After an interesting year with inflation, housing, energy prices, the markets and more in 2022, it’s just as important as any year to find opportunities before year-end. There are common and lesser-known tax items that can result in considerable value. […]
Category: Money Matters
September yields to a sunnier October
By Kevin Theissen For reasons that may never be fully understood, September has historically been the worst month for stocks, according to the average S&P 500 return for each month dating back to 1970. In September, the Dow fell 8.8% […]
Social Security announces 8.7% COLA
By Kevin Theissen It is now official that starting in January Social Security benefit checks will be going up by 8.7%. The CPI-W, which is the index used to calculate the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), rose by 8.5% over the […]
Understanding FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the form students need to fill out to get any financial aid from the federal government to help pay for higher education. Each year, over 13 million students who file […]
Still working at 65? Here’s what you need to know about Medicare
For the last half century, turning 65 stamped the time when you would leave your job, file for Social Security, begin your pension and enroll in Medicare. But is that the case anymore? The retirement environment has changed. Full retirement […]
Student loan forgiveness
By Kevin Theissen You may have heard that the Biden administration announced it was forgiving five-figure loan amounts to as many as 43 million federal college loan borrowers. Also noteworthy was the announcement that it would be extending its loan repayment […]
Markets find footing in July
By Kevin Theissen After a down first half of the year in markets, July changed direction, as markets tried to reestablish its foundation. In July, the S&P 500 was up 9.1%, Nasdaq up 12.3%, and the Dow up 6.7%. These returns […]
Fed’s solution to inflation
By Kevin Theissen The Federal Reserve has been dealing with the worst inflation in over four decades. Investors, consumers, and workers are also feeling the sting of higher prices. High inflation has forced the Fed to react by turning up […]
Scams on the rise
By Kevin Theissen The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found in a recent study that one in five adults over age 50 knows a family member who has been victim to a scam. The Federal Trade Commission reported 96,000 […]
Inflation exceeds 9%
By Kevin Theissen If you’ve been to the grocery store recently, you’ve noticed sharp increase in prices. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still affecting global supply chains. Recent U.S. inflation levels have surpassed 9% year-over-year in June, according […]