The Retired Investor: What Is Household Production and Why Is It Important?By Bill Schmick,
05:08PM / Thursday, July 25, 2024 | |
Have you ever wondered how much your time and effort were worth as a stay-at-home spouse? Chores like child care, laundry, home repairs, and meal preparations rarely come with a bill attached, but what if they did? You may be about to find out.
All the above chores plus many more, from driving the kids to school or soccer practice to treating illnesses among family members are critical to the functioning of the U.S. economy. However, none of that essential work is measured.
ScienceDirect defines household production as "the production of goods and services by the members of a household, for their consumption, using their capital and their unpaid 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Tax-Deferred Savings Accounts Set for ChangesBy Bill Schmick,
04:16PM / Thursday, July 18, 2024 | |
Starting Sept. 23, there is good news for savers who want a fair shake when looking for investment advice. Let's hope that the new Department of Labor rules are here to stay.
If the DOLs are enacted, more professionals than ever before will be required to act as fiduciaries when clients pay them for investment advice on Individual Retirement Accounts IRA). This will add another level of protection to an instrument that for many represents a lifetime of retirement savings.
What, you might ask, is a fiduciary? It is someone responsible for managing money or property for someone, who must put that client's interests ahead of their own. Such a person (or 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Tariffs Can Only Do So MuchBy Bill Schmick,
05:40PM / Thursday, July 11, 2024 | |
Tariffs in America have been used to accomplish specific goals throughout history. Until the Civil War, tariffs were a revenue generator for the government. After the Civil War, they were used to protect U.S. industries and during the Great Depression, tariffs evolved as a negotiating tool between nations, especially after World War II.
In the postwar years, tariffs built stronger trade relations between nations. Reciprocity rather than protectionism or revenue was the guiding principle behind our trade negotiations with other countries and economic regions. That idea still holds sway under certain circumstances, but tariffs have become an offensive policy tool as 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Tariffs Are Simply Another Form of TaxationBy Bill Schmick,
03:44PM / Thursday, July 04, 2024 | |
In this era of populism, tariffs have become as American as apple pie. Politicians are bending over backward to out-tariff their rivals. Voters are applauding the effort, and yet it is the consumer who will pay higher prices as a result.
I can understand how voters might disagree, given that party politicians continue to deny the obvious. "The notion that tariffs are a tax on U.S. consumers is a lie pushed by outsources and the Chinese Communist Party," declared a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.
I am neither an outsourcer nor a Chinese Communist, but I am convinced that tariffs are a tax on all of us.
When 0 Comments
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The Retired Investor: Key to America's Future Lies in Its PastBy Bill Schmick,
04:11PM / Thursday, June 20, 2024 | |
This is year three of a 15-year period where change will occur throughout America. It won't be an easy time for any of us. Stress, conflict, dissatisfaction, economic and political turmoil. It all lies ahead, but there is a silver lining.
In the case of regime change fueled by populism, American history may not repeat itself, but it does come damn close. Throughout our history, we have seen the pendulum swing from right to left and back again as discontent and bad times (the absence of fairness, equality, and equity) alternated with boom times and capitalism (winner-take-all mentality).
The only time the pendulum broke down was during the Civil War and 0 Comments
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