Insights

The five questions below are a challenge meant to allow you to assess your knowledge of investing, tax and financial planning.  If you have been following our news stream, this quiz draws on familiar ground.  The answers are below.  

1. The back-door Roth IRA:  
   1. was disallowed in 2022 by the IRS
   2. sidesteps the income limitation on contributing to a Roth IRA 
   3. offers no estate tax benefits
   4. all of the above 
   5. none of the above 
2. Which is true?
   1. the yield curve was inverted throughout 2022  
   2. the leading economic indicators index has signaled recession for over 18 months  
   3. 6.5 million jobseekers in October 2023 were outnumbered by 9.6 million job openings
   4. all of the above 
   5. none of the above 
3. Office space real estate investments:
   1. pose a major risk to the nation’s 10 largest banks 
   2. pose a major risk to small and regional banks
   3. appreciated in 2023  
   4. all of the above
   5. none of the above
4. The Federal Reserve:
   1. hiked interest rates more than 1000% since March 2022 
   2. caused almost every recession in modern history 
   3. publishes a U.S. financial stability report semi-annually  
   4. All of the above  
   5. None of the above 
5. What’s true? 
   1. Total tax burden of Americans is much higher than in Germany or France  
   2. Construction employment is at a record low
   3. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index is nearly 20% off its all-time high
   4. all of the above 
   5. none of the above 

1.b,  2. d,  3. b,  4. d,  5.e