PODCAST: James K. Glassman's Stock Picks for 2021
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David Muhlbaum: What’s better than talking about investing in 2021? Which stocks to invest in for 2021. Kiplinger columnist James K. Glassman joins us to discuss his annual stock picks, how last year’s fared, what he’s recommending now and what he’s learned in over 20 years of engaging in this exercise. We’ll also cover what’s in the second stimulus and get back to 2021 investing with a look at exchange-traded funds. That’s all coming up in this episode of Your Money’s Worth. Stick around.
David Muhlbaum: Welcome to Your Money’s Worth. I’m Kiplinger.com senior editor David Muhlbaum, joined by senior editor Sandy Block. Sandy, how are you? Did you have a satisfactory Festivus?
Sandy Block: Still running through my grievances, we’re talking 2020.
David Muhlbaum: Oh yeah, tell me about it. At my daughter’s suggestion, we wrote our grievances on cards and then we threw them in the fire. Be gone 2020! Well, we’ll see if it works. At least we have one bit of good news to close out the year: a second stimulus, basically some more money to prop up our faltering economy. Boy, there was a lot of drama getting that across the finish line, but well, it’s done.
Sandy Block: Yeah, it was a couple of weeks of Washington dysfunction and a lot of reporters didn’t get Christmas off. Fortunately, what got passed is pretty close to what we forecast before Christmas.
David Muhlbaum: Okay. Let’s run through the high points. We’ll start with the checks, $600 per person for now.
Sandy Block: Right. If you’re married and file a joint return, then both you and your spouse will get $600 for a total of $1,200. If you have children who are 16 years or younger, you get an additional 600 for each child. So for example, a married couple with two kids could get up to $2,400. But, stimulus payments will be phased out for people at certain income levels. Your check will be gradually reduced to zero if you’re single with an adjusted income, AGI above $75,000. If you’re married and file a joint return, the amount of your stimulus check will drop if your AGI exceeds $150,000, and the IRS will use your 2019 tax return to determine those thresholds.
David Muhlbaum: And for the thing with the kids, even if they have a social, that doesn’t come into play, right? I get the money.
Sandy Block: That’s right. If they’re your dependents, they’re your dependents. You get the money.
David Muhlbaum: Okay, good, because there’s a smashed headlight assembly on my wife’s car. I have no idea how that happened, but someone’s credit might be going to that. Do you want to guess who was driving?
Sandy Block: No, I’m not going there.
David Muhlbaum: Yeah, our youngun. But it’s definitely going to cost more than $600. So let me ask you, what are the prospects of a bigger check in the future? This idea of a $2,000 direct payments, not dead yet, right?
Sandy Block: It’s not dead yet, but I would not run up a big credit card balance in expectation of getting that money. There is a huge amount of drama going on as we speak, in Congress, between members who have concerns about driving up the deficit and issues of tying that stimulus to other measures that may not be as popular. So I wouldn’t count on that in the next week or so. But if you got a refund on your taxes last year and you qualify, there is a very good chance you will at least see that $600 or more depending on your family situation very soon. Those checks could be going out by the end of this week.
