TCM BLOG

Tens of millions of Americans are looking forward to the day they can retire comfortably. Others enjoy their profession and can’t imagine a life without work. Yet, even those folks recognize that one day they won’t wake up on a Monday morning and head into the office. It's important to take a step back to review serious mistakes that retirees sometimes make with their money. If we can avoid common pitfalls, we can sidestep costly mistakes and reduce the stress that can sometimes accompany retirement.

Economic growth in the U.S. has been quite resilient this year, even in the face of devasting hurricanes. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported at the end of October that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded at an annual pace of 3% in Q3. It’s the second-consecutive quarter of GDP growth that has met or exceeded 3%. The economy hasn’t experienced that since 2014.

The S&P 500 Index finished the third quarter at a record high. Notably, the closely followed index of U.S. stocks ran up its quarterly winning streak to eight consecutive quarters. It’s done so in the face of three devastating hurricanes—Harvey, Irma and Maria, dysfunction and gridlock in Washington, and continued unsettling news from North Korea.

Small-cap and micro-cap stocks are breaking out to new all-time highs after being in a holding pattern for 10 months, which includes the Small-Cap Russell 2000 Index, the S&P Small-Cap 600 Index, and the Russell Micro-Cap Index. These small-cap and micro-cap indexes have gone nowhere for almost a year, and now they are finally breaking out to all-time highs.