Wealth Management News & Insights
Investment Insights – Keith R. Schicker, CFA, Portfolio Manager
- What is Investing? Investing is the foundational principle to protect and build wealth. In fact, it is virtually impossible to build wealth without investing. It can be done otherwise of course, though you can’t count on winning the lottery and ill-gotten gains will land you in jail. That leaves investing as the only viable option. So what is investing then? [READ MORE]
Primary Sources
- Berkshire Hathaway 2022 Letter: Berkshire had a good year in 2022. The company’s operating earnings – our term for income calculated using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), exclusive of capital gains or losses from equity holdings – set a record at $30.8 billion. [Berkshire Hathaway]
- Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee: A joint meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System was held in the offices of the Board of Governors on Tuesday, January 31, 2023. [FRB]
Financial Markets
- Long-Robust U.S. Labor Market Shows Signs of Cooling: Private-sector readings show job postings receding more than government reports of job openings. [WSJ]
- The World Economy Is Doing Well—This Is Bad News for Central Bankers: Surprising signs of economic vitality from the U.S. to China and Europe are complicating the fight to bring down high inflation. [WSJ]
- How Gas From Texas Becomes Cooking Fuel in France: Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Europe is importing U.S. natural gas like never before to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories. [WSJ]
- Germany, Italy Signal They Could Block EU Combustion-Engine Ban: Opposition to a major plank of the bloc’s climate plans comes as the move to EVs threatens jobs in Europe. [WSJ]
- Investors Are Going Nuts for ChatGPT-ish Artificial Intelligence: Since chatgpt was launched in November, a new mini-industry has mushroomed that has defied the broader slump in tech. [Economist]
Financial Planning
- Financial Literacy for Women: How to Raise a Fearless Woman: Being open with your daughters about your own financial planning and focusing on the areas of financial literacy, budgeting and investing can help her become a financially secure woman. [Kiplinger]
Tax Planning
- WSJ Tax Guide 2023: Changes to watch for this year include disappearing charitable deductions and smaller refunds. [WSJ]
- Don’t Forget These Tax Changes as You Prepare Your 2022 Returns: For starters, the filing deadline isn’t April 15 this year. [WSJ]
- The Tax Play That Saves Some Couples Big Bucks: Married, but filing separately: A growing number of Americans are choosing to submit their taxes independent of their spouse. Here’s why. [WSJ]
- Not Always Tax-Free: 7 Municipal Bond Tax Traps: Although municipal bonds pay interest that is generally exempt from federal and state income taxes, it’s not always free from all taxes. [Schwab]
Retirement Planning
- SECURE 2.0: Now It’s Law – What Individual Investors and Employers Need to Know: After passing the House in late March 2022, The Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0), was signed into law on December 29, 2022, under the Consolidated Appropriations Act. [Michael Silver]
Business Strategy
- At Marc Benioff’s Salesforce, It’s One Big Family—Until Trouble Hits: The $160 billion business-software company has joined the tech industry’s retrenchment, laying off thousands. [WSJ]
- How AI Is Helping Companies Redesign Processes: AI enables better, faster and more automated decisions, allowing companies to improve efficiency and produce better outcomes. Companies — from banks to industrial firms — are already using AI to transform their processes. [HBR]
- From Bing to Sydney: This sounds hyperbolic, but I feel like I had the most surprising and mind-blowing computer experience of my life today. One of the Bing issues I didn’t talk about yesterday was the apparent emergence of an at-times combative personality. [Stratechery]
- How to Make a Career Pivot — Without Taking a Pay Cut: Making a career transition is never easy — and it may feel impossible when financial responsibilities get in the way. [HBR]
Life & Work
- Four Ways to Speed Up—and Clean Up—Your Smartphone: Is your iPhone or Android slow and glitchy? It can pay to periodically follow these simple steps to make it run faster and smoother. [WSJ]
- Defending Its Rankings, U.S. News Takes Aim at Top Law Schools: The publication accuses Yale and other schools of trying to evade accountability — and sidestep a likely end to affirmative action — by opting out of its ratings. [NYT]
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