In this week\u2019s\nSteady Investor, we look at key stories and the questions surrounding their\nmarket impact, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too Much Bad Debt \u2013 <\/strong>Consumer\nspending in the US has driven the economy \u2013 and arguably the stock market \u2013 to new\nheights. Consistent and strong employment gains over the last several years\nplus modest, but still positive, wage increases have boosted consumer confidence.\nBut there\u2019s a problem with all this spending \u2013 a lot of it is going on high interest credit cards<\/em>. Americans now\nhave almost $1 trillion in credit card debt, which marks a new record. When it\ncomes to credit card debt, nominal figures matter less than whether or not\npeople are behind on payments. As GDP and wealth grow, we would expect credit\ncard and other types of debt to grow as well. But in the current environment,\nthe percentage of people far behind on their credit card payments is increasing.\nAccording to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the percentage of credit\ncard debt that was overdue by 90 days or more (making it delinquent), rose to\nits highest level in 8 years.1<\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is Your Retirement on Track to Retire as a Multi-Millionaire?<\/a><\/strong> Download Your Free Copy –\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>Will You Retire as a Multi-Millionaire?<\/a>3<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Highlights from the\nTrump Administration\u2019s $4.8 Trillion Budget Plan \u2013 <\/strong>The Trump\nadministration\u2019s $4.8 trillion budget was released this week. The plan called\nfor an increase of 0.3% in defense spending in 2021, to $740.5 billion, while\nlowering nondefense spending by 5% to $590 billion for the same year. Picking\napart the plan a bit further, NASA would get a 12% boost in an effort to put\nastronauts back on the moon by 2024, the Department of Veterans Affairs would\nsee a 13% increase in outlays, the National Nuclear Security Administration\nwith a +19% uptick, and the Department of Homeland Security would get a 3% bump.\nOn the other side of the equation \u2013 spending cuts \u2013 the Environmental\nProtection Agency (EPA) would lose over a quarter of its funding and programs\nlike Medicaid and food stamps would see cuts in future years. 3<\/sup> Like\njust about every budget plan before it, the plan as outlined has a very low\nlikelihood of actually becoming law, particularly with the House of\nRepresentatives controlled by Democrats. In all likelihood, Congress will pass\ntemporary spending measures for the balance of the year to move past the\nelection, and take up the larger budget questions in 2021.4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n When Will China Return\nto Normal Economic Activity? <\/strong>\u2013 Reports this week made it appear as though\nconfirmed coronavirus cases were potentially plateauing, but then news reports Thursday\ncited 15,000 new cases (perhaps because of a rollout of a new way of testing\nfor infection). Corporations have largely halted production in China and retail\nstores remain closed in large numbers across the country. The quarantines have\nled to a ghost town-like environment across the country, with the economic\ndynamism of production and consumption largely muted. The ongoing impact of the\ncoronavirus has led many to forget that China has already been dealing with the\npressure of lower global trade as a result of the trade war with the US \u2013\nglobal trade fell -1% in 2019, which rarely happens outside of recessions. On\ntop of all that, China has rising inflation levels on par with jumps not seen\nin nearly a decade, with the consumer price index jumping 5.4%.5<\/sup> We\nhave written before that the crisis in China is likely to get worse before it\ngets better, and it appears the world\u2019s second largest economy remains\ndecisively in the \u201cgetting worse\u201d phase. We may not see a return to normal\neconomic conditions until the second half of the year, in our view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no way to know exactly where the market\nis headed or how these stories will pan out, but taking time to plan for your\nfinancial future can give you peace of mind in times of uncertainty. Delinquent consumer debt nears record, China economy hit hard by virus, $4.8 trillion US budget plan <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-private-client-group","category-steady-investors-week"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10638,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8501\/revisions\/10638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u00a0
While you are working hard to build a nest egg for retirement, the important question to ask is: are your retirement assets working smart for you?<\/em>
\u00a0
One out of every six retirees in America is a multi-millionaire, and here are seven things we believe you can do today to help you potentially be one of them.2<\/sup>
\u00a0
If you have $500,000 or more to invest, download our free guide,\u00a0Will You Retire as a Multi-Millionaire? 7 Things You Can Do Now<\/em>. This guide will provide you with tips to potentially help grow your wealth and put you on a path to retiring a multi-millionaire.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\nRetiring exceptionally well may seem like a\ndifficult goal to accomplish. However, we have compiled a list of key\ninvestment and money management tips that, in our opinion, can help make the\nmost of your assets and grow your long-term wealth.
\n
\nIf you have $500,000 or more to invest, download\nour free guide, Will You Retire as a Multi-Millionaire? 7 Things You\nCan Do Now<\/em>.7<\/sup> This guide will provide you with tips to\npotentially help grow your wealth and put you on a path to retiring a multi-millionaire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"