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So far this year, we’ve heard discussions and questions surrounding recessions, depressions, China, oil, and of course, elections. Which side of the aisle do you find yourself towards? Not the elections, but the reason for January being the worst 10 day start to a year in S&P 500 history (Standard & Poors Factset, J.P. Morgan). “China’s economy is slowing”, “Oil is crashing”, “It’s an election year” are common laments for we’ve heard for reasons the stock market falling. Have you found yourself reading, saying or listening to these statements? Arguably, they could all be correct, but as Winston Churchill profoundly noted, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
This market update is intended for our valued clients to address domestic and global financial events and we encourage you to refer us to a family member or friend who may benefit from a conversation with us.
As you have no doubt heard from the financial press and media, we’re off to the worst beginning of a year in equities in stock market history. Putting that in perspective, at the time of this writing, January 12, 2016 the Dow Jones Industrial Average is hovering around 16,500, roughly the same levels we saw in August 2015. Not so bad really when put into the proper perspective. We’ve retrenched to a level where we’ve been fairly recently.
Self-employment is the opportunity to be your own boss, to come and go as you please, and oh yes, to establish a lifelong bond with your accountant. If you’re self-employed, you’ll need to pay your own FICA taxes and take charge of your own retirement plan, among other things. Here are some planning tips.