Consumer Spending\nRemains Strong, But Purchases are Shifting \u2013 <\/strong>American household spending\nwas flat in May from the previous month, but a closer look at the data shows\nthat U.S. consumers increasingly eschewed larger ticket items in favor of\nspending on travel, restaurants, and other everyday services. During the\npandemic, Americans stepped up purchases of big-ticket items like cars, homes,\nand home improvement projects, while spending far less on services. In May,\nhouseholds were seen doing the opposite \u2013 spending on leisure and discretionary\nservices rose 0.7% while spending on furniture and cars fell by -2.8%. Even\nstill, strong spending throughout 2021 has started to show signs of easing, as\nhouseholds dig into the accumulated savings of the past year. The personal\nsaving rate fell to 12.4% in May from 14.5% in April, as spending stabilized\n(see chart below). Consumers are eating into savings a bit, but remain\nconfident about economic prospects looking ahead \u2013 the consumer confidence\nindex rose to 127.3 in June, and has been fast approaching the pre-pandemic\nhigh of 132.6 reached in February.1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. Consumer Spending<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n See How You Can Produce Income from Retirement Assets!<\/a><\/strong> ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Investment\nSoars Past Pre-Pandemic High \u2013 <\/strong>Many market-watchers have long awaited a\nreturn of the business investment cycle, which was largely absent during the\neconomic recovery following the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis. Following\nthe \u201cGreat Recession,\u201d businesses were more reluctant to invest in capital and\nequipment, and labor was cheap. Instead of investing in new plants, companies\njust hired more workers. In the current economic recovery\/expansion, the labor\nmarket is tight, and workers are demanding higher wages. This setup has spurred\nbusinesses to increase spending on computers, equipment, technology\ninfrastructure, and software to drive productivity. Nonresidential private\nfixed investment, which is a proxy for business investment, increased at a\nseasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.7% in Q1, following double-digit\nincreases in Q3 and Q4 of last year (see chart below). It makes sense that the\nbiggest outlays in spending came in software and tech equipment, as businesses\nposition for the realities of less customer contact (think delivery everything)\nand a \u201chybrid\u201d work model where employees work in some combination of home and\noffice.4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Business Investment Climbs Above Pre-Pandemic High<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n U.S. Banks, Largely\nUnfazed by the Pandemic, Remain in Strong Shape \u2013 <\/strong>Remember the Fed\u2019s\n\u201cstress tests,\u201d a legacy of the 2008 Financial Crisis where the Fed would check\nbanks\u2019 capital levels and readiness for an economic crisis regularly? The\nstress tests are still happening, but they barely make the news anymore because\nbanks keep passing them easily. A fairly major shift happened this week, with\nthe Fed saying it would now end limits on dividend payments and share buybacks\nfor the biggest U.S. banks. In the news, many major banks announced plans to do\nboth \u2013 raise dividends and buy back shares.6<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the economic recovery continues, you may be wondering\nwhat can you do in the meantime to protect your retirement. You have to invest\nsomewhere, as cash won\u2019t do. In times like this, I would suggest considering\nstocks that are growing earnings and dividends and have a track record of doing\nso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn more about how to use dividend-paying stocks in\nyour strategy to potentially generate cash flow for retirement, check out our\nguide, \u201cA Look Beyond Bonds: There May Be a Better Option for Your Retirement\nIncome.\u201d7<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have $500,000 or more to invest, click on the link below to get our free guide today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Consumers switch to travel, restaurant spending, business investment tops pre-Covid high, banks not stressed <\/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-9697","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\/9697","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=9697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10362,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9697\/revisions\/10362"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/5_pic1-1024x395.png\")
<\/a>
For many investors, finding a retirement strategy that can also produce income is essential. For retirement investors who need income, here\u2019s an option – a portfolio invested in stocks with a strong track record of dividends and dividend growth. This may give you the potential for a stable and predictable source of income in retirement.
To learn more about how to use dividend-paying stocks in your strategy to potentially generate cash flow for retirement, check out our guide \u201cA Look Beyond Bonds: There May Be a Better Option for Your Retirement Income.\u201d<\/em>
If you have $500,000 or more to invest, click on the link below to get our free guide today!
A Look Beyond Bonds: There May Be a Better Option for Your Retirement Income<\/a>3<\/a><\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/zacksim.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/2_pic2-1024x395.png\")