Thirty Years Ago …

• The DJIA closed at 3834. The Federal Reserve Interest Rate was 8.5%. The average cost of a new house was $119, 050, the average annual income was $37,070. Minimum wage was $4.25 per hour. The cost of a gallon of gas was $1.09. The cost of a loaf of bread was $1.59 and a dozen eggs 86 cents.

• Bill Clinton was the president of the United States. Nelson Mandella was elected president of South Africa. NAFTA was established. The Channel Tunnel opened between England and France. Construction began on the Three Gorges Dam in Sandouping, China. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.

• The Olympic Games were held in Lillehammer, Norway. The World Series was cancelled due to a MLB Players Association strike. The Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl, Go for Gin won the Kentucky Derby, the Houston Rockets won the NBA playoffs and the New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup. George Foreman became the oldest heavyweight champion in history. Brazil won the World Cup. OJ Simpson fled from police in his Ford Bronco.

• Schindler’s List won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The most popular TV shows were Friends and Forest Gump was the highest grossing movie. Bruce Springsteen’s Streets of Philadelphia won Song of the Year at the Grammy’s. Power Rangers was the most popular toy of the year. The best-selling book of the year was The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream, was stolen from a museum in Oslo.

Joe and Krista graduated college, Sangam celebrated his first birthday and Dave founded Worcester Advisors!

We are proud to announce that Worcester Advisors will celebrate their 30^th Anniversary on October 11, 2024.  Help us celebrate this banner year!

What’s in Store for 2024?

• In the fourth quarter of 2022, we began predicting higher stock returns, based upon underlying strength of the US economy. Since October 1, 2022 stock prices rose more than 20%.   We believe, in 2024, stocks will continue to outperform other asset classes.
  
• Please, no texting. As an investment advisory firm, Worcester Advisors is required to back up and store all text messages.  This process is very cumbersome.  Therefore, we are requesting that you call or email us in the future, instead of texting, unless it is an emergency, and you have no other means of communication available.  Likewise, we will refrain from using text messaging to communicate with you.

• Please let us know if you need any assistance logging in to Black Diamond to view statements, reviews or other documents.

• If you are 73 or older, or turn 73 this year, you need to take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from your retirement account by December 31, 2024. Those amounts, in addition to on the Fidelity website, will be viewable on your Black Diamond dashboard.  Amounts in Black Diamond will be updated no later than February 1, 2024.

• The 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the Thrift Savings Plan contribution limit for 2024 will be $23,000, with a catch up provision of $7,500 for individuals aged 50 and older.
• The IRA contribution limit for 2024 will be $7,000, with an additional $1,000 for individuals aged 50 or older.

• The amount individuals can contribute to their SIMPLE retirement accounts is increased to $16,000, up from $15,500. The catch-up contribution limit for employees 50 and over who participate in SIMPLE plans remains $3,500 for 2024.

• The annual Social Security COLA will be 3.2% for 2024. This is much less than the 2023 and 2022 increases of 8.7% and 5.9%, respectively.

Here’s to a year of Joy, Peace and Prosperity