Summer is often a popular time for people to buy a home. In fact, I was recently talking to an employee who wanted to buy a place but she noted that the mortgage payment would be more than the rent for similar priced homes in the area she was looking at. However, after looking at the tax breaks and possible home appreciation, we discovered that owning would actually be cheaper for her. Continue reading “Should You Buy or Rent a Home?”
One of the most common pieces of investment wisdom is that you should invest more in conservative “loan” investments like cash and bonds and less in more aggressive “own” investments like stocks and real estate as you get closer to retirement. This may have made sense when bonds were paying 6% or more but with long term bonds rates now closer to 3%, this could actually make it harder to retire comfortably or more likely you could run out of money in retirement. Cash is paying less than inflation. Rather than to low-interest bonds and cash, why not shift towards high-yielding dividend stocks and real estate? Here are some advantages of this approach: Continue reading “Be an Owner Rather Than a Loaner in Retirement”
One of the things that probably most surprises people about me as a financial planner is that I rent. After all, we’ve always been taught that renting is “throwing money away” while home ownership is a good long term investment and the hallmark of adulthood and the middle class. In my case, the fact that I’m a renter may be particularly surprising given that I’m also a real estate investor. So here are some of the reasons I’ve chosen to rent: Continue reading “Why I Rent”
Real estate can be a great asset for retirement planning. Last week, I explored a couple of ways you can supplement your retirement income using real estate, namely by owning rental property or investing in REITs. This week, I’d like to take a look at a few other ways you can use real estate to supplement your income by tapping into the equity you may have in the home you are living in right now. Continue reading “Using Real Estate to Supplement Your Retirement Income (Part II)”
One of the most popular workshops we offer at Financial Finesse is our workshops on retirement planning. That’s probably because retirement is a financial goal common to just about anyone that works for a living. In order to enjoy a comfortable retirement, many financial experts recommend replacing 70-80% of your income in retirement, which begs the question “What are your retirement income sources?” Continue reading “How to Use Real Estate to Supplement Your Retirement Income (Part I)”
Back in college in the late 90’s, I learned a valuable lesson about managing risk when I got caught up investing in the dot com bubble. It was so easy to put up two thousand dollars and see it double or triple overnight. But the bubble burst a few years later and I was left with less money in my account than when I started. I cashed out of day trading, fortunately realizing before I had lost too much that this was not a viable long term strategy. Continue reading “The Risk of Not Taking Risk”
This past weekend, my stepson and his wife took the plunge and put in a contract for their first home, joining the increasingly large group of first-time home buyers in the housing market today. Before finding their “diamond in the the rough,” there were a lot of potential money pits they had to sift through and on the occasions when I got to go along for the ride, I was shocked at how sellers put no thought at all into the staging or curb appeal of their homes. If you’re planning on taking advantage of the housing recovery by listing your home for sale this spring, remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. For buyers, it’s all about the three “L”s: location, location, location. But for sellers, you should pay attention to these three “De”s: Continue reading “Mind These 3 “De”s When Listing Your Home”
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about investing in rental real estate. I’m going to conclude this series with a final argument in favor of real estate investing and that’s how it’s likely to be affected by four different economic environments relative to other investments and the opportunities each situation presents to real estate investors. Here are the four different scenarios: Continue reading “How Real Estate Investors Can Take Advantage Of Any Economic Scenario”
Over the last couple of weeks, I wrote about the opportunities and challenges involved with investing in residential rental properties. If you feel ready to take the plunge, you may be wondering what to look for in an investment property. After all, it’s not the same as buying your home, which is as much if not more of an emotional decision than a financial one. Like all investments, the less emotion involved with real estate, the better. Here are some things I looked for in purchasing my first rental property: Continue reading “What to Look For In an Investment Property”
We may have evolved to focus on the bad things in life (our more cautious ancestors were more likely to survive and reproduce) but today is a time to give thanks for the good things that we too often take for granted. This applies to our financial life too. Here are 5 financial blessings we can be thankful for this Thanksgiving and some steps you can take to make the most of them: Continue reading “5 Financial Blessings to Be Thankful For Today”
I recently talked to someone selling his house and he told me about something he is doing that I had never heard of before. It helped him get a quick sale at his asking price without a lot of back and forth negotiating. Then, I read this article about the same thing and began to wonder if this is going to be a trend that picks up momentum across the country. Continue reading “A New Way to Buy or Sell a House”
With interest rates and home prices still low but rising and economic recovery and/or higher inflation possibly on the horizon, the prospects for real estate are looking pretty good. But it’s not an area that I’m as familiar with as other types of investments so I’ve been talking to a lot of people and doing my own research to better understand real estate investing. Here are some common misconceptions I’ve found that could be inhibiting people’s success in this area: Continue reading “5 Myths About Real Estate Investing”
I was reflecting on my “best investment decision” from my post last week and realized that the same caution that led me to not buy a home at the top of the real estate bubble also made me miss buying a home near the bottom of the real estate market last year. I looked at several properties that I liked and they were priced low enough that I could have easily more than covered the monthly costs by renting them out if I had to. However, there were so many good options that I suffered from “analysis paralysis” and ended up not buying any of them. Continue reading “To Buy or Not to Buy”
After reading my colleagues’ blog posts this week about their best and worst investment decisions ever, I’m glad that I was in college until 2000 and missed the dot com bubble of the late 90’s. As a college student, I didn’t have money to invest in the likes of pets.com even if I wanted to. Instead, I got to watch the rise and fall of the “New Economy” stocks from a distance. The only thing better than learning from your mistakes is learning from other people’s mistakes. Continue reading “Bubbles Come in All Shapes and Sizes”
Today is the first day of spring and among other things, that means many people will begin the process of buying a home. Despite the crash in the real estate market a few years ago, real estate remains a great investment. In fact, it can often make the difference of whether someone is able to retire. Here are some reasons why: Continue reading “Why a Home is Still a Good Investment”
Thursday is the first day of spring, which means daffodils in bloom, Easter egg hunts, and new homebuyers coming out of hibernation. For employees considering a home purchase this spring househunting season, their decision could be the best or worst thing for their financial future. Your workforce may have opportunities to learn about the housing market by working with a local real estate agent or mortgage lender, but these professionals have an ultimate agenda to seal the deal. Employees can benefit from an unbiased workshop on the ABCs of real estate to help them make one of their biggest buying decisions. Helping your employees find their dream home can also benefit the company by encouraging a more stable, less transient workforce. Here are some of the topics that should be covered: Continue reading “Helpful Tips for Househunters”
A wise Italian once said, “Perfect is the enemy of good,” meaning when we insist on perfection the results are often no improvement at all. When the goal is so high up on the pedestal and seems so unachievable, we simply give up. I’ve certainly experienced this phenomenon personally and seen it manifest with the many individuals and families I have worked with over the years as a financial planner. Building an emergency fund with six months of expenses, saving 10- 12 % of income for retirement, funding children’s college educations, and making extra payments on a mortgage are just a few of the financial goals people have. Each of these goals needs to be funded while at the same time, other expenses are increasing such as health insurance and household bills. Continue reading “Save 1% More for Retirement in 2013”
In several of my recent conversations with employees of companies that have access to our financial helpline, I have talked to people about their monthly budget. Often, the line between success and failure for their monthly budget has been a matter of a few hundred dollars per month. In a good month, they have $100-$200 in excess cash flow. But…it seems like there is NEVER a good month and there are ALWAYS extra expenses. A car breaks down, kids get sick and need to see the doctor and get a prescription or there is some other expense that blows up the monthly budget. For people who are in this situation, there are a few things you can do to make it more manageable and reduce the stress level of the situation. The cumulative level of stress was very evident in their voices, and the reason they called the financial helpline was to find a solution to their budget issues but also to drastically reduce the daily level of stress. Continue reading “Work More, Stress Less?”
Are you worried about rising inflation and how it could impact your retirement planning? With the Federal Reserve announcing QE3 (printing more money) and our rising federal debt and entitlement obligations (may need to print more money in the future), you’re not alone. Many economists are warning about the dangers of inflation in our future. Continue reading “Protecting Your Retirement From Inflation”
Could there possibly be a silver lining to the continued downturn in real estate values? Your employees who are underwater on their mortgages may not think so, but you can be their hero by sharing a secret to help them keep more money in their pocket and less money from being sent to the tax collector. By tipping off your workforce about appealing their housing assessment, you can actually help them shave hundreds of dollars off of their real estate tax. Continue reading “Is There a Siliver Lining To The Real Estate Bubble Bursting?”
