One way for the government to potentially earn more tax revenue is by eliminating the early withdrawal penalty. This is the typical 10%-tax penalty on distributions from retirement accounts by people younger than age 59 ½.1 If that penalty didn’t exist, investors may be more inclined to pull money out of their retirement accounts, whether…

The stock market continues to exhibit resiliency in the face of disrupting factors, ranging from a global pandemic to a severe economic decline to a controversial presidential election. For many years, Wall Street analysts warned a market correction was long overdue. Despite intermittent volatility, those concerns largely have not borne out. You may be tired…

Amid lost jobs and a scaled-back economy in 2020, some workers may have decided to retire earlier than planned. There are a couple of Social Security strategies worth considering in this scenario. First, if both spouses are over age 62, determine if you can make ends meet by taking only one Social Security benefit while…

As it turns out, the value of the 2019 pledge signed by 181 U.S. corporate CEOs was a fairly good deal for themselves and their shareholders … although less so for the other stakeholders it was designed to represent. In the past, private companies thought little of the injustice of layoffs and reducing compensation packages…

One of the more glaring lessons of the 2020 pandemic was that the economy and the stock market are not the same thing, nor do they necessarily move in lockstep. They are measurements of two different things, often indicating how the other will react. However, as we saw last year, the economy is a greater…

If there’s one thing that can move the economy and stock market forward, it’s hope. This year, that hope is being presented in the form of COVID-19 vaccines. Economists and Wall Street analysts have long proclaimed that comprehensive economic recovery is not possible until we have contained the virus. The prospect of wide distribution of…

The beginning of the year is typically full of hope. We make New Year’s resolutions, and it may take a few months for our enthusiasm (and vigilance) to wane. There’s also the “January Effect,” when the stock market generally gets a performance boost thanks to tax harvesting in December and subsequent reinvestments. But even that…

Post-pandemic, will everyone go back to the office like nothing ever happened? Will lost jobs be recovered? Or is remote work and skeleton staffing a trend here to stay? A recent survey of company leaders revealed that eight in 10 plan to allow employees to work outside the office at least part time going forward.…

There are good reasons to delay starting Social Security benefits, but there are also good reasons to begin them early. It really does depend on your circumstances. If you claim earlier than your full retirement age (FRA), your benefit will be permanently reduced. The age to qualify for the full Social Security benefit varies by…

In 2020, the World Economic Forum published its annual Global Competitiveness Report, as usual. However, in light of the global pandemic, it put its long-standing Global Competitiveness Index rankings on hold. Instead, the report focused on priorities for recovery and revival instead of competition.1 Indeed, economic globalization over the past two decades, in many ways,…

While challenges likely still lie ahead, there’s no denying we all weathered our fair share of storms in 2020. Now that the calendar has turned to a new year, we looked to wealth managers across the nation to find out what they’re expecting for 2021. As you’ll see, the answer often changes depending on where…

In its monthly Investment Insights publication, Merrill Lynch noted that while nationalism has been a strong trend throughout the past few years, globalism in the prior 30 years did much to reduce poverty worldwide. As trade agreements shifted many U.S. jobs and operations overseas, the average income of the lower 50% of global earners nearly…