One word defines this year: “inflation.” Reaching levels not seen in 40 years, inflation in the US has been tenacious, peaking at 9.1% in June and budging only slightly in the face of government policies aiming to reduce it further. Its impact has been inescapable. As we wrap up 2022, there is widespread concern about what the inflation levels of this year mean for the next. But what is inflation exactly, and what does it tell us?
5 Tips to Reduce Financial Stress During Market Volatility
Market volatility. Most investors understand this is a normal occurrence when investing but that doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to stomach the rollercoaster balances in your accounts. Your chest feels constricted, your jaw is tight, at the back of your mind there are nagging worries that frequently send you down a rabbit hole of “what-if” scenarios. Understandably you’re worried: it’s your livelihood, your future, your quality of life, your legacy.
But given that making knee-jerk financial decisions based on emotional reasoning is unlikely to get your investments to where you want them to go, here are a few suggestions of ways to hang tight and stay calm through a period of market volatility. [Read more…]
Inflation in the Modern Era
Americans have heard quite a bit about inflation lately and probably noticed how the price of goods and services have risen. This is commonly referred to as inflation, but it is a little like putting the cart before the horse. In fact, the rising cost of goods and services are merely the symptoms of a debasement in the reserve currency. In other words, inflation is a word used to describe the symptoms of a weakening of the dollar relative to assets and goods and services. Understanding its implication requires an examination of inflation within the context of the modern economic era.
Cryptocurrency Explained
Cryptocurrency has been making headlines lately, from media coverage by prominent networks to Twitter weigh-ins by the likes of Mark Cuban and Elon Musk, but there is still a shroud of mystery surrounding it and its uses. The popularity of cryptocurrency has ebbed and flowed for over a decade but some companies are now ready to bank on where it could go in the future. Tesla just announced the purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and intends to start accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. RBC analysts have suggested that Apple is ideally positioned to offer consumers the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency via its Wallet app. Although opinions abound about how risky cryptocurrency is to own and its long term viability as a form of currency, one thing seems certain: as a concept, it’s here to stay.
The Paycheck Protection Program
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was established and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) began distributing loans to businesses in need. The goal of the program is to incentivize businesses to keep all of their employees on payroll; applicants had to affirm that they needed the funds in order to continue operating and employing their workforce. If you’ve been approved for a loan, you’re likely trying to stay on top of the requirements to have it forgiven. There’s a lot of information out there to digest and, since this is a new program, guidance is still evolving even though funds have already been dispensed. To get you started, we’ve provided answers to common questions with the information currently available.