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I have been writing about money for nearly 20 years and believe that personal finance is one of those subjects that is made complicated because it benefits a select few. Our aim is to help make it easier to understand so that regular folks can use what we teach to take control of their money and build wealth.
Good morning Reader! The headlines from last week were focused on SpaceX's IPO but there's a bigger story and it comes from the Chicago Fed's Advance Retail Trade Summary. Retail and food services sales fell 1.3% in May. (adjusted for inflation and seasonality) Americans are buying less stuff. And consumer spending is roughly 2/3rds of the economy. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP "growth" - but you have to experience six months of a recession before you call...
Good morning Reader! When President Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to be Chair of the Fed, everyone thought it was because Warsh would be willing to cut rates. But the economy is doing too well. And he doesn't have the authority to unilaterally do it. There's a greater than zero chance that interest rates head higher soon. If you've been looking at mortgage rates in the mid 6% and remembering the days when it was below 3%, interest rates don't seem low right now. But low is relative. When the...
Good morning Reader! The stock market has been on a tear recently, with the S&P 500 going up 8% in the month of May which puts it up close to 11% YTD. And that's before SpaceX joins the party! (to which I have mixed feelings) At the risk of sounding like a broken record - remember to stay invested. In related news, I had a reader tell me that he's been aggressively going after bank bonus offers and investing the proceeds (after holding back a bit for taxes). Many banks will give you cash to...