December 2023 Financial Bullet Points

Written by Bob Barber, Prepared on Nov 28th, 2023

The Bullet Points for December are:

1. Year-End Tax Planning. Don’t wait! Year-end tax strategies and Charitable Giving must be done now, not tomorrow or next week, as time is running out quickly. Things like maxing out your company-qualified plan contributions, bundling your itemized deductions every other year to surpass the standard deduction, legacy giving from cash and non-cash assets, etc. Watch the Christan Financial Perspectives episodes 182 and 184 – 2023 Year-End Tax Strategies and Year-End Charitable Gifting Ideas on YouTube, released on Nov. 13th and 28th, for more information.
2. Interest Rates Update. Interest rates remain the major financial newsmaker, with 10-year bond yields rising from under 4% in July to nearly 5% in October but have now dropped below 4.5%. Will it last? Not sure, but our Ultra-Conservative portfolio continues to average a net annual interest rate of approximately 6%. We also offer very competitive FDIC CD rates, which would be worth a call before taking out your next CD.
3. Third Quarter Earnings Results. Over 80% of the S&P 500 companies beat analysts’ earnings estimates again as they were released in October and November for the prior quarter. Where is the major recession they have been saying is supposed to happen for the last 18-20 months? Oh, and U.S. GDP grew at a 5.2% rate in the third quarter, even stronger than first indicated (5%) and better than the estimate (4.9%).
4. Inflation Improvement. The latest Inflation numbers are looking good. Gasoline and home prices are down, as well as overall inflation is now under 3.5% annually based on the latest figures.
5. Real Estate Investing Option. Want to own a Diversified Real Estate Portfolio for passive income plus possible appreciation? For a while now, we have offered a diversified real estate portfolio comprising 28-30 publicly traded “Real Estate Investment Trusts” equally weighted across many real estate sectors. The current dividend yield is over 6% net. If interested, contact our office for more information.
6. Portfolio Appreciation. Our Biblically-Responsible, Non-Woke, Deep-Value portfolio appreciated well for the month of November, along with its annual dividend above 4% net of fees. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
7. Market Index Nuances. Don’t get mixed up! The cap-weighted S&P 500 is now so heavily cap-weighted in the top 7 companies that it’s more like the “S&P 7” instead of the S&P 500. The better way to measure how well all the S&P 500 companies are doing is to look at an equally weighted index like “RSP”.
8. Continuing Education. This month’s programs for Christian Financial Perspectives are:
   • • The High Cost of Cash Value Life Insurance (Dec 5th)
     • Seven things to know before Buying your Next Vehicle (Dec 12th)
     • Christmas Special 2023 (Dec 19th)
     • 2023 Financial Recap (Dec 26th)

   Can’t watch it on YouTube? You can listen on any smartphone while driving, cooking, gardening, or taking daily walks through almost any podcast platform, any time of the day, by searching for Christian Financial Perspectives.
   Visit our channel: www.cfa.lc/yt

Until next time, we hope you have a wonderful December and a Merry Christmas! That’s all for now.

If you would like further explanation of any of the bullet points mentioned, please call or text (830) 609-6986 during business hours or email us by clicking here.

Bob Barber, Founder & Owner
Christian Financial Advisors^®