Inflation

5 Reasons to Fund a 529 College Savings Plan

June 14, 2021November 10, 2020

This article is original content written by Manchester, CT Financial Advisor Thomas Scanlon, CFP®, CPA 1) College is Expensive Financing a college education today can be a big challenge. Having written some checks for college I find it handy to have a cold six pack close by. According to the College Board, the average tuition … Read more

4 Things Every Investor Can Control

November 11, 2020December 1, 2019

This article is original content written by Manchester, CT Financial Advisor Thomas Scanlon, CFP®, CPA Investors can easily get distracted these days. Hop in the car on the way to work, turn on the radio and get updates on the stock market futures. Check your online portfolio at work during your lunch break. Perhaps you … Read more

Why The Fed Got Off its Assets and Raised Interest Rate

October 24, 2019December 14, 2016

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. The last time they had raised rates was in December 2015 when the Fed had … Read more

The New Normal

October 30, 2019October 26, 2016

The New Normal was a term to describe the financial conditions after The Great Recession of 2008-2009 by Mohamed El-Erian, currently the chief economic advisor at Allianz. The concept of the New Normal is that the economy would remain sluggish and take many years to recover. The Old Normal The Old Normal for many … Read more

Market Volatility Spikes Amid Global Economic Concerns

August 24, 2015

Equity markets suffered their worst week since 2011 for the week ending August 21, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 1,000 points and the S&P 500 down 5.7%. Put into the context of the bull market of the past six years, a pullback can be seen as normal activity for a market that … Read more

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

October 25, 2018July 29, 2015

This is one of the all-time classic lines in the movies. Captain Quint, Police Chief Brody and Hooper are out looking for the Great White Shark in the move Jaws. After the Great White attacks the Orca, Brody turns to Quint and says, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” What does this have to do … Read more

3 Proven Reasons Why Investors Should Have Their Own Personal Inflation Index

December 31, 2014May 28, 2014

1) The Federal Government Figures Appear to be Gamed

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”) issues the inflation numbers monthly. It’s convenient that the government inserted the word ‘Labor’ into this bureau. Otherwise it would just be “BS”. The number to focus on is the Consumer Price Index (“CPI”).

To do this calculation, they strip out food and energy costs. Their reasoning for this is that these categories are too volatile. Fair enough, they are. But don’t forget, you are still constantly buying food and energy. After these two are removed, this is the so-called Core Inflation Rate. This is currently running at 1.6% annually as of January 2014.

The primary issue with how this number is calculated is what they call “quality improvements.” For example, if you buy a new computer that has more memory, a faster processor and better resolution in the monitor, this is adjusted in the inflation index. The bottom line is that the Core Inflation Index is suspect at best.