Money & Economics
- Thread starter bigredfish
- Start date
I get it Republicans spend more money, Dems don't...NGO kickbacks...hmmm...I am sure there are a few Republicans in that scam too. But the GDP is the key factor of a Recession or it use to be until the Dems changed that definition.
Lets hope this all works out …
AI is driving US economic growth:
Investment in software and IT equipment contributed +134 basis points to Q1 2026 GDP growth of 2.0%, the largest quarterly contribution in history.
This means that 67% of last quarter's economic growth was driven by AI.
To put this differently, without this AI-driven tech investment, Q1 GDP growth would have been close to flat.
This contribution also exceeds the 1999 record by ~10 basis points.
Over the last 5 quarters, investment in software and IT equipment contributed +90 basis points on average per quarter, the most for any 5-quarter period on record.
The US economy has become highly reliant on AI.
AI is driving US economic growth:
Investment in software and IT equipment contributed +134 basis points to Q1 2026 GDP growth of 2.0%, the largest quarterly contribution in history.
This means that 67% of last quarter's economic growth was driven by AI.
To put this differently, without this AI-driven tech investment, Q1 GDP growth would have been close to flat.
This contribution also exceeds the 1999 record by ~10 basis points.
Over the last 5 quarters, investment in software and IT equipment contributed +90 basis points on average per quarter, the most for any 5-quarter period on record.
The US economy has become highly reliant on AI.
Haha, My GDP has been on the decline ever since I semi-retired. Wish I had time to do all the research you do but I am limited mornings only until the wife grabs me and puts me to work on her GDP List. lol
I am one to do quick searches and if it sounds/looks reasonable I weight it out. One thing I know about Figures; Figures Don't Lie, But Liars Do Figures. So for me I don't give much weight on figures. I have been told my whole life millions of negative things but only a few came through. There will always be ups and downs in life, I take it with a grain of salt...
But not to get off subject, I have no List, guess I could look later this evening and do some researching and I am sure I will find different charts but I think I will pass. Thanks for your post/posting...
Guess I will share this recent GDP chart so I can feel I am contributing something instead of my opinions
But do I trust the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, hahaha, duh, No...my trust level is at an all time low these days...I will end with this, hopefully if we become the new OPEC we will see our GDP increase quite a bit, the Arabs made a ton of money controlling the oil market...
Found this a bit funny, banned from eBay
So we just bought another Brokerage 2 year Fixed CD, Call Protected @ 4.00% It will mature in time for the wife to start her RMDs...so it is in her IRA account. Since I had the last Inherited Bond just Called and cashed it out since their Money Market doesn't pay anything, this year the wife won't be able to pull out as much of her IRA like we did last year to keep us in the 12% tax bracket. All good, she will next year, which may be the year of the ROTH 
I'm sure I will have more questions for ya'll financial experts here then, which again, I/we really do appreciate all ya'lls help to get us where we are at. Very happy with how things are turning out...
I'm sure I will have more questions for ya'll financial experts here then, which again, I/we really do appreciate all ya'lls help to get us where we are at. Very happy with how things are turning out...
No financial expert here, but we'll be converting/rollover wife's IRA 100% to her Roth this year.
Will take a huge tax hit, but even at 4% growth, it will be breakeven in about 4 years and then tax free growth forever. And of course no RMD's
Only thing left is my 401K but that will have to wait till next year.
The thing isnt really just the tax bracket for one year, its IRMAA increases, loss of Senior tax deduction, etc. Adds up when MAGI hits certain threshholds.
The thing I'm having trouble with is the 5yr rule.
I'm getting different answers on how thats applied. I originally thought it was as long as your Roth had been open 5 years and you were over age 59 1/2
Now I'm finding that each tranche you rollover into the Roth has a separate 5 year clock.
Will take a huge tax hit, but even at 4% growth, it will be breakeven in about 4 years and then tax free growth forever. And of course no RMD's
Only thing left is my 401K but that will have to wait till next year.
The thing isnt really just the tax bracket for one year, its IRMAA increases, loss of Senior tax deduction, etc. Adds up when MAGI hits certain threshholds.
The thing I'm having trouble with is the 5yr rule.
I'm getting different answers on how thats applied. I originally thought it was as long as your Roth had been open 5 years and you were over age 59 1/2
Now I'm finding that each tranche you rollover into the Roth has a separate 5 year clock.
I dealt with this a few years ago and forgot a lot of the details. It looks like there are 2 separate clocks, one for contributions and the other for roth conversions, and of course they have different rules. Another tax mess from the politicians that supposedly represent us. It could have been simpler, but when does congress do that?
This is from Fidelity's explanation if you haven't already seen it:
What is the Roth IRA 5-year rule and how does it work? | Fidelity