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You may have read that the Social Security Trust Fund is due to be depleted in 2033, a year earlier than previous projections. This sounds alarming, except for several caveats.

If you look at finance magazines and websites you’ll see headlines such as, “10 Dividend Growth Stocks You Can Count On” (Kiplinger), or “20 Dividend Growth Stocks Blasting Off” (Forbes). There’s an annual “Dividend Aristocrats” list of 65 companies, and occasional articles telling retirees that they should buy stocks so they can live off of the dividend checks.

Ah, the heady times when markets just keep rising as if to the moon. It is exhilarating, isn’t it?

There’s a lot of buzz in the investment world about Bitcoin—and cryptocurrencies in general. Is it an investment? A real medium of exchange? Some of this interest undoubtedly comes from the fact that, in 2009, Bitcoins were selling for eight cents a coin. At the peak earlier this year, one of those coins was trading at $65,000.

These days it seems like reading is becoming a thing of the past, what with podcasts, TED Talks, and YouTube videos becoming more popular vectors of information and entertainment. But a growing body of scientific literature suggests that reading actual books may be more important than we realize for enhancing certain parts of our brains and delaying the onset of dementia.

Loans and credit cards all sound like a dream come true when you first hit some level of financial awareness. Many young adults have thought, “Am I about to be handed free money?” That’s before they have a true understanding of what it means to be in debt.

Conventional economics tells us something that would seem to be obvious: when the government creates more money, there is more money available to buy things, and therefore the prices of things rise—and we get inflation. For some reason, this logical sequence of events seems not to be happening today. The amount of money in the U.S. economy is 25% higher than it was at the start of 2020—the fastest pace of growth since the U.S. Federal Reserve banking system was established in 1913. You can see from the chart that we have experienced steady growth of the money supply until around 2009, when the slope increased (remember the Great Recession?), and then in early 2020 the growth of dollars in the system made another dramatic shift upwards.

If you could live in any U.S. state, which one would let you keep more of your money than others? The answer turns out to be surprisingly complicated…

The initials ESG refer to the factors used to measure the environmental and ethical impact of investing in a company. The “G” stands for governance, corporate governance to be exact. A trend within the group of investors who care about the systems, structures and policies governing a corporation is investing in more women-owned and women-led businesses.

You’re probably familiar with the saying, if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. This is how you should approach leaving a legacy for your grandchildren. There’s a huge amount of value in passing wealth down to your grandchildren, through 529 education savings plans, savings bonds, and many other traditional ways to gift them funds. However, it’s even more important to share financial lessons with your grandkids as they’re growing up. This will give them the ability to handle money they get from you, and anywhere else, in a knowledgeable manner well into their adult lives. Therefore, they’ll be less likely to experience losses and more likely to know how to grow their wealth.

Did you know that Albert Einstein once referred to compounding interest as “the eighth world wonder?” If you’re not familiar with this financial term, Einstein’s fondness for it might surprise you. The word “interest” can trigger some negative emotions because it’s often associated with others charging you interest on a debt, but don’t forget that you can also earn interest through your savings and investments.

The wide world of investment is full of opportunities. Unfortunately, along with these opportunities comes a lot of jargon and confusion. Common questions that people ask themselves are “What are mutual funds?” and “Should I invest in mutual funds?” Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to doing so. This breakdown will cut through the buzzwords so that you can get a better idea of what mutual funds are and whether or not investing in them is a good financial fit for you.

You may have read that the Social Security Trust Fund is due to be depleted in 2033, a year earlier than previous projections. This sounds alarming, except for several caveats.

If you look at finance magazines and websites you’ll see headlines such as, “10 Dividend Growth Stocks You Can Count On” (Kiplinger), or “20 Dividend Growth Stocks Blasting Off” (Forbes). There’s an annual “Dividend Aristocrats” list of 65 companies, and occasional articles telling retirees that they should buy stocks so they can live off of the dividend checks.

Ah, the heady times when markets just keep rising as if to the moon. It is exhilarating, isn’t it?

There’s a lot of buzz in the investment world about Bitcoin—and cryptocurrencies in general. Is it an investment? A real medium of exchange? Some of this interest undoubtedly comes from the fact that, in 2009, Bitcoins were selling for eight cents a coin. At the peak earlier this year, one of those coins was trading at $65,000.

These days it seems like reading is becoming a thing of the past, what with podcasts, TED Talks, and YouTube videos becoming more popular vectors of information and entertainment. But a growing body of scientific literature suggests that reading actual books may be more important than we realize for enhancing certain parts of our brains and delaying the onset of dementia.

Loans and credit cards all sound like a dream come true when you first hit some level of financial awareness. Many young adults have thought, “Am I about to be handed free money?” That’s before they have a true understanding of what it means to be in debt.

Conventional economics tells us something that would seem to be obvious: when the government creates more money, there is more money available to buy things, and therefore the prices of things rise—and we get inflation. For some reason, this logical sequence of events seems not to be happening today. The amount of money in the U.S. economy is 25% higher than it was at the start of 2020—the fastest pace of growth since the U.S. Federal Reserve banking system was established in 1913. You can see from the chart that we have experienced steady growth of the money supply until around 2009, when the slope increased (remember the Great Recession?), and then in early 2020 the growth of dollars in the system made another dramatic shift upwards.

If you could live in any U.S. state, which one would let you keep more of your money than others? The answer turns out to be surprisingly complicated…

The initials ESG refer to the factors used to measure the environmental and ethical impact of investing in a company. The “G” stands for governance, corporate governance to be exact. A trend within the group of investors who care about the systems, structures and policies governing a corporation is investing in more women-owned and women-led businesses.

You’re probably familiar with the saying, if you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. This is how you should approach leaving a legacy for your grandchildren. There’s a huge amount of value in passing wealth down to your grandchildren, through 529 education savings plans, savings bonds, and many other traditional ways to gift them funds. However, it’s even more important to share financial lessons with your grandkids as they’re growing up. This will give them the ability to handle money they get from you, and anywhere else, in a knowledgeable manner well into their adult lives. Therefore, they’ll be less likely to experience losses and more likely to know how to grow their wealth.

Did you know that Albert Einstein once referred to compounding interest as “the eighth world wonder?” If you’re not familiar with this financial term, Einstein’s fondness for it might surprise you. The word “interest” can trigger some negative emotions because it’s often associated with others charging you interest on a debt, but don’t forget that you can also earn interest through your savings and investments.

The wide world of investment is full of opportunities. Unfortunately, along with these opportunities comes a lot of jargon and confusion. Common questions that people ask themselves are “What are mutual funds?” and “Should I invest in mutual funds?” Like most things in life, there are pros and cons to doing so. This breakdown will cut through the buzzwords so that you can get a better idea of what mutual funds are and whether or not investing in them is a good financial fit for you.