8 November 2018
Question: According to MSN: Money, what are 10 things you need for lifelong financial success?
Women and minorities dominate as Goldman picks small cadre of partners – Pg. 1
– …named 69 new partners yesterday
– The biennial round comes as Goldman is battling one of the most serious reputational crises of its history, with a criminal indictment from the Department of Justice implicating one former and one current partner. Alongside salaries of at least $950,000 and access to special investment funds, the rank is supposed to guard the bank’s standards
– Women…made up 26% of the promoted class, …while younger “millennial” staff represented 29%
– The class is smaller than the 84 appointed in the last round in 2016…
– Traders also did well, accounting for 28 of the appointees,…
San Francisco backs homelessness tax – Pg. 4
– The levy…was designed to raise between $250m and $300m from big businesses with headquarters in the city. The tax would boost city spending on homelessness by as much as 80%
– Some local entrepreneurs and investors argue that the tax, averaging 0.5% on the gross receipts of businesses with revenues of more than $50m, will be a particular burden on lossmaking tech companies as well as those with low-margin business models
Murkier outlook the only certainty of US midterms – Pg. 19
– Initial investor reaction …. Was sanguine
– …the outcome sets up a two-year period before the 2020 presidential election that is likely to be less straight-forward for markets than the first two years of the Trump presidency that saw US stocks set new record
– A divided Congress arrives against a backdrop of tighter monetary policy and concerns that economy growth has peaked
– Historically, stocks rally after mid-terms as both investors and policymakers move on from the uncertainty over its outcome. This year’s voting followed a bruising period for US stocks – the S&P 500 fell nearly 7% in October for tis worth month since 2011
– This time around, investors will take their cue from the US Federal Reserve, trade talks with China and the health of the US economy and corporate America, as a divided Congress diminishes the prospects for further fiscal stimulus
– A drop in corporate tax rates has helped to power back-to-back quarters of earnings growth surpassing 20% in 2018, a hurdle that will be hard to eclipse next year, and economists have trimmed their forecasts for US economic growth in 2019
– The outlook for an infrastructure package is more mixed
– Trade tensions with China remains a major concern for the market and an embattled Trump administration could decide to double down on the electorate-pleasing measures against Beijing – especially as battle lines for the 2020 elections start to firm
Answer: (1) A fee-free checking account (Prof Note: NEVER pay bank fees! I just got off the phone with my bank over a $72 overdraft fee (they are refunding it). Yes, I absolutely overdrew an account (I have 30+) due to timing of payments BUT the credit line should have kicked in with no fee. Interest is a cost of doing business; a fee is grand larceny! J); (2) A debit card (Prof Note: I have NEVER had a debit card in my life. Why have one?!); (3) A high-yield savings account; (4) Health insurance and a health savings account; (5) Homeowners or renters insurance; (6) Auto insurance; (7) Disability insurance; (8) Life insurance; (9) A retirement fund; (10) A college savings account