• In the “Gee Whiz” Category we learned that the cost of mapping a single human being’s DNA has decreased logarithmically, from millions to just a few hundred dollars. Soon every newborn may leave the hospital with a copy of their own genetic code

• On the economic front, we found it interesting that interest rates correlate positively to population growth. There is a relationship between the very low rates in places like Japan and the higher rates present in the United States

• According to Brad McMillan, global growth rates are slowing and we should expect the next 5 years to look different than the last 5. This means owning parts of the market that have not performed as well.

• According to the FBI, email scams remain a major issue. In the last 56 months, more than $12 billion has been lost to different versions of email fraud, referred to as “Business Email Compromise.” As a reminder, we will always require verbal confirmation of any new third-party disbursement requests.

• We mentioned the SECURE Act in a previous Lowry Letter®. It has stalled in Congress and is not certain to find passage. This means status quo for retirement plans and accounts, including 70 ½ as the age when individuals are required to take distributions from pre-tax retirement accounts.

• Please be careful with the consumption of financial media. Most of it is not intended to educate, but to drive ratings. It also encourages short-term reactions that are often harmful to one’s long-term financial goals.