How Should Millennials Invest for Retirement?
There’s a lot of retirement advice out there that is just plain dated. Much of it is focused on those who are already in their 40s and 50s and have sizable nest eggs already. And even more of it is written from the perspective of those who came of age during the stock market heyday of the ‘80s and...
The Fed Is Doing Something It Hasn’t Done Since the Financial System Nearly Crashed in 2008
The Fed’s rate cut last week was supposed to operate like clockwork. Everyone expected the 25 basis point cut, it was merely the next step in what will likely be a continuing series of cuts, and there was no anticipation of anything unusual. Yet what ended up occurring has rattled markets and left many observers wondering how weak the...
How Much Should I Have in My 401(k): Amounts by Age
The dream of a comfortable retirement is one that motivates many an American worker. But like many other things in life, the definition of comfortable retirement is one that varies from person to person. For some, retirement means sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking beer. For others, it means living an active life full of sports and...
Fed Cuts Interest Rates as Expected, But Markets Go Nuts
There weren’t really any surprises last week when the Federal Open Market Committee decided to cut its target federal funds rate another 25 basis points, to a target of 1.75% to 2.00%. That had long been expected and even priced in by many investors. But there were two anomalies that bear mentioning. The first is that there were three dissenting...
Insiders Are Fleeing Stock Markets: What Do They Know That You Should Too?
When investing in markets, it’s sometimes a good idea to look at what other people are doing. Sometimes that take the form of looking at what they’re doing and doing exactly the opposite, like taking a short position on a hot stock because it’s fundamentally undervalued. Other times that takes the form of watching closely as those in the...
What Effect Will Negative Interest Rates Have on Your Retirement?
The past decade has seen interest rates at historically low levels for the longest period of time ever. The effect that has had on the economy has been enormous, with governments, corporations, and households all taking on massive amounts of debt in order to take advantage of low borrowing costs. But despite interest rates being so low, economic performance...