Almost half of Millennials want to retire early. Will that hurt economic growth? There were similar concerns in the 1920s that early retirement would wreck the economy. In fact, there was significant pushback against retiring at all due to fears retirements would destroy the economy. Yet, the Great Depression still came. In this episode, we consider what ended the Roaring Twenties, caused the Great Depression, and how early retirements impact the economy. Topics covered include: What … [Read more...]
264: What Happens If U.S. Interest Rates Turn Negative?
Recently, the yield on the 30-year government bond in Germany went negative for the first time ever. Now there are 15 trillion dollars of bonds around the world, about 25% of the world’s bond supply that are priced so they earn a negative yield. That effectively means that investors are paying someone to hold their money. That there’s a cost to actually investing. The Math Behind Negative Yielding Bonds Most bonds that have a negative yield were not issued with a negative interest … [Read more...]