Happy Fall!
A lot has happened this year in the financial world, especially the last few months. Here are some of the updates:
Social Security will increase by 3.2% in 2024 adding about $50 per month to the average Social Security check.
Strong economic growth and higher inflation have pushed the 10 year treasury over 5% for the first time since before 2007 and the Great Recession.
30 year mortgage rates are over 8%, a level not seen since the dot come bubble in the early 2000’s.
“Buy a T-Bill and Chill”. This was the title of a recent article discussing the rise in interest rates. Just a few years ago, cash was trash. Cash was considered “dead money”. Cash is not trash anymore. We can now earn between 4% and nearly 6% guaranteed. CD’s and money markets are paying over 5%. Fixed rate annuities are paying as high as 5.75%. The 6 month treasury is currently paying 5.57% annualized. There is too much uncertainty in the world right now to bet against the certainty of short term yields in some of the most safe and secure financial instruments one can purchase.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell just recently said that inflation is still too high and lower economic growth is necessary to help bring it down. Inflation has lowered to 3.7% in recent months but this is still almost double the Federal Reserves target inflation at 2%. This likely means another rate increase or two and prolonged higher interest rates. If rates continue going up and/or we have higher prolonged interest rates, this will likely not bode well for the stock market in the near term.
The S&P500 is currently around 4200. The last time the S&P500 was at this level was in early June of 2021 nearly 28 months ago. In other words, the S&P500 is flat between then and now. Sure there have been a lot of ups and downs, money made and money lost over the last 28 months, but that was a lot of volatility to go through to really go nowhere.
RMD’s. For those of you who have not yet withdrawn your 2023 RMD, you have until the end of the year to do so. For our clients that have not yet satisfied your 2023 RMD requirement the deadline for Abich Financial to help you is by Friday, December 1st. If you need help or have questions about your RMD’s, please reply to this email or call our office at (571) 577-9968 right away for assistance.
Fall 2023 Offer: Portfolio X-Ray and Analysis. When is the last time you reviewed your portfolio? Is this the right portfolio for this next season of your life? Just because your portfolio may have helped you get TO retirement does not mean it’s the right portfolio to help you get THROUGH retirement. Do you know how much risk you’re taking? What are the potential highs and lows? What are the fees and expenses associated with your accounts? If you don’t know, reply to this email or call our office at (571) 577-9968 for your complimentary Portfolio X-Ray and Analysis provided by one of our advisory team members.
As always, any and all questions are welcome. We are here for you.