Beech Tree News Network

In the year 2017, we watched the inauguration (January 20) of President Trump as well as a rare total eclipse (August 21) in the continental United States. It has been a good year in spite of the public name-calling and subtle bullying we’ve witnessed. As we approach the end of 2017, some things about the past year may influence 2018.

New Income Tax Law:  John Foley wrote a tax-tip article, anticipating the new tax law (https://www.sofi.com/blog/tax-tips-save-money-2017?utm_campaign=WEALTH_A...). Foley explained that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 include three changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that will impact most individual taxpayers:

·         New income tax brackets with lower rates for most taxpayers

·         A higher standard deduction—$12,000 for single filers and $24,000 for married filing joint

·         A $10,000 limit on the combined deduction for state and local income and property tax (and that’s the same whether single or married)

Additionally, the deduction for giving to charitable causes is not going away; but unless you donate a lot of money, it is unlikely to exceed the new standard deduction. These new provisions are expected to go into effect January 1, 2018.

Financial Survey Results:  GOBankingRates conducted financial surveys throughout the year to look at Americans’ financial habits. Four data findings are listed below (For additional information, please see the original article:  https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/american-financial-habits/):

·         “According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, household debt reached a new high of $12.96 trillion in the third quarter of 2017. That was $280 billion higher than the previous records set in 2008” (https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/american-financial-habits/).

·         “In our annual survey asking how much Americans have in savings, 57 percent said they had less than $1,000. That’s actually an improvement over last year’s survey, when 69% said they had less than $1,000. Still 39 percent said they have $0 saved” (https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/american-financial-habits/#4).

·          “…according to GOBankingRates’ 2017 Retirement Savings survey, more than a fifth of Americans said they have less than $10,000 saved and more than a third said they don’t have any retirement savings” (https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/american-financial-habits/#6).

·          “For the second year in a row, GOBankingRates found the most common cause of financial stress among Americans is debt. However, financial stress varies by state. The majority of Americans in some states said healthcare, taxes and everyday costs are the biggest sources of stress” (https://www.gobankingrates.com/net-worth/american-financial-habits/#9).

These financial trends are likely to affect 2018.

Technology Concerns:  Government Technology’s annual Year in Review mentioned the story topics that got the most time from readers during each quarter of 2017:

·         January, February, March – New Administration, New Regulations (political change of power)

·         April, May, June – Broadband, Breaches and Blockchain (technology changes and privacy issues)

·         July, August, September – AI Takes Hold, FirstNet Gains Ground, GovTech Biz Grows (artificial intelligence, public safety communications, and government technology)

·         October, November – Digital Driver's Licenses and Gov Gets Amazonian (states’ reactions to digital driver’s license and affordable Amazon Prime membership for customers on government assistance programs)

These technology concerns reflect the rapid technological changes, and 2018 will likely see this trend continue.

Annette Funicello said, “Most original viewers of the Mickey Mouse Club didn’t face the crush of family and social problems children have today,” and Robert H. Schuller said, “Today’s impossibilities are tomorrow’s miracles” (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/social_problems; http://www.globalissues.org/article/223/global-issues-quotes). Unfortunately, every generation has its problems. And some of our 2017 problems will follow us into 2018. Let’s hope the 2017 impossibilities become the 2018 miracles.