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Holiday Greeting – St. Patrick and the Irish
It’s almost time to don green and gold. That’s right, March 17 is upon us. There’s more to the holiday, however, than eating corned beef and cabbage and celebrating the Irish. For instance, St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, but he was not Irish. Patrick was born in Britain and was enslaved in Ireland for several years. When he was a teenager, he escaped and later returned to Ireland, where he used [...]
Two Ideas Worth Thinking About When Markets are Moving
Here’s a number most people would like to see on an annual statement: 21.6 percent. That was the annual return for the Standard & Poor (S&P) 500 Index during 2017. In general, U.S. stock indices did quite well last year – and the year before, too. For instance, the S&P 500 Index was up 11.8 percent in 2016.1 While no one can invest directly in an index, recent returns make it easy to understand [...]
Nurturing The Root of Financial Harmony in Your Home
She wants to buy new dinnerware to replace the old, chipped, mismatched set worn from many years of use. He wants a new lawn mower to replace the one he has to keep fixing. And the kids "need" new clothes. Who gets their way? How do we find financial harmony in a world of endless financial demands? It's not necessarily a materialistic bent that creates the wants in our financial plans. The law of [...]
Holiday Greeting – It’s Almost Valentine’s Day
If you’re looking for a gift that will express your love better than chocolates or a bouquet of flowers, don’t fret. Trendhunter.com has some innovative and unconventional suggestions: • Literary love tattoos. Perhaps, you’d like Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Love consists of this: two solitudes that meet, protect, and greet each other” scrolling your ribs or Victor Hugo’s “Life is a flower of which love is the honey” tickling your shoulder blades.1 • Temporary tattoo alternatives. If [...]
What Would You Do?
Here’s a riddle for you: Some people are reluctant to start me, unless I’m automatic. I’m frequently exhausted when I don’t roll over. I’m sometimes left behind. Retirees devour me. What am I? Answer: A retirement savings plan. New jobs often come with a lot of excitement and steep learning curves. Consider this example scenario: Charlotte, a freshly-hired employee is a little bit overwhelmed. She’s meeting new co-workers, setting expectations, figuring out the coffee [...]
Holiday Greeting – What Do You Know About Martin Luther King, Jr.?
Most Americans know Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Baptist minister and the leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States until he was assassinated in 1968. Test your knowledge with this quiz about Dr. King. 1. Before attending college and graduate school, how many grades did Martin Luther King, Jr. skip?1 a. None b. One (fifth grade) c. Two (ninth and eleventh grades) d. Three (fifth, ninth, and eleventh grades) 2. [...]
LifeStyle Newsletter – Are We Ready for the Baby Boom Retirement?
Fifteen years ago, a Health Services Research report described the challenges ahead for the United States as the Baby Boom generation aged into retirement. Four issues were paramount: 1) improving payment and insurance systems for long-term care, 2) ensuring people remain healthy and active as they age, 3) organizing community services so care is readily available, and 4) changing cultural perceptions of aging so everyone remains “integrated into the fabric of community life.”1 Have these challenges [...]
Taking Inventory to Shape Your Story
The holidays have come and gone and now we lie in the chasm between the former year and the new. Embracing ourselves for whatever the new year brings, we slowly convince ourselves to take a look behind us to see what we can glean. Sometimes we would rather forget the past year with its bumps and bruises, but history informs us if we let it. As we seek to make an imprint and leave a [...]
Will Interest Rates Move Higher?
The last bear market in bonds began in the middle of the last century and lasted for about 31 years. Some investors who bought bonds in 1950 locked in relatively low rates of return for a very long time. On January 1, 1950, 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds yielded 2.3 percent.1 As interest rates moved higher, the market value of those bonds diminished. The good news was people could hold bonds to maturity and expect to [...]
Holiday Greeting – 2018: A Really Big Year!
New years bring new adventures, and 2018 is no different. To paraphrase Ed Sullivan: 2018 could be a really big year. Here are a few of the events we can look forward to: • Men’s World Cup in Russia. CBS’s power rankings put Brazil at the top, followed by Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal. Unfortunately, the U.S. Men’s team didn’t qualify.1 The Women’s World Cup is in 2019. The U.S. Women’s team are currently ranked [...]
Holiday Greeting – Finding Joy During the Holidays
“The holidays are often seen as a time of joy: ruddy cheeks, festive parties, and twinkling laughter, all wrapped in a warm, tinsel-framed glow. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It may be the ‘season to be jolly,’ but not everyone finds joy in the holidays,” writes Annie Parsons for On Being.1 If the holidays become overwhelming, try one of these strategies for restoring your equilibrium:2 • Share with others. Interacting with other people [...]
Are You Ready to Retire?
There is a simple and unsettling reality in the United States. Most Americans are not financially prepared for retirement. Some are completely unprepared. The Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI)’s 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey found almost half (47 percent) of workers have less than $25,000 in personal savings and investments, and about one-quarter has less than $1,000.1 Many are better prepared. Slightly more than half of survey participants were actively saving for retirement. However, not many had [...]
