Easy Change

Reflecting Back.  Tax time always is a chance for me to look back after the business of the holidays is behind me. I had a few thoughts that I figured I would jot down as I wrap up the end of this year. In short, the amount of time seems somewhat compressed. I'm surprised that when we get to March, it will be a full year of the pandemic life. Living at home, working at home, with minimal options for socialization and the like.  Mental Health seems to be taking a real hit for many people, perhaps unsurprisingly in the wake of the pandemic, all while thousands of people continue to be dying. All of that serves as a stark reminder of how lucky those of us are that are blogging about money and personal finance who have not been harshly touched by this event.  Taxes are important, but having some gratitude and reflection on the good things that have happened this year can be a good aspect of the process too. Documents On Time All that said, the tax documents arrived early this year and

 There's a big series of controversies these days with covid. And politics has not been a simple matter to stay out of. Many people have had enough. Benz puts all of this aside quite nicely in this video with Consuelo Mack this week. The full video here but I will highlight a few interesting points that I think are worth considering.  Starting with the numbers, Benz notes that there are 20.6 million job losses and a 14.7 million US unemployment rate. So, there continues to be real impact to large numbers of people in the economy. And the pandemic rages on: 20.7 million US covid cases .  When it comes to investment choices, Consuelo continues to bring up There Is No Alternative. More than a catchy acronym, the idea that people are searching for yield is a concept that might be driving stocks to ever higher prices. Benz dodges this well, and generally does a good job of providing advice which is applicable regardless of what your investments are in.  One key departure from this is a

  The Economist , dated Dec 12-18, 2020, has a cover story, "Will Inflation Return ?". The question is not if, but when. According to the article, three arguments for increased inflation include the following: 1. Pent up demand 2. Aging societies which reduce the number of overall workers 3. Complacent politicians, who are happy to spent more, even if it goes over 2% inflation targets in order to satisfy liabilities, specifically mentioning those related to health care for an aging population, see point 2 above. I find the article a competent summary, to be sure. And the question to me is not whether there will be inflation. There will be. The question I am having for myself is twofold: 1. When will it show up? 2. How will it show up? I find that this, along with many other macro-level items are some of the most interesting aspects of finance for me. While they are tough to bet on individually, that is exactly what I am going to discuss here.  Regarding when it will show up,