The Federal Reserve will hold its first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2025 at the end of this month. Sentiment is that the FOMC will keep the federal funds rate at 4.25% to 4.50%. The expected pause after three interest-rate reductions to end 2024 will likely be the result of a modest uptick in inflation this past fall. On the positive side, the re-acceleration was fueled by better-than expected growth in the second...

The new year begins with some unanswered questions for the Federal Reserve. The biggest one is whether inflation will remain a problem for the central bank in 2025. That is because the pace of price growth, which eased over the summer months, reaccelerated some this past fall, driven, in part, by continued economic growth over the second half of the year. The gross domestic product expanded by an estimated 3.1% in the third quarter, and...

Is your retirement savings on track? If you’re like most people, you may feel it’s not. In fact, concerns about running out of money in retirement are very common. 1, 2 Many people today believe they’ll need at least $1.5 million saved to retire comfortably. 3 But is that number right for you? The real “magic number” varies widely depending on your current savings, future goals, and lifestyle plans. A clearer picture of retirement readiness...