Child Tax Credits | Housing | Learn Something New

Child Tax Credits: The sixth monthly payment of the child tax credit hit Americans’ bank accounts on December 15. The tax credit is a federal benefit that reduces income tax liability for people with children. It reduces taxes owed as opposed to a deduction that reduces taxable income. If you chose to remain opted in for the credit, you will have received half of the benefit by the end of 2021. You will receive the remainder on your 2021 tax return you file in early 2022.

Savings and Retirement: As we round the corner to January 1 and the inevitable season of New Years’ resolutions, consider your retirement planning. It’s never too late to start. Fidelity put together some benchmarks that basically boil down to the goal of saving at least ten times your annual income. Their suggestion? Save 1x your salary by 30, 3x by 40, 6x by 50, 8x by 60, and 10x by 67. There are, of course, many influencing factors that an advisor can help you think through. But here are some basic questions to ask:

Housing Market in 2022: Experts anticipate U.S. housing activity to be relatively stable over the course of 2022. Demand will likely remain high but will be constrained by limited supply. New construction continues to provide options but not enough to put a major dent in a years-long shortfall in supply. House prices are expected to continue increasing, albeit at a slower pace.

52 things you didn’t know about 2021: The end of the year always provides a natural time for self-reflection as well as considering the last year. We stumbled on an article from an editor who shared things he learned in 2021. We’ll share a few here, but let us know if you’re interested in the entire list.

• Everyday, 1 million people upload pictures of their coffee grinds to the Turkish app Faladdin and get a personalized fortune reading back in 15 minutes.
• The world’s second most popular electric car (after the Tesla Model 3) is the Wuling HongGuang Mini, which costs $5,000 and outsells vehicles from Renault, Hyundai, VW and Nissan.
• Short afternoon naps at the workplace lead to significant increases in productivity, psychological well-being and cognition. In contrast, an extra 30 minutes of sleep at night shows no similar improvements.
• Your memory resets when you walk through a door, even when that door is a screen.
• In the 1980s, if you wanted to draw a graph, count the words in a document or even print in landscape format, you had to buy a separate computer program costing $50-$100.

What did you learn this year? We’d love to hear from you as we know we’re not really living if we’re not still learning!

“The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.” – Leonardo da Vinci

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso