Infrastructure Plan, Rents Normalizing, Home Appreciation 15 Year High
Infrastructure Part 1- Biden outlined his $2T infrastructure plan this week – it is structured as $250M per year over 8 years funded by an increase in corporate taxes from 21%-28% (still lower than 2017 cuts) and the elimination of a rule that allows U.S. companies to pay no taxes on the first 10% of […]
2021 = Recovery? Home Sales & Values on Fire
Three positive economic indicators in 2021:1.) People are spending money again – retail sales are up 5% and bar/restaurant sales are up 7%2.) The lives of more economically vulnerable people are improving – 5 million fewer people reported not having enough food to eat (unfortunately there are still 24M people short on food) and only […]
Thanksgiving Dinner 35 Year Low, Homes Appreciate 7% Nationwide
For 2020, the average cost of a Thanksgiving Dinner for 10 people was $46.90. This is a 4% decrease from last year and the lowest level since 2010. If you adjust for inflation, there hasn’t been a cheaper year since the survey started in 1986. Turkey prices dropped 7% year over year to $1.21 per […]
2021 Contribution Limits, Appreciation Strong
The IRS increased contribution limits for SEP IRA & Solo 401K contributors by $1,000. They did not increase the limit for traditional and Roth IRA’s and slightly increased the HSA contribution limit. All of these accounts enjoy tax advantaged growth. Rates – experienced nominal fluctuation this week. The 10 Year US Treasury note continues its […]
Duels, Gambling, & Finance, Home Appreciation, Jobs
John Law – wins in a duel in London and is convicted of murder. He escapes from prison, flees the country, and arrives in France. There he leverages his understanding of statistics to earn a small fortune gambling, which he builds into a large fortune by creating a paper money system and giving birth to […]
Location? Jobs, Rent, Appreciation
Housing Boom – suddenly the mantra location, location, location doesn’t seem as relevant when: many people are working remotely, most schools are going virtual, and everyone wants more space. Redfin site traffic is up 40% since the pandemic and pending sales are at historic highs. The traffic to listings that are in towns with populations […]
GDP Contracts, Rates Improve, Appreciation Strong
GDP – the headline figure for the worst GDP report on record was -33%, does that mean that 1/3 of our economy evaporated in one quarter? The report showed that we produced 9.5% less in Q2 than Q1. If we continue on this rate for an entire year, then the economy would contract by a […]
Student Loan Secondary Market, Jobs Update, Strong Home Sales & Appreciation
Many of us wonder why rates on student loans rates are much higher than the market rates for cars, mortgages, or HELOCS and why you can’t re-finance student loans without moving them to a private bank and losing many of the hardships benefits or repayment options. Here’s a brief story of someone who sued Navient […]
Corona Data, Treasury Decline, Fed Emergency Cut
Coronavirus – the larger 40 page report can be found here. There is plenty of memes and noise circulating about the virus, here is a report from the World Health Organization. In this study of over 44,000 infected individuals 3.4% died. Certain factors heightened chance of fatality including: gender (males 4.7% vs 2.8% female), age […]
Intellectual Wealth, 10Y UST Historic Low, Appreciation
Wealth – currently California’s economy is larger than the entire global economy of 1870. CA makes up 0.3% of the world’s land surface and 0.5% of the population. 27% of global capital is physical things (items you can touch) 9% is land, and 64% of wealth is ideas. The US economy continues to make up […]