WealthSmith Financial Planning

The Dow touches 40,000..... the appeal of cheaper money on the horizon (true or not) is the sugar high the market was looking for....perhaps the old adage of "sell in May and go away" is taking a breather this year.

Is there anyone in facebook land who can manufacture this part?
Please let me know.
Gary

…if banks are not creating a market for federal funds, were does the rate come from? The answer: the Fed just makes it up. Literally makes it up.

Today, US commercial banks carry an estimated $650 billion loss in their “held to maturity” assets…but they don’t have to mark them to market. If this was 2008 they would have insisted on mark-to-market and we would need TARP 2.0 to bail out the banking system.

This is exacerbated by the Fed engineering a decline in the M2 measure of money, which has fallen by 3.6% in the past year, the most substantial drop since the Great Depression.

As of November 1, 2023, the Treasury General Account (TGA) at the Fed held $820 billion. The Treasury could use this $820 billion to reduce debt, but it hasn’t, and taxpayers will pay roughly $40 billion per year in interest, just so the Treasury/Fed can hold this cash.

The government has expanded significantly since 2008, with federal government spending growing from 19% of GDP in 2007 to 25% last year, and the Fed's balance sheet has expanded from 6% of GDP in 2007 to 33% of GDP. It's evident that we no longer operate in a free-market capitalist system. While government involvement in the economy is not new, it has reached unprecedented levels.

These are all excerpts from an article authored by Brian Wesbury at First Trust, attached hereto. Please read it. It is telling!

Long Term Care (LTC), it can be a problem or it can be a solution.
When was the last time you visited a nursing home, assisted living center, independent living facility, or memory care facility?
If you have visited more than one, I’m sure you can see the difference in the quality of some facilities.
I recently visited 4 different facilities for my father, and I can tell you that there were two that were places my father could see himself in, and two that I would not LET him go to.
Here is a question: How are folks paying for their stay at their chosen facility? Depending on the level of care, the average of the four facilities that I visited was between $4,200 to $12,000/month. The lower cost was independent living care, and the higher cost was Nursing Home level of care.
That equates to a yearly average of $50,400 per year and $144,000 per year, depending on the level of care.
As a Certified Financial Planning Professional™ I have looked at many different options for dealing with this situation for my clients. I have worked with close to a dozen Elder Law Attorneys on this issue over the last 30 years. Insurance is sometimes a solution, and sometimes it is not. Luckily for my parents, and for my sibling and I, I placed their Long-Term Care Insurance policy back in 1994 for the assets that could not be protected by trusts, and established trusts for the assets that could be protected by trusts.
For my father, when the time finally comes, the only decision that will need to be made is what facility would you like to go to.
What decisions will you, as adults or as adult children, have to make for yourself or your loved ones when the time comes?
If you would like to consider working with a Certified Financial Planning Professional™ who has been dealing with the issue of Long Term Care Planning for 30 years, feel free to reach out and schedule a no cost, no obligation 15 minute phone meeting by going to my online calendar at: www.wealthsmithfp.com/book-appointment-online/. All conversations are confidential.

Are you considering divorce, but you don’t know what this will mean for you financially? Have you been served divorce papers, and you are worried about what this will mean financially for you?
Are you single and considering entering into a relationship but you are concerned about how to handle financial issues with your new partner?
Pre and Post divorce planning can be a complex subject and one that creates anxiety for many people.
My past work with divorce/family attorneys and their clients has proven to be an asset for many of my clients.
If you would like to know more about how I could help potentially work with you to reduce some of the anxiety that is associated with divorce-finances, or “finances related to new relationships” feel free to reach out and schedule a no cost, no obligation 15 minute phone meeting by going to my online calendar at: www.wealthsmithfp.com/book-appointment-online/. I am a Certified Financial Planning Professional™ with 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. All conversations are confidential.