Ongoing Market Recoveries Against a Backdrop of Uncertainty

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

The broad stock and bond markets experienced ongoing recoveries against a backdrop of uncertainty in April. US stocks have risen almost 8% for the year, with developed markets up 10% and developing markets up 3%. The 10-year US Treasury rate has declined from 3.88% at the beginning of the year to 3.44% at the end of April, and in turn …

Market Gains Across the Board

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

After the large declines from 2022 in both the stock and bond markets, the first quarter of 2023 showed market gains across the board. US stocks rose 7%, developed country international almost 8%, and emerging markets international 3.5%. With the 10-year Treasury interest rate declining from 3.88% at the end of 2022 to 3.48% on 3/31/23, bond prices – which …

Think Like a Freak

Nick Levinson Life with Money

I’m a relative latecomer to podcasts. I had heard a lot about them, of course, but hadn’t really tried them out until the last year or so. (I’m a notorious late-adopter of pretty much all new media and technology.) We started with Serial, and then moved on to Office Ladies, featuring Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey dissecting each episode of …

Making Sense of the Recent Bank Failures

Nick Levinson Life with Money

Recent economic and financial news has left many heads spinning and brought back reminders of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. To help you make sense of the recent bank failures, below we provide an overview of economic events, share our current assessment, and take a look at the bigger picture. Current Economic Events Here are a few of the main events …

Stocks and Bonds Fell in February

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

Stocks and bonds fell in February after recovering over the past four months from the declines of early 2022. Bonds prices fell as the benchmark 10-year Treasury rate rose to 3.92% at the end of February from 3.52% at the end of January. This rate began 2023 at 3.88%, after starting 2022 at 1.51%. We discuss interest rates in more …

Financial Wisdom from a Retired Catcher

Nick Levinson Life with Money

This edition of Life with Money is going to involve a lot of baseball talk. This may thrill you or bore you, but I promise that after the history lesson and personal reflections, there will be some relevance to personal finance. Baseball has been an important part of the Levinson family for many years. Vic was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan who …

Markets Continue Tentative Recovery

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

Stock and bond markets worldwide continued to recover from the declines of 2022. Bonds (as measured by the Vanguard Total Bond Market index fund) dropped more than 13% for the full year, but rose 3% in the fourth quarter of 2022 and almost 2% in January. US stocks (as measured by the Vanguard Total US Stock Market index fund) fell …

2022 Year-End Market Update

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

Happy new year! While the past year had some good news (see Economist article, “What 2022 Meant for the World”), we hope 2023 brings some relief for the financial markets. As you probably already know, 2022 ended with stocks and bonds down significantly, despite gains in the fourth quarter. The US, developed, and developing international stock markets all declined between …

Just Give: Resources for Philanthropy & Thoughts on Effective Altruism

Nick Levinson Life with Money

For those of us fortunate enough to have the interest and financial capacity, the end of the year is often the time to make charitable gifts. Many of you contribute to schools you attended and local non-profits, and those gifts are typically much needed and appreciated. In addition to the good these organizations are doing in the world, there is …

One Step Forward, or the Fragility of Recoveries

Nick Levinson Comments, Life with Money

As occurred in July through mid-August of this year, stock markets around the world have seen significant gains in October and November 2022. The total US stock market rose about 8% in October and 5% in November. International stocks increased 3% in October and 13% in November. Bond prices have also gone up recently, with gains between 1.5% and 4% …