Are you thinking of retiring this year? Now is the time to start planning—from what to do with cash sitting in your bank account to how to withdraw your Social Security benefits most effectively. Hear three retirement pitfalls to avoid.

Plus, the market had a great week last week, and jobless claims near multi-decade lows. It’s unclear how much economic growth we will see and how the strong labor market will impact earnings. The buzz also continues to be around if we’ll have a hard or soft landing from the Fed. Particularly strong January performance has often been a signal of above-average gains for the year ahead. Going forward, The Sandman thinks recessionary pressures are going to continue, and we’ll continue to see falling corporate earnings and layoffs, particularly in the tech sector, causing volatility in this first half of the year. Catch the rest of the weekly market report on this week’s episode.

The market had a great week last week, and jobless claims near multi-decade lows. It’s unclear how much economic growth we will see and how the strong labor market will impact earnings. The buzz also continues to be around if we’ll have a hard or soft landing from the Fed. Particularly strong January performance has often been a signal of above-average gains for the year ahead. Going forward, The Sandman thinks recessionary pressures are going to continue, and we’ll continue to see falling corporate earnings and layoffs, particularly in the tech sector, causing volatility in this first half of the year. Catch the rest of the weekly market report on this week’s episode. 

Recent earning results have been mixed, and the markets have been following earnings this last week for any signals about growth. Growth and inflation go hand in hand because that sets up stagflation—something we’re trying to avoid. Are we going to get a soft landing from the Fed? Will they continue to raise rates? There are many opinions floating around about this. Hear The Sandman’s take this week.

If you own a business or are a member of company leadership, whether it be a string of gas stations or a Fortune 500 Company, 2023 may be a tough year for your bottom line. Hopefully, all sorts of negative business influences—like recession fears, stagflation, and labor challenges—are on your planning agenda. Here are some tips to help you address some of these issues and make smart business decisions to keep your business healthy this year.

The Secure Act 2.0 is now law. While there are dozens of provisions in the act, a few highlights include RMD age limit increases, timeframes for taking distributions from inherited IRAs, catch-up contributions for retirement accounts, and so much more. Also, The Sandman breaks down the eight types of people who might not want to do a Roth IRA conversion.

Plus, the stock and bond markets were both up last week, a result of inflation dropping for the third straight month. The core Consumer Price Index, which includes food and energy, eased lower to 5.7%, but the Fed stated it wanted it around 2% to start cutting rates to stimulate the economy. How have markets historically performed when the Fed is about to pivot or to change direction?