Each year the Social Security Trustees issue a report on the status of the program. Included is how long the funds are projected to last and what portion of promised benefits can be covered if no changes are made. It is not 100% and it is coming relatively soon, but it's not 0% either.
April showers bring… more May showers – in the sky and markets. Risky asset classes had negative returns but long maturity treasury bonds brought sunshine.
There are five key factors that go into the FICO score. This recent article from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis {link below} explains these factors, how they impact your overall score and ways to improve creditworthiness. Do you say “yes” to new credit card offers when shopping? That falls under the “Frequency of New Credit” category and is a negative.
YTD returns of 3.54%, 5.71% and 8.78%. One would think pretty impressive for equities. These are actually bond asset classes of TIPS, Inv Grade and High Yield. 4 months of US equity... close to 20%. Check out the blog post other asset classes and 1-year graphs for context.
I recommend looking at your completed return and pay special attention to particular lines to help with future tax planning. This year I will also add the “tax decoder ring” to show where this information was found on past returns. Hopefully when done using, you will be more excited than Ralphie was in “A Christmas Story” with his message. Spoiler alert! This message is S-A-V-E-M-O-R-E-T-A-X-E-S.
Falling interest rates were the big driver of the markets this month. Check out the blog post for monthly returns including the large move in the 30-year treasury bonds.
Some experts recommend holding dividend paying stocks in a Traditional IRA rather than a taxable account. The ability to defer paying taxes on a high stream of income of which you have no control on the timing is the main reason cited. As a general statement, I disagree without looking at the investor's tax situation.
March - in like a lion, out like a lamb. But if the markets come in like a bull, they go out like a ???
Many people like to shop and find bargains. Some may check which grocery store has meat on sale or buy certain items at a discount grocer or large box store. Others check features and prices of TVs online to find the best deal. But when it comes to medical services – not so much.
After a negative 2018, markets rebounded nicely in January. Recent volatility is also getting back to more normal long-term averages.
A key barometer for the health of the economy can be found in the jobs report. If jobs are being created and wages are rising, more money is in consumers’ hands which fuels economic activity as they spend. The latest jobs report (typically released the first Friday of the month) showed a very solid jobs picture.
Should auld "indices" be forgot, And never brought to mind? ... That may have been the song many investors wanted to sing this New Year's Eve. US equity markets saved the worst month for last as December saw significant losses in the major indices. The same concerns persisted into the month, with global economic slowdown, trade negotiations with China and political issues on investors' minds.