A list of must-dos for 40 and 50 year old captains that have run aground On March 23rd, the massive, skyscraper-sized container ship named the Ever Given ran aground and got stuck in Egypt’s Suez Canal. It took about a week for more than a dozen tugboats, dredgers, engineers, salvage teams, and a full moon that brought an unusually high tide to free the behemoth. While it’s still not clear exactly how it got stuck in the first place, experts
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Can we see patterns from one year to the next or is it a maddening bracket? Newspapers, radio, and TV news programs refer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average every day, calling it the Dow, sometimes the Dow Jones or even the DJIA. And economists and financial advisors pay close attention to its daily changes and the longer trends. But what exactly is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, does it really matter and can one see performance patterns from year
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New guidelines to employee benefit plans for 2020 and 2021 On February 18, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service announced greater flexibility to employee benefit plans offering health flexible spending arrangements (FSAs) or dependent care assistance programs. Under the COVID-related Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, these plans now have additional discretion in 2021 and 2022 to adjust their programs to help employees. Under such health flexible spending arrangements or dependent care assistance programs, an employer allows employees
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Examples of asset bubbles that kept growing and popped spectacularly Bitcoin is going through another spectacular price move so far in 2021, rising from about $28,000 on January 1st to about $48,000 in mid-February. And other cryptocurrencies have come along for the ride, with Dogecoin (pronounced “dozhe-coin”), being one of the oddest of the bunch. Why is it odd? Well, Dogecoin was originally a joke cryptocurrency, taking its name from the “doge” internet meme that showed a picture of a
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Although a year away, your 2021 tax planning should have already started Amidst all the pandemic news and 2020 election drama, many might have missed that the IRS also quietly published new 2021 tax rates in late October and there are plenty of changes that will impact taxpayers in 2021. While it’s more than a year away (these changes are for 2021 returns filed by taxpayers in 2022), there are a few changes that you should know about. Rules Not
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Looking for longer-term trends that might shape the next few years Let’s be honest for a second: the DJIA, the S&P 500, and NASDAQ all delivered one of the most surprising years in recent history. And while many are happy to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror, the 2020 performance for the major U.S. indices was nothing short of impressive, especially given the headwinds of COVID-19 and the drama surrounding the presidential election. Who could have predicted that: The DJIA
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Markets Reach New Highs in 2020 Global equity markets pulled back in October, turned in some astonishing returns in November, performed admirably for the month of December and closed out the fourth quarter of 2020 with new record highs. While many are happy to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror, the performance for the last quarter and for all of 2020 for the major U.S. indices was nothing short of impressive, especially given the headwinds of COVID-19 and the drama
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After the long year that has been 2020, 2021 is just a couple days away. This is a time when many of us reflect on the year we have had and think of resolutions and goals we can set for ourselves in the coming year. But just as it has been an unprecedented year, our resolutions for the coming year may be unprecedented as well. A recent survey by OnePoll on behalf of Affirm, a consumer finance company, found some interesting trends. The survey asked 2,000 Americans about their ideas for the new year after
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Today, many people find themselves bombarded by a constant stream of financial news from television, radio, and the Internet. Yet, does all this “information age” data really help you manage your finances any better now than in the past? Often, what are considered old-fashioned practices, such as performing periodic financial reviews, can lead to greater success in the long run. Why not spend a few hours reviewing your finances? The changes you make today could result in increased savings. Consider
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Consider whether a donor advised fund helps build a more generous world November brings us Thanksgiving – a day for simply giving thanks. The 11th month also brings us Black Friday and Cyber Monday – two days encouraging us to shop. And since 2012, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving also offers us #GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving where we can come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give back. According to GivingTuesday.org, approximately $511 million was raised online
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