Retiring at the Wrong Time Can Cost You for the Rest of Your Life
Investing orthodoxy likes to state that investors can’t time markets. In one sense that’s true, in that the likelihood of an individual investor being able to sell right at the top of a market and buy right at the bottom of a market is incredibly slim, if not impossible. That’s why buy and hold has become such an important...
Alan Greenspan Warns of Coming Stagflation: Will You Listen?
Anyone who lived through the 1970s remembers the crushing effects of stagflation. The phenomenon, characterized by severe recession, double digit inflation, and high unemployment baffled Keynesian economists who had long posited that high inflation and high unemployment couldn’t exist together. The Phillips Curve propounded by the Keynesians held that there was a direct relationship between inflation and unemployment, with...
Housing Market Slowdown Is Bad News for the Economy
Every week seems to bring more bad news about the US housing market. It’s clear that the housing market is headed towards a standstill and may very well swing downwards in the near future. With year-over-year sales continuing to remain weak and home sales even in previously hot markets stagnating, home sellers are about to enter a very rough...
Retirement Accounts Are For Retirement, Not Everyday Spending
If you’re like many Americans with a 401(k), IRA, or other type of retirement account, the last few years of stock market gains may have sent your paper wealth soaring. There are more 401(k) millionaires in the United States today than ever before. But with the sums in retirement accounts piling up ever higher, and American households more indebted...
The Yield Curve Inversion Has Started: What Are You Waiting For?
One indicator that market analysts look to for signs of an impending recession is an inverted yield curve. Because of uncertainty about the future, investors demand more yield from longer-term investments. That’s why you’ll see higher interest rates on longer-term bonds than shorter-term bonds. An one-month bond may yield 3% interest while a 10-year bond may yield 5%. When...