Who here is a millionaire?

[belfastboy]

Yowza! These days you can get 15-year mortgages for under 2 percent.

There’s a downside to it, though. It’s at least part of what’s fueling rapidly appreciating real estate values. Modest houses in this modest suburban working-class subdivision are fetching $500K. I doubt many of the recent buyers are putting 20 percent down. So they’re paying PMI as well.

I was thrilled when the mortgage rates dropped in the mid 80's and I was able to lock in for 5 years at 10.5%. Real incentive back then to pay it off ASAP. Now there is more incentive to buy up, take on a bigger mortgage as a bigger house means more wealth......at least on paper. My first house cost me $26,500 and some months had to scrape to make the mortgage. Now I live in a modest house that is north of that magical 7 figure mark. But it don't really matter as I am not willing to live in my motor home and given I have to live somewhere til I croak it may as well be here so the dollar figure is pretty much meaningless. The only saving grace is that as I am likely to die before my wife then she will have this asset to sell to pay for the nursing home.

 

[Harp]

Deutch marks in a wheelbarrow needed to buy a loaf of bread?

Weimar ist ein sehr enger ungefahrer Vergleich. At 27Trillion debt the United States pays 1.70% interest
out to foreign lenders among whom China is owed 1.1T; Japan 1.3T; and the United Kingdom 0.4T.
Last year federal spending against overall Gross Domestic Product reached 31%. The American dollar
is subject to inflation as is any other coin but maniacal dollar manufacture is destructive to the currency.
Inflation is at 5.4% thereabouts while M2 tags 20,534.6 with M2 velocity an abysmal 1.120.
The national economy has tanked. Socialism is a failed system, proven failure.
Any economic system antithetical to innate human nature is impaired beyond correction.
And the lessons of Weimar are quite real.

 

[belfastboy]

Weimar ist ein sehr enger ungefahrer Vergleich. At 27Trillion debt the United States pays 1.70% interest
out to foreign lenders among whom China is owed 1.1T; Japan 1.3T; and the United Kingdom 0.4T.
Last year federal spending against overall Gross Domestic Product reached 31%. The American dollar
is subject to inflation as is any other coin but maniacal dollar manufacture is destructive to the currency.
Inflation is at 5.4% thereabouts while M2 tags 20,534.6 with M2 velocity an abysmal 1.120.
The national economy has tanked. Socialism is a failed system, proven failure.
Any economic system antithetical to innate human nature is impaired beyond correction.
And the lessons of Weimar are quite real.

Yes, the lessons are quite real.....it is alarming that so few are paying any attention to it.....especially not in government or even in opposition .....regardless of ideology. Fiscal conservatives are now the Yeti of political life.

 

[tonyb]

Oh dear, they can’t help themselves.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Net worth" is a mirage. So much of it cannot be spent or gifted without adverse tax consequences. Perhaps one indication that more often the not, the assets own you rather than vice versa.

 

[belfastboy]

"Net worth" is a mirage. So much of it cannot be spent or gifted without adverse tax consequences. Perhaps one indication that more often the not, the assets own you rather than vice versa.

In Canada our personal residences are neither a tax write off nor subject to capital gains taxes.....at least not yet. Great speculation that this will become the next area for taxation as there is huge pool of wealth that gov't salivate over and the next asset to be taxed. But at least for now other than our municipal property (not really a tax on the asset but as a way to determine how to pay for municipal services.....schools, playgrounds etc etc.) It is the closest one can get to an untaxed asset here in Canada.

 

[tonyb]

"Net worth" is a mirage. So much of it cannot be spent or gifted without adverse tax consequences. Perhaps one indication that more often the not, the assets own you rather than vice versa.

True, that.

I once “owned” a piece of real property that threatened to bankrupt me. It kept me up at night. It was a great relief to be rid of it before it really got to bleeding me.

The sale of another property had us paying a wad in capital gains taxes. A way to get around that was suggested by one investment “professional” I consulted. But my regular accountant and a lawyer specializing in such matters strongly discouraged it.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Sort of like “a yacht is a hole in the water into which you throw money.”

 

[tonyb]

Sort of like “a yacht is a hole in the water into which you throw money.”

Not so different from thinking of a “classic” car or antique furniture or fine jewelry as investments.

Even if such an item were to appreciate in value (which is far from certain, as the market for antiques over the last couple decades has made plain), the money sunk into it does not a darned thing until that item is sold.

 

[Harp]

In Canada our personal residences are neither a tax write off nor subject to capital gains taxes.....at least not yet. It is the closest one can get to an untaxed asset here in Canada.

Occasionally, I consider Montreal as a retirement option, small condo somewhere in town,
perhaps enroll in graduate study at McGill, History and Classical MA or PhD, teach, whatever happens.
An untaxed condo or small house would be a nice change from Chicago property taxes.

 

[LostInTyme]

I probably could have been, but, in my lifetime, I have piddled it away. Living life took most of it. Now, maintaining life will take the rest. In the seventies, I had no money to invest when interest rates were hovering around 20%. Now, I have some money to invest, and interest rates are considered high at .3%.

 

[belfastboy]

Occasionally, I consider Montreal as a retirement option, small condo somewhere in town,
perhaps enroll in graduate study at McGill, History and Classical MA or PhD, teach, whatever happens.
An untaxed condo or small house would be a nice change from Chicago property taxes.

Montreal is a wonderful city....but ooooh those winters.

 

[belfastboy]

I bought bacon yesterday.......so I am not any longer in the club!

 

[belfastboy]

I probably could have been, but, in my lifetime, I have piddled it away. Living life took most of it. Now, maintaining life will take the rest. In the seventies, I had no money to invest when interest rates were hovering around 20%. Now, I have some money to invest, and interest rates are considered high at .3%.

Early 1980's I was the proud owner of a 16.5% mortgage....was thrilled when a few years later locked in for 7 years at 10.5%. Many folks out there have never lived in any other time than the present 'free money' era....if this inflation persists well buckle up.

 

[LostInTyme]

Early 1980's I was the proud owner of a 16.5% mortgage....was thrilled when a few years later locked in for 7 years at 10.5%. Many folks out there have never lived in any other time than the present 'free money' era....if this inflation persists well buckle up.

Money for nuthin' and chicks for free........

 

[Fifty150]

It was a different economic model. Liberal or non-existing borrowing qualifications. Higher interest rates to hedge against defaults. Trust people to pay back what they promise to pay. Increased spending on everything, anything. Consumer spending in volume kept pricing artificially lower, as retailers were making profit in volume. So much spending, so much shopping, that retailers had to create the position of shopping concierges. Car dealers were practically giving the cars away at below cost, just to make the profit off selling the loan. Off-the-rack menswear suddenly offered free alterations, so even a cheap suit would fit well. Cash only restaurants suddenly started accepting credit cards. With higher interest rates, even savings accounts and certificates of deposit were paying out big, as lenders needed your money to lend to other people.

Long hair with a lot of mousse. Bill Cosby sweaters. Blue suit and a red tie, like a future President of The United States of America. White collar banker shirts, suspenders, and yellow power tie like Gordon Gecko in Wall Street. Leather bomber jackets like in Top Gun. A lot "Miami Vice" styling with Patrick Nagel artwork, pastels, wearing boat shoes with no socks.

I sort of like the film Black Rain. A lot of long coats. A lot of leather. And motorcycles. Not that I was in any way like Michael Douglas. I rode, and still ride, the same type of Harley Davidson. I wore, and still wear, leather jackets and coats.

That may have been the last decade, which young men wore suits when they went out. When you took a girl to dinner, or went to a night club, you actually got dressed in something stylish. Night clubs had signs which said "dress code enforced". Even the bouncers had on dark slacks and dark jackets, with their headsets. Night club chic. Boys in ruffled blouses, looking like pirates. Girls trying to be Madonna.

 

[LostInTyme]

I lived in Cleveland, Ohio back then. There was one men's store, The Mad Male, that featured European style clothing. I bought a lot of clothing there that today seems a bit over the top. Of course, I no longer have any of it. If I did, it wouldn't fit anyway. But, I was very cool at the time.

 

[Fifty150]

This guy has the look......