Work History When you hear that the workplace of the future is going to dramatically change (due to automation and artificial intelligence), do you ever wonder how the jobs picture has changed over the past 165 years? Recently, the McKinsey Global Institute pored over old records dating back to 1850 and thereafter, to […]
Buried in a recent report by Fidelity Investments was some remarkable news. Last summer, the mutual fund and retirement plan provider noted that there were more than a million people with more than $1 million in their 401(k) accounts. Then December hit, wiping out almost 20% of the value of the S&P 500 index, with […]
Chances are, you already know it’s expensive to raise a family in this day and age. But exactly how much over the 20 years until your kids reach the age of maturity? A recent analysis by the EverQuote organization estimated various costs for two parents plus a son and daughter for normal costs like housing, […]
Virgin Group founder and self-made billionaire Richard Branson dropped out of school at the age of 16 to start Student Magazine, and later founded Virgin Records—and a few other businesses along the way. Over time and various blog posts, he has recorded some thoughts on how to be successful in business and in life, apparently […]
Rich or Comfortable? What would you have to make to be a one-percenter—that is, to have an income in the upper one percent of the population—in the U.S., Singapore, China, Brazil, England or Australia? The answer, of course, differs in every country. At the bottom of the scale, someone earning $81,000 a year in […]
Lesson Learned? Investors who reacted emotionally to market movements have been humbled yet again. When U.S. stocks (measured by the S&P 500 index) fell 13.97% in last year’s fourth quarter, most of us felt in our gut like the market was in the midst of a major bear market collapse. The downturn would continue into […]
What’s the best strategy for navigating choppy investment markets? The classic advice is to hang on for dear life. But is there a better option? Taming the Roller Coaster A recent article by Michael Batnick of Rithold Wealth Management helpfully reminds us that we have experienced two VERY choppy market periods since 1999. Buy […]
Government Shutdown Consequences As the U.S. government shutdown enters its second week, you might wonder how so many shuttered government agencies and laid-off federal workers will affect the economy and your portfolio. The good news is that the economic impact, overall, is likely to be small. In late 2013, a similar government shutdown, spanning 16 […]
This was the year the long, seemingly endless bull market came to a crashing halt– and U.S. investors finally, for the first time since 2008, experienced the normal definition of a bear market.The bottom fell out in the final month of the year, which started with a decent chance of another year of overall annual […]
Here’s a question that a lot of older Americans ask themselves from time to time: I’m over age 65. Can I still make a contribution to an IRA or a Roth IRA? Can I reinvest some or all of my required minimum distribution in an IRA or a Roth IRA? The answer, generally, is that […]
