Retirement Watch Weekly
Stocks are Surging. What About the Economy?
The strongest responses to the election have been in U.S. stocks, the dollar and sentiment surveys. Each has had positive responses, with the consumer confidence and sentiment surveys soaring. The business sentiment surveys also have been strongly positive since the election. Historically, certain actions follow changes in sentiment. Rising retail sales follow surges in consumer […]
Technology’s Impact on Health Care Costs in Retirement
In the first edition of The New Rules of Retirement I noted that medical costs were rising because we had treatments that didn’t exist in the past. The treatments cost money. The New York Times backed this up recently with a piece that said technology, not longevity, is what’s causing the rise in health care […]
The Used Car Opportunity
Last spring in Retirement Watch I pointed out that used cars were becoming a better deal than new cars, and that used cars were about to become more attractive. There are a lot of car leases expiring, and those cars are coming on to the used car market. There’s a flood of used cars that’s […]
The Cash Cow Investing Strategy
This is a variation of the Dogs of the Dow Strategy and apparently was developed by Meb Faber. Instead of looking only at dividends, the investor looks at dividends and net stock buy backs. Faber’s data say that the strategy has a better return than the Dogs strategy and also has less risk. Faber also […]
Another Reason to be Wary of Variable Annuities
Investors have received many warnings about variable annuities over the years, including in Retirement Watch. There’s another recent example of why to approach these contracts with caution. The Hartford is exercising its right to change the investment offerings in its variable annuities. Instead of offering 60 funds, holders will have to choose from 11 funds. […]
What To Do About Social Security
Social Security will have enough money to pay only 70% to 80% of its promised benefits if changes aren’t made. The year when the program won’t be able to pay full benefits changes depending on forecasts for economic growth and inflation plus life expectancy, but it consistently has been between 2030 and 2040. Donald Trump […]
Seeing a Key Time for Balance
“Asymmetric” best describes our current economic and market environments. In the current economy, we have decent, sustainable economic growth and an incoming government that has plans to increase that growth. But we also continue to have the large debt overhang from the boom period. Plus, the incoming Donald Trump administration has some plans that are […]
Social Security to Mail Fewer Benefits Estimates
The stop-start nature of benefits estimates from Social Security continues. For a brief period, Social Security mailed paper statements of estimated benefits to every U.S. workers who had enough earnings to qualify for retirement benefits. Since then, Social Security’s periodically saved money by limiting the number of statements it mailed. Recently, Social Security posted a […]
