2018 Second Quarter Market Report The U.S. equity markets suffered a small setback in the first quarter, but the second quarter brought us back into positive territory. The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index—the broadest measure of U.S. stocks—finished the quarter up 3.83% and is now in positive territory for the first half of the year, […]
Shrinking Motherhood We recently celebrated Mother’s Day in the U.S., but demographics tell us that mothers make up a smaller percentage of the population than at any time in at least the last quarter century. Today, only about 26% of Americans are women who currently have or have had children, and only 15% of Americans […]
Self-Driving Timetable There has been a lot of hype about self-driving cars, but when, realistically, can we expect to be driven to our destination by a vehicle that has no steering wheel, gas pedal or seat specifically designated for a driver? The answer depends on which of many competitors you’re talking about, but it looks […]
The Most Popular Baby Name Awards Go To… The U.S. Social Security Administration has released its annual list of the most popular baby names in America, and the winners are… Emma for girls and Liam for boys. Down the list, in order for girls, are Olivia, Ava, Isabella, Sophia, Mia, Charlotte, Amelia, Evelyn and Abigail. […]
The Amazon Model Two companies—Amazon and Apple—are in a tight race to become the first company to have a total market value greater than $1 trillion—that is, the value of all their outstanding stock would exceed that enormous figure. Apple is the higher-profile candidate, but the smart money seems to be on Amazon. Why? When […]
Last Call for HARP One of the most beneficial consumer rescue programs from the Great Recession era is about to expire. The Home Affordability Refinance Program—known as HARP—was passed by a bipartisan Congress in 2009, to enable borrowers who were under water on their homes, or close to under water, to refinance into more affordable […]
DB Plan for All Few people have a defined benefit pension plan any more, thanks to the popularity of the 401(k). But the DB concept is simpler: a corporate annuity that pays out retirement income every year based on the amount contributed to the plan over the years. Yes, you can buy annuities on the […]
States vs. SALT Each year, thousands of professionals use their creativity and ingenuity to try to figure out the best ways to lower your federal taxes. You know you’re living in interesting times when state lawmakers join that crowd. The reason they’re working so hard is something popularly known as the SALT provisions of the […]
Reclaiming Charitable Deductions You may remember that when the new tax law was debated, there was a lot of chatter around the possibility that Congress would totally eliminate the deduction for charitable contributions. That Republican-backed proposal never made it into the final Tax Cuts + Jobs Act, but in other ways the tax changes may […]
More Good Job Numbers By now, we should be pretty well accustomed to getting good news from the employment reports issued every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest report, released last Friday, announced (yawn) the 92nd consecutive month of positive job creation in the American economy—seven and two-thirds years of steadily falling […]
