Is Social Security In Jeopardy Post-Election?

Is Social Security In Jeopardy Post-Election?

Quite a number of seniors have approached me recently expressing anxiety about Donald Trump’s becoming the President-elect. Besides their fears about a second burst of inflation due to threatened higher tariffs as well as the existential threat to U.S. democratic norms and institutions based on his past actions, probably the number one concern involves Social…
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‘Tis the Season for Giving

For some, the end-of-year holidays engender thoughts of helping those less fortunate. For others, it’s a time to develop strategies to save on taxes. Charitable giving allows you to achieve both goals. However, what if you would like to help but don’t yet know to which charities you would like to contribute? One of the…
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Could Your Investment Fund Be Terminated?

The short answer is yes. If a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) becomes unprofitable, fund company management may choose to shut it down. And given how competitive the fund market is, with well over ten thousand funds available today, this happens more often that you might think. What are the risk factors? One of…
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The Value Of A Financial Plan

In its 2024 Modern Wealth Study, brokerage firm Charles Schwab & Co. asked some 1200 Americans to grade themselves regarding a few personal finance questions. Over a third of all respondents gave themselves a grade of D or F on the level of savings they’ve accumulated and on their preparedness for retirement. Interestingly the grades…
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The Consequences Of Investing At The Worst Time

I previously wrote about the impossibility of successfully beating the S&P 500 through market timing. But many people are still afraid to invest in stocks, especially when the market is setting new highs, for fear of buying just before a major market drop. If you can’t time the markets, what can you do to avoid…
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Why Doesn’t Market Timing Work?

Of all the schemes investors have come up with to try to avoid losses and/or to beat the market, market timing is probably one of the most seductive. It seems obvious that when something significant occurs in the U.S. economy or elsewhere in the world, you’d expect the market to react accordingly. Wouldn’t that be…
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