Why Is the Market Going Up?

This week, for a change, I am not commenting on a chart that Sean sent us to illustrate some points about the stock market and investing. Instead, I’ve asked him to explain why, given all the instability in the financial markets and all the obvious problems with inflation and the efforts to reduce the power of the US dollar, the stock market hit an all-time high on May 16, with the Dow breaking 40,000.

Look for his answer in a Special Issue later this week.

Meanwhile, here’s a video clip Sean put together to test the market with a new promotion for a wealth building course I designed several years ago. Although there are elements of this that I would normally avoid in selling wealth-building promos (such as humor), I think he did a good job with it.

Let me know if you agree.

How Many Hours Do Americans Work?
(The Answer May Surprise and/or Disturb You) 

Check out these charts.

They show the average hours per week that Americans work by age. As you can see, most people work the most hours in their 30s and 40s, with a modest drop in the 50s and then a deep drop after that.

Look at my decade – the 70s. It looks like my coevals are hardly working at all! I know, most of them are retired. And I’m sure most of them have earned the right to retire. But retire to do what? I suspect many people my age are still working 20 to 30 hours a week, but on jobs that they value but don’t get paid for. What do you think?