We Are DWA
Dan White & Associates was founded in 1987, specializing in retirement and financial planning. We focus on addressing the distinctive financial needs of those nearing retirement and those who have already retired. Today, Dan White & Associates houses five financial professionals between our three offices located in Glen Mills, PA, Middletown, DE, and Lewes, DE. Within our offices, we proudly service over two thousand clients in the region.
Our main priority is getting a clear understanding of each client’s unique situation, by using a comprehensive questionnaire to aid us. Having full knowledge of our client’s situation ensures that we can better inform them about all of the possible financial strategies available to them. Next, we construct a plan together that will give our clients a clear path toward a safe and secure retirement. At our firm, we take a different approach than most advisors by priding ourselves in the educational aspect of retirement planning.
Find out how we can educate you and help make you more confident when it comes to making retirement decisions!
Complimentary Educational Seminars!
At Dan White & Associates, we conduct informational seminars throughout the Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland areas. We typically host two or three seminars per week! These events cover a variety of financial and retirement planning topics, and can help educate you on the challenges you could face in retirement. Get advice from the professionals on our team that have expertise in retirement and financial planning.
The Latest From Our Blog…
A Recession of the “Have Nots”
September 16, 2024 We could be in the weirdest recession in U.S. history. In truth, I think we're already in a recession, and it’s not like those we’ve experienced in the past. While it could prove to be mild overall, it’s hitting the least wealthy Americans...
Fear is Back
September 9, 2024 Towards the end of July and early August, fear took over markets. On Aug. 5, it evolved into a full-blown panic that hit everywhere. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is often considered the market’s fear gauge. It measures expectations for...
We’re Likely Getting Closer to That Next Pullback
August 26, 2024 Right now, the stock market has an eerie similarity to the summer of 2023. The S&P 500 index was up 16% in 2023’s first half as it climbed out of a bear market. Things were looking good until the end of July, when stocks fell 10% in three...
You Can’t Build a Dollar Out of BRICs
August 19, 2024 The U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency. It’s held in large quantities by central banks and major financial institutions, and many commodities are priced in dollars. It’s considered safe for international transactions, international...
The S&P 500 Isn’t as Diversified as Most Think
August 12, 2024 One of the most overused investing phrases is, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” It’s a warning that owning too much of one type of asset can expose you to downside risk. Conventional wisdom suggests owning 20-30 stocks to be properly...
The Corporate Zombie Apocalypse
August 6, 2024 In theory, low interest rates are supposed to stimulate the economy. But in practice, companies abuse them. For example, during much of the low-rate period from 2008-22, many businesses collected as much cheap credit as possible. This created a...
A Great Market Equalizer
July 29, 2024 If you don’t own the select few high-flying mega technology stocks, your portfolio is probably underperforming the broader market. I’m talking about NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), Microsoft Corporation...
Lessons in Failure from “Dr. Roger”
July 22, 2024 Lessons in Failure from “Dr. Roger” Tennis legend Roger Federer won 20 major men's single titles, including a record eight men's Wimbledon titles. He won nearly 80% of all his matches. It may surprise you that he credits his mindset towards failure as...
While Things Look Good, They Don’t Feel All That Great
July 15, 2024 On the surface, the U.S. is booming. A report from the Federal Reserve confirmed net worth is at all-time highs: American wealth is driven primarily by stocks and real estate. In 2024’s first quarter, the value of equity holdings increased by $3.8...
Question Everything (Especially Hot Stocks)
July 8, 2024 After becoming the world's largest company recently, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) dropped. As of this writing, it’s third overall after suffering the biggest three-day loss in history, wiping out $646 billion in value. Yahoo!Finance called it an absolute...
Security Tips to Avoid Senior Scams
June 24, 2024 According to the FBI, senior citizens were scammed in 2023 to the tune of $3.4 billion, an 11% increase over the prior year. Fraud schemes targeting people over 60 happened at a record rate, with complaints up 14%. The scams range from bogus...
A Delayed Landing
June 17, 2024 Ever since the Federal Reserve began its historic rate hiking program in March 2022, there’s been debate on how it will end. Will the landing be hard or soft? At this point, it looks like we’re in for a delayed landing. The last six months were...
Lower Rate Sensitivity, Strong Demand Keep Economy Growing
June 10, 2024 While the U.S. economy is slowing in some respects, in many ways it’s still in growth mode. Why is that? There are two main reasons: Lower interest rate sensitivity Strong demand tailwinds On the first point, recent Census Bureau data shows nearly 40%...
Resilient American Consumers Have Vanished
June 3, 2024 Target recently reported earnings and they were disappointing, causing the stock to slide by 8%. The retailer isn’t alone. We can now add Target to the list of consumer-facing businesses like McDonald's and Starbucks that have reported lackluster...
Keep Your Financial Emotions in Check
May 27, 2024 All the chatter about the market flying high might cause lots of happiness…or it might cause a lot of worry. Three decades ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 3,700, the S&P 500 was at 458, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was at 722. There...
If You’re Close to Retirement, Too Much Exposure to Stocks Can Be a Huge Risk
May 20, 2024 Last month saw rockiness in the stock market. Examining the psychological aspects of a drawdown, investors must ask themselves how much pain they can tolerate. As of this writing, stocks are up this year so far. Let’s say you decide to get in the...
Like A Redux of The Roaring ‘20s
May 13, 2024 In his 1859 novel, “A Tale of Two Cities,” Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” He may as well have written that about today. We’ve heard from many sources how measures of net worth, stock prices, and housing...
Retired? It Could Be Time to Get a Job
May 06, 2024 The rising cost of living combined with restlessness is spurring older Americans to unretire. Are you retired? It could be time to get a job. More than four million Americans will reach age 65 this year, a typical retirement age. But many of them will...
Bubbles and Anti-Bubbles (Part Two)
April 29, 2024 This is a continuation from the first part of a two-part miniseries on bubbles and anti-bubbles. If we’re in a bubble now, what should you do about it? Acquire anti-bubble assets. Back in July 2021, buying energy stocks was an excellent anti-bubble...
Bubbles and Anti-Bubbles (Part One)
April 22, 2024 According to multiple experts, we’re in a bubble. One is portfolio manager Diego Parrilla, who wrote “The Anti-Bubbles: Opportunities Heading into Lehman Squared and Gold's Perfect Storm.” His book describes bubbles as the process by which asset...
Data Suggests the Labor Market Is Continually Cooling
April 15, 2024 The March 2024 jobs report showed how unemployment rose to 3.9% in February, up from 3.7% in January. It’s the highest figure since January 2022, when the rate was trending lower from the pandemic peak. The unemployment rate has incrementally moved...
Inflation is Always the Enemy of the Incumbent
April 08, 2024 Is it just me, or does the cost of pretty much everything seem to be on the rise? For instance, you used to be able to find deals at the grocery store. But not anymore. Now prices border on absurdity. Even Trader Joe’s is in on the act after...
An Increasingly Expensive Index
March 25, 2024 I’ve mentioned extreme stock market valuations before, and we seem to be in a similar situation now. A recent Wall Street Journal article showed how the S&P 500 is expensive using multiple valuation methods: The price-earnings ratio is above its...
“Magnificent” Concentration
March 18, 2024 Many market indexes weighted by market capitalization are top-heavy right now. A glaring example is the S&P 500, where the “Magnificent 7” stocks account for roughly 29.0% of the index’s total value. It’s interesting what has historically...
Companies Getting Lean and Mean
March 11, 2024 Struggling cosmetics company Estée Lauder’s stock is down more than half from its 2021 peak, yet it recently added $10 billion to its market capitalization. How did that happen? Well, the company posted solid earnings, beating analyst estimates. That...
Surprising Challenges Retirees Face
March 04, 2024 This may not seem obvious, but there are new, potentially surprising challenges retirees face when they stop working. Take stock market volatility. While you’re working, market gyrations aren’t noticeable. If they are, it’s not a big deal because...
Wall Street is Not on Your Side
February 26, 2024 It may seem hard to believe, but individual investors (so-called “retail investors”) should know that Wall Street is not on their side. The news media hardly mentioned it, but there’s been another recent example of Wall Street’s true relationship...
You Can’t Spend More Than You Bring In
February 19, 2024 How did our nation accumulate so much debt? This question is on the minds of many folks. Back in 2001, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated then-current policies would eliminate the national debt by the end of 2009. Instead, the...
Rate Cuts Could Be Further Down the Line
February 12, 2024 The Federal Reserve telegraphed interest rate cuts this year, which many people (including Wall Street) took to mean the cuts would commence quickly. But with gross domestic product at 3.3%, those rate cuts could be further down the line than...
“Groupstink” Feeding the Forecasts
February 05, 2024 Consensus almost seems universal that stocks will rise in 2024. Are the bears dead? Maybe they’re just hibernating. Don’t forget how wrong the confident consensus outlooks have been over the last two years. At the end of 2021, everyone was...
Today’s Signs of Corporate Stress
January 29, 2024 Throughout his history, legendary investor Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway have raised huge piles of cash before bad economic times. Berkshire then deploys the funds at what it thinks is the right time towards the right companies....
Today’s Signs of Corporate Stress
January 22, 2024 Bankruptcies are bad. They certainly matter and aren’t looking good today. However, people often get too caught up with bankruptcies, especially when they’re only one piece of the puzzle. See, when companies are stressed, they have more options...
Nearly Impossible for Folks to Buy a Home
January 15, 2024 Higher interest rates have essentially stalled out the U.S. housing market. It could greatly damage the economy. Even after falling from a multi-decade high of 8.5% in October, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate remains greater than 7.0%. And...
Masking Some Deeper Economic Challenges
January 08, 2024 While the outlook was doom and gloom for most of last year, stocks did great. The S&P 500 was up almost 25.0% in 2023. The popular “60/40 portfolio,” which consists of 60.0% stocks and 40.0% bonds, had a terrible year in 2022, losing 15.8%...
Stretched Well Beyond Their Means
December 26, 2023 Everyone from the government to everyday Americans seem to be spending like there’s no tomorrow. It’s led to annualized gross domestic product growth of 4.9% for the third quarter. There’s a problem though: the finances to back up the spending...
A Credit Market Freeze
December 18, 2023 It’s a bad time to need money. Case in point: for the second year in a row, high-yield bond issuances are falling. In 2022, issuances fell by more than $280 billion, or 12% of the total market size. This year they're set for another 10% decline....
The Corporate Borrowing Window is Closing
December 11, 2023 The Federal Reserve isn't trying to ruin the economy with its efforts. Still, it’s not willing to ease up on interest rates just yet. Fed chair Jerome Powell is more focused on the labor market than inflation at this point. He said he's willing to...
It’s Going to be an Ugly Quarter
December 04, 2023 Although momentum seems to be in equities investors’ favor, the Federal Reserve isn't budging on interest rates. Instead of easing credit availability, the central bank is holding strong at its tightest policy rate in quite a while. The Fed last...
The Indicator that Cried Wolf
Monday, November 27, 2023 The inverted yield curve is starting to resemble the tale of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” The yield curve is the difference between long- and short-term interest rates, often the 10-year and three-month U.S. Treasury yields. Normally,...
Four Major Triggers of a Recession
Monday, November 13, 2023 When it comes to the U.S. economy, it’s like we see one thing and hear another. For example, despite all sorts of concerning red flags, major institutions like Bank of America and the Federal Reserve are erasing recession from their...
The American “Sugar Daddy”
Monday, November 06, 2023 Every American financial crisis since the Federal Reserve’s inception in 1913 has seen the central bank bail out America's leading institutions when they needed it most. It’s like the Fed is the American “sugar daddy.” For instance, the...
It’s Better to Be Prepared Than Stunned
Monday, October 23, 2023 The most anticipated recession in modern history has yet to fully materialize. But I think it may still be coming. Interest rate hikes take a long time to work their way through economies. The Federal Reserve started hiking rates almost a...
Many Consumers Will Need to Make Tough Financial Choices
Monday, October 16, 2023 It could be time to review your budget. For most of the pandemic, Uncle Sam figured out ways to keep Americans spending. You probably remember. The stimulus packages kept spending strong, companies happy, employment high, and interest rates...
“Bidenomics” Doesn’t Seem to Be Providing a Cure
Monday, October 9, 2023 President Biden is seeking reelection, so the “good news” push is on. For example, his top advisors say the president has had many economic successes since he took office. They claim Mr. Biden's policies, dubbed “Bidenomics,” have created...
There’s No Law Saying Stocks Must Return 9% A Year
Monday, October 2, 2023 For the last 100 years or so, the U.S. equity market has returned about 9% annually. But that doesn’t mean it will do the same for the next 100 years. Of course, investment fund marketers say history will repeat itself. But I’m not so sure....
It’s Still Great to Be American
Monday, September 25, 2023 For all who say and think America is headed for the trash heap, take solace – the U.S. is still the most desirable place by several measures. For instance, our $25.5 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) last year accounted for a...
New Territory for The Country’s Finances
Monday, September 18, 2023 U.S. credit card debt just topped $1 trillion for the first time ever. Balances grew by $45 billion in the second quarter alone, according to the Federal Reserve. On top of that, credit card delinquencies hit an 11-year high, meaning...
Why Are People Taking All This Risk?
Monday, September 11, 2023 There’s a rule of thumb to figure out how much stock you should own: subtract your age from 100 and the answer is the percentage of stocks that should be in your portfolio. Say you’re 60 years old, that means your portfolio should be...
Picking Winning Stocks Is Like Finding a Needle in a Haystack
Monday, September 04, 2023 The financial industry has so much informational firepower, yet nobody can beat the market. S&P Global tracked the performance of actively managed mutual funds in 2022, a year in which the S&P 500 lost 18%. Even in that...
It May Be Time to Moderate Your Market Optimism
Monday, August 28, 2023 Stocks are doing great. After a disastrous 2022, this year has been basically the opposite. However, I’m going to give you three reasons it may be time to moderate your market optimism. In my opinion, I think it’s safe to say at this point...
Another Brewing Crisis
Monday, August 21, 2023 Everyone thinks there will be a recession. I’m not sure because I think consumer spending could keep us afloat. But there is another brewing crisis that could plunge us into a recession: commercial real estate vacancies. During the first...
Public Policy is Having Some Ill-Intended Effects
Monday, August 14, 2023 Shelter costs are keeping inflation high. The housing market and tax policy aren’t helping either. The consumer price index (CPI) attempts to represent a typical U.S. household’s spending. Housing is the single biggest expense for most...
Trapped in Your Own Home
Monday, August 7, 2023 I saw in the news recently how there isn’t much housing inventory available for homebuyers right now because people don’t want to sell and get rid of their sweetheart mortgage deals. Homeowners got a 2% mortgage during our prolonged period of...
Bankruptcies are Skyrocketing
July 24, 2023 The Federal Reserve’s tightening is beginning to squeeze businesses as more than twice as many corporations filed bankruptcy this year than at the same point in 2022. Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings are up significantly – to the highest rate since 2010....
Older Americans Are Unretiring Due to Inflation
July 17, 2023 We know the Federal Reserve has been raising interest rates to get inflation under control. One result of these efforts is that many older Americans are unretiring due to inflation and worsening financial positions. According to a recent survey by...
The Very Definition of Narrow Market Breadth
July 10, 2023 For as great as the market rally has been in 2023, it’s been awfully narrow in terms of leadership. Most of the gains have come from mega-cap technology favorites, which returned 32.3% through the end of May. There was also a big assist from the...
To Really Judge a Market, It Takes Time
July 03, 2023 You may have heard we’re in a bull market. Apparently, the worst is behind us, risk is off, and we're ready to roll (please note my sarcasm). Look no further than the Nasdaq Composite Index from January to mid-June 2023. It was up 27.5% and logged six...
Not Rewarding the Right Behaviors
June 19, 2023 Americans with good credit are being penalized while bad credit habits are being rewarded. To impart more social justice into the home ownership market, President Biden has implemented a new policy which can penalize home buyers with good credit and...
Dollar Should Keep Its Place as World’s Reserve Currency
June 12, 2023 I’ve heard how people are worried about the U.S. dollar losing its status as the world's reserve currency. They point to changing dynamics, like oil market deals. I don’t buy it. There's long been speculation over the dollar, but it has strengthened...
Austerity Would Be Rare
June 5, 2023 The U.S. exceeded the current debt ceiling in January. Since then, “extraordinary measures” have been authorized to pay the bills, but they’re supposed to run out this month. That could mean default. The outcome is predictable. Democrats and...
Inflation is Decreasing, But America’s Going Broke
May 22, 2023 We’re in a good news-bad news situation economically. The good news is inflation dropped to 5.0% in March, which is down from its 9.1% high in June 2022. The bad news is the American credit bubble is back because of the Federal Reserve’s...
Too Many Americans Aren’t Taking Retirement Savings Seriously
May 15, 2023 There’s a retirement problem in America. That is, not enough people are adequately preparing for life after they stop working. Credit Karma did a survey recently that found almost 20% of Americans aged 59 and up have no retirement accounts. Even worse,...
There’s No Easy Way Out with Social Security Reform
May 08, 2023 Congress may increase the full Social Security retirement age to 70. What are the implications? When the retirement age was lifted in France, citizens protested. It remains to be seen whether that will happen here, but something must give because...
Should You Worry About Your Social Security Benefits?
May 01, 2023 In March the latest report on the financial health of the Social Security system was released. It’s officially called "The 2023 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust...
President Biden’s Re-Election Platform
April 24, 2023 President Biden introduced a $6.89 trillion budget proposal. Much of it was rejected last year by a Democrat-dominated Congress, so in a House of Representatives under Republican control, there is hardly any chance it will pass. In truth, it simply...
Crushing Inflation is Wreaking Havoc
April 17, 2023 The American middle class is under immense pressure from inflation (which the Federal Reserve is trying to fix, though causing collateral damage in the process). It wasn’t too long ago that a six-figure salary would provide a comfortable lifestyle....
Actions Have Consequences
April 10, 2023 When the Federal Reserve enters an interest rate hiking cycle, it’s said the bank continues until something breaks. Well, in the Fed’s quest to tame inflation through rate increases, something might have broken with banks. Last year was a tough one...
Student Loan Forgiveness Has Hit a Snag
April 03, 2023 Last August, the Biden administration announced it would forgive $10,000 in federal student debt ($20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) for borrowers earning less than $125,000 annually. The White House said the pandemic justified student loan...
Corporate Greed at Its Finest
March 27, 2023 We’re led to believe that shareholders benefit from corporate stock buybacks – when publicly-traded companies buy their own shares on the open market. However, despite Warren Buffett’s claims, firms’ own executives are the ones who really seem to...
You Might Live Long, But Your Money Might Not
March 20, 2023 Many Americans are living longer than expected. But there’s a difference between how long you’re likely to live, and the probability of living much longer. And if you’re unprepared, it can lead to financial regret. Sometimes people claim Social...
Good News, Bad News
March 13, 2023 I’ve been asked what’s happening lately with interest rates and inflation. To me, it’s a case of good news, bad news. The good news is inflation has fallen significantly since June 2022, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (see chart below). Many...
The Worst May Still Be Ahead
March 06, 2023 January featured rock-solid market performance, which led people to think the worst is behind us. But that may not be true. At the end of January, the Nasdaq-100, a stock index that includes the largest non-financial firms on the Nasdaq exchange, was...
New Law Allows Tax-Free Retirement Rollovers from 529 Plans
February 27, 2023 Last week we covered some major changes resulting from the new SECURE ACT 2.0 law. Now I’d like to dive deeper into one of the specific provisions – allowing rollovers from 529 college funds to Roth individual retirement accounts (IRAs) (I also...
Retirement Changes Ahead
February 20, 2023 With the late 2022 adoption of a $1.65 trillion omnibus package to keep the government funded, lawmakers made the SECURE ACT 2.0 the law of the land. The new law includes big changes to retirement account rules. Many of them affect workplace plans...
Household Debt Hits Record High
February 13, 2023 Personal finance company NerdWallet did a study on American household debt and credit card use. The results are a bit somber. For 2022, NerdWallet found the average American household has outstanding debt of $165,388. That’s up 7.65% from 2021 and...
Debt Ceiling – What’s the Point?
February 6, 2023 The U.S. debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money the government can borrow via issuing bonds. It is intended to maintain fiscally responsibility. But as it is today, the debt ceiling makes little sense. See, the government already hit the...
Is There a Limit to the Budgetary Madness?
January 30, 2023 As of this writing, the national debt stands at more than $31 trillion and it’s growing fast. Yet our fiscal budget deficit fell sharply in 2022. The national debt continued to rise because the government continues to spend more money than it...
The Spending Doesn’t Stop
January 23, 2023 Congress crafted a record federal spending bill for fiscal year 2023. The legislation totals roughly 4,000 pages (who actually read all that?!) and calls for $1.7 trillion in fresh federal government funding. It includes $772 billion for...
America’s Net Worth Plunged in 2022
January 16, 2023 Interest rates are up, and the stock market is down. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised then that America’s net worth plunged in 2022, per Federal Reserve data. The descent is primarily due to weakness in the economy earlier this year and a bear...
Rates, Recession, and Restraint
January 9, 2023 As we start 2023, everyone wants to know how high will interest rates go and if there will be a recession. Time will tell, of course. But a Federal Reserve official warned that the federal funds rate might have to hit 5-7% to get inflation under...
U.S. Markets Perhaps Taking Japanese Path
December 26, 2022 We might be in for quite a ride to nowhere with the stock market over the next several years. More specifically, I mean we might enter and remain in a sideways market. That’s when major stock indexes fluctuate up and down, but don’t create new...
Only the “Eye of the Storm”?
December 19, 2022 According to one prominent prognosticator, your savings are at risk of succumbing to another huge crash. Yeah, sure. Who is saying this? It’s someone to take seriously. It’s someone who predicted the collapse of the housing industry and resulting...
Flashes of Positivity, Though Strong Headwinds Endure
December 12, 2022 The latest stock market rallies could be more fragile than you think. As I mentioned last week, a positive dose of inflation news sent markets soaring, even though year-over-year inflation remains at its highest levels since the 1980s. Despite...
We’re Not Out of the Inflationary Woods Yet
December 05, 2022 There’s been positive news on inflation. Unsurprisingly, many stock traders and opinionators acted as if the “good ol’ days” of constantly rising markets were back. Peak inflation must be behind us, right? Well, a positive inflation reading...
Bear Markets Rally to the Bottom
November 28, 2022 September was bad for stocks. But an October rebound made everyone think all is well and it’s time to jump back in the market. That might be premature. While history isn’t guaranteed to repeat, there are certainly lessons to be learned from...
Strong Dollar Helps and Hinders
November 21, 2022 The Federal Reserve has been increasing interest rates to battle inflation. Unfortunately, it’s not evident yet if those efforts are working. The last few consumer price index (CPI) reports, which track prices consumers pay on goods and services,...
Rising Rates Cause Housing Shift
November 14, 2022 The Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates for most of 2022. We’re now starting to see the nasty ripple effects of these moves. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage, which is one of the most popular home loans, climbed to more...
Social Security Ups and Downs
November 7, 2022 The Social Security Administration announced a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 8.7% for fiscal year 2023, meaning Social Security checks soon will rise significantly. There’s only ever been a larger COLA rise three times, all during the...
Downward Debt Spiral
October 24, 2022 We see a lot of comparisons between what’s happening today and what occurred in the 1970s because it was the last time consumer price inflation was anywhere near this high. But unless you were around (and probably driving) back then, it might go...
Are Eroding Consumer Confidence, Employee Power the “New Normal”?
October 17, 2022 Despite a slight uptick recently, the U.S. consumer confidence index has been steadily falling: President Biden denies we’re in a recession, even though we just went through two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, which many consider...
Rhetoric Hides Harsh Inflation, Employment Realities
October 10, 2022 We’ve been told inflation is at a 40-year high. That’s bad enough, but if it’s calculated using traditional methods, the outlook is even worse. At the end of June, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 9.1%. That was the biggest 12-month price...
The Dark Sides of Loan Forgiveness
October 03, 2022 President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan wipes away $10,000 or $20,000 per student, depending on the type of loan, for people making $125,000 or less ($250,000 or less for married couples). It’s estimated to cost at least $400 billion but...
Headed back to Oz
September 26, 2022 See the man behind the curtain? Pay no attention to him. We’ve heard that one before, back in Oz, right? Well, as the government points to one month of favorable employment figures, it’s essentially telling us exactly that – we can’t be in a...
American Households Taking on More Debt
September 19, 2022 The nasty ripple effects of inflation can spread wide and we’re seeing it now with American households. The continual rising prices, especially on necessities like food and gas, are starting to eat into the average American’s finances. For...
Truth, Tightening, and Mistakes from the Past
September 12, 2022 In the movie “A Few Good Men,” actor Tom Cruise demands the truth from Jack Nicholson while on the witness stand during a heated trial. Nicholson then famously screams, “You can’t handle the truth!” Right now, it feels like the American people...
One of the Worst Market Stretches of All Time
September 05, 2022 The first half of 2022 was horrible for financial markets. It showcased some of the worst performance ever for both stocks and bonds. Both asset classes falling at the same time doesn’t happen often, especially for two quarters in a row (just the...
Where the Inflation Wildfire Began
August 22, 2022 When should a sitting president be held accountable for economic performance? It’s not an easy question, but I think right now could be such a time. President Biden said his policies haven’t caused the horrible inflation we’ve experienced. Yet,...
Clarifying the 2015 Social Security Changes
August 15, 2022 The Budget Act of 2015 was the last legislation that made major changes to Social Security. The main thrust behind the legislation was to forbid strategies that took advantage of spousal benefits (the use of these strategies was unforeseen when the...
Biggest Bursting Bubbles are Long, Painful
August 08, 2022 We’re experiencing a big asset bubble burst – maybe one of the biggest in history – and it could have longer to go. Over time, the largest bubbles in financial history didn’t end with anything like the S&P 500 Index’s six-month drawdown of 24%,...
2022: A First Half Recap
August 01, 2022 Let’s just be frank – the first six months of this year were awful for most stock and bonds investors. The S&P 500 has lost more than 20% of its value so far this year. That puts us in a bear market, which we haven’t truly experienced since the...
The End of “Easy Money”
July 25, 2022 I bet you can guess what one of the worst-case scenarios for the stock market, one that would make for deep losses. In fact, it’s happening right now. It’s rampant inflation. Inflation was cooking at an 8.6% annual rate in May, according to government...
Is Today’s Inflation Worse? It Might Be
July 18, 2022 In the 1970s, the U.S. experienced inflation to the tune of about 14%. Today we’re “only” around 8% inflation, so everything is fine, right? Not necessarily. Inflation now is coming far more quickly than in the 1970s. Consider that inflation began at...
Back Down to Earth, Swiftly
July 11, 2022 It’s ironic, but it seems economists are the last to the party when it comes to the economy. For instance, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently acknowledged again her misdiagnosis of inflation as transitory last year. She also said expectations of...
How Do We Fix Social Security?
July 4, 2022 The financial report for the Social Security program was released recently and the results are grim. The purpose of the report is to communicate the financial condition of the Social Security system over the next 75 years. The report is aimed at...
When the Solution is Worse than the Problem
June 27, 2022 State governments are handing out tax breaks to residents to help with inflation. Not long ago the Canadian province of Quebec, which is like a large U.S. state, was handing out $500 to every taxpayer who earned less than $100,000 annually. But it’s...
A Tough Year for Billionaires
June 20, 2022 The number of billionaires in the world and their collective net worth dropped in 2022, according to Forbes. The war in Ukraine, COVID-19, and the stock market correction have all hit the billionaires big. I know, boo hoo. Please know, this isn’t an...
The “60/40” Investment Portfolio is Likely History
June 13, 2022 Stocks are having a terrible year so far. But bonds are doing worse. There's an old saying on Wall Street, attributed to Andrew Mellon, that says, “Gentlemen prefer bonds.” And over the past 20 years, bonds have been big winners. Well, it’s all...
Stocks Trail Bonds Over Past 20 Years
June 06, 2022 Here’s a shocker most people probably don’t realize – bonds have outperformed stocks over the past two decades. This is rare and unlikely to continue. I would argue the four-decade long bond bull market is done. Even worse is that some traditionally...
Confidently Incorrect for the Long Haul
May 23, 2022 The Federal Reserve should win the award for the best place to work. It’s so good at the Fed, people don’t leave! This is going to sound like I’m bashing the Fed and its governors, but that’s not my intention. I’m pointing out some observations and how...
Federal Eyes on Taxpayer Wealth
May 16, 2022 The federal budget for fiscal year 2023 unveiled by President Biden proposed a huge new tax increase on America's wealthiest citizens. The administration labeled it a “Billionaire Minimum Income Tax” and said it brings fairness to the tax code by...
Americans Say They’re Worse Off
May 09, 2022 According to a March 2022 poll by research firm tippinsights, many Americans say they’re worse off than a year ago. Keep in mind, we just enjoyed the strongest economy in four decades. In 2021, gross domestic product was up 5.7%, and wages grew 4.7% on...
Spending Stays Hot, Despite Inflation
May 2, 2022 We’ve talked about this before, but it just won’t go away – inflation. Americans are staring at sticker shock on pretty much everything. The dollar doesn’t go as far as it did even a year ago. So how is it affecting our shopping habits? We’ll examine...
Simple Rule for Bear Market Investing
April 25, 2022 It seems we’re headed for a bear market in stocks. The Federal Reserve must raise interest rates to defeat inflation, which is at a 40-year high. As a result, monetary policy will likely tighten, money will leave the market (or less will enter), and...
U.S. Household Debt is Soaring
April 11, 2022 American households added more than $1 trillion in new debt last year, the most in any year since 2007. Total household debt rose by $1.02 trillion in 2021, to $15.6 trillion overall, the highest total ever recorded. It was boosted largely by higher...
Nothing Normal About National Debt
April 04, 2022 Our national debt recently passed $30 trillion, and nobody cares. There was barely a blip in the mainstream media. Most Americans have no idea how much we owe or that it’s virtually impossible we’ll ever pay it off. In fact, I think the only way the...
Off Track with a Smaller Big Mac
March 28, 2022 There’s an old economic indicator called The Big Mac Index, which is a lighthearted analysis from The Economist that compares purchasing power parity via the price of a McDonalds Big Mac hamburger. The index compares the Big Mac price in different...
Retirees with Guaranteed Income Comfortable Spending More
March 21, 2022 When markets rise, the case for retirees spending more strengthens. Yet, many retirees are hesitant to spend. Why? We don’t want to run out of money! We don’t know how long we’ll live, how much things will cost, or how our investments will perform....
You Can’t Miss What You Don’t Have
March 14, 2022 There’s a secret to investing that’s followed by the best, including Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, George Soros, Ray Dalio, and even Albert Einstein. What is it? Learn what to avoid. Most financial advice is positive because that’s what resonates...
Buy High, Sell Low, Don’t Diversify is an Unfortunate Reality
March 07, 2022 What’s given can be taken away. It’s certainly true in stock market investing. Take money inflows and outflows from active and passive exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as funds that track market indexes, for instance. Last year, net inflows into...
Interest Rate Hikes Could Sink Federal Budget
February 28, 2022 Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy no longer needs or wants highly accommodative monetary policies, so the Fed is going to raise interest rates to curb inflation. However, higher interest rates mean higher borrowing costs. As a...
Job Market on Fire
February 14, 2022 Choose any metric you’d like, it’s clear the U.S. job market is strong and getting stronger. The pandemic introduced a new set of labor dynamics. With the labor market being extremely tight right now, employers are hanging on to existing workers...
The IRS is a Mess
February 7, 2022 The IRS had a terrible 2021 and this year looks even worse. Millions of people experienced unusually long processing times last year. Lengthy waits, delayed refunds, and general confusion made interactions with the IRS more frustrating than ever....
A Possible Snap Back Ahead
January 31, 2022 A bullwhip effect may be coming to the U.S. economy. I’m talking about the full Indiana Jones whip crack treatment. In economic terms, that means distorted demand misinforms the supply chain, turning shortages into surpluses and “out of stock” into...
No Housing Slowdown in Sight
January 24, 2022 House prices rose almost 20% in 2021. What can we expect this year? Many buyers know about bidding wars. They were common last year. So, it’s not surprising to see a new record 19.8% increase in home prices between Aug. 2020-Aug. 2021. There’s been...
User Error Can Be Costly
January 17, 2022 Beginning in the 1990s, DALBAR Inc.’s Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior (QAIB) report is an annual report on individual investor behavior. It has been updated every year for 27 years to reveal the performance of the average annual equity...
Picking Stocks? You Have a 2.4% Chance of Winning Big
January 10, 2022 It’s the first post of the year and I’d like to provide some perspective, and depending on your point of view, some encouragement. You probably already knew this, but just in case, I want to make it clear how picking the best stocks is extremely...
A Common Concern Among Americans
December 27, 2021 To end the year, let’s take a look at America and the concerns of its citizens. In a recent poll, Americans were asked about their top worries and the answers were sorted by political party. I thought most people would worry about the same things....
Quicken the Taper to Shrink the Sheet
December 20, 2021 The Federal Reserve has started to “taper.” That means it is reducing its enormous buying of bonds by $15 billion per month ($10 billion in Treasury bills, $5 billion in mortgage-backed securities). The reduction should be complete around July...
Help Wanted Signs Everywhere
December 13, 2021 Take a look across the country. Almost everywhere, including Amazon, Starbucks, UPS, IBM, and many more, there is a labor shortage along with a resulting hike in wages aimed at attracting and retaining workers. McDonald's raised hourly wages by an...
The Holiday Travel Crisis
December 6, 2021 Recently, the busy travel period between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day kicked off. But the airline industry is facing a big issue – labor problems. We've all heard about American Airlines and Southwest Airlines cancelling thousands of flights....
The Ticking Taper Clock
November 22, 2021 The Federal Reserve should begin scaling back some of its extraordinary pandemic stimulus measures soon. It has foreshadowed a sunset on its huge bond buying program, which should help avoid another “taper tantrum,” like in 2013. Back then,...
Quick Economic Turn Invites Uncertainty
November 15, 2021 Unfortunately, the U.S. economy has taken a significant turn downward. The economy grew by a 4.3% annualized rate in the fourth quarter of last year, 6.3% for first quarter of 2021, and 6.7% in second quarter of this year. The growth since...
What is “Infrastructure”?
November 8, 2021 Unsurprisingly, the infrastructure bill boondoggle remains stuck. The Build Back Better Act is 2,466 pages long and aims to expand our social safety net and combat climate change. If it passes, it will be the largest government spending program...
A Costlier Christmas
November 1, 2021 Come Christmas, I wouldn’t be surprised to see gas around $5 per gallon and oil at 20 times that - $100 per barrel. Everyone will feel it, and in some parts of the country, they already are. This should surprise nobody. Once the economy got up and...
The Pandemic May Have Killed College
October 25, 2021 When the COVID-19 pandemic forced many colleges and universities to switch to virtual learning, it likely killed their business model. This spring, college enrollments dropped by more than 600,000, the largest decline ever. This means fewer...
Inflation, Scarcity, and the Costlier Burger
October 18, 2021 Inflation is all over the place. On top of that, you may have noticed some empty shelves in your local stores. My wife called me the other day and said she could hardly get anything at the grocery store. Well, as you may know, the first rule of...
Quick Economic Turn Invites Uncertainty
November 15, 2021 Unfortunately, the U.S. economy has taken a significant turn downward. The economy grew by a 4.3% annualized rate in the fourth quarter of last year, 6.3% for first quarter of 2021, and 6.7% in second quarter of this year. The growth since...
“Tax the Rich” Taxes Everyday Americans
October 11, 2021 A lynchpin in the hopeful passage of the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill is that “the rich” will pay for it all. Well, I wouldn’t count on it. Tax-happy folks say it’s only fair to make wealthy Americans and corporations pay for everything. I’m...
Is the Government Running Out of Money?
October 4, 2021 The clock is ticking on the government’s cash balance. The debate on the federal debt ceiling, which is the government’s Congressionally approved spending limit, is an ongoing political game of hot potato. Congress gets dangerously close to the...
The Car Market is Insane
September 27, 2021 This is a terrible time to buy a car. Not only are dealer inventories low, prices for new and used vehicles are through the roof. The inflation in the automotive market is borderline astounding. A big reason is the industry has been hobbled for...
From Hypergrowth to No Growth
September 20, 2021 I’m not sure I want to know what would happen if the world, the global economy, businesses, stock markets, governments, and everything just stopped growing, though I may find out. I’m not a growth zealot. I like growth, but I also know it ebbs...
Trust, Common Ground, and Confidence in America
September 13, 2021 According to Gallup's annual survey that ranks confidence in some of our most important institutions – including police, churches, labor unions, public schools, television stations, newspapers, and even Congress – Americans are less trustworthy....
“Step Up Basis” Repeal Stepping Down
September 7, 2021 President Biden hasn’t been able to pass many tax increases. We should all be happy. One tax benefit that remains (for now) is the continuation of the so-called “step up basis” when inheriting an asset. If repealed, the economic consequences would...
Don’t Believe TINA
August 23, 2021 Today’s market often elicits the acronym TINA – there is no alternative – as in there is no alternative to stocks if you want to make money. I don’t agree. Taking on immense risk isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. To such people, I say take solace, there...
The Case for Health Savings Accounts
August 16, 2021 According to Fidelity, a 65-year-old, opposite-gendered couple retiring this year can expect to spend $300,000 in healthcare and medical expenses throughout retirement. For single retirees, it’s $157,000 for women and $143,000 for men. That’s a lot...
Is this Inflation Really Temporary?
August 9, 2021 The government keeps telling us the inflation is “transitory,” or temporary. But is it? The Commerce Department reported the consumer price index (CPI) jumped to an annualized rate of 5.4% in June, the highest level since August 2008. Core CPI, which...
The Assault on Wealth Continues
August 2, 2021 The quest to tax private wealth experienced two recent victories. First, at the G7 meeting in England, world leaders (including President Biden) endorsed the creation of a new worldwide tax regime, starting with a 15% global minimum tax on all...
Three Steps to Inflation
July 19, 2021 There’s a threat coming for your portfolio – inflation. Inflation hampers those who live on savings and generate income from wealth. If you planned to earn a certain amount of money per year from investments, that same amount is now worth less. For...
The Modernity of Money
July 12, 2021 Maybe you’ve heard of modern monetary theory. Basically, it argues that developed nations with their own sovereign currencies should be able to print as much money as they want, and federal deficits, however large, should not matter. In other words,...
Endless Debt
July 6, 2021 It’s time to discuss a question I've been asking for 40 years – when will our national debt create a financial crisis? This topic became interesting to me when Ronald Reagan was president because I was a big Reagan supporter. That is, I was a supporter...
Speeding Up the Trickle Down
June 28, 2021 While on one hand President Biden says America is ready to take off, on the other he seems to want to take from earners and redistribute that wealth to non-earners. The president wants the IRS to target high-earning Americans he thinks may be...
Taxation Driving Relocation
June 21, 2021 The average American will pay $525,037 in taxes over their lifetime, according to a new study by financial technology company Self. For the purposes of the study, income taxes, state and local taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, and taxes on...
Inflation Psychology is Not “Transitory”
June 14, 2021 Inflation is here folks. The latest inflation data show readings of 4.6% on the Consumer Price Index and 6.2% on the Producer Price Index, which are both huge jumps. Everywhere you read, the Federal Reserve said the inflation is transitory, as in it...
The Difficulty of Hiring
June 7, 2021 The April 2021 jobs report may be the most disappointing of all time. Analysts expected the U.S. to add a million new jobs, but it was a paltry 266,000. The mismatch between consensus expectations and reality was the largest since 1998. Worse yet, the...
Fumbling Deeper into Uncertainty
May 24, 2021 There is a confluence of potentially disastrous financial events ahead, and we seem to be barreling head-first into the storm without regard. Let’s start with business taxes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s call for a minimum global corporate...
Stepping On the “Stepped-Up Basis” Rule
May 17, 2021 It’s a bit odd when the party claiming to be for everyone – the Democratic Party – wants to eliminate a law from 1954 that benefits almost all Americans. But here we are. President Biden, along with Democrats in the House and Senate, want to eliminate...
We Can’t Withstand Another New Deal
May 10, 2021 The current policies of taxing and spending are like playing with financial fire – eventually you’ll get burnt. In 1933, with the country mired in the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set his sights on creating the most comprehensive...
Spending Could Exceed Output
May 03, 2021 President Biden must think his access to taxpayer money is limitless. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2021 ballooned to $1 trillion in five months (October 2020 – February 2021), which is the...
Modern Debt Apparently Doesn’t Matter
April 26, 2021 As our post-pandemic world evolves, one thing seems clear – we are encompassed in what’s called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The concept behind MMT is debt doesn't matter for those issuing the world’s reserve currency. In MMT, the only thing that...
The Business Cycle is Broken
April 19, 2021 Companies have historically gone through a “business cycle” with periods of growth, contraction, stagnation, and so on. In the past, we’d have expansions and recessions, and authorities would generally stay out of the way to let nature take its...
Like Social Security for Kids
April 12, 2021 In a sky-is-blue revelation, it turns out Americans who are eligible for $1,400 direct payments under the American Rescue Plan support direct government payments to individual Americans. When including the latest nearly $2 trillion stimulus plan,...
Debt as Rocket Fuel
April 5, 2021 It seems the U.S. economy is set to take off. The Commerce Department reported in February that fourth quarter 2020 gross domestic product (GDP) rose 4.1 percent, which was stronger than anticipated. As a result, many forecasters are raising their...
Recovery Efforts Widen American Divide
March 22, 2021 We’ve discussed letter-based economic recovery patterns in the past. This is when a recovery path takes the form of a letter in graphical form. Currently we seem to be in a K-shaped recovery where the upward facing part of the “K” resembles mostly...
Panic, Euphoria, and Grandma’s Stock Picks
March 15, 2021 There is good news on the pandemic. Vaccinations are up. Cases are down, as are deaths. This brings hope for everyone. But for the stock market, it’s as if the pandemic never happened, save for a few weeks of plunging prices last spring. And now...
9 Million Reasons There Could Be Another Recession
March 8, 2021 Here’s one for the “this could never be good news” file. By the end of the year, a third of U.S. small businesses could close, according to the troubling findings of a Federal Reserve report on American small businesses. The Fed stated around 9...
The Worst Kind of Inflation
March 1, 2021 Not so long ago, retiring with a comfortable nest egg took time, but it was possible. From the late 1960s to 2007 the average interest paid on a 10-year government bond was 7 percent. So, if you worked hard and put your money away in a bond portfolio...
An Electrifying Bubble Waiting to Burst?
February 22, 2021 If you don’t think there’s a bubble brewing in the stock market, look no further than Tesla. The electric car maker’s stock opened 2020’s first trading day at a split-adjusted $89.40 per share. It closed on the last trading day of 2020 at $705.67...
The Exploding American Poverty Rate
February 15, 2021 As the COVID-19 pandemic spikes again and federal stimulus trails need, the U.S. poverty rate is exploding at a rate never seen before. In fact, nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty over the last five months alone, a new study...
Airlines Creeping Back, But It’s a Long Haul
February 8, 2021 Many people travelled over the holiday period, prompting a rebound in U.S. air traffic. Looking at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint crossings on a year-over-year basis, after initially dropping by more than 90 percent during...
The Outlier Year’s Outliers
February 1, 2021 For many reasons, 2020 won’t soon be forgotten. But it stood out in history because five events occurred that we’ve never encountered and may never see again (though nobody knows the future). Economic Whirlwind The decline in U.S. gross domestic...
The Misguidedness of Forgiving Student Loans
January 18, 2021 Want to hear a universally bad idea? Many of the most liberal Democrats want to give away $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loans. The average student loan debt is $35,000. President-elect Joseph Biden wants to forgive $10,000 of every student...
Five Reasons for a Rapid Rebound
December 28, 2020 To end the year, here’s some positive news – Joe Biden is about to inherit a dream economy. We’re led to believe President-elect Biden will be commanding a damaged, COVID-riddled economy that could take years to return to prosperity. And Mr. Biden...
Restrictions, Lack of Support Killing Businesses Nationwide
December 21, 2020 According to Yelp’s most recent economic impact report, more than 163,000 U.S. businesses have shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year. That’s bad, but it gets worse. Yelp also reports 98,000, or 60 percent, of those businesses are gone...
Local Governments Face Big Problems
December 14, 2020 There is a budding issue in local and state governments. See, the economic balance that we saw in the summer seems to have run its course. I think we know why – the growth was mostly artificial, generated by money consumers received from...
A Tale of Two Senates
December 7, 2020 Joe Biden is going to be the president, and a lot of what I read indicates he could well enter office as the weakest president since Jimmy Carter. Now, presuming the Senate stays Republican (which is not a given because of two January runoff races...
Big Fish Get Bigger
November 23, 2020 COVID-19 unleashed a tsunami of destruction. Whole industries are transforming, and some are being wiped out altogether. The industry that’s perhaps been damaged most by the pandemic is the restaurant business. It’s been gutted. According to Yelp...
Social Security, Medicare Changes for 2021
November 9, 2020 There are important updates to Social Security and Medicare on the way – some good, some bad. Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s changing. In welcome news, Social Security checks will rise 1.3 percent in 2021. The cost of living adjustment (COLA)...
Dan White is an Official Ed Slott Master Elite IRA Advisor
As a member of Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group℠ Dan White trains with Ed Slott and his team of IRA Experts on a continual basis. All members of Ed Slott’s Elite Advisor Group pass a background check, complete requisite training, attend semi-annual workshops and webinars, and complete mandatory exams. They are immediately notified of changes to the tax code and updates on retirement planning, so you can be sure your retirement dollars are safe from unnecessary taxes and fees.
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