The USDA recently issued Expenditures on Children by Families, 2015 or more commonly known as “The Cost of Raising a Child” report. The answer: $233,610 per child for a middle-income couple with two children. This is in today’s dollars (not inflation adjusted) through age 17 and does NOT include the cost of a college education.
It’s fall; time for cool evenings, changing leaves… and employee benefits enrollment. Whether you are new to the company or have been there for years, review the benefits carefully and take full advantage of the offerings to help increase your financial security.
Social Security and Medicare are very important programs. Those currently receiving Social Security benefits appreciate the monthly income that grows with inflation and continues as long as they live. The Medicare program provides health coverage during potentially vulnerable times.
This blog post will provide some background on traditional Fed activities and point to resources for those who want to learn about the economic theory behind non-traditional policies.
You may have read about a new fiduciary rule rolled out by the Department of Labor last week. This rule requires brokers and advisors of retirement accounts to act in the client’s best interest. What gets lost in the jargon and over-hyped news flow is that advisors are already working under a fiduciary standard - for all your accounts, not just IRAs and 401ks.
Perhaps it is my upbringing in agriculture or my love of daylight savings time (yes I lost an hour, but it’s lighter later!), but this post will describe the differences in tax-qualified vehicles (think 401ks/403bs, IRAs, HSAs, 529s) in terms of growing things.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year to discuss and decide on monetary policy. At the conclusion of each meeting a statement is released which is followed closely for any subtle word changes describing the economic outlook.
Have you ever heard an economic statistic on the news and wondered how that number has changed over time? Would you like to have graphs of key economic indicators sent to you automatically? Would you like to do your own research on the relationship between different economic and market indicators?