It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. So begins the Charles Dickens classic "A Tale of Two Cities". Which by the way I haven't read. Have you? Recently we've seen some good times and bad times in the stock market. On Thursday, January 3rd, 2019 the S&P 500 (an index of the 500 largest US stocks) was down 2.48% On Friday the front page headline in the Wall Street Journal read: Then the very next day, Friday January 4th, the same index was up 3.43% Saturday's headline read: So what can we expect over the next days/weeks/months? Will the markets be up, down, or sideways? Many prognosticators purport to have a crystal ball that can …
The Power of 1% – Small Changes Produce Big Results Over Time
I am currently reading "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. He writes compellingly about creating big improvements in nearly any area of our lives by making small steady changes over time. I'm not quite done with the book so it is not this month's book giveaway - tune in next month to win a free copy! This formula certainly works for saving money. Many 401k plans have encouraged the idea by offering an "auto escalation" feature. With auto escalation the percentage of salary you contribute goes up, typically by 1% each year. When you sign up for this feature this happens automatically which is a great way to save! To see the impact of escalating your savings percentage let's take a look …
Grandma has to take a distribution from her IRA and pay tax? Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution and save money while doing good!
Everyone has that one friend or family member who complains about problems that aren't really problems. I used to know a woman whose parents-in-law paid for everyone in the family to go on vacation every year to some fabulous place. The problem: She didn't always like the place. Hmmmm..... Not a bad problem to have. Another problem that some fortunate people over 70½ years old have is Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). An RMD is a forced distribution from an IRA for those over age 70½. The dollars contributed to the IRA were (usually) not taxed and the earnings have never been taxed. Eventually the government wants its share. So the rule is you must take distributions …
Chickens, Spare Change, and Micro Investing.
Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: Chickens, Spare Change, and Micro Investing. My grandmother had a chipped gravy boat in her kitchen cupboard. My grandparents operated a small farm in South Dakota. My grandfather looked after the cattle, hogs and crops. My grandmother oversaw the chickens, did the books and a million other tasks. She had hundreds of laying hens and once a week the egg truck would come and take most of the eggs. But she held some back to barter with and sell on the side. For years she paid her hairdresser with eggs! Her side egg money and spare change went into the chipped gravy boat. Every time we visited, my sister and I would get the gravy boat …
Teenager Got a Job? Now they need a ROTH!
Did your teen get a summer job? Mine did - in the dining room of a local assisted living facility. Prerequisite: Ability to speak loudly and slowly. One conversation reportedly went like this: "Tonight's special is spaghetti with marinara sauce." "MARIJUANA sauce?!" "No, marinARA sauce!" After more banter to establish the lack of psychoactive substances in the sauce the resident went with grilled cheese. Good choice. Teens earning money is a beautiful thing! Now's the time to salt away some of those earnings to a ROTH IRA and they won't have to share with Uncle Sam. No tax now, no tax later. It doesn't get much more beautiful than that. TEN things to know about …
