Click below to read our April 2022 Blog edition.

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Baby Charlie

Cayleigh and Coco

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HARD TO CATCH UP – A 30-year old who is investing $500 at the beginning of every month in a tax-deferred 401(k) will accumulate $588,032 by age 60 if the funds grow at +7% per year. If that individual was forced to suspend his/her monthly deferral for just 5 years from ages 35-39, he/she would have to earn +8.8% per year from ages 40-60 to accumulate $588,032 by age 60. This mathematical calculation ignores the impact of taxes on the account which are due upon withdrawal, is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to reflect any specific investment. Actual results will fluctuate with market conditions and will vary (source: BTN Research).

HIGH, LOW – For the 9 years from 1973-1981, inflation (using the “Consumer Price Index”) averaged +9.2% per year. For the 9 years from 2012 to 2020, inflation averaged +1.6% per year (source: Bureau of Labor Statistics).

BIG CHANGE – Inflation, using the “Consumer Price Index” as the measurement, was up +8.5% for the 1-year ending 3/31/2022. That’s more inflation than the United States experienced over the 4 years of 2017-2020 when the CPI advanced +7.9% over the entire 4 years (source: Department of Labor).

DISAPPEARING ACT – 60% of American workers born in 1943 were employed by companies that provided a defined benefit pension plan. Just 6% of American workers born in 1964 were employed by companies that provided a defined benefit pension plan (source: Center for Retirement Research).

TIGHT CLUSTER – Less than 4% of the counties in the United States (112 counties out of 3,142 total counties nationwide) are home to 50% of all non-farm jobs in the country (source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis).

HOUSING SHORTAGE – The United States is an estimated 3.8 million homes short of the demand that exists in the country for single-family homes (source: Freddie Mac).

SUPPLY OF BONDS TO RISE – After 2 years of adding $120 billion a month of bond purchases, aka “Quantitative Easing,” the Fed will begin “Quantitative Tightening” in May 2022 by allowing $95 billion a month of bonds to “roll-off” its $8.5 trillion balance sheet, i.e., the Fed will not reinvest $95 billion a month of maturing bonds back into newly issued bonds ($60 billion of Treasuries and $35 billion of mortgage-backed securities) (source: Federal Reserve).

MAKE IT SEVEN? – Since payments on federal student loans were suspended for 6 months by the CARES Act on 3/27/2020, Presidents Trump and Biden have extended the original end date 6 times (twice by Trump and 4 times by Biden), most recently on 4/06/2022. The suspension is now good to 8/31/2022 (source: BTN Research).

NOT IN RUBLES – Russia has until Wednesday 5/04/2022 to pay $2.2 billion of foreign debt that was originally due to be paid to an American bank on 4/04/2022. If Russia is unable to repay the debt in US dollars as it is required to do, the default on foreign debt would be Russia’s first since 1917 or 105 years ago (source: AP).

This graphic, using data from Car and Driver and the EPA, highlights every single electric vehicle that’s available for sale across America, showing the wide range of manufacturers, vehicle types, and prices.

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When you said “I do,” you were thinking about marriage, growing old together, and perhaps a family, not whether or not you’d combine your checking accounts or argue over credit card payments. But since keeping tabs on your financial health is critical to your union, it’s important to understand the type of money marriage you’re in. We’ve identified five that all couples fall into, and we’re breaking each one down—along with its perks and pitfalls.

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As of April 12th, Social Security offices around the country have restored in-person services with no appointment required. This is another sign that things are getting back to business as usual as we learn to live with COVID.

The Social Security Department still encourages visitors to schedule appointments and use online services to avoid waiting in line. Historically, lines are at their longest first thing in the morning and also at the beginning of each month. These would be good times to avoid if you don’t make an appointment first.

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The summer travel season is right around the corner, which means travelers itching to see the world should get a move on making sure they have an up-to-date passport in hand.

The State Department says routine passport processing times are estimated to be eight to 11 weeks – still above the pre-pandemic average of six to eight weeks but much better than the 18-week wait travelers faced last summer.

The State Department encourages U.S. citizens to apply for a passport "well in advance" of any expected travel and suggests applying for or renewing a passport at least six months ahead of planned travel to avoid any problems.

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