Target-date funds are a class of mutual fund or exchange-traded fund designed to accumulate assets to meet an investor’s needs at a future date—the “target date.” Typically, a target-date fund holds a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. As the fund approaches and passes the designated retirement date, it is periodically rebalanced to be less focused on accumulation and more focused on income preservation.
News
Monday Update: Consumer Confidence Improves to End the Year
Last week saw a number of important economic updates, with a focus on consumer confidence, existing home sales, durable goods orders, and personal income and spending. Consumer confidence improved by more than expected to finish out the year, which is a positive sign for year-end spending reports. There are no major economic data releases scheduled for this week, but we’ll see a number of updates in the first week of the new year.
Merry Christmas to All
I’ve always loved Christmas, but I think I’ve lost much of the spirit as I’ve gotten older. Now that I have a young son—who enjoys baking cookies with his mom and eyeing presents under the tree, while struggling to behave under the eye of the “Elf on the Shelf”—I find myself recovering much of what I’ve lost. This is wonderful, but, as a father, I also find myself reaching deeper into the meaning of the holiday.
Record-Breaking Home Prices and Rent Growth
Rising home prices have been the focus of countless headlines throughout the past year. Accelerated demand in a tight real estate market has produced some captivating statistics. Recently, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that the third-quarter median sale price for an existing single-family home was 16 percent higher year-over-year. That marks a record since the NAR began capturing the data in 1968.
Chinese Tech Stocks: What Does The Future Hold For U.S.-Based Investors?
China’s push for what is known as “common prosperity” has led to more of a crackdown on companies that don’t fit in with its longer-term goals. Harsh Chinese regulatory oversight is not new, yet recent changes in the country’s philosophy have led to more concerns about the future ramifications for Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges. Below, I’ll dive into the regulatory concerns and how they might affect any U.S.-based holders of U.S.-listed Chinese securities.
So, You Want to Remove China from Your Portfolio?
In 2021, we have seen our fair share of requests from advisors and their clients to remove or reduce the exposure to China in their portfolios. This has happened for several reasons. In a previous post, I discussed both the strong foreign direct investment into China in 2020 and the stark contrast between the country and the rest of the world in 2020 nine months into the pandemic. Nearly a year later, we have seen the Chinese government take swift actions around foreign direct investment, including the planned delisting of Chinese ride-hailing company, Didi, from U.S. exchanges; fines on technology firms; and questions around the future of U.S. foreign direct investment.