11 Aug Do You Have a Will?
A 2021 Gallup poll found that only 46% of U.S. adults have a will — similar to the results of other Gallup polls over the last 30 years. It's not...
financial planner Tag
10 Aug Food Inflation: What’s Behind It and How to Cope
As measured by the Consumer Price Index for food at home, grocery prices increased 3.4% in 2020, a faster rate than the 20-year historical average of 2.4%.1 More recently, food inflation...
10 Aug Three Things to Consider Before Buying a Vacation Home
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to a surge in demand for vacation/second homes — mainly spurred by government shutdowns and stay-at-home advisories. Whether working remotely, attending...
09 Aug Inflation Cuts into Wage Gains
Driven by labor shortages, median hourly wages increased at an annual rate of 5.2% in December 2021, the highest level since June 2001. However, inflation cuts into buying power, and real...
16 May Working While Receiving Social Security Benefits
The COVID-19 recession and the continuing pandemic pushed many older workers into retirement earlier than they had anticipated. A little more than 50% of Americans age 55 and older said...
13 May New Businesses May Be Good News for the Economy
After taking a nosedive at the start of the pandemic recession (gold shaded area), business applications rose sharply, peaking in July 2020. Applications have fallen somewhat since then but are...
25 Apr How to Correct an Error on Your Credit Report
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), credit report errors more than doubled during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the CFPB found that many pandemic protections which were designed...
25 Apr Smoothing Market Ups and Downs
After the wild ride of 2020, the U.S. stock market was relatively calm in 2021, but there was still plenty of volatility. There were 55 days when the S&P 500...
25 Apr Going Public: How Are Direct Listings Different from IPOs?
An initial public offering (IPO) is the first public sale of stock shares by a private company. IPOs are important to the financial markets because they help fuel the growth...