In Part I told you how I got into real estate and I haven’t looked back since. How can you, a young Millennial, get started? Get creative! Figure out a way to come up with a down payment. I did. I borrowed from my dad. But what if that isn’t an option for you? Well, keep moving forward. Get creative. The best way I have found to be creative is to speak directly with the decision maker. It’s the best way to find out the real story. During my search for a multi-family property in Marlborough, MA I scoured the classified ads with a red pen. I came across an intriguing listing 40 minutes … [Read more...]

When you’re a working Millennial, your weekends are extra valuable: Everybody’s working for the weekend. When I was the age of today’s Millennial I worked at Fidelity Investments and lived in Watertown, MA. Rent was a big chunk of my paycheck but that’s what it cost to be so close to Boston. I wasn’t saving much money. Then there was a change. My department was moved out to Marlborough, MA—40 minutes west of Boston. For a while I did the reverse commute from Boston to Marlborough. But that got old fast. I wanted to live where I worked and I was also tired of paying someone else rent. I … [Read more...]

What is the key to achieving the financial success you and your family deserve? Well, for one it’s about keeping it simple—Simple is Sophisticated. Another key is to stop spinning your wheels. In portfolio management terms, spinning wheels or, how long a position is held over the course of a year is called the turnover rate. In other words, if your holdings at the beginning of the year were sold and replaced by new positions, then the turnover rate would be 100%. Here’s a wonderful example, one of my favorite, that Dick Young explains to his readers: Mr. 3.5% Turnover In 1992, Forbes profiled … [Read more...]

My father-in law Dick Young wrote this timeless issue in May 2006 in his monthly strategy report: Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. Check back in a week or so for more on one of my favorite investing lessons. As you can see I have a somewhat vested interest in the results. Read more of Dick Young's investment strategy here. Simple Is Sophisticated Debbie and I recently made the pilgrimage to Vermont’s Authentic Designs (www.authentic-designs.com) to order much of the inside and outside lighting for a New England home we are renovating. At a most bucolic setting, skilled craftsmen … [Read more...]

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Here Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute discusses why some states deserve kudos for their tax policies, and some states deserve mockery. Just like with nations, there are many factors that determine whether a state is hindering or enabling economic growth. But I’m very drawn to one variable, which is whether there’s a state income tax. If the answer is no, then it’s quite likely that it will enjoy better-than-average economic performance (and if a state makes the mistake of having an income tax, then a flat tax will be considerably less destructive than a so-called progressive tax). Which … [Read more...]

It turns out lifestyle is important to millennials at the cost of not paying down student debt or saving for retirement. In a recent survey by Providence, RI based Citizens Bank, as reported by Reuters and picked up by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fewer than half (47 percent) of millennials, those in the 18-35 age group, who are college graduates, would     be willing to limit their online food delivery in return for reducing their student loans. Other priorities? Concerts, sporting events and lattes, as well as travel and vacations. The prospect of limiting any of these luxuries got the “no … [Read more...]