There are some things in life you just can’t plan for: an unexpected illness, job loss, death of spouse, disability. And while experiencing one of these major events can drastically impact your life, having an effective financial plan can help ensure that it doesn’t ruin your financial well-being.
The signs of an economic slowdown continue. Initial jobless claims, which are released weekly, spiked to 965,000 last week. Claims increased by 181,000 and marked the highest weekly total since mid-August. Continuing claims increased 199,000, indicating those losing work are not finding new …
The vivid pictures and appalling actions in Washington, D.C., Wednesday captured the attention of the globe, but not the interest of markets. The Democratic sweep in the Georgia Senate races didn’t attract a lot of interest from investors either. Neither were markets fazed by the first loss …
It’s no secret that many people do not keep their New Year’s resolutions. Every year around this time, gym memberships go up and personal planners fly off the shelves. A few weeks later, the planner gets left on the train and the gym, well, it’s just so far out of the way! New Year’s resolu …
The S&P 500 wrapped up a surprising year with another strong week. The index of large-cap stocks, including dividends, climbed 1.5% and finished 18.4% higher for the year. Figure 1 shows the performance of the S&P 500, ex-dividends, in 2020 and just how far stocks have roared back f …
The new stimulus package approved by the House and Senate was signed by President Trump Sunday night. The president had proposed upping the aid to individuals to $2,000 after the bipartisan agreement had been reached. Garnering support for that proposal would likely have proven difficult an …
Congress passed the new $900 billion economic relief and spending bill on Monday. While most of the focus has been on a second round of relief payments to most Americans, there is plenty more in the 5,000-plus pages of the stimulus package.
