Existing home sales will drop to 4.78 million in 2023, NAR predicts
In addition to a further drop in existing home sales, Yun said he expects the annual median home price to rise just 0.3% next year to $384,500.
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15 Thrift Shopping Terms You Need to Know
Want to thrift shop like a pro? Learn the lingo! These terms will get you started.
How much should you spend in retirement?
I spend a lot of time talking with people who have retired early or are otherwise financially independent. From a purely anecdotal point of view, I’d say most of these folks are well-adjusted. They work to maintain balance in life, and especially with their personal finances.
That said, I’ve noticed that a lot of retirees — early retired or otherwise — struggle to know how much they should spend. I believe this dilemma exists for a couple of reasons:
- First is the life expectancy problem. You don’t know how long you’re going to live. If you did know the precise date of your death (or even the year of your death), retirement planning would be much easier. You’d be able to say, “Okay, I have ten years left and $300,000 in the bank. Based on that, I should be able to spend $30,000 per year.” But you don’t know when you’re going to die, so a lot of retirement planning becomes guesswork.
- Second is the question of what your money is for? Do you want to leave a legacy for your children (or somebody else)? Do you want to maintain a chunk of change for possible end-of-life medical issues? Or do you want to use your wealth to live life to the fullest while you can? In my case, my ideal would be to die broke. If I could spend my very last penny on the last day of my life, that’d be perfect.
The general response to these two problems is to follow what has been dubbed the four-percent rule. Generally speaking, itâs safe to withdraw 4% from your portfolio every year without risk of running out of money. (There are a lot of caveats to this guideline. To learn more, follow that link to my Money Boss article — or wait for that story to migrate to Get Rich Slowly in a few days!)
The AAII Journal — the monthly magazine from the American Association of Individual Investors — has published two articles in recent months about the problem of spending in retirement. Let’s look at what they have to say.
Navigating the She-Cession: The Intersectionality of Economic Uncertainty
Global economic downturns are sure to affect everyone to some extent. This year has seen record unemployment numbers and job losses, which have disproportionately affected women and especially women of color. This is a unique situation to the 2020 economic recession, which is why many are calling it the âshe-cession.â We took a closer look
The post Navigating the She-Cession: The Intersectionality of Economic Uncertainty appeared first on MintLife Blog.
6 Ways to Bolster Your Emergency Fund by $500
If youâre just scraping by financially, it doesnât take a lot for a money crisis to go down. According to research by Elevateâs Center for the New Middle Class, among non-prime Americans (aka those who have below a 700 credit score and little or no savings), a whopping 69 percent couldnât cover an urgent $500
The post 6 Ways to Bolster Your Emergency Fund by $500 appeared first on MintLife Blog.
The end of the road: Preparing to buy a new car
Yesterday, Kim and I joined my cousins for an afternoon trip to the Oregon Coast. Our aim was to harvest a bounty of clams. We came home with zero. We managed, however, to harvest a bounty of mussels. Plus, the dog had fun.
My cousin Duane carpooled with us to and from the beach. We rode in Kim’s car: a 1997 Honda Accord that’s showing signs of its age.
“It’s a little warm in here,” Duane said about ten minutes into our drive. “Would you mind turning down the heat?”
“Well, I can’t turn down the air,” Kim said. “It’s stuck on high. But I can turn down the temperature.” She laughed as she demonstrated that the knob for the air volume has broken off at the post. The vents now permanently blow at full force.
“This car is falling to pieces,” I said. “Literally.” As if to prove my point, a bit of molding fell from a roof handle. I picked it up and wedged it back into place.
“I like my car,” Kim said. “I have an emotional attachment to it. But I’ve come to the realization that it’s time to start searching for something else.”
More and more, it looks like our vehicles have reached the end of the road.
What Type Of Insurance Does A Freelancer Need
Itâs easy to assume that your primary insurance needs as a freelancer will be some type of liability insurance to cover you in the event you run into an issue with a client, but that shouldnât be your only concern. In all honesty, as a freelancer, you are 100% the business, and without you, nothing […]
The post What Type Of Insurance Does A Freelancer Need appeared first on Good Financial Cents®.
How I Make $1,500 A Month As A Podcast Virtual Assistant
Hello! Today, I have a great guest post from Melanie. She started a business as a podcast virtual assistant and talks about how you can too. I’m Melanie Scroggins – voice actor and podcast producer. I currently live in Austin, TX with my husband and two fur babies. I’ve been working in audio production for […]
The post How I Make $1,500 A Month As A Podcast Virtual Assistant appeared first on Making Sense Of Cents.
How to finance a car the smart way
Save money on auto financing by knowing your credit score and leveraging competing loan offers at the dealership. Put money down, keep the term as short as you can afford, and—of course—don’t buy more car than you can afford.Here’s how to finance a car the smart way: Bring competing offers to the dealer, put money down, and keep the loan term short.
The post How to finance a car the smart way appeared first on Money Under 30.
Is your home a better investment than the stock market?
I’ll admit it: There are times that I think everything that needs to be said about personal finance has been said already, that all of the information is out there just waiting for people to find it. The problem is solved.
Perhaps this is technically true, but now and then — as this morning — I’m reminded that teaching people about money is a never-ending process. There aren’t a lot of new topics to write about, that’s true (this is something that even famous professional financial journalists grouse about in private), but there are tons of new people to reach, people who have never been exposed to these ideas. And, more importantly, there’s a constant stream of new misinformation polluting the pool of smart advice. (Sometimes this misinformation is well-meaning; sometimes it’s not.)
Here’s an example. This morning, I read a piece at Slate by Felix Salmon called “The Millionaire’s Mortgage”. Salmon’s argument is simple: “Paying off your house is saving for retirement.”
Now, I don’t necessarily disagree with this basic premise. I too believe that money you pay toward your mortgage principle is, in effect, money you’ve saved, just as if you’d put it in the bank or invested in a mutual fund. Many financial advisers say the same thing: Money you put toward debt reduction is the same as money you’ve invested. (Obviously, they’re not exactly the same but they’re close enough.)
So, yes, paying off your home is saving for retirement. Or, more precisely, it’s building your net worth.
But aside from a sound basic premise, the rest of Salmon’s article boils down to bullshit.
