I recently sat down with Jonathan Clements, Director of Financial Education for Citi Personal Wealth Management, to talk "shop" about the economy in 2012, and came away with four economic insights to consider when "refreshing" our investment strategy for 2012 and beyond:
- Short-term interest rates probably aren't going up any time soon.
- There isn't much room for longer-term rates to fall, especially for Treasurys, although less an issue for corporate and municipal bonds.
- Economic growth is likely to be sluggish, because many consumers are burdened with high debts and can't afford to spend.
- Our total tax burden probably won't get any lighter -- and tax rates could rise given where federal and state budgets are.
I hope that you, like me, will keep these in your back-pocket and discuss at your next sit-down with your financial professional, which I'm expecting all of you to do in 1st quarter so you start 2012 on the "right" financial foot!
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