In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Thanksgiving History
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Retirement is a LIE
Everyone is thinking of #retirement especially the baby boomers. 10,000 of then turns 65 every day. According to the article published by Daily Worth online, 55% of Americans is in danger of not fully covering the estimated essential expenses like housing, healthcare, food in retirement as studied by Fidelity Investments.” A Wells Fargo/Gallup survey found that 46 percent of their participants were either “very” or “somewhat” worried about outliving what they were capable of saving for retirement, with concerns about whether they could rely on Social Security checks alone.
But if it’s supposed to be so simple, why isn’t retirement working the way it should?
The top financial services institutions make it sound so easy: Sock away a portion of your paycheck, put it in long-term retirement plans like your workplace 401(k) or an IRA and then just wait for the money to kick in at retirement.
But if it’s supposed to be so simple, why isn’t retirement working the way it should?
Apparently, we don’t prioritize saving, and we’re poorly educated about money management skills, according to Springleaf Financial surveys. On the whole, this country is not ready to retire — but those aren’t the only reasons why.
“The issue is not that people don't prepare properly,” says Helaine Olen, author of Pound Foolish: Exposing The Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry and co-author of The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to be Complicated, coming in 2016.
The inability to save isn’t because we’re wasting money on kitchen remodeling or fancy coffee, but rather because the cost of living has gone up — thanks to rising health-care costs and housing costs — while our salaries have stagnated or declined. And millennials have the extra burden of staggering student debt.
Even if you do manage to save, the financial products that have been set up to protect us — like 401(k)s and related retirement plans — cannot accomplish what they are touted to provide. 401(k)s, for example, were simply not designed to be our main retirement fund, according to a Frontline interview with Teresa Ghilarducci, director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research.
Instead, the 401(k) was established “as a way for high-earning executives to put part of their salary aside on a cash-deferred basis. Even after the Reagan administration said all employees were eligible to use a 401(k) account if an employer offered it, no one thought it would supplement pensions,” explains Olen.
Even John Bogle, founder and former chief executive of The Vanguard Group, says the retirement options offered by financial institutions are fiction — what he called a “train wreck” in his appearance on Frontline.
Even if you do manage to save, the financial products that have been set up to protect us — like 401(k)s and related retirement plans — cannot accomplish what they are touted to provide. 401(k)s, for example, were simply not designed to be our main retirement fund, according to a Frontline interview with Teresa Ghilarducci, director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at The New School for Social Research.
Instead, the 401(k) was established “as a way for high-earning executives to put part of their salary aside on a cash-deferred basis. Even after the Reagan administration said all employees were eligible to use a 401(k) account if an employer offered it, no one thought it would supplement pensions,” explains Olen.
Even John Bogle, founder and former chief executive of The Vanguard Group, says the retirement options offered by financial institutions are fiction — what he called a “train wreck” in his appearance on Frontline.
IRAs and 401(k)s weren’t designed to be retirement plans but savings or thrift plans. And the returns are small: After adjusting for inflation and subtracting taxes and fees, “you’re down into a pretty paltry return, 1 or 2 percent,” according to Frontline, which Bogle confirms. “We don’t tell people that, you see, in this business,” Bogle adds.
The most appalling aspect of all of this is that we have no choice — we are locked into a system designed to fail. You may think you can just postpone retirement and get in a few more years with income; maybe you’re convinced you can wait until 70, as Fidelity, for example, advises. But “the great myth of retirement” is that you get to choose how and when you’ll retire, says Olen.
The truth is that people are frequently forced to leave the workforce.
The most appalling aspect of all of this is that we have no choice — we are locked into a system designed to fail. You may think you can just postpone retirement and get in a few more years with income; maybe you’re convinced you can wait until 70, as Fidelity, for example, advises. But “the great myth of retirement” is that you get to choose how and when you’ll retire, says Olen.
The truth is that people are frequently forced to leave the workforce.
According to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), “[m]any people retire for reasons they did not anticipate or are out of their control”; health problems, changes in the workplace, or caring for a spouse or family member were the main reasons people hung up their briefcases.
A 2012 Health and Retirement Study noted that 43 percent of retirees who participated felt that they were forced into retirement. The 2015 Employee Benefit Research Institute’s Retirement Confidence Survey found similar results: 50 percent of retirees left the workforce earlier than they had planned.
I might be able to help you alleviate some issues with your retirement or any financial concerns.. Email Me for more info.
Source: DailyWorth
I might be able to help you alleviate some issues with your retirement or any financial concerns.. Email Me for more info.
Source: DailyWorth
Monday, November 23, 2015
4 Renovations that can lower the Value of your Home
Renovations are mostly done for the home owner's comfor but also to add value to their home. Unfortunately in some cases, it lowers the value of their home depending on what they choose to do.
1, Eliminating a bedroom - Even if the purpose of removing a bedroom to enlarge one or to make a living space larger, this renovation can lower the value at resale. The more bedroom a home has, the higher the price it usually gets.
2. Renovating the garage into living space - Getting rid of the garage in favor of more living space, office or extra bedroom can be a turned off for some buyers.at resale. 74% of recent buyers said that having a garage is very important according to a survey of 7,500 people by Crescent Communities.
3. Removing closets - Michele Silverman Bedell, Chief Executive of Silversons in Westchester, N.Y.recalls that a client had removed a closet to make the master bedroom bigger. But the renovation made the home more difficult to sell. One of the criteria that buyers look for is a bigger closets in master bedroom.
4. Too much wallpaper - Even though the wallpaper can be removed, it gives the impression of having a lot of work to get it off.
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