It’s only mid-September, but please begin to think about year-end tax planning. This is an unusual year for tax planning. Not only has the stock market been volatile but new rules about distributions from IRAs and federally qualified retirement plans (QRPs) – such as 401(k), 403(b) and defined benefit plans –became effective this year, and the newly-enacted Inflation Reduction Act also adds some planning opportunities.
If you are like most people, you probably wouldn’t feel comfortable performing surgery to remove your spouse’s appendix. You probably would not fix the brakes on the family car. You probably would not risk tutoring your child to prepare for the SATs.
It is a pivotal moment in economic history. The dust is settling from the economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the post-pandemic inflation crisis and Russia-Ukraine War linger on, creating stock market uncertainty, fueling fears of an economic downturn, and, in some quarters, of a worldwide financial disaster. So, the latest data on the service sector of the U.S. economy is indeed reassuring.
Securities regulators require financial advisors to state in their public statements that past performance is not indicative of future results because investing is complicated, and nothing is guaranteed. Ironically, however, a mountain of evidence exists showing that achieving investment success depends largely on understanding lessons from the past.
Housing slumped again and the Leading Economic Indicator Index plunged for a third straight month, but the consensus forecast of leading economists is for no recession.
The economy remains on the edge of a recession but the stock market this past week acted like the worst of the bear market may be over.