Bob's Journal
Found 587 Articles.
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Bob’s Journal for 8/15
Today’s Market and the Tech Stock Bubble of 2000 There are similarities between the stock indexes in 2024 and in the 2000 technology stock bubble. How close are the similarities, and are there key differences? There’s no doubt that in 2024 investors have been enthusiastic about the stocks of a few large growth companies (primarily […]
Bob’s Journal for 8/8
A Global Market Readjustment Began in Japan Investors don’t like to be surprised, and they were hit with several surprises in the last week or so. Substantial changes in asset prices followed. The major surprise was a new policy by the Bank of Japan. The Asian country had the top-performing stock market in 2023. Plus, […]
What Younger Generations Need to Know About Social Security and Medicare
Young adults in the United States have been skeptical about Social Security at least since the days when I was one of them. Today’s younger generations are no different, and that’s affecting their retirement planning. About 47% of non-retirees believe Social Security won’t pay them any retirement benefits, according to a 2023 Gallup survey reported […]
Bob’s Journal for 7/25
IRS Issues Final Regulations on SECURE Act, Inherited IRAs The IRS last week issued final regulations on the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, enacted in late 2019. The final regs generally follow the proposed regulations issued in 2022. Despite receiving many requests for change, the IRS kept the most controversial rule […]
Bob’s Journal for 7/18
Two Alerts Issued by Social Security The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently issued two alerts about the program. Many people who access information about their Social Security benefits through a “my Social Security” account on the Social Security website (which I recommend doing) soon will experience changes in how they access the website. The SSA […]
Bob’s Journal for 7/11
Tony Bennett’s Children Are Suing Each Other The latest celebrity estate plan gone wrong is from the late singer Tony Bennett, according to Rolling Stone. Bennett, who died in 2023 at age 96, had two sons with his first wife, and two daughters with his second wife. Both those marriages ended in divorce. He was […]
Bob’s Journal for 6/26
The Risks of Using Long-Term Data: A Case Study Long-term data and averages can be useful tools when developing investment and financial plans, but they must be used with care. Here’s a recent example. Those who study stock index data know that historically June 20 through the end of June is a bad time to […]
Bob’s Journal for 6/20
The Stock Indexes Became More Top Heavy Last week was another strong one for the S&P 500 Index, adding to a generally strong year. But few stocks are doing as well as the index, and the disparity between winners and losers widened last week. The S&P 500 returned 1.58% for the week ending June 14. […]
