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. Sometimes, they even second-guess themselves. Paul Volcker (1979-1987) took over an economic quagmire known as…

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 in 17 years. The UMCSENT was up (+4.5%) month-to-month, although it remained down year-to-year (-12.8%).…

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 outlined its plan to taper monthly bond purchases, which will end this pandemic-era policy response…

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 with your money. So, if inflation checks in at a rate of 3%, does that…

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 determine how spending on infrastructure — roads, bridges, canals, railways, broadband and other projects —…

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 those companies are reflected in Cramer’s new acronym: MAMAA, which stands for Microsoft (replacing Netflix…

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? After your proper estate and gift plan documents are drafted, reviewed, adjusted and signed, here…

By Kevin Theissen You’ve probably heard the rumors about Social Security: “If you keep working you can’t collect benefits,” “The program is going broke,” and the old standby, “You’ll never get back what you put into it!” If any of these rumors were true, it would be terrible for millions of Americans. However, if it…

By Kevin Theissen To help raise revenue to pay for President Biden’s Build Back Better Plan, Congress is considering a number of tax law changes, including adjusting estate taxes. One of the proposals would reduce the estate tax exemption to anywhere between $3.5 and $5 million, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2022. Another…

By Kevin Theissen Most likely you’ve heard what’s brewing in Washington, D.C. called by one of these following names: The Build Back Better Act, "the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill" or the "Jobs and Economic Recovery Plan for Working Families." Regardless of what name you’ve heard, one fact is clear: It is likely to be…

By Kevin Theissen How long has it been since you’ve reviewed your Medicare policy? With open enrollment fast approaching, there are a few questions you may want to ask yourself before you renew, add, drop or switch coverage. Medicare’s annual open enrollment period begins Oct. 15 and ends Dec. 7. During this time, current Medicare…

By Kevin Theissen The only person who doesn’t need an estate and gift plan is the one who lives forever and never gets sick! Over 50% of our adult population (120 million adults) do not have nor realize the importance of having a current or up-to-date estate and gift plan to protect themselves and their…

By Kevin Theissen Healthcare can be one of the priciest yet most essential parts of life’s journey. And yet, many struggle to utilize the financial tools that may help. Take health saving accounts (HSAs), for example. In 2019, 55% of those with HSAs that did not record a distribution also did not receive either employee…

By Kevin Theissen Summer jobs are a perennial aspect of the American workforce. It’s a time when teenagers are filling out applications and, in many cases, earning wages of their own for the first time. But some of what we’ve become accustomed to may be changing. In May, leading into the summer months, over 30%…

By Kevin Theissen The economic impact of Covid-19 has been felt from coast to coast. And, unfortunately for many pre-retirees, it could potentially impact Social Security benefits as well. Some reports suggest that if Congress doesn’t take action to address funding, benefits will be cut to approximately 80% by 2034. Social Security’s long-term funding has…