A new survey from JPMorgan Chase revealed that 21% of Americans don’t have brokerage accounts, or have any other way to invest other than their company 401K or pension plan.
Even a few hundred dollars a month put in a brokerage account, invested in the stock market and allowed to grow over multiple decades can make a difference in the long term.
Please go to: finance.yahoo.com/video/why-many-americans-don-t-142910567.html
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Concept, self driving and electric vehicles at #CES2020 in Las Vegas Above, Mercedes-Benz VISION AVTR (ADVANCED VEHICLE TRANSFORMATION) is a groundbreaking concept vehicle developed in close collaboration with the AVATAR team. This concept vehicle embodies the vision of Mercedes-Benz designers, … Continue reading
Take some lessons from the mistakes many retirees made during the downturn that socked stocks in 2008. By adjusting accordingly, you don’t have to fear outliving your retirement portfolio, even if you’re about to retire.
How can someone who’s approaching retirement, or is already retired, better handle the next financial crisis?
Although many might say the economy is going through a healthy pullback, there is no doubt that another financial crisis will come at some point. Be sure to avoid making the same mistakes so many retirees did in 2008.
Updated: January 15, 2020′ 1:35 PM
Friday, January 10, 2020 | 2020 Consumer Electronic Show ( #CES ) in Las Vegas. ( #CES2020 )
#CES brought together manufacturers, retailers, media and market leaders from across the globe. It offers outstanding network opportunities for the 170K plus attendees, and it showcased the future of consumer technologies and innovation. Furthermore, CES has evolved from a show about consumer electronics to a “showcase of technology and innovation” that influences every aspect of people’s lives.
Below are a few lessons learned and observations over four days attending #CES2020 in Las Vegas from January 7 – 10, 2020:
• Lyft deployed 100 robo taxis to operate during #CES2020 on the congested streets of Las Vegas using Qualcomm technology to safely navigate the street and deliver passengers to their destination. The taxis can be scheduled using the Lyft app after accepting an user’s agreement. As per the user’s agreement, there are non-robots safety observers riding along in the robo-taxis with passengers.
• Hyundai and other manufacturers unveiled flying air passenger vehicle concepts at #CES2020. Hyundai’s displayed a Uber air taxi tilt rotor concept capable of carrying four passengers plus pilot with top cruise speed of 150 mph and max speed of 180 mph. The Hyundai PAV “S-A1” is expected to be operational as early as 2030. #CES2020hyundaisa1
• 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology. It is projected to have greater bandwidth capacity, significantly faster mobile data speeds (to around 1Gbps according to Qualcomm’s CEO) and lower latency. It is expected to usher in intelligence cities and to allow vehicle-to-vehicle communications which is critical to self-driving cars. While 3G and 4G technology brought increased speeds and higher capacity to the wireless network, one CES2020 speaker described 5G as an use case technology; that it will enhance everything we do. 5G is expected to deliver faster download speeds, real-time responses, and enhanced connectivity permitting improved mobile streaming and and gaming experiences.
• IBM Watson in partnership with ESPN Fantasy Football have an initiative leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to project player performance weekly for fantasy football. The initiative has been operational for three years and the results according to the IBM rep had been positive. Watson AI is able to consume and analyze tens of thousands of documents, including news articles, blog posts, videos and podcasts every week during the football season. This analysis yield insight that’s presented to users through the ESPN Fantasy Football app and website. It projects how likely a given player, such as Seahawk’s QB Russell Wilson, would score on the high or low end of their ESPN-predicted points range. Watson provided to users the probability of a player scoring more than their projected point total (“boom”) or less than their projected point total (“bust”).
• Diversity, inclusion and belonging for women and people of color in the technology industry have been thoroughly discussed during this year’s conference and previous conferences. Although the topic has been a point of discussion for more than two decades, corporate executives continue to site the perennial excuses of unconscious bias and lack of diverse talent in the pipeline for reasons the problem continues to persist. Submit that the more likely actual reasons are that executives are not being held accountable and there is little dedicated effort on the part of boards and executives to solve the problem.
• American Express sponsored a lounge during #CES2020 located in the North Hall of LVCC. The lounge offered #AMEX Business card holders a place to relax, recharge mobile phones, obtain a hot cup of coffee and enjoy a reprieve from the hectic pace of #CES. Overall, the lounge proved quite popular with show attendees and lines continuously queued at the entrance to take advantage of the many amenities offered by the hosts.
• Global video gaming and esports are booming and their presence at #CES2020 reflected their meteoric rise in popularity. In the LVCC Central Hall, several dozen original equipment manufacturers of gaming systems and periphery equipment were on display. The periphery equipment ranged from items that would enhanced the gaming experience to the weird / unnecessary items that hope to attract the gullible few. Gaming appears to be in the gold rush fever stage phase of its growth. One gaming expert commented during a session that video gaming and esports tournaments have awarded more than $500 million in prize money.
• Delta Airlines made a spectacular first-time appearance at #CES2020 showing off its technology to improve the passenger’s flying experience. The company revealed it app that will queue passengers for boarding, provide real time tracking of baggage and update fliers on traffic conditions on their route to the airport using information provided by their partnership with Lyft. Additionally, Delta displayed a robotic exoskeleton that their employees would don to aid in lifting heavy equipment and in baggage handling.
• The proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ omitted during #CES2020 was related to the technology sins of intellectual property (IP) theft, forced technology transfers and hacking by China. We can only assume that the technology sins have had a negative impact on domestic and non-Chinese foreign companies exhibiting at the the Show. Cognizant of the consequences the NBA and its players experienced in 2019 for commenting on Chinese bad behavior, it is somewhat understandable why (CES desires to maintain its favorable relationship with China) serious discussions regarding Chinese technology sins have been omitted during #CES2020.
• It appeared that every television original equipment manufacturer brand (Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, Sharp, Haier, Hisense, etc.) unveiled an 8K television during #CES2020. The 8K televisions displayed impressive resolution, amazing picture quality and definition. The displays were simply astonishing. And, most unveiled an 128-inch display that made observers feel integrated or actually present with the virtual image. As a result of advent of 8K, 4K HD television costs to consumers have fallen dramatically.
The Urban Institute’s Signe-Mary McKernan says that savings and wealth discrepancies are more critical than often-cited income inequality. By one measure, she found racial wealth inequality, or assets minus debts, to be three times worse than income inequality. Disadvantaged groups are less likely to own homes. Many aren’t offered retirement plans through employers, or they participate less frequently.
Inadequate retirement savings carry serious long-term implications for governments as well as citizens. They create an expanding cohort of residents who have to rely on government services or who might, for instance, miss property tax payments because they can’t pay other bills. “It matters not only for families and individuals, but for their cities and communities,” McKernan says.
— Read on www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-retirement-inequality-savings-gap.html
Have you discovered a gap between the income you’d like to have in retirement and the income you think you’ll get based on your investments and current savings rate? It happens to lots of people.
“They have a number in mind about how much they need to save before they can retire,” says Will Larson, Retirement Planning Strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors. “Sometimes they can get there and sometimes they can’t.”
As concerning as it might be to discover a retirement income gap, knowing it’s there is the first step in closing it — usually by increasing your income and assets, reducing retirement spending, or both.
— Read on communications.wellsfargoadvisors.com/lifescapes/8-ways-close-retirement-income-gap/
If you want to get out of debt and build wealth…spend less than you earn.
The wider the gap between what you earn and what you spend can remain constant or grow, the greater your cash flow and the more financial success you’ll achieve.
WEALTH = WHAT YOU EARN – WHAT YOU SPEND
Frugality is an important part of personal finance. When you decrease your expenses, your cash flow increases.
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.” Charles Dickens
There’s no magical way to change the fundamentals of personal finance. Although. there is one irrefutable financial truth…to build wealth, you must spend less than you earn.
Spend less than you earn is a golden rule of personal finance.
“Why would you wake up in the morning, leave your family, not do what you want with your day, go to work all day long for 8, 9, 10 hours a day, commute back home, get up and do it all over again? Why would you do this 5 days a week, 4 weeks out of the month, 12 months out of the year? Why would you do all that to earn money and not pay yourself first? Most people pay everyone else before themselves: the government, their creditors, and their bill collectors. Everybody else gets paid first and then if anything’s left over, then they pay themselves. That system stinks and is designed for you to fail financially. If that’s the system you’re using right now, and you don’t have money, that’s why. The odds are set up against you. It’s too tough for you to get rich if you’re paying everybody else first. You need to change this. You need to completely redirect your income so the first person who gets paid is you.” David Bach, The Automatic Millionaire
Paying yourself first is often referred to as “the golden rule of personal finance.” Paying yourself first means saving before you do anything else with your paycheck, like paying bills, buying groceries, or shopping. You allocate a percentage of your pay or income to a savings or investment account. Paying yourself first prioritizes savings and investing, but not at the expense of necessary expenses like housing, utilities and insurance.
If you deposit money directly into savings or brokerage account every time you get paid, you may be less likely to spend it on your everyday expenses. Following this system can help you foster a habit of saving that will add up over time and help you be prepared for retirement or unexpected expenses.
A good target is to save 10 – 15% of your take-home pay and put it toward your savings and investment goals. Saving even $125 or $150 a month is one small step you can take to help you get into the habit.
The first bill you pay each month should be to yourself.
By paying yourself first, you make saving a top priority. You make it a priority to pay your savings and investment accounts first, before making the first monthly payment or paying the first bill.
Most people say they don’t save enough money for retirement, or invest enough, or save a big enough emergency fund, because they don’t have the money to save more. That’s why personal finance advice says that you should pay into those savings and brokerage accounts first. Treat it like a bill. Approach it the same way that you treat your phone bill or your electric bill.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Automate Your Savings
A quick way to begin paying yourself first is by setting up an automatic transfer to a savings or retirement account every time you receive a direct deposit, like a paycheck.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Paying yourself first makes saving money and investing in assets a priority without sacrificing other financial needs and obligations. No matter what your level of earning or responsibilities are, you can afford to pay yourself first with a few small changes.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Most people wait and only save what’s left over after paying bills or spending on other discretionary items—that’s paying yourself last. Conversely, before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set aside a portion of your income to save. Put the money into your 401(k), your Roth IRA, or your savings account.
Paying yourself first should really be called investing in yourself first.
Taking the first steps and getting started investing is the hardest thing to do. There’s fear. There’s the unknown. There’s the idea that millions of other people know more than you and you’ll get taken advantage of.
Approach investing for the first time the way you would approach learning to drive for the first time – focus on the basics and get those right. For investing, that means starting by setting a financial goal (i.e. what you want to buy, when you want to buy it, and how much it will cost). [Note that “investing” by itself is not a financial goal!]
Most people who participate in plans that offer a match will contribute up to the match (although according to 401k plan manager Financial Engines, 25% of plan participants miss out on their employer match). However, that’s probably not good enough. The estimated amount that a person needs to save for 30 years in order for the nest egg to cover half their expenses for a 30 year retirement, assuming that expenses keep pace with inflation and don’t increase over time, is 16.2%.
When you are just starting out, your first priority should be building up an emergency fund, and consider investing once that’s established. It’s important to form saving and investing habits by setting aside money on a regular basis. Your assets will build over time, and you’ll gain momentum and feel encouraged as you watch your balances grow. Before starting to invest, reflect on your objectives, timeline and risk tolerance.
Keep the following three D’s in mind when it comes to investing: Discipline, Diversification and Diligence. As studies have shown over the years, the huge gap between investment returns and investor returns is due to investor behavior, or the tendency of all investors, professional and beginner, to shoot themselves in the foot. Behavioral Finance has become a huge field for this very reason. Diversification is the only free lunch in investing, and thus is a must for all portfolios. Investing requires Diligence since we are talking about real money. Know what you own and why, and keep on top of how it is doing without driving yourself and engaging in unnecessary trading.
It is best for individuals to begin saving as soon as possible in the first job after graduating college. Many recent grads will make excuses to not save, or desire for spending money on entertainment and lifestyle as opposed to prioritizing the future. The first step in creating and executing a savings plan involves goals. After goals and earmarking how much you should save, the next important consideration is how you will invest your money. If you’re young and just starting out, be as aggressive as possible as hopefully you won’t touch the money until retirement.
The best investing advice for beginners from 13 experts on investing and financial planning share how new investors need to automate, save, and not worry.
— Read on thecollegeinvestor.com/16553/the-best-investing-advice-for-beginners/
Thursday, January 9, 2020 | 2020 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. ( #CES2020 )
Today, I wandered through the Amazon display located in the Venetian Hotel and must say I was astonished by the numerous Alexa powered IoT devices on display. Now, Alexa powers smart bathroom mirrors, kitchen refrigerators and family room televisions, to name a few.
Amazon also featured the relatively small Echo Flex. Echo Flex has all the functionality of Amazon’s Echo Dot, but half the size and can plug directly into a hallway or utility room wall electric outlet. The rep stated that the Flex is great for areas without horizontal surfaces such as hallways.
After a brief stop at the Amazon display, I visited the Dell Experience also located in the Venetian Hotel. There, I learned about the Dell work at home products and the gaming products they offered on the market. Additionally, Dell offered an opened bar that help take the dye off a full day at CES 2020.
American Express Lounge
American Express has annually sponsored a lounge during CES in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. During #CES 2020, the lounge was intended for American Express Business Card clients and their guest. It was a place to relax and disconnect from the hectic pace of CES. The lounge offers a very popular and high demand venue for WiFi, refreshments and snacks, everything someone might need to unwind.
5G Network
5G technology is slowly reaching the consumer market with promises of revolutionizing our daily lives. New and innovative technology such as autonomous automobiles and drones will rely on the capabilities offered by 5G technology.
There are three attributes of 5G millimeter wave technology provides: speed, capacity and latency.
One engineer explained that if 4G was a two lane road; 5G would be an eight smart superhighway. The speed of 5G will be more than tenfold faster than the current network. The capacity to carry data would also significantly improve. Also, there would be relatively zero latency with 5G network.
Yet, for all the fanfare behind 5G, the network remains just a concept and vision of the future. The reality once deployed may be far different.