Do you remember how it felt to be a common stock investor during the last 5 years of the 20th century? It felt good. Very good, in fact. The total return of the S&P 500 stock index was 26.39% per year from January 1st, 1996 to December 31st, 1999. Every investor was a stock picking genius. People retired early. One… Read more →
Retirement contribution limits, QLACs, a case of fraud and the circle of life.
The IRS recently announced adjustments to retirement plan contribution limits. In 2015 the elective deferral limit for 401(k) participants will be increased to $18,000. Most similar plans, 403(b), 457, etc. will allow increased contribution limits as well. The catch-up contribution limit for employees age 50 and over will increase to $6,000. Therefore, older employees can defer as much as $24,000 next… Read more →
The Gold Standard, Alpha, Beta, and now…Gamma.
Question: Should the US return to the gold standard, so that the Fed can’t “create money out of thin air”? To answer that question David Andolfatto, Vice President and Economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis recently published a piece entitled, The Gold Standard and Price Inflation. You can view it here. The author cites an historical example… Read more →
A bit about the 3rd quarter, 2014 and some optimism.
Asset management clients of Financial Planning Associates, Inc., your preliminary third quarter asset management reports have been posted to your secure web folders. As the table below indicates Read more →
It’s time for another quiz and a funny story.
Sometimes our understanding is “incomplete.” Over the years we have observed that most people operate under one or more misconceptions regarding certain financial matters. In an effort to clarify a few of those misconceptions we offer the following brief quiz. Four questions are presented. Please click the hyperlink to indicate your response and view additional information. Question #1. Do you… Read more →