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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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% …
Tax Loss Harvesting: Silver Lining in a Down Market
With stock and bond prices still down significantly for 2022, one opportunity for a “silver lining” comes in the form of tax loss harvesting. This involves selling investments in taxable accounts that have declined in price, thereby “realizing” losses. (Tax loss harvesting doesn’t apply to retirement accounts like 401Ks and IRAs.) These losses can be used to offset gains from …
Pledged Asset Lines: Features and Updates
Many of PPA’s clients have short-term funding needs. The reasons vary: Some people require infusions of cash between pay checks, including those paid once a month, once a quarter, or only after completed transactions. Others need cash to make a down payment on a new house before their current house is sold. Still others want to finance renovation work on …