It’s that time of year, when you are confronted by open enrollment nudges from your employer and in some cases, from the government. The choices can be dizzying, so to help you make more informed decisions, let’s break it out into broad categories.
Read MoreLate last week, we learned that the U.S. budget deficit widened to $984.4 billion in the fiscal year ending September 30, its highest level in seven years. The Trump administration and the Congressional Budget Office expect the deficit to rise over $1 trillion in the 2020 budget year, which began October 1 and the CBO estimates that the deficit will stay above $1 trillion over the next decade.
Read MoreGiven the fighting in Syria, anti-government protests in Hong Kong, the down to the wire vote on Brexit, the expanding U.S. impeachment inquiry, not to mention ongoing trade conflicts between the U.S. and China, the U.S. and the European Union and South Korea and Japan, it’s easy to understand why people are worried about the current state of the globe.
Read MoreThe September jobs report rescued what was shaping up to be a tough week for investors. After one measure of U.S. manufacturing fell to a decade low in September and a separate service sector index dropped to a three-year low, the Labor Department reported 136,000 jobs were added in September.
Read MoreImpeachment! Brexit! Trade Talks! There’s a lot to take in, and no, you shouldn’t try to game out how any of these events will impact your investments, because these is no precedent for the conditions that exist. Instead of going back in time to recreate what could happen, your time would be better spent focusing on an area that is within your control: the college financing process.
Read MoreWhile focusing on the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point interest rate cut, you may have missed an interesting milestone in the investing world: For the first time ever, U.S. index (passive) mutual funds have more money invested in them than active, stock picking funds.
Read MoreWhen I talk about funding college, I proffer the usual advice: Build your family’s financial foundation (pay down debt, establish an emergency reserve fund, and maximize retirement plan contributions) BEFORE trying to tackle college funding; talk to your kid as early as freshman year in high school about what the family can afford; and don’t shortchange your own or your child’s financial future by amassing mounds of debt.
Read MoreSeptember is Life Insurance Awareness Month, which is as good a reason as any to cover the important topic. I know that it’s pretty hard to get jazzed about insurance, because it is essentially the vegetable portion of your financial diet.
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