You have heard it many times in those rapid-fire announcements on bank advertisements: “FDIC insured.” Before the recent high-profile bank failures, that was likely all most depositors knew about the FDIC, that it was insurance on their money. But current events have brought FDIC into the headlines over actions to protect depositors after the collapse Read more
Fault Lines: Bank Failures Cause Market Tremors
On March 10 Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapsed and was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). This was followed by the collapse of Signature Bank (SBNY) and another takeover by the FDIC takeover on March 12. There followed a period of volatility for the banking sector, turmoil in equity and fixed income Read more
Taxable Events: What Is a Capital Gain?
To encourage certain types of investing, the government distinguishes investments by prioritizing tax treatments. The government offers favorable tax treatments for some types of investment over other types of investments. One distinction in the tax code is the tax treatment of capital gains. This is based on type of investment, the duration of the investment, Read more
Mind Your Head: Debt Ceiling Crisis Looms Again
We are now in the early stages of the perennial political melodrama over raising the debt ceiling. If this debate goes as usual, it should look like this: demands will give way to threats and lead to a fiscal cliff and government shutdown and the specter of default and global catastrophe before – whew! – Read more
Midterm Elections Roundup: Political Theater
In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans picked up nine seats to take a 222-212 majority in the House. (Due to the post-election death of a Democratic incumbent, there is a vacancy in a Virginia district that is considered safe for Democrats, pending a special election on Feb. 21.) In the Senate, Democrats picked up one Read more
Retirement Enhancement: How the SECURE Act 2.0 Changes May Affect You
The $1.7 trillion omnibus appropriations bill passed by the 117th Congress and signed into law before the end of 2022 included dozens of retirement-related provisions collectively known as the SECURE 2.0 Act. (The acronym stands for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement.) The SECURE 2.0 legislation provides a slate of changes that could help Read more