Decision-making, especially when faced with too many decisions, can present a challenge in any environment. During the Pandemic, most aspects of life have been turned upside down including general decision making. Upside down means what was formerly up is down and vice versa. It was easier to decide to practice social distance, mask-wearing, and washing hands. Harder decisions seemed to be revealed on the back end, such as whether to return to an in-person office...
Tax day happened Monday, May 17th officially marking the close to the calendar year 2020. What a year! Inflation or not inflation. Try buying a used car and notice that the shortage of supply and steady demand combined are pushing prices to record levels. Look at rental car prices and you will see a similar trend. It is possible to find both sides of this story in the same issue of the same newspaper on...
Stock market behavior and the divergent performance between the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ market index. It has not been uncommon for the correlation between the two to be -1 or to move in the opposite direction. The NASDAQ consists of mostly technology, biotech, and other "growth" stocks whereas the DJ industrial average consists of manufacturing, industrial, energy, consumer non-durables, pharmaceutical companies, or more in the "value" silo. As the economy revs up...
Bipartisanship has been a stated and restated goal for President Biden. This past week, Republicans have offered a package focusing on traditional infrastructure projects and finances the improvement with fees on users like an increased gas tax hike. Biden will be meeting with Republicans to see if there is any room to work. Is it possible to pass a bipartisan traditional infrastructure plan and then a subsequently expanded infrastructure plan focused on human infrastructure to...
This week President Biden delivers his first almost State of the Union address focusing on his first 100 days accomplishments and proposing his next steps. Going “Big” seems to be the overriding assessment of his proposals. A new, much larger role for government is a critical part of the changes to the American political landscape. Link to video: " target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgLfDD9hbx8 Reform and Stimulus $6 trillion proposed, $2 trillion passed, $4 trillion to go. Federal government...
Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC. Have you seen this acronym “CBDC;” what is it? Think of Apple pay on an iPhone that is a “digital wallet” linking credit cards and bank accounts issued by a bank and cleared through Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover. Those credit card transactions completed with the Apple pay app earn the bank and Visa/MasterCard etc., a fee of around 3%. Additionally, the purchaser may also earn you points...
Wednesday, April 14th this week was the direct listing of an SF company in the business of storing/trading/managing cryptocurrencies mainly Bitcoin. Coinbase (COIN) went public this week. We have been trying to understand what cryptocurrencies are and if and how they fit into portfolios. Although we have read a great deal, I have to admit that it is a hard reality for me to grasp. I know certain information: Blockchain computing is the mechanism used...
The butterfly emerging from the caterpillar cocoon. The butterfly spreads its wings and flies off-no transition. After over 1 year of quarantine, lockdown, and social distancing we are not as easily finding the transition to what comes next. As we meet with clients, each person is finding their own way forward. One trend in the news is looking back on the challenging year that introduced a whole new vocabulary of behaviors into daily practice. What...
2020 Important Tax Update and Retirement Contribution Changed Deadline Not only did the IRS extend the due date for tax filing to May 17th, 2021, but they have also extended the deadline to contribute to individual retirement accounts (IRAs). CA aligned the due date for state income taxes and tax filings with the extended IRS due date for federal tax filing as well. The annual $6,000 contribution limit ($7,000 for age 50 and up) can...
April 15th is a day enshrined in our personal financial calendars as the day that federal and state income taxes need to be filed. This year the IRS granted an extension. The federal tax filing deadline is now May 17th, 2021. As of today, California has not changed its state income tax filing due date. Also, the IRS is saying that estimated tax payments due on April 15th will still be expected. As far as...
Week number 53 means we are into the 2nd year of Covid-19. Does it feel like a year? Has our perception of time changed? Do we have better visibility into life after Covid-19? When will we be done with the pandemic? How will we look back at this last year? The answers to these questions, as well as many more will be forthcoming. Another priority is an analysis of what the United States did right...
After a significant amount of wrangling, wheeling and dealing, the Senate agreed on the Biden Administration’s rescue package initially passed by the House including a $15 minimum wage stripped from the bill in the Senate. Expectations are that the bill will be passed in the House with no changes and sent to President Biden for his signature. The President is scheduled to speak to the nation on Thursday night, tonight. The best analysis we have...
