Tuesday September 29th @ 9:00PM, many of us will be glued to the television for our Presidential Boxing Match Debate. Will we find out anything new? Will it move the polls? One thing is for sure, the media will have more material to spin for a few weeks. Will it be an Ali v. Frazier, a Sugar Ray Leanord v. Roberto Duran style fight?? I don’t think so!
This upcoming election is significant (not telling you anything you don’t know)! In addition to electing our next President, over 400 House of Representatives and over 30 Senate seats are up for grabs. The overall result (power) is what will really matters for the direction of our country, and of course, our economy.
The markets will look to end an orderly 4-week negative return on the major stock indexes. Last week, Dow Jones dropped (1.75%), the S&P 500 (.61%), and the Russell 2000 lost (4.01%).
The Nasdaq Composite however rose 1.11% with hope that the quick pullback in technology is oversold, for now.
This week, in addition to the debate, Supreme Court situation, AN
D Trump’s Tax returns, we’ll watch the progress on the new Democratic stimulus proposal. Additionally, this Friday is the first Friday of the month, so we’ll hear the monthly job report, which is extremely important.
Regardless of what happens, as of now, people are out spending money which is certainly positive for our economic recovery as well as support for our equity markets. I only wish I could guess the end result of Covid-19 and the results of the elections!
Social Security Trust Fund Update
The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released its outlook for our Major Trust Funds including what’s most important to our readers, the Social Security Retirement Fund, called the OASI (Old-Age and Survivors Insurance) Trust Fund. Prior to the Covid-19 situation, it was commonly known this trust fund would be exhausted in approximately year 2033-2034. The CBO now projects the trust will be exhausted during the year 2031. This assumes of course that FICA taxes continue to be paid based on the CBO’s projections. So, it appears that Covid has erased 3 years of trust fund money increasing the need for quality reform sooner than before.
I believe we will in fact see reform to our Social Security System that will impact future benefits, FICA taxes, etc. I also believe that people who are 60 plus will not see any significant change to their benefit structure or monthly benefits.
I’ll be providing more insight to the solvency of the program, as well as strategies for those who have not yet applied, at our upcoming Social Security Workshop on Tuesday October 13th, 6:30pm @ Woodcrest Country Club. If you or someone you know is interested in attending, please feel free to RSVP on our website.
Our other trust funds; the Disability Income, the Medicare Trust Funds and our Highway Trust funds are actually in more dire condition than Social Security.
Medicare Open Enrollment Approaching
It’s that time of the year again, Medicare Open Enrollment! Between October 15th and December 7th, certain coverages can be shopped and changed with an effective date of January 1, 2020. You can change:
- From one Medicare Advantage plan to another Medicare Advantage Plan
- From Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare (including a Medicare Supplement and a Part D drug plan) You may need to medically qualify for the supplement (Medigap) plan.
- From your current Part D prescription Drug plan to another Part D plan.
During the month of November, we’ll be featuring information about the various parts of Medicare (A, B, C, D, & Gap), enrollment periods, as well as advantages & disadvantages of each. Please make sure you follow us on either LinkedIn or Facebook as this is where all of this information will be posted.
What is the correct coverage when you retire? Spend the next 90 seconds watching our video — “How Do I Choose Medicare Coverage When I Retire?”
10 Retirement Readiness Decisions
There are several topics that must be decided as you enter and proceed through your retirement. Please feel free to download our e-book here. I’m sure you’ll agree, you absolutely need to address each and every one of the 10 Decisions!
