Inflation is something most Americans don’t think about much, but it has a significant influence on all of our financial lives. Not only does inflation impact the prices of consumer goods; but the federal government also uses it as a benchmark in determining whether to increase contribution limits to qualified retirement plans or to raise […]
Category: Self-Directed IRA and The Economy
Protecting your Retirement from a Financial Crisis
So first thing’s first, I’m not the fear-mongering type. I personally really hate it when pundits prey on people’s worst instincts. But there is, unfortunately, something to be said for financial forecasting, right? It’s more (at least somewhat) more science-based, and less I’ve-got-a-feeling-something-bad-is-gonna-happen. There are patterns and signs for what’s to come, and we know […]
What We See For Self Directed IRAs in 2013
No one has a crystal ball and no one is 100% accurate in trying to predict the US economy. However, as wrong as people may be at a detailed level, its not too hard to see larger, more macro trends with some good level of predictability and accuracy. As such, we are seeing 2013 as […]
How Quickly Our Perception Of Paper Currency Can Change
Recently my bank started issuing $50 and $100 bills from the ATM machine. Every time I go to a store or restaurant to spend one these crisp bills, the clerk or the waiter either holds the bills up and scrutinize them like they are analyzing a diamond, or they call over a manager who is […]
Real Estate Update – Housing and The Self Directed IRA
The recent housing starts for October 2012 shows a 3.6% improvement. The south and midwest regions of the country are showing the most robustness. The chart below shows the historical housing starts numbers. Chart: Housing Starts What we see if that the bottom has been formed with clear support. Starting in Jan 2012 we see […]
Holding Gold Is Better Than Paper – Self Directed IRA Update
There is another, pronounced trend taking place in the metals markets. There appears to be a significant shift to holding physical gold. As evidence of this trend, we refer you to the chart below which shows the yearly net change in demand for physical gold versus the amount of demand for holding paper gold via […]
Q3-2012 Precious Metals Self Directed IRA Update
The World Gold Council just released their Q3-2012 Gold update. We thought that we would review some of the highlights. Q3 Summary Gold (US$/oz) returned 11.1% in the third quarter as investors responded to further central bank measures aimed at stimulating the economy. Volatility decreased during the period, with gold prices experiencing little movement in […]
Real Estate Trend Update And Self Directed IRAs
The Sept 2012 housing starts numbers are out and they show a significant change of 15% month to month change. Before everyone starts singing Happy Days Are Here Again, these numbers need to be put into proper perspective. First of all this is a very large number the likes of which have not been seen […]
Inflation Shows Its Taking Hold And What This Means For Self Directed IRAs
Wholesale inflation shows that prices increased by 4.7% for energy related goods and 0.2% for food. That is a total of 4.9% annual increase in the price of energy and foods. Core inflation (what the good ‘ol Fed and government uses) shows around 2.3%. What does this mean? What these numbers reflect is: 1. Inflation […]
The Sept Jobs Number – Self Directed IRA Update
The Sept 2012 jobs numbers came out and shows a decline in unemployment to 7.8% — down from 8.1%. Really? Does this seem plausible. The net number of new jobs created was 114,000. That is a very low, weak number and is not even enough to maintain steady state for the overall economy. So what’s […]