When it comes to financial stability, people tend to focus on paying off debt and saving for retirement. In reality, many other financial goals beckon to individuals during their lifetime. Because of this, it’s important to look beyond retirement when setting targets, no matter how old you are. Identify Future Objectives While it is never too early to start planning for retirement, waiting until you reach 65 years or older to truly live is a mistake many people come to regret. A number of exciting possibilities are waiting for you throughout your life: Building an emergency fund Creating and growing passive income Starting a business Owning a home Becoming debt-free Raising a family Consider Income Some people start their careers making six figures or more; this is rare. By about 25 years old, making $35,000 or so is a reasonable expectation. If your salary increases follow the historical rate and you have no major employment gaps, you could earn almost $2 million by the time you’re ready for retirement. Without a doubt, $2 million is a lot of money. If you take a second look at the list of potential financial goals, however, it begins to lose its comparative value. For instance, the current cost of a starter home is anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000. Similarly, student loans are one of the biggest obstacles to a debt-free life. The average student loan debt is $29,800. Create a Plan If you’re starting to feel discouraged, the good news is that money isn’t a static asset. It has the potential to grow and do some of the work for you by creating passive income. In fact, people who begin to invest in

Fourth-quarter earnings season is in the home stretch, and it’s been a good one. After raising our 2021 earnings forecast for the S&P 500 Index in our Weekly Market Commentary on February 8, our upgraded forecast may now be too low, based on what we have learned from corporate America during the three weeks since. In this commentary, we recap earnings season and share our latest thoughts on just how strong the earnings rebound could be in 2021 and beyond. Outstanding Numbers in the Fourth Quarter Coming into fourth-quarter earnings season, investors had plenty of reasons to expect that companies would deliver better-than-expected results. The US economy grew at a solid 4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter (source: Bureau of Economic Analysis GDP data). Strong manufacturing surveys signaled better earnings ahead. Analysts’ earnings estimates rose during the quarter, as companies issuing fourth-quarter guidance mostly raised expectations. Now that all the numbers are pretty much in the books (93% of S&P 500 companies have reported results), it’s clear that optimism was warranted as earnings impressively grew during the quarter [Figure 1]. In our earnings preview on January 19, 2021, we wrote: Consider that the bar has been raised substantially over the past two quarters, making it tougher to clear. That probably takes positive earnings growth off the table, but a low-to-mid single-digit decline in earnings would be a positive outcome, especially if forward estimates hold up as fresh guidance is provided. After the bar had been raised, with the prior two quarters following similarly strong results compared to expectations, it made a lot of sense to expect more limited upside as estimates catch up to reality. But it turned out another quarter of

In 2020, the government gave taxpayers an automatic six-month extension due to the coronavirus. Individuals who were affected by the damaging wildfires were also given additional time to meet most tax deadlines. However, in 2021, the deadline for submitting your income tax return is likely to return to the regularly scheduled time slot on April 15. To avoid a potential late filing penalty, you need to be ready by this date. To prepare to file your 2020 income tax return, keep the following tips in mind.  1. Identify All Income Sources If you work for an employer, you will need to report the wages noted on your Form W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement). To avoid penalties, your employer is required to provide you with this form by the last day of January, but you can estimate the numbers by viewing your last paystub of the year. Since January 31st fell on a Sunday in 2021, employers had until February 1st to provide your Form W-2.1  As a small business owner, self-employed person, or freelancer, your income is your revenue (or 1099 income) minus your business expenses. However, instead of noting the final number on your return, you will need to fill out a schedule that displays both your revenue and expenses. It is important that you comb your records carefully to ensure all expenses are accounted for.  2. Decide If You Can Itemize Instead of paying income tax on all of your income, you’re able to deduct a certain amount of income and only pay tax on the remaining amount. All taxpayers are given the choice of claiming the standard deduction or itemizing. For the 2021 tax year, the standard