
Continue reading National debt surpasses record $23 trillion
Asset Allocation appeared as concept in the world of investment management in 1986. Three people, Gary P. Brinson, L. Randolph Hood, and Gilbert L. Beebower published groundbreaking research that demonstrated an arguably better way to manage money. Here’s the gist of what they said: “…by replacing active choices with simple asset classes worked just as …
My Comments: Accumulating funds to be used in retirement is not easy. An incentive provided by the IRS is to allow you to set aside money today and pay income taxes on it later. Meanwhile, the theory goes, a larger amount grows to become even larger, and you find yourself in a lower tax bracket …
Continue reading Relief for 40 million Americans without 401(k) plans
My Comments: lost in the news cycles now heavily invested in the Ukraine/Trump matters, is the state of our economy. While correlation is never 100%, there is a relationship between the state of the economy and the performance of the stock and bond markets. And those markets are where millions of us have money invested …
Continue reading Consumers may have carried markets as far as they can
For decades I’ve been reading about the 4% Rule and what it has to do with retirement. The 4% Rule says that when you stop working for money and start creating an income from your savings, it’s the upper limit of what you should withdraw every year from your savings and investments to make sure …
My Comments: As I write this on Monday, Sep 2, I suddenly realized I’d not heard a word out of the White House about how great the economy was compared to when Barack Obama was in the White House. I guess it’s all taken a back seat to the Labor Day weekend and, for me …
Continue reading Here’s a list of recession signals that are flashing red
Money, and having enough coming in every month to pay our bills is critical to our sense of well being. Right now there’s a lot of turmoil and confusion across the global economic spectrum and many of us are getting anxious about how this is all going to play out. What follows is yet another …
Continue reading Where Are The Markets Likely To Go From Here?
The idea expressed here was inspired by changes being made to the TSP platform. TSP stands for Thrift Savings Plan, one of the primary platforms used by Federal employees, members of the military, and certain others engaged in federal service, to set aside money from earned income to be used later in retirement. Since I'm …
I’ve been waiting for the next significant market decline for longer than I can remember. As an adult working in financial services, I’m now into my 5th decade of paying attention to global economic trends. I like to think I understand at least some of the dynamics that define investments. The last bear market ended …
First, SECURE is the acronym for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement. Someone stayed awake nights coming up with all that. Second, it’s an attempt to bring the federal regulations about money saved for retirement purposes further into the 21st Century. Too many Americans are grossly unprepared for retirement and many that are prepared …
Continue reading What is the pending SECURE Act from Congress?
Helping Define Your Financial Future 