Economic Update and SS Information...

Todd Scorzafava |

Dear Clients and Friends,

We hope this email finds you well. A lot of news in the recent headlines: debt limits, inflation, and I am sure after the debt ceiling gets resolved, hopefully very soon, we will be hearing more and more about the elections and among other ongoing geopolitical tensions. With that said there are positives as the economy has been resilient and inflation although still high, is starting to taper off. In equities, the technology sector, robotics, communications, and artificial intelligence seem to be one of the leaders so far this year.. We do feel that the economy will continue to be wavy, but hopefully not as choppy as the past 3-5 years; we do feel that over time, the general market will go higher than previous years. In short, a lot of bad news in the headlines, and the market coming off recent lows we hopefully have better years ahead. Here are some bullet points on recent news:

  1. GDP Growth: The economy has experienced moderate growth over the past quarter, driven by increased consumer spending, business investment, infrastructure and government expenditure. While there may be variations across sectors, overall economic indicators suggest a positive trajectory.
  2. Employment: The labor market has witnessed improvement, although still a tight labor market, but a positive increase in job creation.
  3. Inflation: Inflationary pressures have been a point of concern over the past year and even stemming back to COVID. The rise in commodity prices, supply chain disruptions, and increased consumer demand have contributed to higher inflation rates, but recently have shown inflation slowing down. Year over year April 2023 had an inflation rate was 4.9% (per https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/). The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring the situation and may take necessary steps to ensure price stability. They may pause on the next rate hike or increase interest rates by 0.25%. Some economists speculate that they will start cutting rate by the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024.
  4. Monetary Policy: The central bank has maintained an accommodative stance by keeping interest rates at historically low levels. This approach aims to support borrowing and investment, while managing inflationary risks.

Debt Ceiling/Limit Update: The debt ceiling has become a topic of discussion as the government nears its borrowing limit. Debt Ceiling agreed to. This should, for now, calm the markets and we can move forward, although we will be hearing a lot about elections in the coming months on the news, and the debt ceiling will likely be topic for discussion. Also, great Social Security chart below for your reference.

We thought that the list below and the attached would be helpful to you. These are the states that do not tax social security income:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado*, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington, D.C.

*As of 2023 Colorado no longer taxes Social Security

States that have no State income tax:

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wyoming.

Reach out to us anytime, we are here for you.

Best Regards,

Todd and The WealthScorz Team