Major changes to retirement tax rules took effect on January 1 this year that are impacting every retiree with a retirement account. In December, a $1.4 trillion spending bill was signed into law to keep the government running. Within this legislation was the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act—which brought some of the most significant changes we have seen to retirement tax laws in more than a decade.
Could it be the upside surprises?
U.S. stock markets have marched higher despite a pandemic, an economic downturn, and social justice protests – and a lot of people have wondered why.
Greg Rosalsky of Plant Money spoke with Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller about, “…the mass psychology of a gazillion buyers and sellers, who each are telling themselves their own stories about why they're making the trades they're making.”
The Nasdaq Composite dipped its toes into record territory last week before retreating.
Stock indices in the United States rallied early last week on optimism about the reopening of businesses across the country. The Nasdaq Composite rose to 10,000 for the first time ever, before tumbling lower.
The employment report electrified U.S. stock markets last week.
American stock markets responded enthusiastically to the news U.S. unemployment was 13.3 percent in May. If it seems inexplicable double-digit unemployment would thrill investors, there is a reason. The unemployment rate in April was higher at 14.7 percent, and analysts had forecast the rate in May would jump to 19.1 percent. All in all, that makes 13.3 percent look pretty attractive.
There were some caveats.
Life as we know it has changed dramatically during 2020. As the coronavirus spread across the United States, cities and states issued shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus and prevent healthcare facilities from being overwhelmed by critically ill patients. In May, when states started to reopen, Americans began to return to work […]
Are those green shoots?
In economic terms, green shoots are signs of improvement. If you were paying close attention, you might have seen some in economic data released last week.
They weren’t apparent in the Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the United States economy. Gross domestic product (GDP), which is the value of all goods and services produced in our country, shrank by 5 percent during the first quarter of 2020. The contraction reflected lower spending by Americans and American businesses due to COVID-19.
Q & A with Angela Bender, CFP®, and AMJ's managing partner ____________________ Question: What is an annuity and is it true you can live off that interest alone in retirement? Answer: An annuity is an insurance contract for retirement that allows for tax deferral of the earnings in the annuity account. There four flavors, so to […]
It was a good week for stock markets in the United States, but there was trouble in Asia.
U.S. stock markets rallied last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and Nasdaq Composite all gained more than 3 percent, reported Ben Levisohn of Barron’s.
America is reopening, state by state. That’s welcome news for many businesses, but we’re far from business as usual. Last week’s economic news included unemployment hitting an 80-year high, a record drop in retail sales (-16.4 percent), and an unprecedented decline in industrial production (-11.2 percent).