- If you’re 30 today…..
Making money takes time. Sometimes plenty of time. And even though today’s 30-year old doesn’t really deeply understand time’s real value, research from McKinsey & Co. showed that—thanks to the market’s skimpy returns of late—people that age will have to work seven years longer and/or save twice as much to have a next egg equal in size to that of someone a generation older.
- And if you’re between the ages 18 and 29…
Consider this a “But wait. There’s more” addition to the above paragraph. Turns out, young people between the ages of 18 and 29 aren’t really big fans of capitalism.
According to a Harvard University survey, 51 percent of those polled don’t support America’s money-making system. Which, from my point of view, is likely to make making money to support them during their senior years more challenging.
Then again, maybe not. After all, capitalism’s meaning has changed a lot over the years.
“The word ‘capitalism’ doesn’t mean what it used to,” said Zach Lustbader, a senior at Harvard involved in conducting the poll, which was published in The Washington Post (4/26/16). “For those who grew up during the Cold War, capitalism meant freedom from the Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes. For those who grew up more recently, capitalism has meant a financial crisis from which the global economy still hasn’t completely recovered.”
According to John Della Volpe, a polling director at Harvard, who interviewed another group of young people found that they weren’t “rejecting the concept” of capitalism. What turned them off was the way capitalism practiced today. “In the minds of young people — that’s what they’re rejecting.”
- Market Quick Glance
-Indices:
Here are the year-to-date performance figures for the major indices through May 13, 2016, according to Bloomberg. To provide a longer performance perspective, 1-year returns have been added.
-Dow Jones +1.66% YTD
1yr Rtn -1.55% (last week’s 1-yr return: + 0.04%)
-S&P 500 +0.97% YTD
1yr Rtn -1.47 % (last week’s 1-ry return: -0.67%
–NASDAQ -5.28% YTD
1yr Rtn -5.31 (last week’s 1-yr return: -4.09%)
–Russell 2000 -2.42 % YTD
1yr Rtn -10.06 % (last week’s 1-year return: -8.40%
-Mutual funds
Through Thursday, May 12, 2016 the average U.S.Diversified Equity Fund continues to loose ground ending the second week of May down –but not as much as the previous week. The average was down 0.37 percent year-to-date, according to Lipper.
The three top performing funds over the past week under this colossal heading of U.S.Diversified Equity Funds were: Equity Leveraged Funds that maintained their plus-side run, now up 4.66 percent year-to-date on average. Behind them came Equity Income Funds, up 3.66 percent, and then Mid-Cap Value Funds up 3.28 percent.
On the income side, The average World Income Fund was up over 6 percent, year-to-date.
But stil rocking the Sector Equity Funds word were Precious Metals Funds, up on average 75.64 percent as of Thursday’s close. That’s 4 percent more than the previou week’s close.
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for weekly updates to see how equity and fixed-income funds have rewarded investors over the short-and long-term, based upon Lipper data. Short-term meaning weekly and monthly performance returns; longer-term includes quarterly, year-to-date, 1-yr, 2-yr, 3-yr and 5-yr returns.
Lipper’s weekly performance figures for stock and fixed-income funds are at www.allaboutfunds.com in the left column on the home page.
- Traveling and tipping
For many, vacation time is right around the corner. If you’re like most of us, organizing a trip is one thing but figuring out who—and how much to tip—is quite another.
To help you out, below are some very reasonable tipping pointers from the world famous travel maven Peter Greenberg as presented in his Friday post at petergreenberg.com : “Common sense dictates rewarding someone for a job well done, as opposed to rewarding them simply because a tip is expected.
“Think first of the people who really do the work: housekeepers at hotels, the guy who busses your table, the rental car shuttle bus driver, the airport wheel chair attendant, etc. These are the unsung heroes—not just hotel concierges and maître d’s. They can make the most positive difference in your travel experience.
“As a rule of thumb, or at least my thumb, tip your hotel maids $5 to $10 a day—they work so hard.
“What about the shuttle bus driver? Generally, $1 is appropriate. Or, give him $2 if he’s hauling your bags on and off the bus.
“If you need a wheelchair attendant, you’re not just paying him to get you to the gate, but he’s also there waiting with you. Time is money—thank him with a $10 or $20 tip.”
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allaboutfundsdotcom 