According to the United Nations, across the globe, people older than 65 now outnumber children under five for the first time in history. In 1960, the average woman gave birth to five children in her lifetime; by 2017, that ratio had dropped to 2.4 children per woman. Meanwhile, our life expectancy has increased around the…

Sometimes it feels as though we don’t learn from our past financial mistakes. Back in 2008, as a contributor to the recession, consumer debt reached a record high of $12.68 trillion. As of the end of the second quarter in 2019, Americans surpassed that number by $1.2 trillion; we now stand at $13.86 trillion in…

Some hard-working, taxpaying Americans get angry when they hear Social Security called an entitlement program, perhaps because the word “entitlement” has come to have a connotation with welfare programs. The reality is that Social Security is, by definition, an entitlement program, along with Medicare, unemployment insurance and worker’s compensation. These mandatory programs are funded by…

Now that we’re in the fourth quarter, it’s time to think about what you can do to help minimize your liabilities for the 2019 tax season and position finances for next year. The following is a sample of the usual methods. However, if you’d like us to take a more personalized, comprehensive approach, we’d be…

If you are retired or planning to retire soon, you may still have some work to do. For example, it’s smart to have a readily accessible emergency savings fund that can pay for three to six months’ worth of living expenses, if necessary. You should also consider what insurance policies you may need to help…

Americans are so busy that they often have a hard time balancing demands for work and their personal lives. In fact, participants in a recent survey reported having only an average of 26 minutes of free time each week.1 Where does the time go? The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that women have not only…

There’s a growing number of businesses that have kept quiet when it comes to the health care debate. While they may be all about the free market, the reality is that the exponentially rising costs of providing health care to their employees is increasing overhead, reducing profits and making them less competitive with foreign markets.1…

The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania has conducted extensive studies on the effects of immigration on America’s economy. In light of heightened policy debates in the U.S., some of the most critical findings are:1 Increasing the number of legal immigrants with a college degree would have little impact on employment and…

Let’s talk a little about famous last words. On Nov. 8, 2007, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers that the U.S. economy did not appear headed for recession. One month later, the Great Recession of the 21st century began.1 So, on Sept. 6 of this year, when Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced that he…

Index mutual funds are investment vehicles comprising stocks from a wide variety of companies and track the performance of a specific index, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors are able to spread their assets across many different investments with the convenience of one fund, which can help protect them from market volatility. Index…