Author: Trevor Gerszt

Read any articles about the financial well-being of American households and it’s clear that they don’t paint a pretty picture. Nearly 80% of households live paycheck to paycheck, with limited ability to save money for retirement or even for an emergency. Even though the average household has just under $9,000 in the bank, over 60% […]

The financial press seems to be full of stories of those who have retired early. It’s easy to get jealous when we hear stories of those who have retired in their 30s and who plan on never holding a full-time job again. In many cases when you dig deeper you find that these are people […]

By now it’s no secret that Social Security is in dire straits. According to the latest Social Security Trustees Report, Social Security taxes have long been unable to pay for Social Security benefits. Only because of interest gained on Social Security’s trust fund has the system been able to keep paying benefits without dipping into […]

More and more Americans feel themselves slipping into financial insecurity today, with nearly 80% of American households living from paycheck to paycheck. But for many of those households it doesn’t have to be that way. Disciplined saving and investment over a period of time can help lift you away from living hand-to-mouth and put you […]

With the Democratic takeover of Congress calls have come for new taxes on income and wealth. From calls to raise the highest tax bracket to 70% on the ultra-rich to proposals for an annual wealth tax on the wealthy, ideas abound for ways to soak the rich and get more money for various government programs […]

Stock market crashes are easy to see in hindsight, but they’re very difficult to see while they’re occurring. Too many people assume that a stock market crash will manifest itself as a Black Monday or Black Tuesday type of event, with a 10% or 20% loss in a single day. In reality, stock market crashes […]

While the government shutdown may now be over, its effects will likely still linger for a while. But one thing the shutdown really brought to the fore is the fact that many American households will be unprepared for the next recession. We found out that many government employees weren’t prepared for missing even a single […]

With the federal government shutdown already record-breaking at over one month in duration, more and more stories are circulating about the harm federal employees and their families are facing. Having already missed one paycheck, federal employees are about to miss a second. And while they will receive back pay once the government reopens, that doesn’t […]

By now it’s clear to many people that stock markets are on the verge of a major decline. But what is scaring many investors is the prospect of a severe crash. While the financial crisis of 2008 was bad, stock markets “only” lost a little over 50% of their value. Were we to experience another […]

When most people think of dividend investing they think of blue-haired old ladies who bought stock in GE, GM, or 3M back when those companies were better known as General Electric, General Motors, and Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing. It’s a conservative approach to investing and wealth creation that has largely gone overlooked over the past […]