Source: A new law would require employees to save for retirement – MarketWatch
The law would mandate automatic payroll deductions of 3%, rising 1% per year until 10% is reached – unless the employee intentionally opts out. (Some businesses already implement this on their own.)
I argue that a younger person just out of college, especially in a professional track job, should be saving money to buy a home and other necessary life expenses at this young age – and not saving for retirement.
There is now research that backs this up – most college educated workers will have dramatic pay increases over the first 10-15 years of their work life. Saving will be easier with higher incomes (if they do not expand spending). This may be a time to spend money on enjoying life too – the future is not predictable and health problems and even death may eliminate future plans.
A side effect of the traditional view to start saving for retirement, immediately as a young person is that many will, surprisingly, save too much for retirement – and be unable to spend that money in retirement to do the things they then wish they had done when younger.
Continue reading Does auto-enrollment in retirement plans make sense? →
Inconsistent, contradictory, incoherent public messaging continues unabated:
Duchin said Public Health continues to discourage unnecessary travel amid new guidance released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which said fully vaccinated people can travel within the U.S. without getting tested for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19[1].
Those who aren’t vaccinated should get tested one to three days before traveling, and three to five days after their trips, Duchin said. The CDC said travelers should continue to take precautions and wear masks during travel.
Source: King County public health official: Surge in COVID cases could lead to reopening rollback | The Seattle Times
[1] But if traveling from outside the U.S., even if fully vaccinated, you must also have a negative Covid-19 test (The negative Covid passport), unless you had Covid-19, and then you don’t need a Covid-19 test at all, even if not vaccinated. The CDC is implying via policy that having Covid-19 has higher efficacy than the vaccine, or something. If you travel much, the CDC’s policy provides an incentive to get Covid-19 so you can avoid the travel hassles. That makes sense. Not.
(Bloomberg) — The U.K.’s coronavirus test-and-trace program has failed to demonstrate it has contributed to a fall in infection rates — despite its “unimaginable” 22 billion-pound ($30.6 billion) cost so far, according to the British Parliament’s spending watchdog.
Source: U.K. Covid Test Program Cannot Justify Huge Costs, Lawmakers Say
But who needs data? All you need is computer model!
And you know that many will spin this as a negative: Modern millionaires: How a percentage of Americans made their millions
More than 8% of adults in the U.S. have enough assets to fit the definition, according to the Global Wealth Report 2020 by Credit Suisse. That works out to more than 20 million Americans.
We cannot allow good news to flourish:
Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office said in a new forecast that the U.S. economy will recover “rapidly” due to coronavirus vaccine rollout and the passage of new legislation. It predicted GDP will reach its previous peak in mid-2021, and that the labor force will return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022.
Source: Dow Rallies As Republicans Offer Biden Stimulus Bargain; Microsoft Surges As GameStop Falls | Investor’s Business Daily
The $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal is harder to pass if cases are in sharp decline and hospitalizations are plummeting unless we keep the fear levels high.
Yesterday, one of the media’s frequently quoted experts said he expects to see a “hurricane” of cases to arrive in the next 6-14 weeks based on “variants”. We do not know what the future will bring but such quotes keep fear levels high. And fear is one of the most powerful tools of persuasion.
There is a chance that once a stimulus package is passed the government will assure us that the pandemic appears to be under control.
On Thursday at 3 am, the National Securities Clearing Corporation requested a $3 billion deposit from Robinhood. It appears that by suspending GME trades, they negotiated that down to $700 million.
Source: ‘Spill the beans man:’ Tesla’s Elon Musk grills Robinhood CEO on GameStop/Reddit trading saga
Janet Yellen on Tuesday suggested lawmakers “curtail” the use of Bitcoin amid terrorism concerns.Yellen said cryptocurrency transactions were used “mainly for illicit financing.”
Source: Janet Yellen suggests ‘curtailing’ cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, saying they are mainly used for illegal financing | Currency News | Financial and Business News | Markets Insider
Not saying this is good or bad – only that few seem to understand that “stimulus” checks are the government borrowing your future income, which you will then pay back in the future through taxes – or devalued dollars caused by inflation. (Governments use inflation to deflate the value of dollars used to pay off past debt. Inflation is a flat tax on everyone. Printing money – or borrowing debt you never plan to pay back – basically the same thing – leads to inflation.)
Source: Americans call slimmed down $600 stimulus checks a ‘disgrace’
The Federal Reserve announced a significant change in how it manages interest rates by saying it plans to keep rates near zero even after inflation has exceeded the Fed’s 2% target level.
Source: Fed: Rates to Stay Ultra-Low Even After Inflation Picks Up | Business News | US News
Having done the virtual equivalent of printing a few trillion $s to paper over the pandemic policy induced recession, apparently this will be paid off via inflation.
Inflation causes the devaluation of the currency you hold – and in effect, taxes everyone that is holding cash.
This means that today’s debts will be paid off with future cheaper dollars. Inflation is good for those who have debts such as the U.S. government and bad for those holding cash.
During inflation (reducing the value of dollars), holding real assets is preferable to holding cash. Because the value of those assets will rise proportional to the devaluation of the currency, all else being equal.
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