For the Week of December 7, 2020

The Markets

Stocks rose Friday despite a disappointing November jobs report and rising coronavirus cases. Expectations of a new fiscal relief bill helped all three major indices close at record highs. For the week, the Dow rose 1.16 percent to close at 30,218.26. The S&P gained 1.72 percent to finish at 3,699.12, and the NASDAQ climbed 2.14 percent to end at 12,464.23.

Returns Through 12/04/20	1 Week	YTD	1 Year	3 Year	5 Year
Dow Jones Industrials (TR)	1.16	8.28	11.87	10.09	13.82
NASDAQ Composite (TR)	2.14	40.10	46.84	23.79	20.67
S&P 500 (TR)	1.72	16.50	21.08	14.10	14.35
Barclays US Agg Bond (TR)	-0.42	6.84	6.78	5.20	4.28
MSCI EAFE (TR)	1.02	5.41	9.25	4.21	6.79

Most Are Current — One in 13 home mortgages nationwide (7.65 percent) were at least one monthly payment delinquent as of Sept. 30. Just one in 25 home mortgages nationwide (3.97 percent) were at least one monthly payment delinquent as of Sept. 30, 2019 (source: Mortgage Bankers Association, BTN Research).

November to Remember — With one trading day remaining in November, the S&P 500 had gained 11.4 percent month-to-date (total return) through Nov. 27, a performance better than 99.7 percent of the last 360 months (source: BTN Research).

Primary Household Assets — 62 percent of the average net worth of an American household comes from just two assets – the equity they have built up in their home and the value of their retirement accounts (source: Census Bureau, BTN Research).

WEEKLY FOCUS – Gifts With Lasting Impact

Looking for gifts that will be appreciated long after the holiday decorations are stashed away for next year? Here are a few ideas for presents with lasting impacts.

For younger children or teens: Encourage an interest in investing with a gift card from Stockpile.com. For $25, $50, or $100, you can purchase fractional shares of stock from popular companies like Pepsi, Facebook, Apple, and Disney. The site offers physical gift cards you can put in Christmas stockings and e-gifts you can send instantly. Recipients redeem the cards on the site, which is an online brokerage. Twenty-five percent of Stockpile’s customers are kids and teens.

Help finance future qualified educational expenses for a loved one by contributing to (or establishing) a 529 savings plan. Although contributions aren’t pretax, earnings aren’t taxed. And some states will let you deduct a portion of contributions from your state taxes. Once the plan is set up, sites such as GiftofCollege.com and LeafSavings.com offer gift cards that make it easy to contribute directly to a 529 account.

For the older teenager with earned income: Encourage a teen to think about the future by helping them start a Roth IRA. You can gift money to fund their IRA for as much as they earn up to the $6,000 limit for 2020.Stocks, U.S. Savings Bonds, and CDs also make good gifts by promoting financial literacy in young investors.

For adult children: If a family member dreams of starting their own business, provide great insights on running a business, franchising, and meeting startup challenges with a subscription to Inc. or Entrepreneur. Magazines like Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, or Money might fuel an interest in investing.

Or give a gift of time. Younger adults just starting out might not have enough financial resources for serious investing – but they do need a financial strategy and could benefit from the guidance of a financial professional. Even an older adult child could benefit from a financial tune-up.

While you may be doing your best to teach your children and grandchildren about personal finances, confirmation from an outside source could reinforce your message. We’d be happy to educate them on the importance of setting long-term goals, creating a budget, and setting up a financial plan.

We do not provide tax advice; coordinate with your tax advisor regarding your specific situation.