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Slick TV ads often make financial planning and wealth management sound simple, but it’s usually not. Managing wealth requires knowing a lot about highly technical topics, like taxes, government regulations, and finance as well as history, psychology and how to communicate with loved ones about sensitive issues. This article highlights some of the knowledge needed to manage wealth and why it’s often so daunting without the help of an independent personal financial advisor who is familiar with your situation.
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Understanding The Federal Reserve Mandate To End Inflation
The Federal Reserve System, the nation’s central bank, has a dual mandate to pursue maximum employment and maintain price stability. These two priorities are currently treated equally, but that was not always the case. In fact, the Fed’s bias toward maximizing employment was a critical driver of the stagflation that plagued the U.S. in the late 1960s and 1970s. Recognizing the need to balance price stability and maximum employment, in 1977, Congress revised the Federal Reserve Act.
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Fed Governor Kugler Details Inflation And Economic Outlook
The 12-month inflation rate, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, was 2.6% in December, down from its peak of 7.1% in June 2022, and the six-month rate for PCE inflation was even lower, at 2%, which is the target rate set by the Federal Reserve.
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Why Rates May Not Be Cut Until June
The cost of a loan to buy a home, car, college education, and achieve the American Dream is staying the same for now. As expected, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank did not lower loan rates following the Fed’s Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, policy meeting.
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Practical Suggestions For Achieving Your 2024 Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions usually fail because they‘re often too hard to achieve. After six months, only 10% of people who make resolutions achieve them or remain committed to them, , according to a study by Dr. Mark Griffiths, a Chartered Psychologist and Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Addiction at the Nottingham Trent University. What can you do to make financial, medical, or other personal resolutions more likely to be achieved?
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A Sign Of Progress In Solving U.S. Economic Problems
The Federal Reserve appears to be pulling off a feat most experts did not believe it could: ending its aggressive inflation-fighting campaign of 11 interest rate hikes without tipping the U.S. economy into a recession.
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Fed Keeps Rates Unchanged; Expects Easing In 2024
To promote transparency and free markets, the Federal Reserve System began publishing the opinions of the 19 U.S. central bankers that decide interest rate policy.
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Have You Logged Into Your Social Security Account?
Have you logged in to your Social Security account? Creating an online account at SSA.gov is an important first step in understanding your retirement income situation. However, only about 60 million of the 160 million individuals in the U.S. labor force who have Social Security accounts have created a way to access the Social Security Administration’s website.
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The Great Fake Out Of 2023 Is Poised To Extend Into 2024
All year long, the economy and stock prices have fooled experts and consumers, outperforming expectations month after month.
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Test Your Financial Planning IQ
The five questions below are a challenge meant to allow you to assess your knowledge of investing, tax and financial planning. If you have been following our news stream, this quiz draws on familiar ground. The answers are below.
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Planning Briefs
Don't Be Deceived By New Tax Law's Name
Published Tuesday February 18, 2020, 4:30 p.m. ET
(Tuesday February 18, 2020, 4:30 p.m. ET) - With tens of millions of Americans desperately seeking security in retirement, Uncle Sam should have been more careful about how he named the new tax law, known as the SECURE Act. Instead of co-opting the names of federal laws for marketing purposes, the U.S. government should be able to figure out how to name a new law that skirts the standards in federal truth-in-advertising regulations.
Gaming the name of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act, so it can be abbreviated "SECURE," misleads retirement investors. The SECURE Act increases fairness of rules governing federally qualified retirement plans -- IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, and other federally tax-deferred retirement accounts. It's loaded with technical corrections and would be better named, "The 2019 Technical Corrections Act For Retirement Investors," or something as instructive to taxpayers.
Consumers should not be required to read between the lines to figure out how the name of a tax law about retirement investing affects them. The names of tax laws should meet plain-English standards imposed by the government's own truth-in-advertising rules. They should at least hint at whether a law will save taxpayers and their heirs from overpaying the IRS on retirement income annually, materially and needlessly, or cost them more.
The SECURE Act is a highly technical area of tax and financial planning, and minimizing its effects requires analysis of your personal situation, but don't let the acronym fool you. The SECURE Act's effects sweep across rules that could allow you to delay required minimum distributions from qualified accounts an extra 18 months, to age 72 instead of 70½, which has been a huge bonus to baby boomers nearing retirement, as well as those in the retirement account decumulation and withdrawal phase of life.
The SECURE Act does not do much to make your retirement more secure. In fact, failing to plan for its myriad technicalities affecting Roth IRA conversions, new limits on inherited federally qualified accounts, and the benefits of life insurance is liable to make your retirement less secure. Don't be deceived.
This article was written by a veteran financial journalist. While these are sources we believe to be reliable, the information is not intended to be used as financial or tax advice without consulting a professional about your personal situation. Tax laws are subject to change. Indices are unmanaged and not available for direct investment. Investments with higher return potential carry greater risk for loss. No one can predict the future of the stock market or any investment, and past performance is never a guarantee of your future results.
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