5 political crises that are threatening to wreck the global economy and life as we know it
1. Iraq and Syria: Two conflicts beat as one
2. China vs. Japan: Asia’s next great war?
3. The rise of Europe’s far right
4. Russia vs. Ukraine (and the rest of Europe): Back in the USSR?
5. Washington, DC: A snake pit of vitriolic ineptitude
Both these markets have been buoyed by the huge "quantitative easing" programmes that their respective central banks have conducted over recent years, pumping massive amounts of money into the financial system, with all manner of unintended consequences in other areas. Share prices over the past couple of years have been driven largely by investors being prepared to pay more for a given level of profits, rather than any rise in earnings. This inevitably leaves markets more vulnerable to sudden shifts in sentiment.
The markets’ mood though has remained remarkably calm recently – perhaps worryingly so. It has been observed that measures of volatility in most major markets have fallen – in bonds, currencies and shares all are close to multi-year lows. The commonly quoted "fear index" in the US, the Vix, is at a seven-year low. It would appear that the Bank of England and its counterpart in the US, the Federal Reserve, have successfully managed to persuade investors that interest rates are not going to rise imminently.
Why 'I'll just work longer' is not a good retirement plan
For pre-retirees (those over 55), the top reason cited for putting off retirement should come as no surprise: money. Not only are Americans living longer today, but fixed costs like health care and housing continue to outpace inflation. For cash-strapped workers, clocking in for a few more years may seem like the only reasonable solution to solving their financial anxieties.
More Americans are confident about their retirement prospects for the first time in seven years, but even so, more than one-third of workers (36%) have a measly $1,000 saved for their later years, according to a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. (Compare that to the 28% of workers who said they had $1,000 saved in last year's survey, and the picture gets a little more grim.)
They’ve got money (and they know how to use it). Obviously, saving for the future is easier when there's more to start with. Workers earning more than $75,000 a year were far more likely to report feeling more confident about retirement than those earning less, according to the EBRI. On the other hand, of those workers who say they've saved less than $1,000 for retirement, 68% reported earning $35,000 or less.
Why Every Millennial Should Consider A Roth IRA
DYI
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