Financial Intel Monthly

The Markets (as of market close September 17, 2021)

The Real Estate market has been appreciating dramatically through the pandemic; The Federal Reserve's latest findings show that, within the first three months of this year, net worth for U.S. households rose by $960 billion solely based on the value of real estate owned." CNBC recently reported that "The 10-City composite rose 18.5%, up from 16.6% in the previous month" and "The 20-City composite was up 19.1%, up from 17.1% in the previous month." According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index report, Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle reported the highest year-over-year gains. This brings back the large concern that we are in another 2007 housing bubble.

The IRS has released the 2022 contribution limits for health savings accounts (HSAs), as well as the 2022 minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket amounts for high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). An HSA is a tax-advantaged account that's paired with an HDHP. An HSA offers several valuable tax benefits for Fortune 500 employees:

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau releases its final count of the U.S. population.

The new census numbers determine a state’s congressional representation in the U.S. House of Representatives for the next decade, along with the amount of money each state will receive from the federal government.

The 2020 Census was released in April 2021. Here are a few takeaways.

Chevron interest rates decreased 0.19% in the second segment for those who commence their benefit in October 2021. This is the first time in several months that interest rates have dropped this much, and the result will be slightly larger lump-sums for those retiring in October. When Chevron employees elect the month they would like to begin their pension, Chevron looks back to the third, fourth, and fifth month's rates to calculate the rates used for the pension disbursement. When interest rates move up or down, your pension lump sum amount will move in an inverse relationship. Through the pandemic, interest rates have dropped dramatically which has greatly increased many lump sum payments. This trend culminated in record lows for individuals who commenced their benefits in December of 2020. However, since December, rates have increased, causing a reduction in pension lump-sums.

You or many in your area may have been expecting to start paying the burden of student loan payments in the upcoming month. On August 6, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education announced an extension of the pause on federal student loan payments to January 31, 2022. The payment moratorium, currently in effect for millions of federal student loan borrowers, was set to end on September 30, 2021.

Interest rates are tending downward, if this trend continues it will increase the value of ExxonMobil employees' pension lump-sums. The IRS has recently released the Segment rates for the month of July, recorded at: 0.63% / 2.51% / 3.10%. Over the course of 2020, interest rates at ExxonMobil dropped dramatically, which greatly increased many lump sum payments. This culminated in record low rates for individuals that commence their benefits in the first quarter of 2021. However, we saw an increase in rates for the second & third quarters of 2021 and now fourth quarter rates have risen slightly higher. Rates rose roughly 0.04% in the most significant segment, in the last quarter. The short, medium and long term rates released by the IRS have displayed a slight decrease. Even though blended rates for the first quarter of 2022 will not be known until mid October, this recent trend downward might be an early indicator of good news for ExxonMobil employees opting for a lump-sum.

Interest rates are trending in the right direction for ConocoPhillips employees, considering the lump sum option on their pension payment. Interest rates dropped for individuals that commence their benefits in Q4 2021. Over the course of 2020, interest rates dropped dramatically, which greatly increased many lump sum payments. However, interest rates have been on the rise since Q1 2021. A drop in Q4 indicates a shift in the trajectory of interest rates. If this continues, lump-sums will rise again in Q1 2022. Should you desire to take your pension as a lump sum, ConocoPhillips will use interest rates and your age to calculate your lump sum payment. When interest rates move up or down, your pension lump sum amount will move in an inverse relationship (except for Cash Balance Pension Lump Sum payouts). Even though it is too early to know blended interest rate figures for next quarter, July figures were just released, and they are lower than the previous month, which may be good news for ConocoPhillips employees electing a pension lump-sum. July segment rates were recorded at: 0.63% / 2.51% / 3.10%.

The Markets (as of market close July 30, 2021)

Stocks closed generally higher in July, despite a downturn at the end of the month. Second-quarter corporate earnings data was generally strong, although some megacap companies posted weaker-than-expected earnings results. Economic news was mostly favorable. The economy expanded at an annualized rate of 6.5%, 850,000 new jobs were added, while the number of new unemployment claims declined. Industrial production rose, as did new orders for durable goods.

In July, the president issued an executive order intended to "combat excessive consolidation of industry, abuses of market power, and the harmful effects of monopoly." More than a dozen federal agencies were directed to begin working on 72 initiatives that seek to promote robust competition in the U.S. economy, in some cases through new regulations.[1]