The year 2021 was a banner year for investors. The broad-based S&P 500 Index, which is made up of 500 larger U.S. companies, finished the year up 26.9%. If we included reinvested dividends, the index advanced 28.7%, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The new year is the perfect break in the calendar that allows us to take off the old and put on the new. It’s like turning the page. It’s a new chapter. It’s a new book! You can’t change the past, but you can change the future. One way we can make a change is …
The Health and Wealth Connection Are good physical and financial health driven by the same fundamental psychologicalfactors? Many believe it’s true that people who value their future selves enough to regularly putmoney aside for their futures are likely to also make healthy decisions now to improvetheir health in the future. This concept is supported by …
With such a high standard deduction, taxpayers may not get additional itemized deductions for charitable donations. However, with a little clever planning in charitable giving, taxpayers can exceed the standard deduction, start itemizing again and lower their tax bill. In 2017, the standard deduction was $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for married couples. However, as …
New Ways to Give to Charity While Getting the Best Tax Breaks Read More »
Americans have been speculating about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy choices – raising rates, lowering rates, buying bonds, tapering bond buying, and so on – for a long time. Sometimes, they even second-guess themselves. Paul Volcker (1979-1987) took over an economic quagmire known as The Great Inflation. When he took office, U.S. inflation was in …
SECOND-GUESSING THE FED IS A POPULAR AMERICAN PASTIME. Read More »
December 20, 2021 Stock and bond markets diverged. Last week, the Bank of England surprised markets with a rate hike, its first in three years, and the Bank of Mexico raised rates more than expected. Both cited persistent inflation as the reason for the increases, reported Carla Mozée of Markets Insider. In the United States, …
The University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment showed an increase in optimism in early December – and it had nothing to do with the Michigan Wolverines winning the Big 10 Championship for the first time in 17 years. The Consumer Sentiment Index was up (+4.5 percent) month-to-month, although it remained down year-to-year (-12.8 percent). …
December 13, 2021 Commentary December 13, 2021 The Markets Inflation met expectations. When the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) last week, it showed that inflation was at levels last seen in 1982. In November, prices were up 0.8 percent month-to-month and 6.8 percent year-to-year. “It was the blowout, superhot inflation …
December 6, 2021 The Markets Investors look to the future. Last week, employment and manufacturing data confirmed that the United States economy continued to strengthen in November, but positive economic news was overshadowed by investors’ concerns about the spread of coronavirus and Federal Reserve policy. Let’s start with the economic news. More Americans were working. …