Job numbers were released earlier this month, and it was another month, 92 consecutive months to be exact, of positive job creation in the U.S. economy…hip, hip, hooray! The good news is that unemployment is down to a near-record...
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Did that headline get your attention? There are hundreds of distractions around us every minute of the day. It used to be just billboards along the highway, a few advertisements between your favorite radio songs, or those dreaded commercials...
You’ve seen the headlines, you’ve heard the talking heads, you likely have negative feelings when you see the term blasted across the front page of the business periodicals. Markets have been swinging wildly in 2018. Things started off great...
Many people are ready to make the transition to retirement. They envision living a less stressful, carefree lifestyle. Where they can be adventurers, live next to the ocean, hear the waves crash. Enjoy the warm sunshine, swim in the...
How much can retirees withdraw from their nest egg each year? This is a question that many thought was answered by the 4% rule, first articulated by Bill Bengan in 1994. Bengan is a retired financial planner from Southern...
U.S. stocks are cresting to all-time highs, almost daily. These are the times when investors look forward to opening their monthly statement. The anticipation is high, you open the envelope (or electronic statement) and wow, is that right? Shouldn’t...
Applying for financial aid for college is becoming less stressful after President Obama changed the earliest FAFSA filing date from January 1st to October 1st. This means that the FAFSA can be submitted on October 1st for the 2017-2018...
Identity theft is on the rise. The most recent statistics (2014), according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 17.6 million Americans were victims of identity theft. That is nearly 7% of US residents. Most victims experienced the...
It sure seems like we’ve had our fair share of investment volatility of this century. There have been two major market disruptions; The Dotcom bubble in 2000, where the Nasdaq composite lost 78% of its value, followed by the...
Inflation since 2008 has been very low. The average since 2008 is a paltry 1.48%. The numbers annually are as follows: Year Rate of inflation 2008 .1% 2009 2.7% 2010 1.5% 2011 3.0% 2012 1.7% 2013 1.5% 2014 .8%...