I just came across a bill from an attorney for services rendered for a famiy friend who has since deceased. Our family friend and his late wife made the decision earlier in their life that they would give all of their assets to St. Jude's Hospital upon their passing. It was known among some local attorneys that these two individuals had millions to pass on and without any children or known family of their own my father stepped in to make sure that their wishes to give everything to St. Jude was carried out.
As I looked at the bill there were line items that described “postage” and “copies” with a line item of $95.92. What is sad is that taking advantage of two elderly individuals who only wanted to do the right thing – more of their hard earned money could have went into the pockets of these attorneys instead of in the hands of St Jude's Hospital had it not been for the efforts of my father who stepped in.
Please be mindful that there are individuals who are always looking to take advantage of others.
Today, you can seemingly bet on anything thanks (or maybe no thanks) to the internet. One interesting new player in this space is Kalshi. Kalshi says it is a trading platform but really is a bet based on a real world event driven contract. For example, will it snow more than x inches in any given city on a certain date. These can be fun but with anything else in money…be cautions and balanced.
The topic of interest rates can be both boring and hard to understand all at the same time. This article will outline high level the different types of interest rates as well as how they work.
The Federal Reserve
First, there are interest rates that are controlled by the Federal Reserve. The lowest rate is known as the fed funds rate which is the rate that banks charge each other to borrow from each other for overnight loans. The next rate is the discount rate which is slightly higher and is the rate that the Federal Reserve charges when they make loans to banks. The next higher rate is the broker rate which is the rate that banks charge brokers. Finally, there is the last and highest rate, the rate that banks charge customers. This set of rates are largely set by the Federal Reserve.
The historical role of the Federal Reserve is to control inflation and maximize employment. If inflation begins to take hold the Federal Reserve is supposed to raise interest rates to keep inflation in check so as to not allow the purchasing power of the dollar to slip. If higher rates of unemployment are taking place – the Federal Reserve would reduce the fed funds rate as a way of trying to spur employment as businesses are encouraged to borrow and employ as a means of growing a business.
The Treasury
Treasury Rates are set to 2, 10 and 30 year levels. The most closely watched is the 10 year. Treasury rates float based on macro economic activity whereas the Federal Reserve rates are controlled by by members of the Federal Reserve board…namely the Chairman or Chairwomen of the Federal Reserve. When the 10 year rate begins to climb the market expects inflation to follow. When the 10 year falls the opposite is true. In general, the rising 10 year rate is seen as a good thing for the economy because it is predicting future growth. However, if it climbs too fast too quick inflation can and will ultimately devalue the value of your money. In these cases the Federal Reserve steps in to lower the fed funds rate. However, this rate has been held close to 0 for a number of years leaving the Federal Reserve very little room to make adjustments.
US 10-Year Treasury Yield… July 1980: 10.1% July 1985: 10.5% July 1990: 8.5% July 1995: 6.5% July 2000: 6.0% July 2005: 4.3% July 2010: 3.0% July 2015: 2.3% July 2020: 0.6%
Colleges have largely been able to make more money because of the fact that the federal government backs the loans of students and as long as the government continues to do this the cost of college has grown exponentially! There was really only a handful of things that could have started to finally make students and parents really begin to question the perceived value they are actually getting from college…a virus!
We use a budget template each and every month when we sit down to do our budget. The two tools that we use are Personal Capital & a template but we also recognize that not everyone might like using the same template for their budget. GoBankingRates compiled these 14 alternative templates! This list of templates has something for everyone…travel budget, Christmas budget and for the advanced budgeter check out #9!
As interest rates have fallen to near zero it is getting more difficult to find interest bearing avenues. This is one reason investors have flowed heavily into stocks and away from bonds.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of money. Here is what the Bible says about money and how it should be treated.
Dave Portnoy & The Unmasking Of Wall Street
Here’s the thing about #DDTG. It’s for the people. The suits want you to think they’re the only ones who can do this and we just exposed them. pic.twitter.com/DyWOMuIhUt
An incredible look into the future of college by NYU professor Scott Galloway. If you still think college is worth it take a look at this very good student loan calculator from Zippia.
The charts tell the story. We have experienced some of the worst economic periods since the Great Depression. On the other side, equity prices up substantially. “Is the combination of record government stimulus and the most accommodating Federal Reserve in history enough to outweigh the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression? The markets, particularly technology stocks, are saying a resounding yes.”
The largest and most overwhelming purchase and sale most people will ever make is on real estate. The most common of which is a home. When it comes to making this decision there is a vast amount of information available. However, most of the information covers only pieces of this transaction. This article compiles all of the best resources available for the entire real estate transaction.
The Current State Of Real Estate
There are various arguments for why you should or why you should never purchase a home. One of the best articles containing up-to-date facts and figures is from the website Accidental Fire titled, Have We Reached Peak Home Bloat?
To get an overview of the current state of housing the following resources will help you better understand current facts and figures.
You might find it helpful to read 2 Years of Home Ownership – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly which will give you some insight into one perspective from relatively new homeowners. When you think you have found the perfect new property and feel as though you need to make a move right away be sure to take into consideration factors that you are likely not considering. For example, have you knocked on the doors of your potential new neighbors to meet them? Do you have cell phone service inside the home?
The impact technology is having on real estate is significant. Technology will continue to impact high margin, arduous industries. It is hard to think of a more laborious industry than real estate. Zillow is a household name that has started to bring to light real estate data once confined to multiple listing services controlled by local boards of realtors but there are now many others entering the real estate industry taking on and improving various aspects of a real estate transaction and the housing industry as a whole.
With today’s technology, it has never been easier to sell your own real estate. The cost of many financial transactions including; banking, investing, and insurance, has come down exponentially in recent years. However, the cost of selling your home or other pieces of real estate has remained stubbornly high.
For current or future real estate agents – a paragraph in an article from My Journey To Millions caught our attention.
“Our first inclination was to put it on Zillow’s “Make me Move.” We didn’t get the traction or responses we thought. Side note: I don’t think the market is there yet, but realtors hear me now, this service and others like it are your future. Being a real estate agent in 2028 is going to be the equivalent of a taxi driver in 2018”
It used to be that you would have a real estate agent post your listing on the multiple listing service in order to get your property viewable online to buyers. Today, that is no longer the case and the vast amount of tools are now available online for free (or nearly free). For example, need professional photos for your property? Take them yourself and then upload them to a service like Boxbrownie to have them professionally edited for you for less than $50.
As is the case in most industries…the best agents will continue to thrive and all the others will fall away. We had the recent experience of looking at a property with a local agent. We had little interest but still, there was zero follow-ups. Our guess is they will be in a different line of work in 2028!
Get a sense for the documents and paperwork involved. Once you arrive at the point of having a potential buyer or have set your sights on a certain property there are a number of documents to be aware of. One great resource for handling all of this for you is Flare Agent. (Note: Flare agent is currently only available to registered real estate agents. This post will be updated once they open it up to the general public)
Today, more than ever traditional industries – especially high margin industries – are being commoditized and transitioned by technology. Now more than ever software as a service (SAAS) as well as other technologies such as AI driven by the growth of data science is making what traditionally was
