Real estate firms Opendoor, Offerpad, and Zillow are developing services that purchase homes, improve them slightly, and then flip them to new buyers using apps to do most of the sales work. In my series Dead or Alive? The Future of Long-Term Investing, I questioned the benefits of using robo-advisors in place of real, warm-blooded, human beings. As I wrote then, what happens in a crisis; "We’ll see how well they do when markets crater and the phone lines light up like a Christmas tree. It’s happened twice already this century, and that’s when it matters most." The question is now, are … [Read more...]
June RAGE Gauge: Gold Shines as Investors Seek Safe Haven
My latest RAGE Gauge reading is in, and while perceived risk is down from last month, it’s still not pretty. What caught my attention is the noticeable bump in gold as investors seek safe haven investments. Remember though, while the yellow metal is an important component of a diversified portfolio, its lack of income or dividend payments make it an expensive asset for too much of your retirement money. … [Read more...]
Retirement is No Fun if You’re Scared, Sick, or Broke
In a great piece in The Wall Street Journal, Glenn Ruffenach answers a question by a retiree who is looking to move. She wants a safe neighborhood, and Ruffenach explains that while most retirees looking to relocate are focused on the fun aspects of life like "climate, lifestyles, housing, shopping, cultural events," they should also be paying attention to things like "taxes, health care—and crime." Face it, if you're scared, sick or broke, it doesn't matter how many restaurants or shows are on Main Street, your retirement isn't going to be any fun at all. Ruffenach continues: Beyond the … [Read more...]
America is Beating Japan in this Retirement Savings Measure, but Not for the Right Reason
Running out of money during retirement is the greatest risk people take when they decide to stop working. The World Economic Forum has published new research that shows Americans aren't saving enough to cover the last decade or so of their retirement. That pales in comparison to the Japanese, who fail to save enough for the last two decades of their retirement. The only problem here for Americans though is that a big portion of that savings disparity comes because Japanese people are living so much longer, not because Americans are simply saving that much more. Bloomberg's Ben Steverman … [Read more...]
Can You Lower Your Property Tax Bill in 8 Steps?
If you own real estate, you know that property taxes seem to rise continuously. Undoubtedly you have questioned if yours could be reduced. Fidelity has posted a guide that could help you lower yours. Sandra Block writes: Home values have risen across the country, which means many homeowners' property taxes are going up, too. The average annual property tax for owner-occupied single family homes nationwide in 2017 was $3,399, an effective tax rate of 1.17%, according to Attom Data Solutions. Nine counties impose average annual property taxes of $10,000 or more. In Westchester County, New … [Read more...]
Record Hiring in April
In April, businesses hired 5.9 million employees, the highest on record. Despite filling so many positions, there are still more jobs available than unemployed workers to fill them. You can see on my chart the demand for employees has been higher than the number of unemployed Americans since March of 2018. Bloomberg's Jeff Cox reports on the strong numbers for the economy: “In sum, the labor market remains strong and poised for continued solid job growth,” Ward McCarthy, chief financial U.S. economist at Jefferies, said in a note. “Despite the 21.4 [million] private sector jobs that … [Read more...]
Despite Past Failure, Connecticut Taxes More and More
Despite what seem to be ever increasing taxes, Connecticut's politicians can't seem to pay for all their spending. Every time taxes go up, more of the state's wealthy residents decide it's time to pick up and leave. Now, Connecticut is trying to adapt. Rather than raising headline rates on income or sales, Hartford's Regents of Revenue are creating a slew of new taxes on the edges of noticeability. The Middletown Press explains this new assault on Nutmeggers, writing: The sales tax on digital downloads — things like e-books and movies downloaded from Amazon — will increase from 1 percent … [Read more...]
Don’t Just Think About Retirement Planning, Act Now
According to a report from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies Americans are concerned with their retirement, but they're not actually doing much about it. I urge you and anyone who hasn't already taken action toward planning for retirement to not wait, get to work now. FEDWeek reports: The report, based on polling samples of the baby boom, generation X and millennial generations, found that majorities of all three expect to have a harder time achieving financial security for retirement than their parents’ generation, with the younger two generations agreeing more strongly; and … [Read more...]
Have You Already Lost Hope for Retirement?
A scary statistic was recently uncovered in a survey conducted by LendEDU. Nearly 40 percent of Americans fear they will never save enough money to retire. Bloomberg reports: That’s despite nearly one in five Americans who said having enough money saved to be able to retire is their most important financial goal, according to a survey of 1,000 adults conducted by LendEDU in May. More Americans said saving for retirement is more important versus those that indicated paying off credit card debt or building an emergency fund, according to the survey. However, slightly more respondents said … [Read more...]
The Creative Destruction of America’s Business Cycle
Business is a cyclical phenomenon. The ups and downs of the business cycle serve to raise men and women up to the peak of prosperity, but also to destroy wealth in shocking fashion. Federal policies play a major part in the duration and regularity of these cycles. As you can see on the chart below of America's Business Booms and Depressions from 1775 to 1944, many of the business booms and busts have labels attached to them. Some were created by wars, embargoes, trust building and busting, monetary policy, etc. It's interesting to notice that the longest period of prosperity (green blocks) was … [Read more...]