February 1, 2024
12/03/2023
You have a little time left before the window closes on year end tax planning opportunities. Perhaps the top planning maneuver for clients to focus on is setting up a Roth IRA before December 31. Your income determines .whether you’ll qualify to contribute to Roth IRA. Couples who file joint returns are ineligible to contribute to a Roth IRA account if they earn more than $228,000 in 2023 and the cutoff for single filers is $153,000. Roth eligibility rules are complicated, but they pay tax-free income in retirement, which makes them especially valuable. Tax free income is the ultimate currency for funding retirement. Federal income tax rates are likely to head higher which will make tax free income more valuable. Watch this video!
November 15, 2023
In the complex realm of finance, comprehending the investment preferences and behaviors of different demographics is essential. The 2023 "ETFs and Beyond" study by Schwab Asset Management offers a lens into this world, with an illuminating focus on the millennial ETF investor.
Read the full article here.
October 13, 2023
Seniors are a “secret weapon,” according to an October 8 article in The Wall Street Journal. Compared to your parents’ retirement, Americans 65 and older are much wealthier, healthier and better off. This is not your parents’ retirement. Read this week's newsletter.
October 10, 2023
October 13, 2023
October 2, 2023
October 2023
September 30, 2023
Excluding energy and food prices, inflation rose by a scant one-tenth of 1% in August, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s preferred inflation benchmark. However, because gasoline prices rose sharply in August, the PCED index of inflation -- including energy and food expenses -- rose in August by four-tenths of 1%. Please read this weeks newsletter
August 24, 2023
The law of the hammer is a cognitive bias to treat every problem as if it’s a nail. People do that with money. As financial professionals, however, we want to be clear that money won’t buy a fulfilling retirement. Money can take the worry out of your retirement, but it does not give your life more meaning or make it more fulfilling. Simply put, your financial bottom line is not necessarily the best measure of living a fulfilling life. Yet the two goals are often confused; Financial goals are often thought of as the objective of financial planning, but helping clients define their non-financial goals is just as important. Watch this weeks video.
September 4, 2023
Homeowners expect the value of houses to appreciate nationally by 1.3% in the 12-months through July 31, 2024; that’s down from the 2.8% appreciation expected one year earlier. However, expectations for changes in home values varied widely by geographic region across the nation, and homes with higher values are predicted to appreciate much more than less-expensive houses. Watch this week's video!
July 29, 2023
The consensus forecast calls for a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the latest survey of economists by The Wall Street Journal in early July And only 19% of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country, while 80% are dissatisfied. Watch the video!
June 01, 2023
In February 2020, the United States was hit with the Covid 19 crisis, which wrecked the world’s largest economy in 2020 and 2021. Then, in early 2022, the inflation crisis began, and it is now coming to an end. With the debt-ceiling crisis of 2023 now resolved, for the time since the pandemic abruptly ended the longest bull market in American history three long, pain-filled years ago, glimmers of optimism are on the horizon. The United States is leading the world economy out of a perilous period in history and is poised to extend its world-beating record of making progress and prosperity for Americans. Here’s what investors need to know to understand the historic fast-moving shifts happening right now: Watch This Weeks Video
May 25, 2023
The great contradiction of the 2023 investment environment is illustrated in this screen. For the 13 consecutive month, the U.S. Index of Leading Economic Indicators declined in April, signaling a slumping economy. Yet the economic data in the first six weeks of the quarter, which ends June 30th, 2023, are signaling nearly a 3% growth rate for the current quarter. The collapse of the LEI and strong growth predicted by GDP right now illustrates the great contradiction of investing in 2023 and why advice from a professional is so important. Watch Thuis Week's Video
May 13, 2023
Two very reliable signals of a recession have been flashing red for months, but it’s becoming clear that they are false positives. A recession is not imminent. Although the index of U.S. Leading Economic Indicators and yield curve – two very reliable early-warning metrics -- have signaled a recession was imminent ... continue to watching the video
April 25, 2023
The debate over the debt ceiling is making investment markets nervous. The spread between onemonth and three-month Treasury bills is the largest on record, according to The Wall Street Journal. Experts disagree as to whether the U.S. will run out cash some time in June or not until September, and Wall Street is nervous that, even if an agreement is reached in Congress to raise the debt limit, it will be delayed and make the U.S. Treasury’s late on meeting some of its most immediate obligations. Watch thius week's video.
April 13, 2023
It is a time-honored adage that monetary policy affects the economy with long and variable lags. Well, that time is up, if the tumult caused by the failure of a few regional banks is any indication. It’s important to remember that central bank rate changes impact the economy both directly and indirectly. The direct impact is obvious: Higher or lower interest rates cause immediate increases or decreases in borrowing costs to households and businesses, leading to corresponding changes in spending and investment. Continue reading this month's Investment Chronicle
April 10, 2023
The first data since the banking crisis erupted in March, show the economy slowed, leaving the U.S. teetering on the edge of a recession. All eyes are on the response by the Federal Reserve on May 3, when central bankers will decide whether to hike rates one more time in their battle against inflation.
February 1, 2023
We cannot give personal investment advice without knowing your personal risk tolerance, but this video may help in developing expectations about how a portfolio generates retirement income and builds enduring family wealth. Watch this weeks video
January 5, 2023
Major changes in financial planning for retirement went into effect January 1st that will dramatically affect Americans of all ages and income levels in 2023 and in the years ahead. The changes represent steps by the Government to alleviate the retirement funding crisis many Americans face from growing worse. Watch this week's video
December 6, 2022
Despite hiking interest rates six times since March by the nation’s central bankers in their effort to put an end to the vicious cycle of inflation, the U.S. economy in November created more new jobs than it averaged monthly for the last two decades. Watch this week's video
November 28, 2022
The U.S. right now is experiencing lackluster growth of just three-tenths of 1%; that’s according to the latest survey of leading economists. Meanwhile, an intricate mathematical model built by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, indicates the economy is experiencing spectacular growth. Watch This week's video!
November 2022
The alarm bells warning of a recession ring louder with each rate hike by the Federal Reserve. So far this year, there’s been plenty – five since March and still counting. Following the last three jumbo-sized 0.75 percentage point increases, the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate now stands in a range of 3 – 3.25 percent, which is well above the 2.5 percent peak reached during the last tightening cycle, spanning the pre-pandemic 10-year expansion. Read the latest Investment Chronicle