Retirement Watch Weekly
More Reasons to Avoid Supplements and Vitamins
This article dives deep into how nutritional supplements became popular and why that’s a bad things. It focuses on the research about free radicals, antioxidants, and the movement to increase consumption of antioxidants. The article says the latest research indicates that taking artificial antioxidants doesn’t improve health or postpone aging. Some studies show that taking […]
Improving Your Financial Power of Attorney
The financial Power of Attorney (POA) could be the most important document in your estate plan. Yet, many people don’t have one. Many people who do have a POA didn’t give it much thought and have inadequate documents. Adverse results can range from bills not being paid on time to trusted people committing financial abuse […]
A Case for Investing in Emerging Markets
Rob Arnott of Research Affiliates (and PIMCO All Asset All Authority) overweighted portfolios to emerging markets a couple of years early. But he rose their rebound through 2016. Now, he makes the case that the emerging markets recovery still is in its early days. He says low equity valuations, depressed currencies, and positive momentum all […]
How You Die Depends On Where You Live
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association analyzed cause of death data in the U.S. and tabulated how the causes vary around the country. It turns out that some causes of death are disappearing in some areas or rising rapidly in other areas. The study doesn’t try to explain the trends. […]
The Fed Finally Moves
The Fed finally pulled the trigger on another interest rate hike after a year of hand-wringing, fretting and promises. The Fed also promised three increases in 2017. Of course, a year ago, the Fed announced it expected to increase the interest rate another four times in 2016. The new policy and pronouncements are the result […]
How to Assess Trump’s Economic Progress
The markets have moved a lot in anticipation of a large fiscal stimulus from the incoming Trump administration. In this article, an economist from the Bank of America says the markets at this point still aren’t pricing in everything he expects from the new administration. He gives two data points he’s going to watch to […]
Key Trends and Factors Entering 2017
As we head into the last few weeks of the year, here a few points to keep in mind about the economy and markets. Forecasts and predictions aren’t worth much. The Brexit vote, U.S. election, and Italian referendum were forecast to be major market-changers. The changes didn’t really happen, except in the U.S. the markets […]
Why the CAPE Ratio Works
The cyclically-adjusted price-earnings ratio (CAPE), also known as the Shiller P-E ratio, attempts to smooth market valuations by using the 10-year P-E ratio instead of only current earnings. The problem for many investors is that the CAPE ratio has said U.S. stocks are highly overvalued for some time. Investors following CAPE missed a lot of […]
