Hello friends!

We hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall weather and has fun plans for Halloween. The Frederick area always has so many amazing lawn decorations that we love to see. This week, we’ll talk about what some top economists were saying at an economic conference that some of our team members attended. Then, we’ve got some tips for those of you who saved Halloween costume decisions until the last minute (relatable). Make sure to read our How We Help section for some important updates to tax laws that may impact who you select as your beneficiary.

Pat, Landon, and Michael attended an economic conference recently that featured talks from a number of big-name economists, like Claus te Wildt from Fidelity and Kristina Hooper from Invesco. The consensus of these thinkers was that federal interest rates may remain low through the end of next year, partly because the national debt is so huge that keeping the rate low is in the government’s best interest.

“It’s interesting that they were so unanimous on this issue,” Pat said. “When listening to economists talk about other things, like whether the stock market is too high and we’ll receive a correction, it can sound like they’re talking about different countries. But on the interest rate, they all agreed on the overall picture even if they quibbled over details.”

Interest rates have real-world effects on people, particularly on whether individuals and businesses can access credit, as well as things like mortgage lending and stock market movement.

Much less scary than talking about the global effects of the Fed is one of our favorite holidays, Halloween! Are the kids in your life asking what you’re going to be, but you have no idea? Procrastinating on preparing for that COVID-safe Halloween party you’re definitely not going to back out on attending? Here are some quick, inexpensive ideas for you:

• Sheet ghost. Really, this is the easiest Halloween costume. It’s simple, you already have the sheets, and it requires no sewing skills. Just drape a sheet over your head and cut some eye holes, and you’re good. For an eclectic feel, use an old floral sheet or something other than plain white. And if you want to add depth, just say you’re dressed as Charlie Brown going as a ghost and no one will ever know the difference.
• Baby from Dirty Dancing. If you’ve got a tank top, jean shorts, and a watermelon, you’ll be recognizable to anyone who’s a fan of this classic film.
• The Brawny man. All you need is a flannel shirt and a roll of paper towels. Done.
• A bat. Sounds complicated, but just take a black umbrella, cut it in half, and use safety pins to attach each half to the arms of a black sweatshirt to make wings. Add some construction paper ears and black pants and shoes and you’re all set.
• A Jackson Pollack painting. Send the kids outside with some white shirts and pants and some paint and let them go to town.

We want to know what your best costume ever is! Send us pics!

That’s it for us this week — except to remind you to read our “How We Help” section below. Happy Halloween and have a great weekend!

How We Help

With some new tax law changes, there could be an impact on distributions to beneficiaries from a retirement account. We’re recommending everyone take a look at the beneficiaries on their IRA, and if your beneficiary is a trust, consider changing it to a living person. The language of the tax law changed from distributions over a beneficiary’s “lifetime” to “ten years,” and because of that, from a tax standpoint, the beneficiary in most cases should be a person, not a trust. We’ll always keep an eye on tax laws so you don’t have to, and we’ll keep you up to date on what you need to know. If this is a change you need to make, and we expect it will be for some of you, please call us so we can get this sorted out for you.

Advisory Services offered through Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC. Securities are offered through Triad Advisors, member FINRA/SIPC. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC, and Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, Inc, are not affiliated with Triad Advisors.