Social Security and Supplemental Security Income payments will increase by 2.5% in 2025. The Social Security Administration recently announced its annual “cost of living adjustment” (COLA).

As was widely expected, the Federal Reserve Bank (the “Fed”) cut its benchmark interest rate during Q3 by 50 basis points. This cut marked the first downward adjustment since rates were lowered during the COVID crisis (1Q 2020).

Life throws a lot at us. We all have daily stressors, but sometimes we face life-altering experiences. This is certainly true in the case of chronic illness, the death of a spouse, or divorce. In each of these cases, in addition to the mental and physical strain, there are financial decisions to be made.

The 2nd quarter of 2024 saw continued momentum in large cap technology – driven in large part by Nvidia. While the technology sector (XLK) led the way, more than half of the sectors within the S&P 500 were negative on the quarter.

Patina Wealth has done retirement planning for clients who are several decades away from retirement and for new clients who are already in retirement. As you can imagine, most clients are trying to answer the same question: “Am I on the right track for my savings to outlast me.”

The U.S. stock market began the year how it ended 2023, with a steady climb upward absent any material pullbacks. In January and March, Federal Reserve Bank (“Fed”) minutes, along with public comments from Jerome Powell and others, confirmed that additional rate hikes were unlikely and that rate reductions were the probable next move.

The past few years have called into question how best to use bonds in a portfolio. In this article we highlight various risks to look for in bonds, and why investors should be careful “reaching” for yield.

After a rough 3rd quarter, stocks saw continued weakness to start the 4th quarter. The equal weighted S&P 500 Index (RSP) saw a drawdown from late July through late October of -13.4%, before equity markets bottomed and began an impressive rally to end the year.

Many of our clients have heard us say we are skeptics of our own industry. We have seen many ways investors can be taken advantage of. As a result, we choose to align ourselves with our clients’ and to act as a partner in their financial lives.

Similar to how a batter back-up is to a sump pump, a portfolio’s fixed income exposure can be there when you need it the most.

Equity and bond markets took a “bearish” turn in Q3. Markets had been ignoring the “higher for longer” calls from the Federal Reserve Bank (“Fed”), but that changed abruptly in Q3. Market participants finally capitulated to the Fed and “repriced” to new rate expectations.

YTD performance of the market cap-weighted S&P 500 and equal-weighted S&P 500 through August 11, 2023. * Yahoo Finance

Markets surged again in Q2 – ignoring a “hawkish” Federal Reserve Bank (“Fed”) and slowly deteriorating macro-economic conditions. However, the real story of 2023 requires a look at individual stock performance. The gains in the first half of 2023 can be attributed to a small number of stocks and, more specifically, the Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) craze kicked off by ChatGPT.

Recent headlines have been dominated by the stress in the U.S. banking system. As we reported in our quarterly update, both Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and Signature Bank failed in Q1 and were taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Financial headlines in Q1 were filled with news of a potential banking crisis as Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”), our nation’s 16th largest bank, was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). SVB’s failure was particularly striking in how quickly it occurred. On Wednesday, March 8th, SVB was perceived to be healthy, and by Friday, March 10th, its doors had been closed permanently.

On February 17th the 1-year U.S. Treasury Bond surpassed a 5% yield – a potentially impactful milestone. This threshold is one that U.S. Treasury Bonds haven’t seen since pre-2008 and is a stunning 4 percentage point climb from one year ago.

Talk of inflation has dominated the conversation lately, but those days may soon be behind us. Inflation has significant effects on our lives as rising costs erode purchasing power. It can result in a dangerous cycle as reduced consumer spending can contribute to sluggish economic growth and, eventually, recession.

Markets were at the mercy of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (the “Fed”) for most of 2022. With inflation running higher for longer than expected post COVID, the Fed aggressively increased interest rates throughout 2022. After starting the year with the Federal Funds Rate near zero, we finished 2022 with a target rate of 4.25-4.50%, representing one of the fastest rate-hiking cycles ever.

Many provisions of the tax code have cost-of-living-adjustments (“COLA”) which are intended to offset inflation impacts. In 2001, this became true for retirement savings as contribution limits became pegged to inflation. The IRS recently announced the amount investors can contribute to their retirement accounts for 2023.

The challenging market environment continued in Q3. Central banks, most notably the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (the “Fed”) have been firm in their stance that inflation is enemy number one. In attacking inflation, the Fed has aggressively increased interest rates beyond most of our expectations which, as would be expected, has pummeled long-term fixed-income assets and risk assets generally (e.g., stocks).