Markets in Review The US stock markets continued advancing in the 2nd quarter of 2017 as corporate earnings growth, consumer confidence, business confidence, the Fed and employment numbers all continued pushing the markets to new highs. For the quarter ending June 30, 2017, the S&P 500 was up 3.09%, the DJIA gained 3.95% and NASDAQ climbed 4.16%.
Retirees have special concerns when evaluating state tax policies. For instance, the mortgage might be paid off, but how bad are the property taxes--and how generous are the property-tax breaks for seniors? Are Social Security benefits taxed? What about other forms of retirement income--including IRAs and pensions? Does the state impose its own estate tax [...]
What parents need to know about saving for college If you’re saving for your child’s higher education, you probably have a lot of questions besides “When did college get so incredibly expensive?” One popular savings tool that might puzzle you the most is the 529 Plan. Started in the late 1980s and operated by [...]
What will happen to equity returns if interest rates go up or down? Wei Dai, PhD, examined US market returns and a variety of interest rates and found the empirical relation has been weak and noisy.
