Category Inflation
What You Need To Know About Property Taxes in California
What You Need To Know About Property Taxes in California Property taxes in the US are generally proportional to the value of one’s property. The more valuable the property, the higher the taxes… Except in California. This is because in 1978, California enacted Prop 13 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)> which limited increases in the taxes on […]
2015 IRA, 401(k) and other retirement plan contribution limits announced
By law certain retirement plan limits get adjusted every year, not exactly tracking inflation (i.e., not by the CPI) but rather in “chunks” which approximate it. For 2015, the following limits have been announced: IRA Contributions (combined limit across Roth and Traditional): $5,500IRA Catch-Up Contributions (for folks over 50): $1000[Both unchanged from 2014 and, actually, […]
Inflation and the Price of a Burger
In a pair of recent discussions, the issue of inflation has come up. In one, someone mentioned that he’d thought that recent inflation was worse than “official” numbers – and the example he gave was how he’d noticed how expensive meat was at the supermarket. And in another, a question arose regarding how well one might […]
I-Bonds “Real” Interest Rate Goes Back Above ZERO
I-Bonds “Real” Interest Rate Goes Back Above ZERO — for the first time since the rate was set to zero back in Nov, 2010. For the last three years, any newly purchased US Treasury Series I savings bonds – which pay interest which is a composite of a fixed “real” rate plus a variable […]
US Treasury I-series savings bonds – still zero real yield
For the 6th straight 6-month period in a row, US Treasury I-Bonds will be issued with a fixed “real” rate of 0%. That’s zero. Nil. Nada. Zip. The nominal yield is higher, since it’s a composite built out of the fixed (zero) rate plus a component representing inflation. The composite rate right now is 1.18%. […]
Gold Bugs Swatted Again
Gold Bugs Swatted Again Rick Ferri on gold. note especially his charts showing inflation-adjusted price of gold.
Malkiel: Buy Stocks, not Bonds
Burton Malkiel has been speaking up a lot lately, and with much the same message – repeated several times over the last few months (at least since an op-ed back in April). While hitting on some of the same themes he’s hit on for 40 years (index funds, low costs, broad diversification, don’t time the […]
Real 10 year yields
From an article about adjusting assumptions for retirement withdrawal rates in a ‘yield-free’ world. http://www.advisorone.com/2012/06/27/retirement-in-a-yield-free-world?t=the-retiree The author makes some important points about the rule-of-thumb that so many use for planning the level of withdrawals that’s “safe” from a given portfolio (or flipping it around, the level of savings that will be necessary to […]
Zvi Bodie, TIPs, Zero-Cost Collars and Equity Risks
Major piece in today’s Wall Street Journal, “Why Stocks are Riskier Than You Think” by Zvi Bodie and Rachelle Taqqu http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577221052377253224.html?mod=googlenews_wsj (Of course, Bodie and Taqqu are also hoping that this article will lead a lot of people to buy their recent book, “Risk Less and Prosper”. Bodie and Taqqu’s own retirement plan likely hinges […]
Savings Accounts
The current interest rate environment is weighing heavily on those who count on getting any kind of return on their cash and/or low-risk investments. Treasury bond yields are at historic lows, especially at the short end of the curve. That means that the most cash-like treasury securities – the ones which mature the soonest and […]
Meyers Wealth Management 