Much of my focus in recent years has been on the psychology of money, and I have written extensively about the need to manage what I call “noise.” Noise consists of, among others, the posturing of politicians, the predictions of pundits, blaring media...
Innumerable articles have been written in both the financial and popular media regarding the coming transfer of wealth from Baby Boomers to subsequent generations. Estimates of its size range from $64 to as much as $124 trillion. Not surprisingly, potential heirs, charities, and...
The monthly jobs report garners a great deal of attention from economists, the media, and politicians. However, much more interesting than the national data is the underlying statistics on job creation by state. The bottom line is that there is tremendous variation from...
One basic principle of finance is that stocks are riskier than bonds and should therefore provide a premium return. With stocks generating annual returns of 10% and bonds 4.5%, this equity risk premium has averaged 5.5% since 1928. Of course, the key question...
Several of my recent posts focused on the mystery of why Americans continue to spend like crazy when surveys indicate that consumer sentiment is terrible. Unfortunately, I did not have a persuasive answer. To add to the conundrum, the University of Michigan Sentiment...
One of the most closely watched economic indicators is the number of new jobs created each month. In our divisive political world, this volatile figure creates the opportunity for politicians to either boast about the success of their economic policies or criticize the...
