finances Archives - Acropolis Investment Management

8 Jul 2024

When will we feel the benefit of higher interest rates?

One of my favorite long-time readers and clients asked me a good question last week, which was: As I recall, David, you said that eventually, higher interest rates would be a benefit. If my recollection is correct, when will that be? It’s such a great question, and I thought I would answer it for everyone, but unfortunately, my answer is a little mealy-mouthed: it depends. It depends on how high… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Bonds, Economy, finances, Interest Rates, Markets, Wall Street

18 Mar 2024

The Return of Sound Money

There are a handful of annual outlooks that I look forward to each year, and one of them is Vanguard’s Economic and Market Outlook. The report, which you can find here, is thoughtful, thorough, and isn’t trying to sell you anything (which is high praise in this industry). They also have great titles, and this year’s was a standout: A Return to Sound Money. In their opening paragraph, the authors… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Economy, Federal Reserve, finances, Interest Rates, Markets, Portfolio Strategy

26 Jun 2023

Decoding How the Mighty Greenback Shapes Your Investments

Last week, I was asked to consider writing an article about how the dollar’s strength or weakness impacts a portfolio. I’ve covered it a bit over the years, but I thought now would be a good time for an update, and I’m always interested in writing about what readers want to read about, so I try to address specific issues whenever possible. I will illustrate later how the dollar has… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Currency, Currency Hedging, Currency Prices, Economy, finances, Investing, Markets, Portfolio Strategy, US Dollar, Volatility, Wall Street

27 Mar 2023

Cash Matters

After the market closed on Friday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk at the office, wondering what I was going to write about this week. I’m sort of tired of the banking crisis for the moment, even though it’s not over: Deutsche Bank was in the hot seat Friday. In any case, a terrific longtime client (and reader!) called to ask some questions about money market funds, and it… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Cash, Economy, finances, Interest Rates, Investing, Markets, Money Market, Wall Street

13 Feb 2023

New Rules Could Mean New Strategies

I’d like to meet the person in Washington who comes up with the silly names for laws just for the purpose of creating a catchy acronym. Case in point is the newest iteration of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, better known as the Secure 2.0 Act. The Act has a number of provisions that raise financial planning issues for a lot of people. For example, were you… Read More

By David Ott Tags: commentary, Economy, finances, Financial Planning, Portfolio Strategy, Secure Act 2.0, Wall Street

12 Sep 2022

It’s Good to be the Queen or King, Financially Speaking

I don’t have any real reason to be sad about Queen Elizabeth’s passing, but I felt a little down about it anyway. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I think I just loved the performances of Claire Foy and Oliva Colman in the Crown and Helen Mirren in The Queen, even if the portrayals could be tough. In any case, I read several articles from our press, but I… Read More

By David Ott Tags: finances, Royal Family, Royals, Taxes

5 Jul 2022

Visualizing the Supply Chain

Growing up, I’d never heard of the supply chain. Toys were either on the shelves or there weren’t. Today, I hear relatively young kids talking about how the supply chain is preventing them from getting the toys they see online in less than three days. It’s amazing actually. Last week, I was looking at the New York Federal Reserve website trying to find their model that predicts recessions. I didn’t… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Economy, finances, Markets, Supply Chain, Wall Street

10 Jan 2022

The Fed’s Policy Pivot: Higher Rates Ahead

The big story last week was Federal Reserve’s hawkish tone. In fact, though, the Fed’s pivot started a few weeks ago, but last week solidified it through the release of the minutes from their December meeting. There are two key factors that investors are watching: what the Fed plans to do about their bond-buying program known as quantitative easing (QE) and their plans for short-term interest rates. Regarding short-term interest… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Bonds, Economy, Federal Reserve, finances, Interest Rates, Markets, Portfolio Strategy, Wall Street

9 Aug 2021

The Fed and the Long Term

Over the weekend, I watched a Front Line documentary on PBS that came out in July, called The Power of the Fed. You can watch it here, although you may have to be a member (like me!). The documentary chronicles the power of the Federal Reserve, with particular attention to the bond-buying program called quantitative easing that followed the 2008 global financial crisis. The documentary makes the case that the… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Economy, Federal Reserve, finances, Inflation, Markets, Wall Street

21 Jun 2021

Federal Reserve Changes its Tune

As noted above, the Federal Reserve took center stage last week as they signaled that change is afoot with short-term interest rates. While they did not change interest rates and did not adjust their $120 billion monthly asset plan purchases, they did indicate through their ‘dot plot’ that more members see interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023. Although I don’t have a picture of the dot plot, I made… Read More

By David Ott Tags: Economy, Federal Reserve, finances, Interest Rates, Wall Street

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