Published: Wed, 21 Oct 2020 15:59:41 +0000
Market Blog Now that we have your attention with that eye-grabbing title, there’s definitely something to the idea that stocks perform better the year after a sitting president wins reelection. “Think about it—usually when a president wins reelection, it means … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 21 Oct 2020 14:59:01 +0000
Daily Insights Markets opened slightly lower. US equities are flat this morning following Tuesday’s solid session. Optimism over stimulus talk progress prevails, even though Senate approval may be a big hurdle to completing a deal. Improving earnings results so far … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:59:08 +0000
Market Blog The 10-year US Treasury yield, at 0.77% as of October 19, is still near historical lows set earlier this year. Historically, 10-year Treasury performance for the next 10 years has tended to track the Treasury yield at the … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 20 Oct 2020 14:58:30 +0000
Daily Insights US equities look to rebound from Monday’s selloff. The S&P 500 Index opened higher this morning after lack of progress on stimulus talks contributed to broad-based losses Monday. Investors may start looking ahead to a post-election stimulus package, … Continue reading →
Published: Mon, 19 Oct 2020 14:58:15 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks opened higher. Reports over the weekend suggested the White House may be able strike a stimulus deal with the US House Democrats before the election, but the odds are still long, and early 2021 appears more likely. … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:00:21 +0000
Market Blog Index Performance S&P 500 Index: 0.2% Dow Jones Industrial Average: 0.1% Nasdaq Composite: 0.8% US and International Equities Markets generally finished higher this week, the third straight weekly gain for the S&P 500 Index and capped off by … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 15:58:23 +0000
Market Blog There are many charts that caught our attention this week, and today we share the top 5 charts we’re watching. The S&P 500 Index recently had a four-week losing streak and fell nearly 10% along the way, while … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 14:59:55 +0000
Daily Insights Markets opened higher. US equities opened higher, bucking the trend from Thursday’s mixed trading. The bulls are taking the lead this morning, brushing aside the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Europe. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US Treasury … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:56:57 +0000
Economic Blog We continue to monitor real-time COVID-19 and economic data to provide insight into how the pandemic is affecting economies around the world. Traditional economic data sometimes can be too slow to pick up the changes that are occurring. … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 15 Oct 2020 14:58:33 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks opened sharply lower. Stocks opened sharply lower in the face of dimming hopes of a pre-election stimulus package, rising jobless claims, and surging COVID-19 cases, particularly in Europe. Concerns that renewed restrictions would slow Europe’s economic recovery and … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 14 Oct 2020 15:58:51 +0000
Market Blog With Election Day just under a month away and voting already taking place in many states, it is still anyone’s guess who will win on November 3. With all of the noise surrounding the election, we prefer to … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 14 Oct 2020 14:58:17 +0000
Daily Insights Markets mixed overnight. S&P 500 Index opened little changed after taking a breather yesterday amid noisy headlines around fiscal stimulus and vaccine trials. Asian markets finished mixed with South Korea, China, and Australia trading lower, while European stocks … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 13 Oct 2020 17:27:16 +0000
Market Blog The 10-year Treasury yield has stayed in a narrow range since April 2020, helped by a supportive Federal Reserve and ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. As shown in LPL’s Chart of the Day, the 10-year Treasury yield … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 13 Oct 2020 14:58:09 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks open slightly lower as earnings season begins. Once launched by Alcoa, the unofficial start to earnings season now begins with several financial firms reporting. The S&P 500 Index opened slightly weaker Tuesday morning following four straight up … Continue reading →
Published: Mon, 12 Oct 2020 14:58:42 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks add to last week’s solid gains. While most attribute the recent bump up in stocks to stimulus and position jockeying ahead of Election Day, earnings season has quietly snuck up on us and will be a big … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 09 Oct 2020 20:03:07 +0000
Market Blog Index Performance S&P 500 Index: 3.7% Dow Jones Industrial Average: 3.3 % Nasdaq Composite: 4.6% US and International Equities The S&P 500 Index posted its best week in more than three months, boosted by renewed stimulus talks and … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 09 Oct 2020 15:58:14 +0000
Market Blog In the recent LPL Market Signals video, LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick, Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder and Asset Allocation Strategist Barry Gilbert discussed the upcoming election, looking at it from all different angles, and more, including: … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 09 Oct 2020 14:58:48 +0000
Daily Insights Markets move higher. US equity markets opened in the green following Thursday’s positive session. Renewed stimulus talks, with targeted business-aid hopes, are influencing today’s action. Asian markets were mixed, with China’s stock market higher after their holiday, while … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 08 Oct 2020 15:59:41 +0000
Economics Blog Stimulus talks in Washington, DC, are getting a lot of attention from investors—and for good reason. The midpoint of the two offers—roughly $1.6 trillion from the White House and $2.2 trillion from US House Democrats—is about 9% of … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 08 Oct 2020 14:58:15 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks opened higher. Sentiment is getting a lift this morning from speculation that piecemeal stimulus, if not more, may be forthcoming as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are slated to talk again today. Markets also … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 07 Oct 2020 16:59:13 +0000
Market Blog In the recent LPL Market Signals video, LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick and Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder discussed recent market volatility, the president contracting COVID-19, and more, including: COVID-19 in the White House The latest on … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 07 Oct 2020 14:58:10 +0000
Daily Insights S&P 500 opens higher on better stimulus tone. Markets moved to a risk-off stance Tuesday after President Donald Trump halted stimulus negotiations. The S&P 500 Index finished the day down 1.4%, but the broad US index moved higher … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 07 Oct 2020 14:58:04 +0000
Market Blog Stocks fared well during the third quarter despite September’s weakness, with the S&P 500 Index returning about 9%. The quarterly gain brought the return through the first nine months of the year to 5.6%. Here we peel back … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 06 Oct 2020 16:01:18 +0000
Market Blog The third quarter was characterized by the carry-over of economic momentum from the second quarter, as states continued to lift restrictions to reopen their economies. Perhaps it was no surprise that some of the hardest hit and most … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:05:32 +0000
Daily Insights S&P 500 opens near flat following Monday rally. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed overnight, although China’s markets were closed for a holiday. Most major European indexes are showing modest gains midday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:09:49 +0000
Market Blog Index Performance View expanded table. View expanded table. View expanded table. US and International Equities The S&P 500 Index gave back some gains in September after a strong five-month run, with most sectors finishing in the red. The … Continue reading →
Published: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 15:07:36 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks open solidly higher on President Trump’s improving health. Today the S&P 500 Index will try to start another winning streak coming off its first positive week in the last five. Reports that President Donald Trump may leave … Continue reading →
Published: Mon, 05 Oct 2020 15:01:51 +0000
Market Blog As concern over the upcoming election continues to build, one of the questions we’re getting is whether investors should sell ahead of the election for fear the party they don’t want to win takes over the White House. … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 02 Oct 2020 20:04:54 +0000
Market Blog Index Performance S&P 500 Index: 1.8% Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1.9% Nasdaq Composite: 1.5% US and International Equities As news concerning President Trump affected Friday’s markets, the S&P 500 Index still managed to end the week higher. Energy has … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:57:59 +0000
Market Blog First and foremost, we wish President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump a swift and full recovery. This October surprise raises the already high level of political uncertainty markets are dealing with as Election Day approaches. As … Continue reading →
Published: Fri, 02 Oct 2020 15:01:51 +0000
Daily Insights President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump test positive for COVID-19. First, we wish the President and the First Lady a swift and full recovery. This October surprise raises the already high level of political uncertainty that … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 01 Oct 2020 18:08:17 +0000
Economic Blog With the election drawing near, politicians, pundits, and especially voters will be paying even closer attention to the state of the US economy. It’s been a wild ride since the outbreak of COVID-19 around the world, and with … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 01 Oct 2020 16:23:08 +0000
Market Blog “October: This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February.” Mark Twain After a historic 60% rally, stocks pulled back … Continue reading →
Published: Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:00:15 +0000
Daily Insights Stimulus hopes give stocks a lift. Stocks ended a down month with solid gains on Wednesday, the fourth gain in five sessions. Markets are looking to add to those gains this morning to kick off October (and the … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 17:58:27 +0000
Market Blog In the recent LPL Market Signals video, LPL Financial Chief Market Strategist Ryan Detrick and Equity Strategist Jeff Buchbinder discussed recent equity weakness and why it isn’t a major warning, along with COVID-19 worries and more, including: Recent … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 16:32:12 +0000
The first presidential debate is now in the books, with two more (maybe) ahead and a vice presidential debate on October 7. The debate was raucus, occasionally uncouth, and more than a little surreal for viewers at home. But did … Continue reading →
Published: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 15:05:55 +0000
Daily Insights Stocks opened higher. US equities reversed earlier losses following a contentious US presidential debate Tuesday night that raised more questions of a potentially contested election. On the flipside, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted positive discussions with US Treasury … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 29 Sep 2020 16:00:03 +0000
Market Blog An old Wall Street adage says bond markets are smarter than equity markets, so when stocks encounter volatility, investors often look to the bond market for clues about the potential severity of equity market weakness. The option-adjusted spread … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 29 Sep 2020 14:58:36 +0000
Daily Insights S&P 500 Index opens near flat after gains in four out of the last five sessions. US stocks saw broad gains Monday with a cyclical tilt as value stocks, led by energy and financials, kept pace with growth; … Continue reading →
Published: Tue, 29 Sep 2020 13:58:16 +0000
Market Blog The first presidential debate is tonight, September 29, with millions of people expected to tune in to see how each candidate handles the pressure. With tensions heightened amid an election that may be much closer than the polls … Continue reading →
It depends on how much you’ve earned and how long you have worked under the Social Security system. Your retirement benefit will be based on your average lifetime earnings. Don't worry if you started out as a busboy and worked your way up to executive chef—only your highest 35 years of earnings will count.
The amount you receive will also be affected by whether you start collecting benefits early (you'll get less), whether you collect benefits late (you'll get more), whether you work after you retire, whether other family members receive benefits based on your earnings record, whether you collect certain other government benefits, and whether the cost of living rises.
You can also sign up for a my Social Security account so that you can view your online Social Security Statement. Your statement contains a detailed record of your earnings, as well as estimates of retirement, survivor's, and disability benefits. It also includes other information about Social Security that will be very useful when planning for retirement.
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The size of the Social Security check you’ll receive is the result of your earnings record and age when you start taking benefits. Your “full retirement age,” when you’ve earned 100% of those benefits, is 66 or 67, depending on when you were born. Collect early, before full retirement age, and you’ll pay a penalty—you’ll receive a smaller check.
The choice of your start date locks in the size of your checks. Some Americans grab Social Security as soon as they can. For widows and widowers, that’s age 60. For everyone else, it’s 62, which has been and still is the most popular age to start benefits, according to U.S. News & World Report.
If you hold off filing until after full retirement, your checks earn a bonus of 8% per year. The longer you wait, the bigger your benefit becomes, until age 70. After 70, there’s no benefit to waiting longer.
Waiting makes sense if you’re healthy and members of your family tend to live longer. A $2,000 benefit, for example, becomes $2,640 if your full retirement age is 66 and you wait four more years.
A quarter of today’s 65-year-olds will live past 90, according to the Social Security Administration. You may need those checks for a long time.
Here’s a hypothetical example of the pros and cons for someone eligible for $750 per month at 62 who waits and claims benefits at 70: