Taylor J. Whelan, CFP®, CFA

As we welcome 2024, it’s time to reflect on the economic and financial landscape of 2023 and look ahead to what this year might have in store. At Whelan Financial, we believe in providing you with valuable insights to make informed decisions. Let’s delve into the key components of the financial world in 2023 and provide you with a glimpse of what the future might hold. The U.S. Economy in 2023 2023 seemed destined to be defined as a year of uncertainty but was instead defined by resiliency. Heading into 2023, there were major questions about the effects of inflation and interest rates on the economy. Despite these challenges, consumers continued to spend, companies continued to hire and our economy continued to expand. These positive factors allowed the Federal Reserve to bring inflation down over the course of the year without creating undue economic stress. In fact, as inflation came down and our economy continued to expand, it provided investors with confidence to purchase back into risky assets, such as stocks. The Stock Market in 2023 The stock market in 2023, as measured by the S&P 500, was up over 26% by year-end. Volatility was a constant companion as investors

Investors are worried about the current state of the economy—namely, therising costs of goods on their savings. Each dollar buys less with every passing month of higher inflation, and savings are dwindling along with the “purchasing power” of what remains. This leads people to ask where to place their money at a time like this. Although interest rate increases are terrible for borrowing money, they are great for your savings accounts. For the first time in over a decade, your normal savings could start earning reasonable risk-free interest if managed properly. Before we discuss how to navigate the road ahead, let’s examine how we got to this point and the lessons learned from prior periods of higher inflation. How We Got Here In mid-2022, the United States experienced a surge in inflation, reaching a 40-year high. This upward price trend can be attributed to a supply-demand mismatch in which an excess of money is chasing fewer goods. Despite initial claims by the Federal Reserve that inflationary pressures were “transitory” and would diminish once factories and workers resumed normal operations post-COVID-19, supply chain shortages and subsequent spikes in energy and consumer goods have persisted. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the