Planning Article

August 2023 – Contributed by Vantage Financial

On August 1^st, 2023, Fitch Ratings downgraded long-term US Debt Issuer Default Rating from AAA to AA+, citing concerns with political issues, a slowing economy, and several other factors for their decision. Although bipartisan efforts were made to suspend the debt ceiling to 2025, the fact that the U.S. would have defaulted had this last-minute agreement not been reached marks only one of the few factors in Fitch Ratings’ decision to issue the downgrade.  Along with the last-minute decision to raise the debt ceiling, Fitch Ratings has expressed concerns revolving around the progress made towards Social Security and Medicare given the aging population (FitchRatings).  Like most other larger financial institutions, Fitch is also projecting a mild recession towards the end of 2023, possibly early 2024.  Their projection on the economic slowdown did impact the decision to lower their rating, but the main drivers to the downgrade were tied to the U.S. debt repayments and issues that could impact how their debt is paid.

Planning Article

June 2023 – By Bob Veres

Paying for college used to be easy.  In 1970, the average yearly cost of college tuition and fees at a public four-year university was $358; private universities cost an average of $1,706 per year.  Add in room and board, and the all-in cost was $1,238 and $2,327, respectively. 

Market Memo

May 2023 – By Kyle Rohrwasser

Since February 2022 the Federal Funds rate has increased from 0% to 5%. So, your bank savings account should reflect that in some capacity, right? You wouldn’t expect to get 5% yield on your savings account but if the bank can borrow your money and earn 5% in short term treasuries (considered the safest investment in the world) you assume you would be compensated for letting them use your funds. The answer would surprise you; we are still seeing the historically low interest rates on bank accounts we saw a year ago. I looked up what the Chase Savings interest rates are, and they are basically 0% with the annual percentage yield is 0.01%.