Savings Rates Stagnant – Credit Card Rates Rising
The Federal Reserve began raising its target federal funds rate at the end of 2015. Since then the target rate has been raised by 1%, or 100 basis points.
Expensive Mortgages May Dent Retirement Plans
While the American Dream may be to own a house, that dream is becoming more and more difficult for Americans to achieve. More than half of all Americans...
More Americans Dreading Than Dreaming of Retirement
It should come as no surprise that Social Security is in dire financial shape. The scheme was flawed from its inception, working as a transfer payment system that took money from workers to provide payments to the first recipients of Social Security benefits.
American Mega-Banks Close to Breaking Profit Record
The combined profits of the ten largest banks in the United States have now reached levels not seen since 2007. They are now within striking distance of...
Nothing Beats Investing in Physical Gold
Mainstream financial advice often likes to downplay the importance of gold to investors. Thankfully, many investors understand how vital gold is to the performance of a well-diversified portfolio.
Venezuela’s Hyperinflation and the Importance of Gold
Venezuela is currently in the midst of a horrible hyperinflationary crisis. Years of government mismanagement of the economy have resulted in a situation in which basic necessities and foodstuffs are almost impossible to...
Consumer Spending Dampened by Surging Rent
Recently-published data has shown that surging rent is taking a larger and larger chunk of Americans’ paychecks. That, in turn, is reducing the amount of money that Americans spend on other goods and services, dampening consumer spending and impacting the economy...
The Federal Reserve’s Bubble Thinking
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen delivered her semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress last week...
Martin Shkreli and Bubble Finance
The trial of Martin Shkreli has been capturing headlines for the past few weeks. The infamous “Pharma Bro” first made waves in 2015 when his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, attained the rights to the drug Daraprim, hiking its price from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill...
Americans Working Longer Than Ever
The latest US government jobs report showed that older Americans are working longer than ever. That’s an indicator that older Americans lack the ability to retire because they’re not in a sound enough financial position to retire...