On Wednesday (9/21) the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously to lift their benchmark Fed Funds rate another 75bps (0.75%), bringing it into a new target range of 3.00-3.25%, a level last seen in 2008. This rate move was anticipated by most investors. What wasn’t anticipated as much was the future direction of Fed Funds rate policy that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell described in the post-meeting news conference.
It’s official – the S&P 500 stock index is in bear market territory. A bear market is defined as a 20% drop “from most recent peak to trough.” The peak was January 3rd. The 20% trough was reached last Monday, June 13th, thus triggering what we’ve felt all along – that it’s been a tough go for investors in 2022.
US Treasury Series I Savings Bonds (“I Bonds”) currently offer an attractive opportunity for savers to take advantage of nearly risk-free return yields of more than 7%. If there is a silver lining in the current inflation cloud it is that I Bonds yields also rise with inflation, which has led to a recent surge in their popularity from relative obscurity. This presents an opportunity to invest your extra cash at a great yield, but you need to act by April 28 to lock in at the great rate.
Volatility has returned to the markets. To keep it all in context, it’s a good time to remind ourselves why we invest and how markets behave.
In politics there has been much ongoing debate in Washington about tax policy changes related to funding President Biden’s proposed social, climate, and infrastructure bills. Some of the proposed tax policy changes (as of this writing late-November) may impact our clients’ financial situations for 2022 and beyond, so with December just around the corner and the holidays beckoning, it is worth reviewing a few key tax and estate planning strategies before 2021 is in the rear-view.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (a.k.a. the 3rd COVID-19 stimulus package) was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021. This client note outlines the key provisions of the Act and offers some of our general guidance on its impacts.