What’s Up With Real Estate?
The U.S. housing market is still suffering from low inventory: too few houses available for the numbers of home-seeking buyers. Naturally, the capitalist principals of supply and demand kick in, meaning that prices inevitably rise when there are too few products available to purchase. The problem may have become exacerbated…
How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Could Affect Americans
When Putin invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, President Biden announced sanctions targeting Russian banks, the country’s sovereign debt and Russian oligarchs, warning that Russia would pay an even steeper price if it did not cease its aggression. In the early days of the conflict, European banks braced for the…
How To Evaluate A Stock
There are moments in history when people have claimed investment choices don’t matter because if the market is up across the board, you cannot fail. That is not true. In fact, that should never be guiding financial advice. However, there is no doubt that the market has been up for…
Savings Strategies
Some people have no trouble saving money — they stash away any cash they don’t need, and their account grows and grows. These people usually aren’t very materialistic and don’t have a lot of goals that require money to fulfill. That’s a wonderful trait, in some ways. However, there’s nothing…
Going Up: The Return of Inflation and How to Manage It
By Jonathan Scheid, CFA, AIF® There is no way to hide that prices are rising for the goods and services we use. A day doesn’t seem to pass without hearing of a new shortage, a supply disruption, or an increase in demand that is impacting the price we pay for…
Ranking the World’s Nations
What’s the best country? After several years at No. 2, Canada leads the globe, according to U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Countries” rankings for 2021. It’s followed by Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Australia and the United States.1 The criteria used to make Best Country determinations included quality of life, agility,…
Demographics Differing On Retirement Plans
According to PwC’s recent Retirement in America report, the median retirement savings among people ages 55 to 64 is $120,000. Unfortunately, that likely would provide less than $1,000 per month for a retiree, for only 15 years.1 There’s an interesting dichotomy among demographics when it comes to retirement planning these…
Public Safety Personnel: 6 Factors to Consider When Entering the DROP Program
The DROP program stands for Deferred Retirement Option Plan. The retention program was designed to keep public-safety personnel working longer by making it lucrative to stay beyond their eligibility to retire.