Author: Trevor Jennewine, The Motley Fool Brisk inflation on the tail end of the pandemic led to a historic 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits in 2023. Retired workers hadn’t received a pay raise that large in four decades. Yet, the 2023 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) conducted by the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute…

Despite recent strong housing completions, homeowner and rental vacancy rates have hardly budged off their multi-decade lows. The housing sector was one of the hardest hit areas of the economy when the Fed began raising rates, but there are signs activity has turned a corner. The “mortgage lock” effect, where households that had locked in…

In the ever-evolving world of financial planning, a significant change is on the horizon for families looking to optimize college savings through 529 plans. With the introduction of the 2022 SECURE Act 2.0, effective from 2024, parents, grandparents, and other family members now have a new strategy to consider in their financial planning arsenal. This…

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HIGHLIGHTS  STOCKS SOURCE: Factset and Vann Equity Management Research Team “The S&P 500 accelerated to new all-time highs thanks to the Fed upgrading its outlook for economic growth this year (and inflation expectations) while critically keeping three rate cuts penciled in for 2024, which reignited soft/no landing hopes in the back half of the week.”…

HIGHLIGHTS STOCKS “The S&P 500 traded above 5,000 last week thanks to strong Treasury auctions reducing concerns about demand for U.S. debt and on generally solid economic data.” What Could Interrupt This Rally? Stocks extended the rally and the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high and finally topped the 5,000 level; the question that…

HIGHLIGHTS STOCKS SOURCE: Factset and Vann Equity Management Research Team “Stocks were little changed last week in very quiet trade as investors wanted a quiet end to a very strong 2023 as the S&P 500 rose more than 24% on the year.” Five Market Assumptions to Know as We Start 2024 The S&P 500 is…