Bob's Journal
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Bob’s Journal for 4/22
Economic Growth Surges Past Expectations The latest economic data show the economy is growing faster than most economists expected and faster than is currently priced into the markets. Almost all the data released recently were more positive than expected, and much of the data greatly exceeded expectations. Retail sales surged in March and showed that […]
Taking a Fresh Glimpse into How the Pandemic Affects Social Security
The COVID-19 pandemic caused more people to retire early than the number of people that it forced to delay retirement. That reality is going to cause the retirement trust fund to run out of money faster than previously expected. More than 3.1 million Americans aged 55 or older plan to apply for their Social Security […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/8/21
More Signs Growth is Surging Data and anecdotes continue to indicate that economic growth is stronger than most investors and politicians recognize. The surprising strength was apparent from a recent interview on CNBC with Tilman Fertitta, chairman and CEO of Landry’s. The company owns restaurants, hotels, and casinos in 40 states, including Morton’s, Landry’s and […]
Bob’s Journal for 4/1/21
Margin Calls Roil Markets Again The best investment plans can be upended by the actions of an aggressive hedge fund or other leveraged investors you hadn’t heard of previously. We learned that lesson again in the last week. Archegos Capital Management is a family office of a former hedge fund manager. Archegos had large stock […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/25/21
The SECURE Act 2.0 is on the way In December 2019, Congress shocked many people by passing the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act quickly and by a wide margin. There were a lot of positive provisions in the SECURE Act that were designed to make it easier for people to save […]
Major Tax Increases Are in The Works
Shortly after the $1.9 trillion stimulus law was enacted, President Biden’s aides began publicly discussing the coming tax increases. But, in fact, the tax increases have already started. Three tax increases were slipped into the stimulus law. They have been estimated to raise tax bills by about $60 billion. One increase limited the amount of […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/11/21
The Big Rotation in Stocks The winners and losers in U.S. stocks were stable, until recently. For years, U.S. growth stocks, especially technology stocks, regularly outperformed other categories of stocks. Investing in the large U.S. indexes, such as the S&P 500, was an easy, inexpensive way to earn high returns. Those trends started to shift […]
Bob’s Journal for 3/4/21
Tips Retirees Need for 2020 Tax Returns Many retirees and people who took COVID-related retirement plan distributions might need some extra time to work through their 2020 tax returns. Those who took distributions from traditional IRAs at any point during 2020 will receive a Form 1099-R reporting the distributions to them and the Internal Revenue […]
