Like many of my clients, you may have a dusty pile of paper savings bonds lying around somewhere. Maybe they belong to you or your children. Odds are they were gifts from an older relative. Most likely they are EE bonds, which have their charms.** However, the savings bond I want to talk about today is the I bond. Jason Zweig of the WSJ recently called I bonds “the best-kept secret in America”. I bonds were introduced in 1998. The “I” stands for inflation, which has been heating up recently. The variable inflation rate you earn on I bonds is adjusted every 6 months in May and November based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price …
Investing
What can we learn from the stock market in 2020?
We just finished one of the most tumultuous years in modern history. A global pandemic. Widespread civil unrest tied to policing and racial justice. A disputed presidential election marked by hyper-partisanship. Despite these challenges, the year demonstrated resilience of people, institutions, and financial markets. The 2020 global stock market with selected headlines*. (Click the graph to enlarge)Investors saw sharp swings in the stock market. The decline early in the year was sharp and swift. But despite a sequence of epic events and continued concerns over the pandemic, global stock market returns in 2020 were above their historical norm.What are some …
Two Years Later – Micro Investing with Acorns
Two years ago, I wrote about my lifelong passion (some would say obsession) for spare change. This dates back to counting the spare change and “egg money” in my grandmother’s chipped gravy boat in the 70’s and continues on today. Today, this is the spare change stash in my office: But here in the 21st century, especially during a pandemic, I don’t have a lot of cash transactions, and therefore not a lot of spare change. Enter the micro investing app Acorns which invests your digital spare change. Two years ago, I signed up for Acorns and linked my checking account. The checking account is my “funding source”. Then I linked my …
Should you change your investments because of the election?
The first Presidential election I can remember was 1972. McGovern vs. Nixon. I was in first grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Aberdeen, South Dakota.The day before the election, my teacher Mrs. Dutt told us we would all vote the next day. That evening I excitedly told my parents I was going to vote for McGovern, since he was from South Dakota.They solemnly told me I should vote for Nixon.But the next day I put the ‘X’ in the purple mimeographed square next to the donkey and George McGovern’s name. Of course my vote didn’t count, but my parents’ votes did -- McGovern lost in a landslide, not even carrying his home state. In the end, it didn’t turn out so well for Nixon either.Once again, …
A Year Later- Micro Investing with Acorns
A year ago, I wrote about my lifelong passion (some would say obsession) for spare change. This dates back to counting the spare change and “egg money” in my grandmother’s chipped gravy boat in the 70’s and continues on today. But here in the 21st century we don’t have a lot of cash transactions, and therefore not a lot of spare change. Enter the micro investing app Acorns which invests your digital spare change. A year ago, I signed up for Acorns and linked my checking account. This is my “funding source”. Then I linked my credit card. You can link more than one card including debit cards. For every transaction on the linked card and the funding source, Acorns “rounds-up”. …
