Bill Artzerounian joined me again this week to tackle questions about automating your finances, the tax implications of a company sale, how to offset RWM taxes and the pros and cons of a Roth 401k. Further Reading: Inflation Matters More For the Stock Market Than Interest Rates 1It’s also worth pointing out that interest rates under 2% have been rare historically. Rates have been at those levels less than 7% of the ..read more

Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by Franklin Templeton: See here for more information on the Franklin High Yield Corporate ETF (FLHY) On today’s show, we discuss: Wall Street traders keep underestimating America’s economic strength  Generation Z is unprecedentedly rich Where are growth, inflation and interest rates headed? We asked the economists Home renovations are booming thanks to high rat ..read more

There was a recent poll about my home state of Michigan where they asked people for their thoughts on the state of the nation’s economy today. Just 35% of people described the economy as excellent (6%) or good (29%) while 65% described it as either not so good (28%) or poor (37%). But when asked how they would describe their own personal financial situation these days, a majority of people (61%) described their circ ..read more

Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by Simplify Asset Management:   On today’s show, we spoke with Anupam Ghose, Managing Partner at System Two Advisors to discuss active equity exposure in India On today’s show, we discuss: Why India is different than China Growth opportunities within India How GDP growth translates to higher stock prices Why it’s important to have local staff in India ..read more

In the early-1980s, Robert Shiller set out to answer the question: Do stock prices move too much to be justified by subsequent changes in dividends? The idea was to figure out how well the stock market tracks the present value of future cash flows in the short-term. Shiller concluded that, no, stock prices do not neatly track fundamentals. He updated that data in his book Irrational Exuberance: The cash flows move very l ..read more

How much money do you have to make to feel rich? It’s a subjective question. A lot depends on your lifestyle, where you live, how much you spend and save, your peer group, and your vulnerability to comparison. The comparison piece matters more than most are willing to admit. Wealth is relative. JP Morgan once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It’s easy to say when you’re one of the weal ..read more

A reader asks: I get all the stuff Ben has been saying about inflation — wages have kept pace, economic growth has been higher than the 2010s, wages have risen the most for lower income people, etc. I get all that. My husband and I own a house and own stocks so we’ve benefitted in recent years. Having said all of that, I STILL CAN’T GET OVER HOW HIGH PRICES ARE!!! The grocery store, home/auto insurance ..read more

Today’s Animal Spirits is brought to you by YCharts: See here for YCharts’ quarterly economic update slide deck! See here for tickets to The Compound and Friends LIVE in Los Angeles On today’s show, we discuss: Will the growth of indexing lead to its downfall?  Fund industry’s asset mix offers encouraging sign  CPI Data – motor vehicle insurance  Why car insurance rates are so high  Th ..read more

Today’s Talk Your Book is brought to you by Direxion On today’s show, we spoke with Ed Egilinsky, Managing Director, Head of Alternatives, and Head of Sales and Distribution at Direxion to discuss diversifying away from the Magnificent 7. For more information, see here or email info@direxion.com On today’s show, we discuss: Flows into bullish and bearish funds Magnificent 7 concentration risk Nasdaq 10 ..read more

According to Redfin, we just hit another new all-time high in the median monthly payment (based on current home prices and mortgage rates): The median payment for a new purchase has doubled since 2021. Mortgage rates were back up to 7.4% this week. Nationwide housing prices are still are all-time highs and up around 50% since the end of 2019. There has been this feeling of something has to give for a while now but nothi ..read more