Insights

The Federal Reserve lowered rate expectations again regarding the fed funds rate. The “dot plot”, which shows the projections of the members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, indicates the current level of interest rates is appropriate. Fed Chair Powell said he believes that the Fed has failed to achieve its 2% inflation target, and suggested that inflation expectations may be at the margin shifting lower. Global interest rates reset lower based on the announcement. Rates have been drifting lower since early November as evidence has mounted that the global economy is materially slowing. Equities have rallied to a degree based on the appearance of some thawing of positions in the trade talks between the U.S. and China.

Virtually every state offers a 529 plan, said Betty Thomas, a chartered financial consultant and certified financial planner with Lassus Wherley, a subsidiary of Peapack-Gladstone Bank, in New Providence. She said each plan may be unique to each state, with some offering incentives if students are residents and attend college in the state. Thomas said the NJBEST 529 plan offers a tax-free scholarship up to $1,500 if students attend a college or university in New Jersey.

Just because your kids have moved out of the house doesn’t mean they’re out of your financial life. Six out of 10 (61 percent) parents with at least one adult child over 18 said they provided them financial help, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

So when the freelance writer and blogger became an empty nester after her two kids left home following college, she turned that dream into real life: She replaced a 2,400 square-foot home in suburban Rossmoor, California, with a cozy, 1,500-square-foot cottage in Long Beach. The move a few years back was more about lifestyle than a desire to downsize. But Greenthal admits that she and her husband, Peter, 58, an aerospace consultant, have cut their expenses by roughly $1,000 a month.