Are you healthy? Or are you anticipating some hefty medical bills coming up? Or do you want to save money in a tax-advantaged way for future medical expenses? If so, a health savings account (HSA) might be a good choice. An HSA is a tax-favored savings and investment account that’s used for qualified health care expenses and tethered to high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). There are three tax benefits to HSAs: The first is that contributions are pre-tax if they’re coming through payroll, and if they’re not made pre-tax, the account owner will get a tax deduction; second, the growth on […]

You might have more money stashed away in the Social Security trust fund than anywhere else. In fact, what you put into Social Security very well might be your biggest asset and future source of retirement income. Many people don’t think about it that way, but we may need to start doing so. The Social Security trust fund might run out of money sooner than we originally thought. The timeline may move a few years earlier depending on what we find out from the 2021 Social Security Trustees Report. Some suggest it could go from 2034 depletion to 2031 – […]

The benefits provided by recent stimulus packages seem to be fading. U.S. retail sales dipped 1.1% last month and have now declined in two of the last three months [Figure 1]. Declines in motor vehicle and online purchases led the fall. Restaurant sales grew 1.7% in July and continue to rebound. Federal Reserve minutes indicated the economy looks strong enough for the central bank to taper bond purchases in coming months.  Key Points for the Week  The S&P 500 doubled its pandemic low after just 354 trading days. U.S. retail sales fell 1.1% last month, lagging expectations for a lesser […]

Core inflation moderated significantly last month, rising only 0.3% after jumping 0.9% in June. Used vehicle prices, which rose 10.2% in June, increased only 0.2% in July. Core CPI excludes food and energy prices, which rose 0.7% and 1.5% respectively. Those two categories propelled overall inflation 0.5% higher, down from 0.9% last month.  Key Points for the Week U.S. core inflation increased only 0.3% last month, suggesting the inflation surge may be losing steam. Job openings topped 10 million, fueled by continued demand in leisure and hospitality, retail and professional, and business services. Second quarter earnings grew 89.3% last quarter […]

A strong U.S. employment report was the top market event last week. Payrolls surged 943,000, and the prior two months were revised higher by 119,000 (Figure 1). Restaurants and bars continue to rehire workers as activity expands. The leisure and hospitality segment, which includes eating establishments, added 380,000 jobs.  Key Points for the Week U.S. payrolls grew 943,000 last month, beating expectations and affirming the strength of the U.S. jobs market. Restaurants, bars, and other leisure and hospitality businesses continued to rehire and accounted for 40% of the new jobs last month. Unemployment dropped to 5.4% even as labor force […]

Though we’re still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of vaccinations increasing and the great reopening upon us, we’re reemerging from our bunkers in full force. While we’re feeling pretty good about our reemergence, there’s always risk to look out for. Here are the top five risk factors that might impact you and your financial planning in this third quarter of 2021. Let’s take a closer look. Virus Mutations and Lingering Effects of COVID-19 This has been our No. 1 risk for a while. The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus strain is more contagious and […]

The more contagious Delta variant has contributed to a 172% increase in U.S. COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks. The spike is raising concerns some social distancing measures may be reenacted. Initial jobless claims are increasing. Last week claims jumped above 400,000 after staying below that threshold for several weeks.  Key Points for the Week COVID-19 cases have increased 172% in the last two weeks as the Delta variant continues to spread. Initial jobless claims rose back above 400,000 last week. Estimated S&P 500 earnings are expected to grow 74.2% based on a strong start to earnings season. Based […]

Two big economic releases in the U.S. and a series of economic data in China highlighted a challenging week for U.S. stocks. Inflation surged 0.9% and has now increased 5.4% over the last year (Figure 1). The U.S. Consumer Price Index increased more than expected, led by large spikes in used vehicle prices.  Key Points for the Week The Consumer Price Index surged 0.9% last month and is up 5.4% over the last year. S. retail sales added 0.6% aided by consumers buying more electronics, appliances, and clothing. China’s economy continues to rebound as industrial production rose 8.3% and retail […]

The U.S. economy continued to show signs of a mismatch between demand and supply. Nearly 3 million workers have been unemployed for more than a year; yet, there are 9 million available jobs in the U.S. (Figure 1). Matching those open positions with available workers remains key to a sustained economic recovery.  Key Points for the Week Job openings remain above 9 million in the U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order designed to limit the market power of the largest U.S. companies. Chinese consumer inflation rose only 1.1% in the last year, while Chinese producer prices surged 8.8%. […]

If you’re a business owner, you have far more than money invested in your work. You may be the first to open the door in the morning and walk in on a floor that you’ve mopped yourself. Your dreams, your vision and your hard work are what hold this place together. But there will come a day when you turn off the lights and lock up for the last time in your career. You owe it to yourself and your vision to create a succession plan. Let’s look at three types of strategy for business succession planning and outline how […]