Rent VS Buy

A nationwide buy versus rent index is moving deeper into the “buy” territory, indicating that housing markets across the country are strong. This study by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University also shows that home prices rose 5.4 percent in the first quarter.

“This appears to be driven by a steady but strengthening job market, rising rents relative to rising ownership costs and recent slower growth in traditional financial portfolios consisting of stocks and bonds,” says Ken Johnson, a real estate economist and one of the index’s authors.

The index looked at the relationship between buying a property and building wealth through a buildup of equity versus renting a comparable property and investing in a portfolio of stocks and bonds, and concluded that “In terms of wealth creation, the U.S. housing market, when considered as a whole, has swung marginally more in favor of home ownership over renting a comparable property and investing monthly rent savings in a portfolio of stocks and bonds."

The index also revealed that 16 of the 23 metro markets examined moved in the “buy” territory direction.

The metro areas remaining solidly in the “buy” territory include Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, and St. Louis.

“These cities should have room for price growth without much worry of overheating,” says Eli Beracha, co-author of the index and assistant professor in the T&S Hollo School of Real Estate at FIU. “This is especially true for Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit.”

 On the other hand, index authors say cities like Honolulu, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle are near an “indifference point” between buying versus renting. In nearly all of these metro markets, the index score for the quarter moved in the direction of ownership.

“This movement suggests that most consumers in these markets appear to have learned from the real estate crash and now understand that residential property prices can get too high,” Beracha says. “This is a good sign for future housing price stability in these markets.”

 Houston, meanwhile, is deep in the “rent” territory. Also, two other housing markets – Dallas and Denver – moved deeper into the “rent” territory, but at a slower rate than previous quarters, the authors note.

“Strong economic support within these two markets should make for a soft landing in terms of slowing property price growth, increased marketing time for properties and lower probabilities that sellers will actually transact and close during a given marketing effort of their property,” Johnson says.

Source: Florida Atlantic University

Indexed Universal Life Insurance Policy and Retirement

An indexed universal life insurance policy is a permanent insurance that offers great flexibility for premiums and adjustments for face amount. The indexed accounts are credited with interest based on the growth in one or more indexes and there is a guaranteed growth rate within the policy. Life insurance is designed to protect your loved ones if there is a premature death in your family.

What I like best about an indexed universal life insurance policy is the fact that the cash value within the policy can be utilized as a way to generate tax free income for retirement. In other words, this type of policy serves two purposes.

** The face amount provides protection for your family in the case of a premature death.
** The cash value growth over the years can generate tax-free income during retirement.

Source: Excerpt from Investopedia

President's Day

Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it is still officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government. Traditionally celebrated on February 22—Washington’s actual day of birth—the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents’ Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present. #PresidentsDay

Source: History.com

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.

Source: History.com

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.

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.

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.

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

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. 

Marketwatch recently featured some of the common renovaions for home owners that can decrease the value of their home.  This article was posted in Realtor Mag online.

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.


Source: DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

Car Maintenance in Auto Dealership

When you bring your car to a car dealership for regular maintenance, how much money do you think you will spend when you thought all you need to pay for is an oil change.

I have a year old car and I bring it to the car dealership for regular maintenance and an oil change.  About 6 months ago, I took my car in for an oil change.  When they were done with inspection, they told me that I would need 4 new tires and new brake pads which will cost me roughly $1000,00 to do all the repairs and tire replacement they mentioned.   I said to them how come I need 4 new tires when two of them were not even a year old.  They even showed me why I needed new tires. So I told them for now just to do the regular oil change.  I came back with my husband to pick it up and they never mentioned the repairs.  I had my husband bring the car back to the dealership for the regular maintenance and they never mentioned the repairs needed again..

I have concluded that if they know that you don't know much about cars, especially if you are a woman, the car dealership auto maintenance will bleed you to death with all the unnecessary repairs so they can get as much from you as they can. I have searched and found this link.  Please click here to read more about it.