Nearly $23 trillion of assets worldwide are managed using responsible investing (RI) strategies, a 25 percent increase since 2014, according to the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance. New funds focused on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues have also doubled since 2014.1 RI used to suffer under the guise of a do-good passion project or something…

U.S. stock markets were enjoying an eighth consecutive year of a bull market until volatility toward the end of 2018 erased all of the past year’s gains.1 In times like this, as share prices continue to bounce back and forth on a day-to-day basis, investors close to or in retirement often transition to more conservative investments.…

Thirty years ago, developed markets were seen as much more stable than smaller, emerging countries. But as political division and uncertainty permeates the West, the differences have faded, and emerging markets (EM) have shed the high-risk perception that accompanied foreign investment. Sound government situations, conservative monetary policy and lower levels of debt were once staples…

For most of the 20th century, it was common for employers and unions to sponsor health care insurance for retired workers, which helped pay for some or all of Medicare’s cost-sharing requirements and deductibles. However, this trend reversed sharply in the mid-1990s. A survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that only 19 percent…

When the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent, the hope was companies would spend their influx of money on expansion and increased jobs and wages. Instead, public companies’ most popular way to spend the excess capital has been to buy back their own stock.1…

From the beginning, President Donald Trump’s economic policies have intended to put “America first.” Since the ultimate goal of such policies is to strengthen America’s economic growth, solve for domestic issues and make the nation more secure, it’s worth a review of how well policy changes are working toward those goals. According to the World…

The New Space Race   Space: The final frontier. Or is it? The U.S. is again taking a serious look at space exploration, but there are many factors to consider. President Trump last summer called for the Department of Defense to move space operations to a sixth military branch, though funding such an effort would…

Technology and Economics It seems the hardest lessons are the most compelling. The worse the consequences we suffer, the more determined we are to not let those circumstances affect us again. So it is in the field of economics, which now leans heavily on technology to help evaluate and anticipate risk. Since the last recession,…

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 reduced federal income tax liability for some, but not all, Americans. Wealthy residents of California, New York and other high-tax states could face a higher tax bill when they file their 2018 return.1 While cutting tax rates on ordinary income, increasing the standard deduction and doubling the…

In a 2017 Nationwide Retirement Institute survey, financial advisors revealed some of the primary concerns of today’s pre-retirees, including maintaining their current lifestyle during retirement. These people also are less concerned with growing their assets; instead, they are focusing on drawing them down in a disciplined strategy without taking out too much too early —…

Many Americans who enroll in original Medicare also purchase a supplemental insurance policy, colloquially known as “Medigap.” Medigap covers some or all of the out-of-pocket costs associated with original Medicare — deductibles, copayments and coinsurance — helping to reduce financial risk. However, there is a wide array of Medigap plans with a variety of different…

2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the Great Recession of 2008. Despite a painfully slow recovery, U.S. economic growth has been sustainable. The stock and bond markets continue to perform well, unemployment is low and the economy is generally considered healthy and booming.   And yet, whenever things are going well, it’s only human nature…