Month: August 2024

By Christine Graf

Although the U.S. economy remains strong, August’s job report has some Wall Street analysts worried. Economists expected 175,000 jobs to be added to the U.S. economy, but data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the jobs number to be 114,000. Unemployment also inched up, rising from 4.1 percent to 4.3 percent.

“In the last several weeks, we have had some weaker than expected economic data,” said Ryan Bouchey, chief investment officer at Bouchey Financial Group, an investment management company with 20 employees and offices in Saratoga Springs, Troy, Boston, and Florida.

“People have been getting high yields on money markets and cash—in some cases over five percent–but with some of this weaker than expected economic data, the anticipation now is for the Fed to lower rates by seventy-five basis points to one hundred basis points before the end of the year,” he said.

The anticipated rate decrease will impact investors whose fixed income strategies have relied on high yield money markets and short-term CDs

“2022 was a terrible year for fixed income, but during the last twelve to eighteen months we’ve been at the highest level for fixed income yields in twenty years or so,” said Bouchey. “It was a great opportunity to lock in intermediate to longer- term rates, but that’s not going to work heading into 2025. In the current environment, those folks who have been sitting on cash–trying to get the highest yield–need to start thinking about what their  longer-term strategy is. Because it’s pretty imminent that the Fed will be cutting rates.”

By Christine Graf

More and more Americans are taking to the roads in RVs, with upwards of 45 million people vacationing in RVs this summer. More than 11 million households own recreational vehicles, and approximately 1 million Americans live in their vehicles full time. 

According to industry statistics, RV sales are strongest among the 55-64 age group, this demographic representing 20 percent of all sales. Millennials (ages 18-34) come in second, accounting for 15 percent of purchases. Tied for third at 13 percent are the 65-plus age group and the 35-44 age bracket.

“Age 50-plus is the sweetest spot for us for sure,” said Andy Heck, president of Alpin Haus. “But 35 to 50 is also doing well. Things do tail off at 65-plus.”

Established by Heck’s father, Bud Heck, and his friend John Daly, Alpin Haus opened its first store in Amsterdam in 1964. Today, the family-owned business has 275 employees spread across six locations. Stores offering RVs are located in Amsterdam, Saratoga, Orange County, and Oak Ridge, New Jersey. 

“We started as a ski shop and then got into selling RVS. Then, we added swimming pools and in the late 90s, we started adding locations,” said Heck.

By Christopher K. Kelly

Small business owners in New York face many decisions each day. Being part of a community bank, it’s not uncommon for us to be involved in conversations on how to best attract, retain, and take care of employees in terms of compensation, health benefits, vacation, and retirement.  This last item, retirement and financial security, is an increasingly common topic of interest. In our discussions with workers in New York, most understand there is a need for them to be saving for retirement. They know that people are living longer (meaning income will be needed for a longer period of time), Social Security benefits will not meet their income needs, and health insurance in retirement will be a significant expense.  These conversations often lead to two questions: (1) Does the employer offer a retirement plan and (2) Does the employee have the capacity to make saving for retirement a priority in their budget?  

Over the past several years, there has been an increased effort at the state and federal levels to help small businesses provide their employees access to a retirement savings plan. Small business owners have a variety of retirement plans to choose from, including: 401(k), 403(b), Profit Sharing, Pension Plans, SIMPLE IRAs, and SEPs.  Each of these programs offers its own set of features, requirements, varying complexity, and administrative costs. Knowing which type of retirement plan to implement is not an easy task, and often leads to no selection at all. The result is that many workers in New York are still not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

In an effort to give more employees access to a retirement plan, many state governments have developed their own programs. While these retirement programs differ by state, the common features include: mandates for businesses to participate based the number of employees, automatic enrollment for employees to save 3 to 5 percent of their pay into a Roth IRA, the ability for an employee to opt-out of saving, designated investment options, and low administrative fees.