Seymour Zises, President and co-founder of Family Management, writes bi-monthly opinions on issues and observations of relevance to clients and investors.
The summer surge in the stock market has brought the averages up approximately 20% to date, a significant year by any measure. More notable is that the interest rate on the U.S. government’s ten year note hit 2.7% in the last week of July — indeed a huge percentage increase in the benchmark interest rate over the past six months.
Yep, IRS stands for It Really Stinks!
There is no one I know, Republican or Democrat, who is not outraged at what has recently occurred with the IRS targeting conservative organizations.
Wherever you look, the money just keeps flowing. Optimists believe that a combination of growth and austerity can get us out of this mess. Pessimists… well, they are pessimistic! Someone once told me that a pessimist will say, “Oh boy, things cannot get worse,” whereas an optimist will say, “Oh boy, things can get worse!”
So the “fiscal cliff” came and went, and now we are looking at the political confrontation concerning raising the debt ceiling—O.K., that is now delayed for three months. What was actually accomplished at the beginning of the year was a small step in reducing the deficit.
According to the Investment Company Institute, assets in retirement plans have reached a level of $18.5 trillion. The prospective tax on these funds is a huge receivable held by the U.S. Government. As baby boomers retire, the tax revenues from this pool of money will help with the nation’s deficit.
