The biggest threat to your finances could be your friends. It may seem counter intuitive that the people closest to you could negatively impact your financial life, but too often, people will spend more than they can afford in order to keep up with the lifestyles of those around them. It’s called “relative deprivation,” and [...]
How to buy your parent's house. When they're ready to move out and you're ready to move back in, here's how to go about buying your parent's house. Your parents are ready to move out of their house. They want to sell it to you for cheap, so they get a little cash and you [...]
The golden rule in real estate has always been “location, location, location.” But apparently, a few modern home features—sprawling master bathrooms, luxurious outdoor lounges and his-and-hers closets—can make buyers forget about location. A study released from homebuilding company Pulte Group, found that all but 1 percent of respondents would be willing to sacrifice some aspect of their [...]
Today, one in four women in marriages bring in more income than their husbands, which is up from six percent in the 1960s. Whether you are a man or woman, the pressure to bring home the bacon can be overwhelming. As our society shifts, having more women breadwinners can lead to resentment and failed relationships [...]
Crushing student loan debt is making it harder for some Americans to buy a house. With the cost of a college education growing much faster than average salaries and inflation rates, it’s no wonder families are struggling to participate in the housing market as early as they’d like. Student loan debt is usually considered a [...]
The housing market right now is a “crapshoot.” Economist Karl Case—co-founder of the heavily-followed S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices—told CNNMoney that today’s housing market is nothing like the predictable pre-crash housing markets, where you could bank on small but reliable price appreciation every year. "You've got much more negative vibrations in the housing surveys about homeownership [...]
Which cities are the best for recent college graduates looking to settle down? With the economy still in recovery mode, a sluggish job market and staggering student loan debt, college graduates have a lot of obstacles in their path to success. According to Homes.com, several cities around the country are more promising than others, offering [...]
In between Baby Boomers and Generation Xers, another group has emerged, dubbed “the sandwich generation.” These are middle-aged adults between 40 and 59 whose financial and emotional responsibilities are increasing due to aging parents and debt-laden kids. According to a 2013 Pew study, nearly half of adults in the sandwich generation have a parent age [...]
You’ve probably got some cash stashed—if you’re subscribing to this newsletter you know how important I think it is to have enough in savings—but your cash probably isn’t working that hard for you. Even if you keep a meaningful percentage of your assets in cash, the bank is probably paying you next to nothing on [...]
I talked with Gary Zimmerman, founder of MaxMyInterest.com, on my show on June 15, 2014. Here's a transcript of our conversation. You can listen to the interview by clicking the audio file at the end of the post. My guest this morning is Gary Zimmerman. Gary was sitting in his office in Japan where he was [...]
