Retirement Watch Weekly
What Could Go Wrong with the Stock Market?
Bloomberg interviewed a number of long-time professional investors and asked them what worries them. Things are going well now, but another crash is possible. Each identifies the factor they think could cause another deep dive in the markets. One of Tad Rivelle’s favorite charts shows the widening gap between the value of U.S. household assets and […]
Constructing Market Indexes – The Impact of Index Investing
Many people believe that stock indexes are “the market.” They believe that the indexes are passive and aren’t put together with human judgment and influence. But the indexes are the result of decisions of small, little-known groups of people, and their decisions have powerful effects on other people. This article explains some of the details, […]
Who Invests in Stocks? Stock Market Participation
It’s generally accepted that people aren’t equally invested in the stock markets. It’s usually accepted that higher income individuals have a higher percentage of their net worth in stocks than lower income individuals. Did you know that stock market participation also varies by state? The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published a paper showing […]
Investors Set to be Surprised Again in 2018
Investors have been surprised by 2017. We’ve had stronger-than-anticipated global growth. Earnings growth exceeded expectations and interest rates haven’t increased as much as forecast. Global stock prices rallied beyond most projections, and bond prices recovered from their lows. Yet, markets indicate investors continue to expect weak growth in the economy, along with earnings growth and […]
5 Most Likely Ways for Retirement Plans to Go off Track
The stories I most hate to hear are about people who planned well for Retirement but saw their work fall apart during retirement. These stories are all too common. Yet, the causes of most of these retirement failures are well-known. Avoid these recurring mishaps, and your retirement is likely to be successful. Helping too much. […]
The Retirement Advantages of Health Savings Accounts
The HealthSavings Account(HSA) could bethe best retirementplanningvehicle available.Only the Roth IRA comes close. […]
6 Misunderstood IRA Rules and Strategies
What you don’t know about retirement can hurt you. In fact, just a few wrong decisions in your investments, taxes, or estate planning could completely derail your retirement plans. Worse yet, the rules of the game keep changing, making it harder to keep up. For these reasons, I’ve assembled all the key points – everything you need to know — into one comprehensive report. Click here today for free access. […]
Recent Changes in Estate Planning and Gift Tax Laws
Congress continues to debate whether or not to eliminate the estate tax, but other changes in the estate and gift tax law will take effect by January 1, 2018. The Treasury Department withdrew the controversial proposed regulations that would have eliminated or curtailed many of the strategies the wealthy use to reduce estate taxes. The […]
