Yesterday, the Federal Reserve held its benchmark rate at 2.5%. It only took one word from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on inflation to send the markets reeling, and that word was “transitory.” According to this CNBC article “Traders have been speculating that recent weaker inflation readings would concern the Federal Reserve so much that it…
As the son of a Montgomery county school teacher, I was so honored to mentor a group of hard- working students from Albert Einstein High School in Montgomery County rise to success in giving an incredible pitch to the judges at the Business Pitch Challenge. As the month of April is Financial Literacy Month, this…
It’s very unfortunate that school teachers, arguably one of the largest value-ads to communities across this nation, are getting taken to the woodshed on their retirement options. It’s 2019 and public school districts still haven’t found a way to properly help these individuals build a nest egg. We hear and see it all the time….
It was recently announced that the state of South Carolina was pushing to pass a bill that would require all high school students to take a course on financial literacy in order to graduate. Five states (Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia) are the only other states to have passed a similar law. As professionals…
Before we get started, lets recognize that this isn’t the first time there’s been a shutdown, and it probably won’t be the last. But that doesn’t change the fact that so many workers are now reaching their third week of no pay. There are roughly 800,000 federal employees who are not receiving paychecks right now,…
The White House announced yesterday that tax refunds would be processed even though the government is still shut down. Which reminded me that now is a great time to revisit your W-4. Why? Because t’s very, very likely that the W-4 form on file with your employer is off. Last year, the Treasury Department and the…
Staying in theme, it was another wild week for stocks. Investors, who are probably over the volatility from 2018, were unfortunately required to sit through a couple more brutal sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its worst start a year since 2000. However, following a reassuring tone from Fed…
As we sit down to reflect on 2018 and prepare for the coming year, no doubt that for many stress over financial issues comes to mind quickly. Year after year we see the same types of studies and the alarming statistics they produce in regards to savings and retirement planning (or lack thereof). Almost half…
Domestic markets endured another uneventful week, with two of the three major US indices posting losses over 1% for the period. Coming into the month of December, we were told how, historically, this is a bullish time of year for equities. Unfortunately, “historically” is just another term for “average” and while December may typically be…
We experienced more of the choppy environment in equities this past week. Although these types of swings are more common than many realize (remember, the low volatility environment of 2017 was the real anomaly), we understand that large down days in the market can be bothersome. Most of the drama occurred early on Monday, after…