By Kevin Theissen With the continuation of the Covid world, many businesses are desperate to find and keep workers. So, helping our children find a job is not very difficult these days. Perhaps more importantly, it’s the effort of encouraging […]
Category: Money Matters
Column, Money Matters
2021 was good for investors
By Kevin Theissen This past year was a good year for investors. The S&P 500 Index, which is made up of 500 U.S. companies, finished the year up almost 27%. The Nasdaq is up over 21% and the Dow is […]
Column, Money Matters
The health and wealth connection
By Kevin Theissen Are good physical and financial health driven by the same fundamental psychological factors? Many believe it’s true that people who value their future selves enough to regularly put money aside for their futures are likely to also […]
Column, Money Matters
Second-guessing the Fed
By Kevin Theissen Second-guessing the Federal Reserve is a popular American pastime. Americans have been speculating about the Fed’s monetary policy choices — raising rates, lowering rates, buying bonds, tapering bond buying, and so on — for a long time. […]
Column, Money Matters
Is it time to be optimistic?
By Kevin Theissen The University of Michigan’s index of Consumer Sentiment (UMCSENT) showed an increase in optimism in early December — and it had nothing to do with the Michigan Wolverines winning the Big 10 Championship for the first time […]
Column, Money Matters
Is it really bad news?
By Kevin Theissen Financial markets can be challenging to understand. But when markets enter a “bad news is good news” cycle, it becomes even more difficult to follow along. For a recent example, at its November meeting, the Federal Reserve […]
Column, Money Matters
Inflation and the real rate of return
By Kevin Theissen The real rate of return is an important personal finance concept to understand. It’s the rate of return on your investments after inflation. The real rate of return indicates whether you are gaining or losing purchasing power […]
Column, Money Matters
Looking into infrastructure and economic growth
By Kevin Theissen The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was signed into law last week, and the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) passed the House of Representatives and moved on to the Senate. For decades economists have tried to […]
Column, Money Matters
What is MAMAA?
By Kevin Theissen Jim Cramer, host of “Mad Money” on CNBC, is credited for creating the popular FAANG acronym to identify some of the largest, most powerful companies in the world: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google. Recently, changes in […]
Column, Money Matters
Post estate & gift planning — to do list
By Kevin Theissen October is Estate and Gift Planning Awareness Month, which is an annual effort by the Financial Awareness Foundation. Let’s assume that you just updated or created your estate & gift Plans, so now what do you do? […]