Retirement Watch Weekly
Investors Sell off Stocks of Companies with Good Results
Investors are learning that stock prices don’t always follow earnings. Over the long-term, corporate earnings overall tend to grow at about the same rate as gross domestic product (GDP), and stock prices tend to rise at the same rate as earnings. But that’s over the long term, since there can be a lot of divergence […]
The Latest In Health, Wealth and Longevity
This article describes the connection between wealth, health, and longevity. It points out that many of today’s wealthy are willing to spend heavily for better health and longer life spans. The rich are more than willing to sacrifice money for extra longevity. Nine of 10 wealthy people agreed that “health is more important than wealth.” […]
Investing in MLPs – Resurgence?
The latest Barron’s has an update on master limited partnerships (MLPs) and comes to a positive conclusion. (Subscription probably is required.) The article says the restructuring and distribution cuts largely are in the past. Distributions from many MLPs should increase this year, and the sector should recover with the rise in energy prices and global […]
Estate Planning Strategy: Planning for Medical Care in Retirement
Your estate plan should be about a lot more than finances. An estate plan isn’t complete, for example, without the medical care documents. In fact, I always recommend making this a priority. Have the medical care documents finalized while you’re still considering the other issues in the estate plan. Also understand that medical care documents […]
Do Weak Retail Sales Indicate a Problem with the Economy?
Do weak retail sales indicate a problem with the economy? They’re certainly a problem for retailers. Weak overall sales, plus competition from online retailers, are among trends causing a large number of retailers to file for bankruptcy. But does the recent weakness in retail sales foreshadow a problem with economic growth? The latest retail sales […]
Do Elderly Want To Live At Home?
This article takes issue with surveys that say 90% of today’s elderly say they want to live in their current homes. The surveys usually are interpreted to mean that people want to stay in their homes until they die. Like most surveys, these don’t ask key follow-up questions, such as if your family had to […]
Retirement Tax Strategy: Are You a Trader or Investor?
Retirees often earn most of their income from their investments. As such, interest, dividends and capital gains often pay the bulk of their expenses. Some retirees devote so much time and attention to their investment portfolios that they believe investing has become their job or business. And that begs the question: Can a retiree – […]
Spotting Changes in the Global Economy
One of the first places to spot changes in the global economy is in the economic surprises index. The best-known economic surprises index is prepared by Citigroup. The index doesn’t track whether economic data is positive or negative, improving or declining. Instead, it tracks whether the data is better or worse than the expectations of […]
