Keen on Retirement

It's certainly been an eventful couple of weeks since our last episode! There's a very good chance that the first round of COVID-19 vaccines will be administered to our frontline medical heroes before the end of the year. We also saw the Dow Jones pass the historic 30,000 mark for the first time in history. And while that milestone reveals that there's still some disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street in terms of our economic recovery, we certainly have some very positive signs pointing us towards 2021.

On the political front, as states around the country finished counting, recounting, and certifying their vote totals, President-elect Joe Biden started to formalize his transition and announce some of his cabinet nominees. As we move closer to Biden's swearing-in on January 20th, we thought it would be a good time to remind folks of some changes that are coming to Social Security next year and also discuss potential changes that the President-elect pitched on the campaign trail.

After a historic week, it looks like America will head into the new year with a new president and some very encouraging news in the fight against Covid-19. The ways that these events have rippled through the markets are yet another reminder of just how complex – and how resilient – our economy is. In the weeks ahead, it will be very important that folks separate their personal feelings from their financial planning and stay focused on things that they can control.

On today's show, we discuss how the markets have reacted to the election and the pandemic with an eye towards 2021.

In this webinar, Matt Wilson, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Keen Wealth Advisors, will cover a macroeconomic update of the markets, plus the key things we are watching right now and our outlook for the rest of 2020.

Some of the topics Matt covers in this webinar include:

• The upcoming election and implications for your investments
• Update on Covid-19
• The status of the economic recovery
• Our outlook for the remainder of 2020

In four of the last five presidential elections, the Democratic and Republican candidates were separated by just 5% of the popular vote. And, in two of those four elections, the winner of the popular vote lost the Electoral College.

So, while there's a lot of anxiety surrounding just how close next month's election might be, it's worth noting that our country has made it through some very tight races in recent years. Moreover, if you dig a little deeper into the framework that our Founding Fathers designed, you'll find some extra layers of contingency planning that can guide us through some complicated election scenarios and ensure that our government keeps functioning.

We hope that by talking through three of these election scenarios on today's episode, we'll help dispel some misconceptions, alleviate some worries, and provide some advice on how to keep the next month in U.S. politics in perspective when you're thinking about your financial plan.

Nearly seven months later the Covid-19 situation remains very fluid. Infection and hospitalization numbers are stabilizing in some states and picking up in others. One constant has been the inspiring work that health care professionals and scientists are doing to help the sick and keep moving forward on a vaccine.

I want to make it clear that no one at Keen Wealth claims to be a doctor or an epidemiologist. But during major events that affect our clients' lives, we do take it upon ourselves to stay on top of the latest developments. We want to be able to provide information that folks can trust. We also want to be on the lookout for any issues that could potentially impact our clients' financial plans.

On today's show, we discuss what our research and conversations with health care pros are telling us about the timetable for a Covid-19 vaccine. At the top of this episode, I also share a quick alert from the FBI about a telephone scam that's making the rounds.

During the pandemic, we've talked quite a bit about potential positive outcomes of this unprecedented experience. One plus that I've noticed recently is that more people do seem to recognize the importance of having a financial plan, whether they're just starting the process or refining some details with their fiduciary advisor in light of all that's happened this year.

On today's episode, we discuss 5 important areas where a financial plan can help keep your money in sync with your family's needs, even when the unexpected happens.

In this webinar, Bill Keen and Matt Wilson welcome back Washington insider Greg Valliere for a conversation about the state of the U.S. economy in 2020 as well as a preview of the upcoming presidential election.

Some of the topics Greg Valliere discussed with Bill and Matt include:

• The U.S. economy and the outlook for interest rates.
• The surging budget deficits and the impact on markets.
• Prospects for tax changes in the next two years.
• Are trade disputes over?
• Important election factors – turnout, the pivotal issues, the key states, etc.
• How the markets may react to a Trump re-election – or a win by the Democrats.
• Geopolitical hot-spots – the Mideast, Asia, Brexit, etc.

Whenever the market experiences significant volatility you're likely to see "gold bugs" swarming your social media and cable news feeds. Investing in a commodity like gold that we perceive as "stable" sounds appealing when other investments, like stocks, seem unstable. And it's true that the price of gold has risen in 2020 as the economy continues to adjust to Covid-19.

But as we discuss on today's podcast, adding gold to your portfolio is not a surefire way to mitigate risk. And folks who move their assets out of the markets in order to buy gold could be making a long-term mistake.

So much of our focus this year has been on Covid-19 that you might have missed a major milestone that we passed recently. We are now less than 100 days away from what promises to be a very contentious and impactful presidential election. The economic side of the debate has started to take shape now that former Vice President Joe Biden has released some new tax proposals.

Of course, any presidential policy pitched on the campaign trail has to be taken with a grain of salt. And in my experience, folks tend to overestimate the impact that any one president can have on the economy, sometimes to the detriment of their long-term planning.

Still, it's worth examining how a President Biden might affect the economy. So, on today's show, we dig into the Biden tax proposals and also discuss what market history tells us about presidential elections, the markets, and your nest egg.

In this webinar, Matt Wilson, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Keen Wealth Advisors, will cover a macroeconomic update of the markets, plus the key things we are watching right now and our outlook for the rest of 2020.

Some of the topics Matt covers in this webinar include:

• The best quarter for stocks since 1998.
• Update on Covid-19.
• What the leading indicators are telling us.
• Is the market disconnected from the real economy?
• Why are stocks recovering?
• Our outlook for the remainder of 2020.