Earlier this year, equity analysts started reaching for the Motrin again as market volatility came back to town. After a prolonged period of growth, U.S. stocks began charting a new path of ups and downs.

Scores of commentators observed the change in market winds. Even Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, said the newfound market swings were unlike anything he had ever seen in his 60-plus years of investing. "I have never seen a market this volatile to this extent in my career," he said in an appearance on the CNBC show "Power Lunch."

And now, this volatility trend seems to have continued. Last week, on October 10, the Dow Jones fell more than 800 points. It was the largest drop since February 2018. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 declined 3.3% and the Nasdaq fell 4%, according to CNBC reporter Fred Imbert.

Then on Wednesday, October 17, the market took a slight stumble as the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its September meeting. A month earlier, Fed board members approved a quarter-point hike to the central bank’s benchmark rate, setting a new rate range of 2% to 2.25%.

The minutes indicate that future rate hikes may be ahead. According to meeting records, Fed officials believe that "further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate would be most likely consistent with a sustained economic expansion, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near 2 percent over the medium term." 

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Photo Credit: Associated Press. All rights reserved, source link.

Nobel laureates are certainly top achievers. In 1988, Leon Lederman won a Nobel Prize for his work in physics. Apart from award-winning research into subatomic particles, he is famous for coining the infamous name of the Higgs bosin: the "God particle."

Lederman passed away in a nursing home in Idaho on October 4. He was 96, according to the Associated Press. The AP describes him as a “giant in his field who also had a passion for sharing science.”

While Lederman’s contributions to science speak volumes, another striking story of him emerges from a past headline by NBC News.

And what happened? In 2015, the physicist was forced to auction his Nobel medal so he and his family could cover healthcare expenses. The medal sold for $765,000. It was a winning bid of $633,335 plus a buyer’s premium that drove the medal to its $765k sell price.

It’s yet another example of how high-cost retiree healthcare needs can change the financial situation of any of us.

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