The discussion in the comment section after my Monday post this week focused a lot on mortgage rate history. It prompted me to find this graph on 30-year fixed standard mortgages from 1971-2025. I remember the peak in 1981 as we moved that year for my Dad’s job and my parents got a 16% mortgage for our new house. Bad timing. It was quite … Continue reading Mortgage Memories
I was at a wonderful MegaCorp reunion a few nights ago and a few colleagues were celebrating their first year of retirement, or were planning to at the end of the year. A couple friends said that despite a lot of planning, they weren’t entirely confident that their financials were going to hold up to the next few decades of retirement life. Despite having financial … Continue reading Are You Likely To Run Out Of Money?
There’s probably not a lot new in this chart for most readers, but I thought it’d be a good reminder on a Friday morning … The author of the infographic (Ooma) did a nice job thinking about the key expenditures for seniors. There is more detail on the data sources & state ranking in their website. While it’s relatively easy to compare the cost of … Continue reading Retiree Cost By State
We just finished a fantastic long weekend at our Florida place enjoying all of the America 250 festivities. The celebrations & fireworks at Walt Disney World – and our own small-town Independence Day parade (no politicians!) were terrific. Seeing the tall ships in NYC, the time capsule in Philadelphia, and midnight fireworks in Washington DV were also highlights. We visited all of those places this … Continue reading Where Are We At USA?
Since I don’t work, I probably follow the news more than the average bear. When you do that, you start to think you know more than most other people. Violating one of my own guidelines to buy index funds for the long-term and not play individual investments for the short-term, I bought $5K of the oil fund BNO a few weeks ago. Every few days … Continue reading A Lousy War Profiteer
The economy is either strong, or very weak, it seems. Like many things in America, it just depends on your political perspective. According to Gallup, Republicans are +22 points positive about the economy, while Democrats are -80 points negative. If you go back to Biden’s time in office the viewpoints were switched almost perfectly. In Trump’s first term they were flipped again. I consider myself … Continue reading How’s The Economy? It Depends …
The new “Trump Accounts” 530A program is now officially rolling out, and millions are taking notice. The app is suddenly the top download on the Apple & Google app stores – again proving the popularity of “free” government money from politicians in an election year. At its core, the program is simple. Children born between 1/1/25, and 12/31/2028, are eligible to receive a $1,000 contribution … Continue reading Free Government Money?
My son and I were talking about saving & investing and I’m proud that he is a good saver. I know that definitively because I ran across this chart in a news story (I forget where). It gives a good look at net worth by age with 5 year age brackets. I think it’s good for young people to see what others are saving. We … Continue reading Net Worth By Age
An online thread recently asked “What luxury, purchases end up being a money pit?” I think we’ve all had the experience of buying something we thought would be great, but end up costing us much more than we thought. Here’s a summary of the top responses … Boats — The most repeated answer. Marina fees, fuel, maintenance, winterizing, repairs, and storage add up fast. RVs … Continue reading Trophy Purchase Money Pits
Wednesday was Tax Day in the United States as everyone was rushing to get their Federal & State Tax Returns submitted by that date. Ours were finished last Friday and we paid less in taxes than ever – as we lived off cash in 2025 and didn’t sell any investments for a gain. A couple of our investments, including our rental townhouse, had losses. We … Continue reading Pass the SALT on Tax Day
