It may be hard to see sometimes, with the often apocalyptic 24-hour news cycles, but there is a lot of good out there in the world. One of the good things is how generous Americans have been with their charitable giving. Part of this widespread generosity is tied, no doubt, on the internet connecting people all over the world. Americans gave $410.02 billion dollars to charity in 2017, breaking a record and 70% of that was given by individuals.[i] As wealth grew, so too did charitable giving and generosity. Within that huge number, over $400 billion, some interesting patterns and data appear. Within this article, we will discuss why people practice charitable giving, who is giving, and how, if inclined, you could give more as well.

Why Give?

There are so many in need and for so many reasons. Between medical research, animal charities, environmental disaster, the refugee crisis, health crisis, homelessness, drug addiction, food instability, arts organizations, you name it, and there is a cause that could use the help. There is also solid evidence that your donations actually do make a difference to these causes. They do need and appreciate every penny they receive. But did you know that giving is actually good for you too? In fact, giving triggers a pleasure point in our brain, the same area of reward processing that is activated by pleasurable activities like sex and food.[ii] Donating our time and money to a cause makes us feel good, helps contribute to our overall happiness, and can actually help our health and mortality rates.[iii] On top of helping others and feeling good, charitable donations can be tax deductible, and for some, that is motivation enough. A good rule is before donating to anything you plan to claim, do your research and confirm that they are a recognized non-profit organization by the IRS and always get a receipt.

In This Issue:

• Key Retirement and Tax Numbers
• Hybrid Funds, Lifestyle or Target?
• What Happened to Your Money?

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Spring 2019

A Goldilocks Economy  Will Williams
Recession Rumblings  Brian Christensen, CFA
Beware of Phishing  Jeremy Hanshaw

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Remember way back to your first paycheck. The moment you open the envelope anticipating the windfall when all your hard work pays off. Then, like a swift kick to your gut, realty hits. Your takeaway earnings are almost always way lower than what you expected.

Once the shock and horror of taxes goes away, money management comes into play. Most of the time these days, paychecks are spent before the money hits your account. If only at the moment of your first paycheck you had implemented the ‘holy grail’ of personal finance, pay yourself first.

According to a recent article from Forbes, “only 23% of Americans have enough emergency savings to cover six months of expenses (the amount many advisers recommend for financial security should something unforeseen happen)—and 26% have no emergency savings at all.¹”

Retirement can sneak up on you.

At one time, it seemed like a lifetime away, now it may be just around the corner. At one time you planned on working forever, but now you can admit that the thought of retiring has its benefits.  Perhaps you’ve found yourself daydreaming about a little cabin on a lake, or a small home in the mountains. You may have even entertained the notion of becoming an expatriate and retiring overseas. While these daydreams can certainly be pleasant, you’re also facing the reality that at the age of 50, you’ve done little to save for retirement.

You may have been told to start taking social security as soon as possible (when you reach age 62). Or that you can just keep right on working full time even as you collect. These are just two of the biggest Social Security misconceptions, and if you follow that advice it can end up costing you a lot.

We all have our own unique way of handling our finances. While some of us are natural born savers, others may have a hard time making it to the next paycheck. Fortunately, most of us fall somewhere in-between, putting away money at times, while making frivolous purchases at other times.

If you are looking for a way to help bolster your savings, here are a few suggestions that are easy to follow and may have you on the path towards a more sustainable savings balance in no time:

• Direct Deposit.  While it’s likely that you’re getting paid via direct deposit, consider making arrangements to have money deposited directly into your savings account as well. That way the money bypasses your wallet completely. You won’t miss what you don’t have and your savings account has the opportunity to grow much fast.

Orders for wares expected to last longer than three years improved for a third consecutive month in January according to the Census Bureau.  Their measure of Durable Goods Orders rose $900 million or 0.4 percent.  However, even after three months of increases, this indicator is not yet back to the September 2018 level because the 4.3 percent drop in October’s reading has yet to