The Sum breaks down sophisticated financial difficulties and how they effects your life in just a couple of minutes a day.
If you’re reading this column, it’s highly probable your phone has hundreds of photos featuring grandkids.
First, congratulations.
And I’m good with having readers who haven’t been to a kegger in decades. Let’s politely say y’all have adapted through the years.
Three characteristics that my reader base shares: 1) Love of this community; 2) Curiosity to keep learning; and 3) Willingness (for the most part) to go with the ever-changing information flow.
Instead of writing letters, you’re sending emails.
Instead of calling your adult children or grandkids, you’re texting or FaceTiming.
Instead of slowing down, you’re showing up.
You deserve something in return. For free.
For all the reasons above — even if you’re twentysomething and stumbled onto this column — we want to preview new features we’re adding to newsobserver.com.
This is a newspaper editor’s version of a blockbuster movie trailer — without Tom Cruise or buttery popcorn but essentially free.
We want to let you know about….
Free community listings (for economical writers)
So, you’re organizing a community event and need a crowd? The N&O’s new Community Marketplace allows you to self-publish a community event. If you’re reading this column in the Sunday print newspaper’s Local section, grab your phone or laptop. Go to newsobserver.com and search “Community Marketplace.” You’ll find a how-to article that walks you through the process, including how long you’d want event details available for the public.
Two things to know: 1) You’ll need to register to post an item; 2) The first five lines are free; additional lines cost $1.50 per line/per day extra. (Our pro tip: Write tight, write bright.)
Invoice Church, Government Editor of The News & Observer Scott Sharpe ssharpe@newsobserver.com
The new Community Marketplace’s events/announcements category is uber-new, and we’re in the early stages of getting the word out. But we’ve already seen activity.
“We are calling on our community to unleash their creativity and innovation to address the complex and multifaceted issue of equity in education. By working together, we can build a more just and equitable Durham for all students,” organizers said about this event.
We recognize that numerous organizers are looking to get the word out about Triangle events. The N&O’s Community Marketplace is our way of helping out.
Free financial news (for all ages)
Our smart friends on McClatchy’s editorial experimentation team have created The Sum, an Instagram-based news experience with this cheery focus: “We make finance and economic news add up.” The good news is you can find The Sum’s stories and interactive tools already populating newsobserver.com.
The Sum breaks down complicated financial troubles and how they effect your everyday living in just a couple of minutes a working day.
Google “The Sum News & Observer” or (if you’re on one of our digital platforms) click here. Regardless if you’re a Triangle college student trying to travel on a budget or a retired economics professor helping grandkids understand the realities of household budgets and adulting, The Sum has smart, quick-to-digest answers on complex economic issues and “how they impact your life.”
McClatchy’s editorial experimentation team came to us because of the Triangle’s large college audience and growing number of young professionals. We saw this emerging audience a year ago with the launch of “RDU on the Rise,” a weekly newsletter written by The N&O’s latest generation of journalists. You’ll see The Sum content popping up in future editions of N&O newsletters. You can sign up free for our newsletters.
Free can be a relative term.
Even the lure of a high-scoring ACC tournament game and a free Bojangle’s sausage biscuit comes with the catch of ordering online (for a small fee).
The N&O’s free events listings and free financial advice are available for the economic tradeoff known as your time.
And among the grandkids-photo-sharing regulars of this column, time is always a good thing.
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He and his wife have two grandkids, who are smart and picturesque (of course).
The recently-enacted Secure 2. Act includes important alterations that may influence how you plan for retirement. The monthly bill, handed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in late 2022, could help you bolster your retirement savings and earnings technique.
Listed here are some of the important provisions provided in the new legislation, which are being phased in more than the future numerous yrs:
New regulations now in outcome
Needed minimum distributions (RMDs) get started immediately after age 73
Until finally recently, RMDs from conventional IRAs and place of work retirement financial savings programs, these kinds of as 401(k) or 403(b) accounts, had to start off right after reaching age 72. Now people can wait until finally reaching age 73, extending the reward of tax-deferred advancement of earnings. Distributions need to begin by April 1 of the calendar year right after turning 73.
New procedures in influence in 2024
Matching contributions for people having to pay student financial loans
Companies will have the capacity to give contributions to place of work retirement financial savings designs that match the amount of pupil financial loan financial debt repaid by an personal staff in a provided calendar year.
Rollovers of 529 schooling price savings prepare balances to Roth IRAs
Beneficiaries of 529 designs that have been in area for 15 years or much more can transfer assets from the 529 program to a Roth IRA. The transfer is matter to the beneficiary’s once-a-year contribution limit and up to a life span utmost of $35,000.
This provision may possibly relieve a parent’s prospective concern that they are about-funding a 529 prepare. For instance, if a kid qualifies for scholarships, or school fees are considerably less than anticipated, leftover 529 amounts could be transferred to the beneficiary’s Roth IRA.
Involves catch-up contributions to be built as Roth contributions applying immediately after-tax bucks
Catch-up contributions for contributors aged 50 or more mature should be manufactured on a Roth basis less than 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457(b) designs. Having said that, the requirement applies only if the employee’s prior[1]yr wages from the employer sponsoring the strategy exceed $145,000 in the previous taxable year. The choice to make pre-tax capture-up contributions will carry on in 2023. When selecting no matter whether to make pre-tax or Roth contributions for 2023, think about that your upcoming capture-up contributions will have to be Roth contributions if you generate extra than $145,000.
No RMDs for Roth office strategies
Below present legislation, individuals with Roth 401(k)s or Roth 403(b) ideas are topic to the same expected distribution regulations as conventional office programs. Nonetheless, the new legislation will remove RMDs for workplace[1]based mostly Roth cost savings options, equivalent to existing principles for Roth IRAs.
Unexpected emergency discounts
New unexpected emergency financial savings accounts, linked with an employer’s retirement strategy, can be set up for many workers. It will let them to accumulate up to $2,500 in the account, with penalty-absolutely free accessibility to the cash allowed once a thirty day period, to meet up with present-day wants.
Other critical alterations outside of 2024
Other provisions of the Protected 2. Act that will consider effect in 2025 consist of:
• The means of staff ages 60 to 63 to make capture-up contributions of $10,000 for every year higher than the regular restrict for office retirement programs.
• A need that companies with 401(k) or 403(b) plans automatically enroll eligible workers in a workplace financial savings plan, starting off at a contribution amount of at minimum 3{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} (workers can choose to opt out of the system).
• The ability of element-time personnel to participate in a place of work retirement system once they’ve worked at minimum 500 several hours for two consecutive decades, alternatively than the recent three-calendar year threshold.
What does it imply for you?
How can these changes improve your possess retirement discounts program? It might be beneficial to discuss to your money advisor to figure out how you may possibly be able to leverage the new principles stated in this article and other folks to help secure your retirement cost savings plan.
Bronwyn L. Martin is a Financial Advisor and Chartered Economic Guide with Martin’s Monetary Consulting Team, a monetary wealth advisory observe of Ameriprise Economic Providers LLC. in Kennett Sq. and Havre de Grace, Md. She specializes in fee-centered economical scheduling and asset management procedures and has been in apply for far more than 23 several years. To contact her: www.ameripriseadvisors.com/bronwyn.x.martin.
In a current survey from Ameriprise Monetary, more than 3 out of 4 People (78{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}) mentioned they have taken at least a single action to establish generational prosperity (Ameriprise Revenue and Family members examine: Cash & Family members: A new study on generational wealth). But what particularly constitutes “generational wealth” — and how can you achieve it?
The most typical answer (44{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), in accordance to study respondents, is prosperity in excess of $500,000 that is passed down to beloved ones. Relying on your economical predicament, 50 {1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} a million bucks might or may possibly not audio like a good deal of cash. But one detail is obvious: no issue how significantly you intend to 1 day bestow on your spouse and children and friends, it aids to have a prepare.
If you, like the majority of study respondents (68{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}), say passing generational prosperity onto your heirs is significant to you, below are some items to retain in mind: Procedures for increasing generational prosperity
Be a strategic saver
Fairly than leaving wealth accumulation to chance, strategic savers set ambitions and perform to actively increase their personal savings. They make common contributions to price savings accounts. Active conserving curbs expending and influences earning behavior. They may well defer purchases, operate lengthier, pursue greater-shelling out work, or make other decisions (and sacrifices) to make certain their price savings ambitions are met.
Commit in stocks
Buyers who are really serious about cash flow expansion utilize the stock current market. Most industry experts advise a obtain-and-keep solution to optimize earnings about time. A threat-adjusted, diversified, and well balanced portfolio can aid investors fulfill their investment decision aims.
Invest in authentic estate
Historically, house values have amplified about time, producing homeownership a major process of wealth accumulation. Investors may possibly also diversify their portfolios with Genuine Estate Expenditure Trusts (REITS) and other purchases of house.
Go alongside money wisdom
Money values are yet another essential asset to move alongside to heirs. Quite a few people uncover it effective to explore their financial conclusions with their adult small children and stepchildren. Clear interaction can assistance establish reasonable expectations and stay away from surprises and conflicts when it comes time to go together your property.
Think about ‘Giving Whilst Living’
Programs for sharing generational prosperity can include things like giving now instead than waiting around to hand down assets following demise. Beneficiaries are frequently grownup kids but can also consist of charitable companies. Offering in the current can satisfy the wish to enable now and allow you to see the impact of your generosity. That stated, it shouldn’t arrive at the possibility of your fiscal safety, so make certain you have the usually means necessary right before crafting a check to your favourite cause.
Developing generational prosperity is a lifelong procedure. Together the way, an knowledgeable money advisor can support you establish a economical approach and established achievable goals aligned to your estate setting up wants. Your advisor can work with you and your estate planning attorney to guarantee your will facilitates your needs for sharing generational wealth.
Bronwyn L. Martin is a Money Advisor and Chartered Financial Expert with Martin’s Economic Consulting Group, a fiscal prosperity advisory follow of Ameriprise Monetary Solutions LLC. in Kennett Square and Havre de Grace, Md. She specializes in fee-primarily based fiscal arranging and asset management methods and has been in observe for more than 22 a long time. To contact her: www.ameripriseadvisors.com/bronwyn.x.martin
Owning the right expert on your group can be vital to your economic achievements. Nevertheless dependent on your situation and plans, the leading tax qualified in the Roaring Fork Valley may well not be the ideal suit for you. Which is why it is crucial to do some owing diligence and take into consideration a wide variety of things when making your decision.
Here are five thoughts to question when choosing a tax pro:
1. What are their credentials?
The CPA (Qualified Community Accountant) is the undisputed gold conventional in the marketplace. On the other hand, if your circumstance isn’t elaborate, you could be correctly great functioning with an EA (Enrolled Agent). EAs target specially on taxation, even though CPAs typically tackle taxes and additional.
Considering that the specialist will be doing an significant perform and will have access to some of your most sensitive own information, it’s constantly a fantastic thought to verify to see if they have an lively license and any regulatory blemishes on their document. Two areas you can use to check involve the Colorado Division of Professions and Occupations (pick out “Accountancy”) and CPAverify.
2. Are they accepting new clients?
Lots of tax professionals in the Roaring Fork Valley are not. As such, you may possibly have to call fifty percent a dozen to uncover two or a few who have an opening. You can also appear outdoors the Valley if need to have be, but you must stay inside of Colorado simply because each and every condition has its personal exceptional tax guidelines.
3. Do they make use of tax minimization techniques?
Ideally, the tax pro you close up performing with will be able to precisely seize and report what occurred previous 12 months even though supporting you implement procedures that will reduce your foreseeable future tax bills.
The subsequent issues can assist you ascertain if they are a superior suit in that regard:
Will you give forward-hunting tax arranging suggestions as section of our function collectively?
What kind of tax minimization approaches do you commonly use with your customers?
Centered on what you know about my scenario, what are some of the tax minimization methods you could possibly suggest?
4. Do they work with consumers like me?
You are going to want to hire a tax advisor that works with purchasers like you. They are much more probably to be familiar with your established of situation and proactively provide alternatives that match your requires.
For case in point, if you’re a high earner with limited inventory units, financial investment revenue and rental homes, your CPA ought to realize these troubles inside of and out. Alternatively, if you’ve just inherited property and are seeking to lower your tax bill even though familiarizing you with all of the tax implications, you will want a tax professional that specializes in these locations.
Right here are some thoughts to check with oneself:
What phase of your life or occupation are you in?
What are your various revenue forms, sources, and quantities?
Are you self-used or do you individual a organization? How is that business structured?
What is your internet worthy of?
At the time you have a grasp on some of the important attributes that outline your economical posture, you can then appear for a tax pro with the relevant experience and know-how.
5. Do they really feel like a excellent match?
After you have identified a tax skilled who meets your requirements from a specialized standpoint, make positive they’re also a person you like and trust. Even though your preferred pro doesn’t require to be a pricey buddy, it is typically much easier to build a strong functioning romance with anyone whose character pairs effectively with your personal.
In addition, if you currently get the job done with a economical advisor or prosperity manager, look at inquiring them for a tax advisor referral. Many economical industry experts have shut operating interactions, and your financial advisor probable has at the very least just one tax professional they can endorse. Preferably, your financial advisor and tax specialist will function alongside one another to guarantee the techniques they put into action are in line with your fiscal targets.
Brian Littlejohn, MBA, CFP®, CFA is the founder of Sherwood Wealth Management in Basalt. Brian gives his clients with customized investment administration and detailed economical organizing providers to support them manage, develop, and protect their assets.
LISTEN: How personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary inspired one family’s debt journey.
Have a money question for Michelle Singletary? Call 1-855-ASK-POST (1-855-275-7678) with your personal finance questions.
Michelle Singletary loves to help people manage their money.
“This is what I was called to do,” she says. “I was born to give financial advice.”
And she’s been doing just that for 25 years, from the members of her Maryland church, to her nationally syndicated column in the Washington Post.
“I get e-mails from people almost every single day. White, Black, young, old, Democrat, Republican, it don’t matter. All in debt,” she says. “‘Michelle, how can I get out of debt? I’m so burdened with this debt.'”
Today, On Point: Michelle Singletary joins us with a quarter century’s worth of guidance and stories on how Americans manage their money.
Trinita McCall, member of Michelle’s church who stopped being a ‘grocery-holic.’
Jennifer and Tyrone Harris, members of Michelle’s church who wound down over $200,000 in student loans in four years.
Linette Harris, member of Michelle’s church who went from 15 credit cards to one.
Transcript
MEGHNA CHAKRABARTI: This is On Point, I’m Meghna Chakrabarti. And Michelle Singletary is back with us. Hi, Michelle.
MICHELLE SINGLETARY: Hi. Hello.
CHAKRABARTI: 25 years, did I blink? And suddenly it was 25 years of you writing your column?
SINGLETARY: I know, I know. I like to joke. I started at the Post when I was 10 because I know people are doing the math like, Wait a minute.
CHAKRABARTI: 10. Five, you mean?
SINGLETARY: Yes, that’s even better.
CHAKRABARTI: OK, so for the few people out there who don’t know who you are, this is Michelle Singletary, one of our absolute favorite guests of all time. She’s come on the show quite often. She is the nationally syndicated columnist at the Washington Post. Her column, The Color of Money, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. … So we’re going to talk about all the lessons that you’ve learned over these 25 years. So first of all, let me ask you though, like, do you think your core beliefs about money and personal finance, have they shifted at all in a quarter century of listening and helping other people?
SINGLETARY: No, not at all. Not at all. You know, a lot of the basic information I know about money I gained from my grandmother, Big Mama, who raised me. And she just had basic stuff that kept her going and kept her solvent. And just the best money manager I’ve ever known. And it’s, you know, live below your means. Every dollar that you get, you save a little piece of it. You know, hate debt like it was a person and you wanted to just slap it, you know?
You know, give back to your community. … And you know, when you’re investing, investing should be boring. I know everybody is out there, you know, wanting to do speculation and and make money really quick. But just, you know, saving and over time, you’ll get there. And so the basics are the same no matter when you get into this money game.
CHAKRABARTI: And apparently, according to your column, she was nothing if not consistent, right? Tell us a story about what she told you every time you got on the phone with her.
SINGLETARY: Oh my gosh. So I graduated from college, University of Maryland College Park. And my grandmother said, You need to come live with me, save your money for a year or years. And I said, Sure, absolutely. Love my grandmother, lived for her for a year, but she has some things that kind of like bothered me a little bit. Like I didn’t have to be to work until 10 in the morning. She would get me up at 6:00 a.m. so that I wouldn’t be late, and my job was 10 minutes from where I live. So I thought, You know what? I need to be on my own.
So I went out and got an apartment without her knowing it. And when I told her she was livid. Because she said, You know, why are you giving your money to the white man? And you have to understand the generation that my grandmother came from, and her grandparents were enslaved individuals and she believed in homeownership. And so I rented for just one year, and I am not exaggerating, folks every single time I called my grandmother, every single time for a year, the first thing she would say to me was, You still giving your money to the white man?
And at the end of the year, she said, You have two choices. You can come back and live with me or you can buy some property. And folks, I bought a two bedroom, one bath condo, so I wouldn’t have to get up at 6:00 a.m. in the morning. Or take the shoes from underneath my bed because my grandmother says, if you keep shoes underneath your bed, if you get a man, he’s going to run out of your life. And I’m thinking, I don’t have a man. I’m just going to get a condo.
CHAKRABARTI: Well, listen, you actually said something that leads me to a question I wanted to ask you for quite some time. Because you know, the consistent things about finance that you just laid out that haven’t changed in those 25 years, like not wanting debt or looking at debt as the devil, in fact, is kind of core to that.
And I really want to know about how much that comes from the history that Black Americans have lived in this country. Because, you know, I do wonder in the Black community and especially the Black community that you grew up in, Michelle, this sense that to have anything in your life that would impede on your liberty, which debt does, it can do that, would be anathema. Tell me, am I sort of connecting legitimate dots?
SINGLETARY: You are connecting the dots. Exactly right, my grandmother, you know, she came through the Great Depression. And then the Red Summer, when many prosperous African American communities were burned to the ground because they were doing so well. And so she was so fearful of having anything that would obligate you to white establishment. And so absolutely, I mean, with no debt, you have more choices.
Even if she lost her job, which is, you know, when she was coming up, it was a real threat when you were Black. If you didn’t have loans, if you paid off your house early, you could make it until you got that next job. And so for her, she’s like, don’t have those chains of debt. And recognizing, you know, my grandmother borrowed to buy a car, she borrowed to buy her house, but she would make extra payments so that she could get out of that debt as soon as possible and free herself from that obligation.
So that is something that happened to her because of discrimination, because of Red Lining, because all the things that happen, she would be able to make it to the next paycheck or the next job. And that’s what she instilled in me. And I tell you, I’ve been at the Post 30 years total, 25 for the column. And I still think, Oh, they’re going to fire me. And of course, they’re not right, you know? But I just, you know, I had that fear still. And so I try to do a great job. I try to keep my debts down. I try to save, so that if anything ever happened, I could live till I got to that next job.
CHAKRABARTI: So I really appreciate you sharing that with us because you are so passionate about debt that you even preach about it in church, right?
SINGLETARY: I do. I do. I do. I belong to First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Prince George’s County in Maryland. And it’s a huge church. We have a financial ministry that I run. We have financial classes. And so we’re always talking about freeing yourself from debt, particularly high interest credit card debt. And so my pastor asked me to to teach a couple, you know, one Sunday, you know, we had four services at a time. So I taught, you know, four services about, you know, the dangers of debt.
And we did a little experiment one time in church and we asked, it was only like maybe about 1,500 or 1,600 people for Bible study, and we asked everybody to write down how much debt they had, not including their mortgage. And it was astounding in that group. It was millions and millions of consumers and consumer debt, and that was just really eye opening for me. And one of the reasons why I have this yearlong ministry at my church to help people free themselves, so that they can then use that money to save for retirement, or send their kids to college debt free or help relatives. Like right now, we’ve got the pandemic. Free money in your budget so that you can help other people in your life.
CHAKRABARTI: Well, so we have a little bit of you preaching your personal finance ministry at your church. So here is Michelle Singletary talking about mortgages and car loans.
SINGLETARY [Archival Tape]: I don’t want you to think that I say, don’t get a mortgage, that’s not what I’m saying, because most of us can’t afford to get our home without a mortgage. And I’m not even saying, don’t get a car loan, although you do know that you can pay cash for your car, do you not know that? They will take cash. They will. Because we shouldn’t be getting loans for cars. You can save up for your car. I see y’all not getting me on this. But you can.
Because here’s a trick my grandmother told me. When you get a car loan, you only get one. Then after you get that one, when you pay that one off, you take the payments that you weren’t paying on it, you pay it to yourself. So then when you need a car, add another 10 or 12 years or 15 years, which is how long my husband and I keep a car, then you’ll have the money for a car.
CHAKRABARTI: Michelle, did they get you after a while?
SINGLETARY: … Quite a few people did. And in fact, after one service, a woman came up to me. I’ll never forget this. My pastor does financial messages all the time. And he was pointing me out in the congregation as she ran up to me. She says, I just was at the dealership over the weekend and signed up to get a car for $40,000. Because she went in to get car repairs. And they said, Oh, don’t fix this car, get a new car.
But she could not afford that payment. And so I said, take that car back. She was in the window at which you could take it back. I said, Take it back. I gave her the name of my mechanic. And you know what, the amount of repairs was not nearly as not as much as the dealer had told her, and she took that $40,000 car back and fixed the car that she had. And it really helped her stay on point with her finances.
CHAKRABARTI: Well, you know, it’s funny. Cars, they’re really particular American thing when it comes to like what they mean to people too. But in my life, I was really lucky with my parents and their approach to personal finance. I mean, I think they like they inadvertently or they spiritually went to the Big Mama’s School of Savings and Personal Finance Practice. Because like, as I grew up, we only ever had used cars. And like some of them, were very, very, very used. Like my dad used to have this giant Chevrolet that you could hear coming from about a quarter mile away.
And I remember when he was like, it wasn’t until he was like in his mid to late fifties. There was one day we were sitting was having a picnic and he turned to me and he, like, almost whispered. He was like, Daughter, I have something shameful to admit to you. And I was like, Oh my god, are you okay? Like, what’s going on? And he goes, I have the urge to buy a new car. It was like a major moment in my family’s life. Because he was just so, he still couldn’t quite figure out why he wanted a new car when used cars were just fine.
CHAKRABARTI: That’s right. And you know, here’s the thing which I love about your story because you can, you know when you’re starting out and you’re trying to build your wealth, you know, you buy a used car. Because when you buy a new car, the moment you buy it, it depreciates. In the first year, you went from 20{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a} to 30{1b90e59fe8a6c14b55fbbae1d9373c165823754d058ebf80beecafc6dee5063a}, depending on the type of car. And so for most of my life, we had used cars. But then you get to a point where you are well established financially and you can buy that new car and it’s OK.
CHAKRABARTI: And he did what you recommended. He saved up and paid for it in cash, so.
SINGLETARY: That’s right.
CHAKRABARTI: Michelle Singletary is with us today. 25 years of her personal finance column, The Color of Money in The Washington Post its quarter century anniversary this year.
As I am sure you are now aware from my column, I have been involved with the commodity markets for 35 years. Some as a broker, some as an investor and some as a media analyst. In the U.S., I have traded on the floors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade.
The CBOT is the older brother, having been founded in 1848. The CME came along 50 years later. Most of the commodities you can think of with a big market are traded on these exchanges – they merged to form the CME Group in 2007. I have spent a large part of my career at the combined exchange trading everything from live cattle to soybeans. While it is so far a 35-year career, I need to write a book because it has been so interesting.
I have often said that I think commodity traders are some of the best traders and investors in the world for one reason – mother nature. Other lines of trading don’t have to take into account mother nature like corn, beans, coffee and sugar – to name a few. As a young 24-year-old trader, I was lucky enough to be promoted to start our first overseas office in the city of London in 1990. I landed at Heathrow armed with only a telephone number of the bed and breakfast I was staying at. No cell phone and no idea of the 16-year odyssey that awaited.
I was trained to trade most everything, and my firm had decided that I should trade the British interest rate. In the U.S., we call it Eurodollars. In Britain, it is called Short Sterling. The exchange was in a building built in 1844. It had originally been built in 1571 — yes, that’s right, 1571 — but had burnt down twice, and the last iteration was built in 1844. It was called the Royal Exchange and was opened by the queen of England at the time.
That was my first real brush with “history.” I thought the CME and CBOT were old, but heck, they didn’t even compare to 1571. We were now trading in the “new” building that was built in 1844, before the CME and CBOT even existed. Wow.
There are a lot of these little blue plaques dotted on buildings around the city of London. They are little explanations of what used to be there, what famous person used to be there or what stood there before it burned down a long time ago. It is terribly humbling when you walk by a plaque and it says, here stood so and so hospital, burned to the ground in 1250, rebuilt shortly thereafter only to be destroyed by a German bomb in World War II. I mean, if that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what does. Every day I was walking in the steps of Shakespeare, Churchill and Charles Darwin. The history was so overwhelming, it was suffocating at times. I must admit, I loved it. Trading in that city was a privilege. I was conducting the most basic form of commerce in the heart of civilization.
Things progressed and I bought my first house. It was a little row house that you see in English movies. It was built for someone that worked the docks on the River Thames. It was small, but it was mine – and it was new to me. I believe the title, which was a neat wax-stained document, said that it was built in the 1890’s. So much for all the modern conveniences. I was able later to move out into something a bit bigger and a bit newer – one extra bedroom and 10 years newer – built in 1900. You kind of get used to things being not so convenient and the very fact that it forces you to slow down is a bit romantic. You can’t help but stop and smell the roses – the English love them and they are all over the place – hence the term “English Rose.”
A few years later, I was introduced to the Deutsche Bourse in Germany. That was the name of their exchange. And just as you imagined, the German exchange had already gone electronic, no open outcry, no trading pits. Just a clinical bank of computers efficiently doing the jobs they had been programmed to do.
In 1992, I was sent to take a look at starting up our firm in Singapore. They have the climate Florida and a good ole’ open outcry exchange. I was fortunate to interview a candidate by the name of Nick Leason. I didn’t hire him and dodged a bullet. He later brought down Barings Bank in London (the queen’s bank) and went on the lam, avoiding authorities until he was caught in Germany. Whew, that was a close call. The next exchange I was able to visit was the exchange in Sydney – SFE. It had just merged with the Australian Stock Exchange – changed its name to ASX and sent all the traders with their colored jackets packing. The computers were again in charge, just like in Germany. No fun, very clinical and the “way of the future.”
Again, I was lucky enough to join a Japanese bank in London, which then required me to travel to Japan a lot over the next few years. I got to see the Tokyo Stock Exchange, which was also an electronic exchange, no humans. The human interaction to conduct business and trading was slowly being phased out. If you were an open outcry trader, you were antique. If you were a programmer, you were the way of the future. It was deemed progress and you just could not get in the way of it.
To bring it back full circle, during my time sitting on the board of a technology company in London, I was able to negotiate the sale of the computer code and matching engine that powered the Tokyo Grain Exchange (TGE). While it was a bit weird to be dealing with an exchange that was really only based on computer code, I felt a little nostalgic as it was the grain exchange in Tokyo and grain exchanges were part of my roots. I was grasping for happy straws.
Anyway, it was a crazy tour of the world’s exchanges – I only wish that cell phones had the cameras they do now – what an album, or CD those photos would have made.
9 things to know about Pritzker budget plan
Pension contributions
Illinois’ largest general revenue fund expenses continue to be K-12 education and pensions. The latter will make up 20.7 percent of the proposed general revenue spending in the upcoming budget, or about $9.6 billion.
The governor has proposed adding another $500 million to the pension payment beyond what is required by law in fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
That’s notable, because previous governors have been widely criticized for shortchanging the pension system – something Pritzker proposed, then quickly abandoned, in his first year in office. Critics often point out that the state law governing pension payments already shortchanges the system from what accountants suggest should be paid into it.
The governor proposed spending $300 million of the surplus from the current fiscal year to pay down pensions, with $200 million added to the statutory payment in the upcoming budget.
The governor’s office estimated the $500 million increase beyond statutory amounts would reduce unfunded liabilities – which sit at about $130 billion – by about $1.8 billion. A pension buyout program previously approved by the General Assembly has reduced that liability by about $1.4 billion, according to the governor’s office.
Thomas J. Turney, The State Journal-Register via AP
Higher education
Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during his State of the State address at the Old State Capitol Building, Feb. 2 in Springfield.
Thomas J. Turney, The State Journal-Register via AP
K-12 Education
Approximately 21 percent of the budget is dedicated to Pre-K-12 education, an increase of $498 million from one year ago.
That includes $350 million for the evidence-based funding formula for K-12 schools, which prioritizes new money toward the schools furthest from their “adequacy” target, which takes into account class sizes, a local district’s property values and other factors.
The budget asks for another $54.4 million to provide early childhood education services to another 7,100 children, and another $96 million in transportation and special education grants for schools.
Another $12 million would be added to the Regional Offices of Education budget to address truancy and chronic absenteeism, and agriculture education funding would increase by $2 million.
Temporary tax relief
The governor cited rising inflation as the basis for creating about $1 billion in temporary tax relief for motor fuel, groceries and property taxes.
The motor fuel tax relief would not lower gas prices, but it would prevent an annual increase to the motor fuel tax that is written into law from taking effect this year. It prevents a hike of 2.2 cents per gallon of gas, according to the governor’s office – a taxpayer savings it pegged at $135 million.
Motor fuel tax money does not go to the general revenue fund, but rather to road construction projects. The tax holiday does not appear to affect a proposed $46.5 billion capital infrastructure budget, which is mostly an extension of the 2019 Rebuild Illinois plan.
The governor also proposed rolling back a 1 percent state grocery tax for the fiscal year, a taxpayer savings pegged at $360 million. The state would reimburse local governments for the effect of the tax holiday.
Illinoisans currently eligible for a 5 percent property tax credit under current law – that is, joint filers earning below $500,000 and single filers earning below $250,000 – would be eligible for another 5 percent property tax credit under the proposal, up to $300. The taxpayer savings is estimated at $475 million.
Rainy day fund
Illinois’ “rainy day fund” at its height contained only about $300 million since its 2001 creation, but that was spent down to almost nothing during a budget impasse under Republican former Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly.
Pritzker’s budget proposes adding $600 million to the fund with a supplemental budget from the current fiscal year, while dedicating $279 million to the fund in FY2023 to bring the balance up to $879 million.
The governor also proposed dedicating $898 million to pay down overdue health insurance bills.
Safety net
The beleaguered Department of Children and Family Services would see a funding increase of $250 million, or 16 percent, to about $1.3 billion from general revenue funds. That includes rate reforms for private sector providers in an effort to address staffing shortages, totaling $87.1 million.
The budget also provides $15.5 million to hire an additional 360 employees to address growing caseloads, improve caseload ratios and continue operations in licensing, monitoring and clinical services.
Funding for nursing homes would increase by $500 million, with lawmakers expected to take up rate reforms and a new provider assessment designed to maximize federal dollars, encourage improvement of care and staffing ratios.
Unemployment trust fund
As of Feb. 1, Illinois owed the federal government more than $4.5 billion for advances received to keep its unemployment insurance trust fund afloat during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. By Sept. 30, Illinois will owe almost $32 million in interest on that borrowing.
If the state doesn’t take action to pay down the deficit, it could lead to massive unemployment insurance rate hikes on businesses and cuts to benefits for those claiming unemployment.
The budget does not include any money to pay down the borrowing, but the governor’s office said it remains in negotiations with lawmakers and representatives of labor and businesses on a solution. There’s serious consideration of using much of about $3.5 billion in remaining federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay down the deficit, according to the governor’s office.
Public safety
Pritzker noted his budget includes an $18.6 million increase to allow for three classes of Illinois State Police cadets. Another $5.4 million will go to opening a new forensic laboratory in Decatur in August.
The budget also includes $4.5 million to fund body cameras for ISP in accordance with a criminal justice reform bill passed one year ago, as well as providing the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board with $10 million for distributing grants to local law enforcement for body cameras.
The Department of Human Services budget includes $240 million as part of a two-year, $250 million commitment to the Reimagine Public Safety Act, which aims at investing violence prevention resources in some of the state’s most dangerous areas. Just $5 million of that comes from the general revenue fund, with $235 million funded through the American Rescue Plan Act.
Revenues
The budget does not call for raising taxes to create any new revenues.
The state does expect a 4 percent increase in income tax receipts at $22.4 billion. Corporate income taxes are expected to decline 5.4 percent to $4.4 billion, with sales tax decreasing 1.3 percent to $9.9 billion and other sources netting $3.1 billion.
The lottery is expected to bring in $754 million, legalized gambling $157 million, and adult-use marijuana $142 million. Federal sources account for just over $4 billion.
Scott Shellady serves as markets anchor for RFD-TV and appears regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN and Fox Business News. His early years were on a farm in Jo Daviess County. He later worked on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade before teaching finance at DePaul University.
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