More and more self-driving cars are hitting the road, as companies like UBER and GOOGLE enter the fray. Technology has always been seen as a good thing, but self-driving TRUCKS could soon be cutting into the livelihoods of nearly two million American truck drivers on the open Road. Truck driving actually is bigger than that--over 5 million people drive a truck for a living and in 29 states it is the number one occupation and the highest paying job that does not require a college education. That doesn't count the thousands of employees, small businesses, and wage earners who support truck drivers--at truck stops, gas stations, and distribution centers. Is the move to driverless trucks recessionary and deflationary? Steve and Sinclair have the fact-filled report... then CPA Nick Stefaniak is in the house to talk about taxes, taxes, and more taxes!
What is your investment personality, and what style of investing is the best fit for your risk profile? Today Steve and Sinclair review six different investing styles: Top-down vs Bottom-up investing, fundamental vs technical, and contrarian vs dividend investing. Then, IRS Enrolled Agent Doris Milton from H & R Block is here to discuss last minute tax deductions and planning for 2017.
Early retirement was once the rage, but Baby Boomers are bucking that trend...people are working longer these days according to the Wall Street Journal, and now more than 60% of those working over the age of 65 are working full time--up from 44% in 1995. But the reason is not economics--more and more people are working because they want to, not because they have to. Steve and Sinclair have the Wall Street Journal report.
Some investment advisors like to tout the so-called Endowment Model of investing--mimicking the investment methods of the endowment funds of Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League schools. Once upon a time it was working. But through 2015, according to data from Harvard, which tracks 812 schools, the average endowment earned only 6.3% a year over the last 10 years before fees, compared with 6.8% for a passive 60%/40% blend of U.S. stocks and bonds. Steve and Sinclair have the Fortune Magazine report on an idea that may appear to be floundering!
Pop-up stores are popping up all over! This Christmas season, many mall owners are allocating about 5% of their leasable space to tenants that are "here today, gone tomorrow"--housed in white plastic modules inside spaces vacated by big tenants like Macy's and the Gap.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports there may be trouble brewing in multi-family and Commercial Real Estate as a stealth provision of the Dodd-Frank bill kicks in before Donald Trump takes office... Then Steve points out how to increase your income and lower your fees with a new type of annuity benefit rider with a 20% benefit bonus.
The key numbers needed to calculate one of the most REVERED stock picking metrics is usually found on a company's cash flow statement. Learn what it is and why Warren Buffett and other legendary stock legends rely on it! Then estate planning attorney Richard Dwornik explains what to look for to know if your living trust is out of date.
Which store do you like better--Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops? Find out why the companies have merged and how they got started in a special Wall Street Journal report. Then Steve clears up how bonuses work on retirement annuities!
Many experts warn against relying on Monte Carlo simulations to choose investments, because of the human tendency to see what we want to see. Psychologists call it Confirmation Bias. Steve and Sinclair discuss the pro's and cons of Monte Carlo simulation charts--and how they can lead to some very costly mistakes and poor money decisions!