Why The Yield Curve Does Not Predict A Market Downturn

Why The Yield Curve Does Not Predict A Market Downturn

The U.S. Treasury bond yield curve is in the news again after briefly turning negative earlier this month. The financial media is trumpeting this event as an indicator that a recession will likely follow with a concomitant stock market decline. I suggest that this indicator is not useful in predicting either one. The yield curve…
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The Biggest Risk You Face With Your Investments

If someone were to ask you what you thought is the biggest risk you face with your investment portfolio, what would be your answer? Would it be the increased investment volatility we’ve been seeing this year? Or perhaps it’s the risk of investment losses? Maybe you’d say inflation since it has recently ramped up to…
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Why Unrealized Gains Do Not Equal Returns

Have you ever looked at your brokerage or IRA account statement and discovered that the unrealized gain from one of the investments you thought was doing well is negative? Does that mean you’ve been losing money on that particular investment? Not necessarily. Here is a brief explanation of why we don’t use unrealized gains to…
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The Impact of War On Our Money

After living through one inconceivable event with worldwide repercussions (the COVID-19 pandemic), we now find ourselves facing another that was certainly on no one’s radar prior to 2022. How will Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impact the spending power of our dollars as well as the value of our savings in the capital markets? I had…
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Useful Medicare Website For Comparing Drug Costs

One of the most frustrating experiences for seniors on original Medicare is shopping for the most beneficial Part D plan during open enrollment each year (and also on your birthday if you live in California). Medicare supplement plans (aka Medigap) are highly standardized and consequently relatively straightforward: your choice is primarily a tradeoff between premiums…
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Mega and Backdoor Roth Contributions: Do You Feel Lucky?

Often politicians pass laws that have unintended consequences, making tax planning difficult. This year the uncertainty revolves around two methods to build up your tax-free savings that may go away if the Biden administration’s Build Back Better legislation passes. I’ll describe the situation and the three possible outcomes. As background, some workers have the ability…
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