Our Weekend Word

Earlier this week the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced the 2021 cost of living adjustment (COLA) will be a paltry 1.3%. For the average beneficiary that equates to a ~$20 a month raise, barely enough to cover the increase in Medicare Part B premiums.  

Unfortunately, this is far from a new occurrence. 

With the NFL season almost a 1/3 of the way through, quarterbacks have been under pressure left and right.  Though it isn’t just on the gridiron that we get rushed, this year especially.  We are being bombarded by pandemic reports, global news, market updates, and to cap it all off it is an election year.  Unfortunately, seniors are fighting off even more with the amount of television, newspaper and mail advertisements targeting them for a different type of season. 

ESG investing has really taken off over the past five years with assets breaking the $1 trillion mark earlier this year. Lately we have also seen a rise in the issuance of a similar investment, Green Bonds.

You know there are so many ways that the one size fits all claim has let me down in life. From everything from hat sizes to lawn chairs, trying to make one size work just isn’t comfortable.

The world of investing has been trying to make a one size fits all claim for a couple years now with index investing. And I’m not saying Index investing is a bad thing, but like we’ve harped on for years now, no matter what you’re investing in you have to know what you’re buying.

One of the really annoying things about trying to retire is that you have to figure out how much money you need to live on. Some people have a very good grasp on their monthly outlay, and for others this is a tougher exercise than organizing the sock drawer.

After a record-setting August, we are now seeing some market turbulence in September. Markets were down significantly yesterday and are headed lower today. What’s going on?

Two days ago, news outlets across the country were clamoring about a new landmark accomplished by humanity. Jeff Bezos became the first person to be worth $200 Billon dollars… that’s billion with a B. Now we see investment companies managing that kind of money on a regular basis and the government tosses Billions around like skittles, but seeing a person realize that sort of wealth makes us sit back and try to rationalize how big a number that actually is.

As the U.S. presidential election draws closer, there are growing questions (from both sides) on whether the outcome will negatively affect the markets. Of course, this is not unusual. As you may remember from the last election cycle, many predicted doom if Trump were to win. In the election before that, we saw similar worries concerning Obama. In both cases, despite the fears, the markets ended up doing quite well. Given this, what risks—if any—does the upcoming election pose for the markets? Let’s take a closer look.

As many of you know I am originally from Rochester NY, so anytime my hometown hits the national news I take an increased interest. Well the past three weeks have been a rollercoaster ride if you’ve followed any of what’s happened with Eastman Kodak.  There is a lot going on so why don’t we recap?

Social Security is one of the biggest things on people’s minds when they approach retirement. Every 5 years we get a statement from the government with a nice large bold number on it that reaches out to us like a pat on the shoulder and says “Hey, you’re going to have some income in retirement” and that makes people feel pretty good.

The awkward thing about that is, depending on your retirement plans, that number is probably wrong…