Has it ever. Now that the Presidential Election is over many are left scratching their heads. President Elect Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017. Very few pundits predicted…
What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
Tagged with: Brexit, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Federal Deficit, Federal Reserve Board, Great Recession 2008-2009, Interest Rates, Lehman Brothers, Prime Interest Rate, Quantitative Easing, The Great Recession
Why The Fed Got Off its Assets and Raised Interest Rate
The Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) raised the Federal Funds Target Rate by .25% from .50% to .75%. The Federal Funds Target Rate is the interest rate charged to financial institutions for the trading they do with each other overnight.…
Tagged with: European Central Bank, Federal Funds Target Rate, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve Board, Great Depression 1929, Great Recession 2008-2009, Inflation, Lehman Brothers, Quatitative Easing, S&P 500
Patience Pays Dividends
For months prior to the presidential election, investors remained in a holding pattern, poised to see how the domestic and global markets would react. Many international markets saw pullbacks, but U.S. stock markets surprised to the upside, rewarding investors after…
Tagged with: Consumer Confidence, DJIA, Economy, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board, GDP, NASDAQ, Presidential Election, S&P 500, Stock Market
7 Easy Year End Tax Saving Steps for Connecticut Taxpayers
1) Fund a CHET 529 College Savings Plan 529 College Savings Plans are an effective way to save for a child’s or grandchild’s education. The State of Connecticut allows Connecticut Taxpayers to fund a Connecticut Higher Education Trust (“CHET”)…
Tagged with: 401 (k) Plan, 529 Plan, Connecticut Estate Tax, Connecticut Income Tax, Estate Planning, Income Tax, IRA, Roth IRA, Tax Code, Tax Deferred Accounts, Tax-Free
7 Reasons Not to Wait Until Thanksgiving to be Grateful
You don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to be grateful. You can be grateful every day. It’s your choice. Life might not be going swimmingly well for you every day. I get it. I truly hope you didn’t expect it…
Tagged with: Average Joe's, Bill Gates, CD's, College Board, EU, European Migrants, European Union, Federal Funds Target Rate, Federal Reserve Board, GDP, Germany, Grateful, Great Recession 2008-2009, Greece, Gross Domestic Product, Harvard, Manchester Community College, Mexico, Microsoft, Migrants, S&P 500, Spain, Standard & Poors 500 Index, Thanksgiving, The Fed, U-3, U-6, Unemployment Rate, Unemployment Report
The Last Mortgage Refinance
I know it’s not breaking news that mortgage rates are low. They are very low in fact. At the last Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) meeting in September they elected to keep the Federal Funds Rate unchanged. The FOMC…
Tagged with: Congress, Fed, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board, FOMC, Freddie Mac, Great Recession 2008-2009, HELOC, Home Equity Line of Credit, Home Mortgage, Home Refinance, Income Tax Deduction, Itemized Deductions, Mortgage, Mortgage Interest, Mortgage Rates, PMI, Points, Presidental Election, Private Mortgage Insurance, Refinance, Standard Deduction, Tax Deduction, TRID, U. S. Treasury Securities, W-2
All Eyes Are on The Fed
The Federal Reserve Board (“Fed”) met in mid-September 2016 and again, decided to leave interest rates unchanged. The last time they have raised interest rates was in December, 2015. They raised the target federal funds rate to a…
Tagged with: 401 (k) Plan, Abenomics, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, Banks, BOJ, Brexit, CD, Cental Bank, Dow, Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, ECB, EU, Europe, European Central Bank, European Migrants, Fed, Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve Board, Great Recession 2008-2009, Interest Rates, James Grant, Japan, NASDAQ, Negative Interest Rates, Paul McCartney, Pension, Prime Interest Rate, Prime Rate, QE, Quantitative Easing, Real Estate, S&P 500, Shizo Abe, Social Security, Standard & Poors 500 Index, Student Debt, U-3
4 Easy Steps to Stay Retired
You have reached the holy grail (for some) and retired. Congratulations! You are in the Land of No Alarm Clocks. Now you can do (almost) whatever you want to do. You’ve worked your whole life to…
Tagged with: 401(K) Plan, 529 College Savings Plan, 529 Plan, Bank of Japan, Budget, Cash Reserve Fund, College, Connecticut, Connecticut Income Tax, CT, ECB, European Central Bank, Fed, Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board, Great Reccession 2008-2009, Income Tax, Individual Retirement Account, Interest Rates, Investment Portfolio, IRA, Living Expenses, Medical Bills, Medicare Tax, Money Market Account, Negative Interest Rates, New England, New Hampshire, Portfolio, Rainy Day Fund, Retire, Retirees, Retirement, Retirement Plan, Roth IRA, S & P 500 Index, Savers, Social Security, Social Security Tax, Starbucks, Swiss National Bank, The College Board
