August 2018
US Government Debt Problem Is Spiraling Out of Control
A recent publication by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) highlighted the grave danger that faces the US economy as the government’s debt position continues to spiral out of control. The US national debt has already increased to more than 100% of GDP, and under certain scenarios CBO predicts that could reach as high as 165% in just 20 years....
Some Common Retirement Myths Debunked
Most Americans are serious about saving for their retirement. The dream of finally being free from being tied to a job, being able to travel and do what you want, has always appealed to many people. And that’s why retirement planning has become such a large and lucrative industry. But many people unwittingly make mistakes in their retirement planning,...
The Fed Continues to See No Problem With Inflation
Chicago Fed President Charles Evans made headlines recently with his comments about higher inflation not being a problem. While the Fed has set a target of 2% for price inflation, and worried for years that inflation was lower than that figure, recent data indicates that inflation is trending higher and will continue to rise. According to the Bureau of...
Housing Market Continues to Confound Experts
Housing prices throughout the United States continue to rise, with recent data showing that prices increased nearly 7% from a year ago. That’s the fourteenth consecutive month of price increases, an incredible run. And while that will eventually have to come to an end, when will that happen? For more and more Americans who want to buy houses, the rising...
Tech Stocks Have Become the Darlings of Investors, But Beware Dotcom 2.0
Investors aren’t really any different than any other human being. They, like many others, enjoy new, shiny things. In a field in which you constantly have to reassess your investment aims, your investment performance, and your investment portfolio, there is always strong pressure to shake things up, invest in new and different assets, and try something that’s groundbreaking. Tech stocks...
Federal Debt Problem Continues to Worsen: That’s Bad News for the Future
You would think that with a national debt over $21 trillion and continuing to climb every day that the federal government would get serious about cutting back on spending sometime, but oh no. More and more we hear from Washington that the government isn’t spending enough. We need to spend more to to defend against the threat from North...
Latest Jobs Report Not Exactly Awe-Inspiring
The July jobs report that was just published is another sign of the underwhelming continued growth of the economy. While economists predicted a gain of 193,000 jobs, the actual number was only 157,000, a pretty large miss. And while much of that was chalked up to a one-time hit from the closure of bankrupt toy retailer Toys R Us,...
The 3 Key Things to Keep in Mind When Investing
If you want to live a comfortable retirement, pay for your children’s college tuition, buy a vacation house, or enjoy any of the other creature comforts that many people today have come to expect, you have to invest your money. Chances are that you’re not going to work till you die, so you can’t expect to fund your lifestyle...