I have a friend who owns a car repair / body shop here in Minnesota who is enjoying a bumper crop of business from nasty potholes this spring. The roads are in such bad shape that you can see the old bricks & streetcar tracks poking through the broken pavement (upper right photo) near his shop, even though the trolley service ended almost 70 years … Continue reading Epic Potholes!
I really hate writing articles about political issues, but here I am again. The Biden administration’s student debt cancellation policy – which seeks to erase $430 billion in college student loan debt – is in the headlines again. We’re awaiting a Supreme Court’s decision on its Constitutionality, likely this June. It caused me to look a little into the scope of the “CRISIS” as it … Continue reading Stop Calling Student Loan Debt A “Crisis”
The failure of the Silicon Valley Bank – and subsequent other banks – garnered all of the headlines this week. Like many of you, I’m sure, my simple response was to double-check that none of our bank accounts had more than the FDIC $250K in them. I didn’t expect we had that much parked anywhere, but worth double-checking, I figured. We were, as expected, good. … Continue reading Banking Mess Involvement
I’m turning 57 this year, which certainly means I’m on the downhill side of the mountain. Not just in age / likely lifespan, but also in annual spending. This JP Morgan chart shows ‘the other side of the mountain’ in spending. The average American household slows spending quite a bit as they age … more than I would have guessed. I’m seeing a pretty steady … Continue reading Heading Down The Hill …
It’s been about three years since the start of the pandemic. I’m not sure if it’s officially over yet, but Americans have returned to their old financial behavior: save little & charge much. Here are two charts I came across recently that paint the ugly picture. First, the US Savings rate fell to 4.7% in December (well below the 8.8% pre-pandemic average) … Second, it’s … Continue reading Americans Less Financially Resilient Than Ever?
(This is NOT a sales pitch / associate link article) I’m back to trying the travel hacking again. I started rotating credit cards and banking miles before the pandemic interrupted everything, but quit when everything shut down. A few friends suggested I start again, and I just signed up for a new Delta/American Express Reserve Card. This is the first card I’ve had where I … Continue reading Taking Flight
In Celebration, Florida – not far from where we stay in Margaritaville resort – there is a great looking Italian restaurant. We have never eaten there. For me, Italian food is perfect for cold weather, not the Florida sunshine. I can think of a number of good comfort, food restaurants like that in Florida. Never been to any of them. For me, the four food … Continue reading Florida Four Food Groups
MrFireStation 