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Peek of the Week

Posts in Lifestyle
Have a happy and meaningful Mother's Day
Have a happy and meaningful Mother's Day

We invite you to read our special Mother's Day 2022 Commentary on our blog today. On Mother's Day, we honor our Mother's love and how it helped mold us into who we are. We hope you have a special Mother's Day this weekend and if you're looking for some meaningful ways to celebrate, today's blog lists a few ideas.

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Lifestyle, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#mom, #moms, #mothersday, #happymothersday, #spring, #family, #love, #motherlylove
The Fed plays catch up with 'anti-inflation' campaign
The Fed plays catch up with 'anti-inflation' campaign

Today's Peek of the Week tells us how the Federal Reserve has stepped up their "anti-inflation campaign" in the last week, with the goal to slow inflation. Inflation has been high and is getting further exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and by China's virus lockdowns. So far, the American economy has avoided a recession but it has not avoided ongoing inflation.

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Money, Lifestyle, Stock market, Peek of the Week, World EventsLeif HagenAchievement Financial#inflation, #campaign, #marketwatch, #stockmarket, #stocks, #bonds, #wealth, #advisor, #Ukraine, #war, #interestrates, #earnings, #unemployment
Policymakers wonder where inflation is headed
Policymakers wonder where inflation is headed

Today's Peek of the Week explains the complexity of inflation and how the numbers may vary, depending on how things get measured. To determine how quickly prices will rise or fall is not easy and our government relies on two indexes to get their answers: the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and the PCE (the Personal Consumption Index). These signify headline inflation and core inflation. Read our "Peek of the Week" to learn how to differentiate between them and learn why the cost of two things we use daily, food and energy, can be excluded from inflation calculations. One thing we know for sure: policymakers have A LOT of data to consider before they make their predictions for the future.

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Investment, Lifestyle, Money, News, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#inflation, #groceries, #inflating, #policy, #prices
Wishing you hope and joy for Easter!
Wishing you hope and joy for Easter!

Are you read for Easter on Sunday? The word "Easter" is said to derive from the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility. Or, it's also said to derive from the Latin phrase in albis, which is a plural version of the word meaning dawn. Today's Easter Commentary reiterates the importance of new beginnings and hope on Easter.

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Lifestyle, Community Involvement, World EventsLeif Hagen#holyweek, #Easter, #EasterSunday, #EggHunt, #traditions, #global, #international, #heisrisen, #hope, #joy, #spring, #renewal, #newlife, #holiday, #resurrection
The cost of war filters through the markets
The cost of war filters through the markets

The first quarter of 2022 experienced a storm of volatility with events like nonstop rising inflation, the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates, sanctions on Russia and a new COVID-19 outbreak in China... just to name a few. Today's Peek of the Week offers a review of the first quarter with some options for investors when it comes to fighting inflation, borrowing money and gauging future business operations. Energy prices have surged around the world, causing a jump in global inflation when it comes to transportation and shipping. These costs will be reflected in many other goods, including food.

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Money, Lifestyle, Investment, World EventsLeif HagenAchievement Financial#war, #wartime, #ukraine, #russia, #invasion, #cost, #supply, #demand, #china, #coronavirus, #lockdown, #markets, #stockmarket, #stocks, #bonds, #rates, #federalreserve, #borrowingrate, #inflation, #brainfreeze, #weather, #summer, #firstquarter, #exports, #imports
Checking in... on the Fed and the gender wage gap
Checking in... on the Fed and the gender wage gap

Today's Peek of the Week "checks in" on the Federal Reserve and many other things. The Federal Reserve has been asked by Congress to promote price stability and maximize employment. Inflation continued to increase to 6.4 percent last week (with food and energy included) and the Fed's target rate for inflation is all the way down at 2 percent. Yikes. Today's blog will explain some potential next moves for balancing out financial complications.

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Money, Lifestyle, Investment, Insurance, World EventsLeif HagenAchievement Financial#inflation, #thefed, #federalreserve, #wagegap, #gender, #genderwagegap, #price, #prices, #stability, #money, #unemployment, #jobs, #jobreport, #jobmarket, #stocks, #bonds, #stockmarket, #focus
Rates are rising for consumers and investors
Rates are rising for consumers and investors

Be careful what you ask for…you just might get it! Today's Peek of the Week explains the recent increase in Treasury rates, the drop in demand for home loans and how the cost of carrying credit card debt has increased. It was early March when almost two-thirds of Americans said the Federal Reserve should be more aggressive when it comes to inflation. Well, Americans got what they asked for! When rates rise, borrowing money becomes more expensive, demand gets reduced and prices go even higher.

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Money, Lifestyle, Investment, World Events, Stock market, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#rates, #investor, #investors, #stocks, #stockmarket, #bonds, #housingmarket, #credit, #creditcard
Preparing for luck on St. Patrick's Day
Preparing for luck on St. Patrick's Day

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day! Saint Patrick once said that "luck is when an opportunity comes along and you've prepared for it." But it should be noted that the man we know as "Saint Patrick" was actually named Maewyn Succat. It might also be a surprise to find out that he wasn't Irish at all! Read our special St. Patrick's Day Commentary to learn about the legend of Saint Patrick and a few fun facts that you could share with family or friends over a green beer!

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Lifestyle, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#luckoftheirish, #luck, #irish, #celebrate, #holiday, #stpatricksday, #stpatrick, #ireland, #opportunity\
Market corrections... and the great college debate!
Market corrections... and the great college debate!

Today's Peek of the Week is full of questions. Investors wonder what will happen with the current geopolitical tensions, if the Federal Reserve will tame inflation and how the market correction is being received. Major U.S. stock indices moved lower last week and came even closer to correction territory. A stock market correction occurs when assets, indexes or markets decline by 10 to 20 percent and although they feel unpleasant, they aren't unusual. In addition, here have been all kinds of debates about college and its importance. Questions such as: is college a good investment? Which college majors are worth the cost? And, should employers remove college degree requirements from job listings? What do YOU think?

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Money, Lifestyle, Investment, Stock market, Peek of the Week, World EventsLeif HagenAchievement Financial#education, #school, #college, #investing, #investor, #marketnews, #marketcommentary, #marketreport, #employer, #employers, #risk, #benefit, #benefits, #gold, #prices, #stockmarket, #federalreserve
As tensions escalate, nature cures
As tensions escalate, nature cures

Why did the U.S. stock markets finish the week lower? There are few factors that come into play. We're still facing the issue of inflation and after the inflation report was released, investors recalibrated their expectations to include a federal rate increase. Today's Peek of the Week explores three other factors that could be contributing to stocks finishing lower: the U.S. Treasury yield curve percentage, escalating geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, plus declining consumer sentiments. The reality is that there is no single answer that contributes to a stock market decrease and tremendous uncertainty lies ahead. Also, how nature holds the power to CURE us…

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Lifestyle, Stock market, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#nature, #cure, #natural, #tension, #war, #russia, #blog, #PEEKoftheWeek, #performance, #stocks, #bonds, #stockmarket, #inflation, #money, #moneymarkets, #getoutside, #explore, #relax, #health, #happiness
Love and Economics on Valentine's Weekend
Love and Economics on Valentine's Weekend

Romantics love Valentine’s Day, and so do some practitioners of the dismal science, which is just another name for economics. You might think economists are all about the $27 billion Americans spent on the holiday last year, but that’s just part of the story... Read our special Valentine's Day Commentary to learn about viewing love as a unique form of currency in these times that require resilience and patience.

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Lifestyle, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#love, #appreciation, #thankyou, #valentine, #valentinesday, #valentines, #economics
Economic expansion brings space exploration
Economic expansion brings space exploration

January presented us with a month of stock market decline but last Friday's gain "snapped a three-day streak of losses and left the S&P 500 up 0.8 percent for the week." Today's #PeekoftheWeek lists some possible reasons why the first weekly gain of the year took a few weeks to occur and how economic expansion is leading us to more space exploration. Take our "space economy" quiz to find out how much you know!

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Money, Lifestyle, World Events, Stock market, Peek of the WeekLeif HagenAchievement Financial#stocks, #technology, #stockmarket, #markets, #resilience, #corporations, #earnings, #fourthquarter, #buythedip, #decline, #USstocks, #bonds, #space, #spaceexploration, #economy