By Kevin Theissen It’s not uncommon for people to pay more in taxes than anticipated because our tax system treats various income types differently and has tax and penalties that many are unaware of. One way to consider the stages […]
Category: Money Matters
Market predictions for 2022
By Kevin Theissen By any measure, 2021 was a strong year for investors. But what’s in store for 2022? From my perspective, I expect that many of the same forces that influenced markets last year will play a role again […]
Does your child need to file a tax return?
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]