With income tax time upon us, I want to remind all of our clients and readers that we have a great tool for keeping your financial information digitally in one safe, secure place. It’s called Your Financial Life and it’s free gift from Halbert Wealth Management.

The idea is to have all of your financial information (account numbers, custodians, contact info, etc.) in one digital place for easy access. When there are changes to any of your financial information, you can easily update your record to keep it current.

Just days after his inauguration, President Donald Trump famously said, “With oil prices going down, I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately." And at a White House event following these comments, Trump said, "I think I know interest rates much better than they do, and I think I know it certainly much better than the one who's primarily in charge of making that decision," apparently referring to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

But in an about face, Trump in comments to reporters earlier this month said that the central bank was right to keep interest rates unchanged at its last policy meeting on January 29. "I'm not surprised," he told reporters. "I think holding the rates at this point was the right thing to do."

Also, newly confirmed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the president no longer plans to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower its short-term federal funds interest rate. Instead, what he and the president want is to bring down longer-term borrowing costs, such as home mortgage rates, via a decrease in 10-year Treasury yields.

Today we take a look at the importance of Treasury yields, why President Trump has changed his tune and what measures the newly formed administration can take to ease long-term interest rates.

The United States is experiencing a period of rapid growth in electricity demand, which is expected to continue for at least the next decade. This growth is driven by economic development and expanded electric use in various sectors. Electric vehicles, tech manufacturing and the expansion of data centers to power AI applications are major factors in the growth of electricity demand.

To support this, the US electricity grid is undergoing significant upgrades and modernization efforts. This is driven by factors like aging infrastructure, increasing demand, the need to integrate more renewable energy sources, and the desire to enhance resilience against extreme weather events. The Biden Administration allocated $1.5 billion towards four major transmission upgrades, and another $5 billion loan guarantee for a massive Midwestern power line project.

But as we survey the energy landscape in early 2025, a compelling case for nuclear expansion is emerging. With electricity demand projected to surge 9% by 2028 and potentially triple in the coming decades, we're facing a critical decision point for America's energy future.

A few months ago I stumbled on a briefing by the Cato Institute that proposed a mammoth move by the Federal government that at the time I thought could never happen. No, it has nothing to do with Greenland becoming the 51st state. (Although I can agree with some of the arguments made to purchase it!)

It has to do with what Bloomberg calls a “stodgy 87-year-old company” – Fannie Mae and its corporate relative Freddie Mac. These two companies guarantee roughly 70% of US home mortgages.

The report proposed that these two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) be privatized by sending the corporations into receivership. The sale out of receivership would require Congressional approval, but it would effectively remove $8 trillion of liabilities from the government’s balance sheet. This plan was originally proposed by the Trump administration during his first term. Now that plan has resurfaced after some of his top allies have renewed the call to privatize the two mortgage backers.

I’m sure you’ve noticed, as I have, the dramatic increase in scams of all types. Scammers try to contact you by phone, text, online chats and many social media platforms. They always have the same goal – to get your personal information or money. And the scammers are using sophisticated technology like Artificial Intelligence to enhance their tried-and-true methods.

Experian reports that over $1 trillion was lost to scammers in 2024. To put that amount into perspective, that’s roughly the value of these three corporate titans: Tesla, Berkshire Hathaway and Meta (Facebook).

Personally, I know several folks who have fallen for scams. Their personal information was used to open phony credit cards which ran up thousands of dollars in charges. Some have lost tens of thousands of dollars through bank fraud or by sending scammers multiple gift cards thinking they were helping a relative.

We thought it would be good to start the new year with some solid education to help you avoid getting ripped off by these fraudulent schemes.

I have been a baseball fan since I was a kid in California. During the baseball season I would snag my grandfather’s copy of the Oakland Tribune to read the box scores from the night before. And as the season waned toward the playoffs, it was doubly important to check the standings. I needed to see if my team was in first place or how hard they had to fight to get there.

Baseball fans have probably guessed that my team is the “Swingin’ A’s” – or better known as the Oakland Athletics.

I waited a little longer this week to send out our usual Tuesday E-Letter until now so I could report whether the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. We know now that they have.

So let’s take a “box score” look today at where the economy stands and what Jerome Powell and the Fed think 2025 holds in store.

In something of a surprise move, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Scott Bessent, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Key Square Capital Management, as U.S. Treasury Secretary. Part of the surprise lies in Bessent’s time spent with billionaire George Soros at Soros Fund Management, a large contributor to the Democratic Party. In recent years, Bessent has been a vocal supporter of the former president’s policies, including tariffs and deep spending cuts.

Bessent has urged President-elect Trump to adopt what he calls a “3-3-3” policy. Today we’ll take a look at this policy and whether it is feasible in this economy. It is a bold, hawkish move that some observers believe will reshape the U.S. economy.

In a recent edition of Forecasts & Trends, I mentioned a report by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget that projected Trump economic proposals would increase the national debt by as much as $8 trillion over four years. Today we’ll look at a different analysis, this time by the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.

The Penn Wharton Budget Model gives us a different view of Donald Trump’s proposed economic policies. Read on to see what the major components of the policies are and the Wharton School’s analysis of how they could affect the economy and your pocketbook.

Our national debt has soared to a record $35.7 trillion. It isn’t rocket science to understand how this happens. National debt continues to rise because the government spends more money than it received in revenues. It then borrows from lenders to bridge the budget gap.

In the Halloween spirit and with that enormous debt number in mind, I thought about rewriting a few scary classics to keep with the times.

The cost of property damage due to extreme weather is front and center in the news. Damage estimates due to Hurricane Helene range as high as $48 billion. Fitch Ratings, one of the “Big Three” corporate credit rating agencies, estimates Hurricane Milton could reach $50 billion in insured losses for Florida property owners. Florida state officials say if Milton had reached Category 4, the losses would have easily doubled.

Even before these calamities struck, homeowners had seen insurance costs increase. And it seems like natural disasters take a bigger toll each year. What can be done to curb the meteoric rise in premiums? Today we’ll take a look at the problem, the underlying causes and what can be done to help.