Like
a climber determined to reach a peak, stock markets continued to move higher
last week.
Signs
of strength in U.S. and international trade data improved the outlook for
economic growth at home and abroad. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in December,
a sign that the economy did better than expected during the fourth quarter of last
year. In China, robust domestic demand pushed imports significantly higher
while exports grew more than anticipated. In Europe, Germany’s 2012 surplus was
its second highest in more than 60 years which is a sign of underlying strength
in one of the Eurozone’s biggest economies.
Positive
economic news hurt gold futures which ended the week modestly lower. However,
it made riskier assets, like stocks, attractive to investors, which helped push
equity markets higher during the week (although trading volumes were low on
Friday because of bad weather in the northeast). The NASDAQ closed at a 12-year
high, the S&P 500 Index reached a five-year high, and the S&P 500 posted
gains for a sixth consecutive week.
The
Treasury bond market gained ground during the week. However, at a symposium at
the St. Louis Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Board Governor Jeremy Stein’s comments
seemed to reinforce the idea that Fed officials are concerned that ongoing accommodative
monetary policies could cause some sectors of the bond market to overheat. His comments
reinforced the idea that the Fed is considering tightening its credit policies
down the road.
there is a new trend in Funerals: Plan your own. Susan Boyle, the
Scottish chanteuse who was discovered on Britain’s
Got Talent back in 2009 wants to leave mourners at her funeral laughing.
What is her plan? She wants to have ‘Nellie the Elephant’ played during the
service. Whether you applaud her approach or find it appalling, there is a new
trend in the funeral industry: preplanning, prepaying, and personalization. Here
are a few of the reasons people are choosing to plan and pay for their funerals
ahead of time:
Control. When you plan
the funeral, you have a pretty good idea about what will happen. You can decide
whether there will be a viewing and how your life will be celebrated after the
service. You can also create a file with personal information for your
obituary, as well as any instructions you have for burial, cremation, or organ
donation. Just make sure you leave it with a loved one so they know how to
proceed.
Negotiate. Grieving family
members are rarely good negotiators. Planning ahead gives you a chance to
negotiate and secure a guaranteed price on a prepaid plan offered by a funeral
home. Make sure you find out answers to questions such as: What happens if
prices increase? What happens if you move? What happens if you change your
mind?
Goodwill. If prepaid plans
leave too many questions unanswered, you may choose to fund your funeral
through a trust or an insurance policy. Regardless of the payment method,
providing instructions with your wishes and funds to cover the expenses can
relieve some of the anxiety and stress of a funeral.
Personalize. There are many
new and unusual options available for funerals and memorial services. Whether
you opt for traditional burial, cremation, green burial, mummification, cryonics,
a memorial space flight, a memorial reef, or having your ashes compressed into
a gemstone, there is a business willing to help.
Funeral
preferences are changing. Alternatives to traditional funeral home services are
becoming popular, especially among Baby Boomers. If you would like to learn
more about the options available, visit the Funeral Consumers Alliance web site
(www.funerals.org) and the National Funeral
Directors Associations web site (www.nfda.org).
Weekly Focus – Think About It
“Live
as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Mahatma
Gandhi, philosopher
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