Our RR annual Investment edition. The Rink Rats portfolio returned 11.01% in 2021. This is compared to 18.73% in the Dow, 26.89% in the S&P 500, and 21.39% in the NASDAQ.
2021 Rink Rats Portfolio - $1,000 invested in each:
Apple (AAPL), Intel (INTC), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX),
Veeva Systems (VEEV), and Clean Harbors (CLH).
2022 RR is invested in: Apple (AAPL), Disney (DIS), JP Morgan
U.S. Value ETF (BBRE), Roblox (RBLX), and Clean Harbors (CLH).
10 Money Moves to Start the New Year Right
1. If you’re still working, raise your
retirement savings ...
Of all tasks related to financial security, one of the most
important is to save more for that time when earnings stop coming in. Using
tax-favored retirement accounts is a good choice, and you have more time than
you might think to bump up your 2021 contributions: Until April 15, 2022, you
can deposit as much as $7,000 in earnings into a traditional or Roth IRA.
(That’s the standard $6,000 limit, plus a $1,000 catch-up contribution if
you’re 50-plus.) It’s easy to open an account online with a brokerage such as
Charles Schwab, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price or Vanguard. Once that’s done, you can
think about contributing another $7,000 for 2022.
2. ... and go automatic.
If you have a 401(k) account available at work and you’re not
currently contributing, tell your HR department you’d like to start (or resume)
having contributions deducted from each paycheck. Already in a plan? Increase
your annual deduction another percentage point or two. For further savings, go
through your bank or brokerage to make an automatic monthly contribution to an
IRA, an emergency saving fund or another account you’ve created for a one time
need, whether it’s a new furnace or a dream vacation. “Automating your savings
is the best way to reach your financial goal,” says Shay Cook, CEO of Crusaders
for Change, a financial counseling firm in Odenton, Maryland. “Not having to
think about it is key,” she says. “You are more likely to hit your goal than if
you have to manually transfer money to the designated account each month.”
3. Reassess your budget.
Another golden rule of financial security: Make sure your
monthly spending is less than your monthly income. Your needs may be far
different than they were before the pandemic. So take an hour or two to review
your outlays: Make a list of all your regular bills, such as your mortgage or
rent, insurance, cell phone and utilities. Look at a few recent months of
credit card and bank statements to see what you’re spending on food, health
care and the other expenses in life that are hard to keep track of. “It’s easy
for things we don’t value to get added to our budget over time without us
realizing it,” says Laura Cuber, a financial adviser in Schaumburg, Illinois.
Look for places to cut: small items that add up, recurring charges for services
you no longer need, or big changes that could have a major impact, such as
moving to a less expensive area.
4. Make a home movie.
Just in case we face yet another year of natural disasters,
inventory your possessions and review your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance.
Use your smartphone to take a video of everything in your home, says Eileen
Freiburger, a financial planner in Sebastopol, California. Narrate while taping
to give context and to highlight things of value. Open your drawers and
closets: “Make sure it’s all there so later you aren’t trying to guess,” she
says. Save the file online in case you have to make a claim. Separately, verify
that you have enough coverage to rebuild your home if it’s destroyed — a
problem after the California wildfires, says Kathryn Peyton, a financial
adviser in Sonoma County, California. For a good estimate, she recommends
asking a builder about local construction costs per square foot for your type
of home.
5. Consolidate and simplify.
You may have accumulated a variety of retirement accounts from
former employers through the years. Track down those accounts and weigh the
benefits of consolidating them into one account — an IRA or, if you’re still
working, possibly your current 401(k). That makes it easier to track required
minimum distributions; you might also save money by switching out of high-fee
investments in one account into low-fee funds in another. “I’m a really big
proponent of trying to consolidate,” says Michelle Morris, a financial planner
with Brio Financial Planning in Quincy, Massachusetts. “Either you do it while
you’re still alive, or your heirs will have to find everything.”
6. Find tax-smart ways to give.
Doing OK financially? Take advantage of giving strategies that
benefit you at tax time. Though you usually need to itemize to deduct
charitable contributions, a special rule lets nonitemizers deduct $300 in cash
donations (or $600 per couple) in 2021.
If you are at least 70½, you can also save on taxes by making
donations directly from a traditional IRA. See “New Rules for Retirement
Accounts” for more details.
7. Eliminate your paper trail.
Gather together all the old financial and medical documents
you no longer need to refer to — and which may be piling up so high you can’t
find the ones you really do need — and shred them to protect your personal data
from prying eyes. A local government or community organization might do it for free;
AARP state offices sponsor shredding days. Find one near you at aarp.org/(your
state)/shredding. Office-supply chains and shipping stores will shred for a
per-pound fee; alternatively, you can buy a crosscut shredder for less than
$50.
8. Clear out your flexible spending account.
If you contribute pretax money to a health care flexible
spending account at work, you may lose any money you haven’t used by the end of
the year. Government rules permit your employer to either give you until March
15 to use your 2021 money or let you carry over up to $550 in unspent account
money to 2022; ¬COVID-era legislation allows even more flexibility, such as
letting you spend the cash on over-the-counter medications, not just
prescription drugs. So ask your employer about your account’s current rules and
deadlines, and make plans to spend any remaining money — perhaps updating your
eyeglasses, buying a blood pressure monitor or getting physical therapy.
9. Review your legal paperwork.
Set aside a few hours to reread your will, power of attorney,
estate plans and other legal documents to see if they are up to date and still
reflect your wishes. “Are they still relevant based on changes in your family,
changes in your residency or changes in your net worth?” asks Tim Steffen,
director of tax planning at the investment firm Baird. Check with your
retirement plan administrator, any firm holding an IRA of yours and your
insurance company (if you have life insurance) to be sure those accounts have
the correct beneficiary designations, since they regularly determine who
receives any money after your death, even if your will says otherwise.
10. Reassess your priorities.
The pandemic has changed many people’s life goals — and
financial goals, too. Tim Maurer, a financial planner in Charleston, South
Carolina, recommends creating a list of goals you hope to accomplish in 2022,
organized in four different categories: relationships, wellness, interests and
work. “You’re now ready to apply the financial planning to-do’s that will help
you realize your goals,” he says. “When you have clarity regarding what is most
important to you in life, your financial decisions can become surprisingly
simple.”
SOCIAL SECURITY - Social Security
beneficiaries will have a lot to cheer about in 2022 — but they may have a few
things to grouse about as well. Here’s a rundown of what will change for Social
Security beneficiaries in the new year.
Monthly benefits
The biggest change beneficiaries will see in Social Security
in 2022 is a 5.9 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to monthly retirement
checks and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) checks. The increase is the
largest COLA since 1982.
The COLA will boost the average retirement check by $92, to
$1,657 a month. The maximum monthly benefit for a worker who retired at full
retirement age will jump by $197, to $3,345. SSI checks, for those with limited
incomes and few financial resources, will get a lift, too. The maximum monthly
SSI payment in 2022 will be $841 for an individual, up $47 from 2021, and
$1,261 for a couple, up $70.
The annual Social Security COLA is based on the change in
prices of a market basket of goods. To measure these changes, the Social
Security Administration (SSA) uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). For the 2022 COLA, the SSA measured the
change in the average CPI-W index from July, August and September of 2021 to
the average CPI-W index for the same three-month span in 2020. The percentage change
between the two quarterly averages, 5.9 percent, is the COLA starting in
January 2022.
The 2022 COLA was so large because prices of goods and
services measured in the CPI-W have significantly increased in the past year,
due in part to a rebounding economy and COVID-19 outbreaks, which have both
driven up energy prices and strained the world’s supply chains.
Because the COLA calculation is backward-looking and fixed in
time based on the change from the third quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of
2021, it does not always capture the full increase in goods and services if
inflation persists beyond September, which it has. In the 12 months that ended
in November, the CPI-W jumped 7.6 percent, and the Consumer Price Index for All
Urban Consumers (CPI-U), the most common gauge of inflation, gained 6.8
percent. If inflation continues at this pace, it will erode the future buying
power of Social Security payments.
Big hike in Medicare Part B premiums
Although the 2022 increase is substantial, most beneficiaries
won’t see the full amount in their checks because Medicare Part B premiums are
deducted directly from most Social Security retirement payments. Due to
inflation (and because the 2021 Part B increase was limited by Congress),
Medicare Part B premiums jumped to $170.10 for 2022, an increase of $21.60,
from $148.50 in 2021.
Consider the person who has a $1,657.30 monthly benefit in
2022, up from $1,565 in 2021. They would have a net benefit (after the $170.10
2022 Part B deduction) of $1,487.20.
Those with the smallest Social Security benefit get hit the
hardest by the Medicare increase, says Mary Johnson, Social Security and
Medicare policy analyst for the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan advocacy
group. “The folks with the lowest benefits see the smallest increase, yet they
may be the same people who depend on Social Security for most, or even all of
their income,” Johnson says.
For example, a person with a $1,000 Social Security benefit in
2021 would have gotten $851.50 a month after the 2021 Part B premium of $148.50
a month was deducted. In 2022, the person’s Social Security payment would rise
to $1,059. Deduct $170.10 for Medicare, and that person would be left with
$888.90 — just $37.40 more than in 2021.
From 2013 through 2022, Social Security COLAs have increased
payments by 18.8 percentage points. Part B premiums have increased by 57.2
percentage points during the same period, according to the Senior Citizens
League.
Taxes
Social Security is paid for by a 6.2 percent tax on employees,
which is matched by a 6.2 percent tax from employers. (The self-employed pay a
12.4 percent combined tax.) The tax rate hasn’t changed. The amount of income
that’s subject to that tax, however, has also increased in line with the COLA.
In 2021, you paid Social Security tax (called Old Age,
Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) on up to $142,800 of taxable
earnings. That limit will be $147,000 in 2022. Neither you nor your employer
will pay OASDI taxes on amounts higher than that.
JANUARY 31, 1940 - On this day in 1940,
the first monthly Social Security check was issued to Ida May Fuller, a
65-year-old retired legal secretary in Ludlow, Vt. Because Social Security
launched only three years before she retired, Ms. Fuller had paid a cumulative
total of only $24.75 in Social Security taxes. But her initial monthly check
was $22.54—and, by the time she died in 1975 at the age of 100, she had
collected a total of $22,888.92 in benefits, nearly 1,000 times what she paid
in.
MARKET WEEK - A relentless surge in U.S.
inflation reached another four-decade high last month, accelerating to a 7.5%
annual rate as strong consumer demand collided with pandemic-related supply
disruptions.
The Labor Department on Thursday said the consumer-price
index—which measures what consumers pay for goods and services—in January
reached its highest level since February 1982, when compared with the same
month a year ago. That put inflation above December’s 7% annual rate and well
above the 1.8% annual rate for inflation in 2019 ahead of the pandemic.
The so-called core price index, which excludes the often
volatile categories of food and energy, climbed 6% in January from a year
earlier. That was a sharper rise than December’s 5.5% increase and the highest
rate in nearly 40 years.
An intensifying selloff in U.S. government bonds drove
benchmark (10 Year U.S Treasury Yield) borrowing costs above 2% for the first
time since mid-2019, after data showing sustained inflation fueled new bets the
Federal Reserve will rapidly remove pandemic stimulus measures.
MOTOR CITY – Toyota last year outsold GM in
the U.S. for the first time, in part thanks to stockpiling computer chips.
Toyota bet earlier than most rivals on a recovering U.S. car market and cut
parts and production orders less sharply, making it better prepared for an
eventual surge in demand. Its U.S. sales were up about 10% from 2020, to 2.3
million vehicles, while GM’s were down nearly 13% to 2.2 million. Ford plans to
report 2021 sales results today.
Ford doubled its manufacturing target for the electric version
of the F-150 pickup truck to 150,000 a year, sending its shares higher.
Sony said it would create a car unit and explore the
electric-vehicle market, as the electronics and auto businesses overlap.
2002 — The year McDonald’s introduced
its dollar menu. Facing the worst inflation in more than a decade, McDonald’s
is looking at how to alter meal combo deals to increase prices without scaring
off price-sensitive diners. Burger King, Denny’s and Domino’s Pizza are also
reducing their menu of discounted items or shrinking portions to try to improve
their margins.
THE LATEST SUPPLY CHAIN HEADACHE — The
truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions is
tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, Toyota and General
Motors to shut down plants or otherwise curtail production on both sides of the
U.S.-Canada border.
The U.S. auto industry's most important border crossing has
been held hostage for days by Canadians who oppose Covid rules, crimping the
supply of parts for the auto industry and sending the White House scrambling
for a solution just as new inflation numbers are due to be released.
A tumultuous protest in Canada, ostensibly started by
long-haul truck drivers incensed about cross-border vaccine mandates, has
forced the closure of the Ambassador Bridge , a crucial arterial that runs from
Detroit to Windsor, Ont., carrying auto parts and other goods across the
border.
The closure has meant the roughly 8,000 trucks that otherwise
pass over it daily — or roughly 27 percent of U.S.-Canada trade — have had to
find other ways through or call it a day.
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK –
Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Kevin Costner (67), Ben Crenshaw
(70), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (60), Doris Kearns Goodwin (79), Kevin Marshall …”The Man”, Jack Nicklaus
(82), Dolly Parton (76), John Williams (90).
COVID MASQUERADE BRAWL - Here's
a secret. We all want this damn pandemic to end. We're all sick of wearing
masks. We're all sick of the death count. We're all sick of our lives being put
on hold. And we're all sick of the counterproductive human on human fights when
we should be locking virtual arms in a unified battle against our invisible
enemy. Nowhere are these fights more absurd than when it comes to mask-wearing.
Aside from vaccines, wearing masks affords us the best protection against Covid.
And in the grand scheme of things, wearing them is no big deal. But we had
idiotic fights about putting masks on. So you can be sure we're gonna have
idiotic fights about taking them off. Meanwhile, sane people are like,
"Hey, just let me know when I can safely stop wearing one."
Like most things, our mask debates are nothing new, there were
mask resisters back in 1918, too. Some of that resistance was organized,
including a group known as the Anti-Mask League of San Francisco (Trump was
born just a century too late to find some support in SF). The objections to
masks during the Spanish flu pandemic will sound all too familiar to those who
are suffering through the coronavirus: the masks were uncomfortable, the masks
didn't work, the mask ordinances were an infringement upon freedoms and civil
liberties ... The most fantastically bizarre mask trend from 1918 was that,
either as protest, or as an act of addiction, some people would cut holes in
their mask to smoke. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times. The
day my lungs aren't strong enough to smoke through my mask, I'm switching to
edibles.
In March 2020, Yascha Mounk wrote that America should
"cancel everything." And shortly thereafter, we did. Now, in The
Atlantic Mounk is saying it's time to Open Everything. He may be right since we
have vaccines and other tools to fight Covid, the Omicron spike appears to be
abating, and several states are already easing their mask requirements, even in
schools. Of course, as a parent, you might feel differently about school mask
mandates than teachers, who are inhaling your kids' germs all day long. And the
variant trends we see today could reverse again in the near future. So how
about if we go easy on each other as we work our way through this phase of the
pandemic? We've lost 900,000 of our fellow Americans to this scourge. Our kids
have missed key moments of their youth and our parents have spent their
twilight years imprisoned. Maybe it's time to mourn the things we've lost
instead of continuing to add human decency to that list.
BET WITH YOUR HEAD NOT OVER IT -
Startling stat: There are 45 million more potential legal sports bettors on
Sunday than during last year's Super Bowl.
That translates to about 31.5 million people betting $7.6
billion on the big game, the American Gaming Association estimates.
The big picture: Sports betting is legalizing so fast and
broadly that long-resistant institutions like colleges and the NFL are getting
in on the action.
The NFL is in deep: Multiple owners are invested in betting
companies, and fans can bet on games from betting app-sponsored lounges in NFL
stadiums, Bloomberg reports.
The bottom line: Even the Associated Press has an official
odds provider.
FanDuel says 59% of spread bets are on Cincinnati to cover the
4-point spread as an underdog.
Among moneyline bets that do not involve a points spread, 76% of
bets predict the Bengals will win the game outright.
TOP FIVE BEST MOTION PICTURE BARS –
1. Palm Isle (Slap
Shot)
2. Rick’s Café
(Casablanca)
3. The Frolic Room
(LA Confidential)
4. Lloyd’s Hotel
Bar (The Shining)
5. Shelly’s Bar
(Sin City)
TOP FIVE PART DEUX – Oldest College Hockey Rinks
1. Matthews Arena,
Northeastern University, Boston, MA (1910)
2. Sage Rink,
Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (1921)
3. Houston Field House, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, Troy, NY (1949)
4. Appleton Arena,
St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY (1951)
5. Lynah Rink,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1957)
SUPER BOWL MENU - Spaghetti Pie
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray, for greasing the pan
Kosher salt and freshly
ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti
1 pound ground beef (85
percent lean)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion,
chopped
2 cups marinara sauce,
homemade or store-bought (I like Rao's)
1/2 cup whole-milk
ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons minced
fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 large eggs
1/2 cup plus 2
tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 cup shredded
mozzarella
Directions
9-by-3-inch cake pan
1. Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-3-inch cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Bring a large
pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook for 3 to 4 minutes
less than the package recommends, so that it is very al dente. Drain and
reserve.
3. In a large
skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef, 5 to 8 minutes; season with salt
and pepper. Transfer the beef to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Wipe the
skillet clean with a paper towel. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over medium
heat and saute the onions until translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. Set aside.
4. In a large
bowl, whisk together the marinara, ricotta, parsley, eggs, 1/2 cup of the
Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the cooked spaghetti,
beef and onions and toss to evenly coat. Transfer to the prepared pan, top with
the mozzarella and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
5. Bake until
the cheese is bubbling and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let rest for 5
minutes, then cut into wedges and serve.
THE SWAMI’S WEEKEND PICKS –
NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday
2/13, 3:30 PM (PDT), NBC: Super Bowl 56, Los Angeles Rams (15-5) vs. Cincinnati
Bengals (13-7). The question is, can the Rams defense limit Quarterback Joe
Burrow? Plus, can the Rams run the football? Yes to both, Rams 31 - 21.
NHL Pick of the Week – Saturday 2/12, 8:00 PM (EDT), Carolina
Hurricanes (31-10-3) vs. Minnesota North Stars (28-11-3). Carolina is a NHL
power through half the season, Canes win, 4 – 3.
College Hockey Pick of the Week – Friday
12/11, 7:00 PM (EDT), ESPN+: #2 Quinnipiac Bobcats (24-2-3) vs. St. Lawrence
University Saints (7-13-6). On paper this is a no brainer. But The Swami smells
a HUGE upset. The goaltending of senior Emil Zetterquist will be the
difference: Saints win 4 – 2.
Season to Date (3 – 1)
Next Blog: Jackass of the Month and Tax Season.
Until February 21, 2022 Adios.
Claremont, California
February 11, 2022
#XII-8-445
3,869 words, six-minute
read
CARTOON OF THE WEEKEND – The
New Yorker, dko
RINK RATS POLL – If you had $100,000 to
invest today, where would you put it?
___ Stock market
___ Real estate
___ Bitcoin
___ Savings account (Dumb)
___ Into a business (Shark Tank)
___ Under the mattress
QUOTE OF THE MONTH – “A
bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere until you change it.”
– Zig Ziglar
Rink Rats is a blog of weekly observations,
predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments and questions. Also
participate in our monthly poll. Rink Rats is now viewed in Europe, Canada,
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Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published –
May 3, 2010
Our Eleventh Year.
www.rhasserinkrats.blogspot.com
