Insider Advice from a Veteran Mortgage Lender

Although mortgage interest rates have recently pulled back some, they’re still historically low.

When rates were lower yet, I decided to refinance the mortgage on our home. I reached out to the mortgage guy I’ve been working with for over 20 years. Over that time, between purchases and refinances, we’d closed at least a dozen mortgages.

Each was quick, simple, and painless.

Not this time.

With lenders spooked by Covid, requirements to approve mortgage applications went from stringent to absurd, especially if, like me, you’re self-employed.

The result?

Success took 14 months, 4 applications, and over 400 documents required by…

When Assessing Your Income, Comparing Is OK, but Just the First Step

It’s just human.

Unless we’re struggling to survive, we care a lot more about how we’re doing compared to others, especially those we consider our peers, than about our objective situation.

Really.

Don’t believe me? Ok, let’s do a thought experiment.

Ever hear of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? It defines several tiers of what humans need, usually shown in a pyramid.

The first two tiers are basic needs: food, water, warmth, rest, physical safety, and security. Beyond that are psychological needs like love, feeling you belong, and a sense of accomplishment. …

Many Experts Recommend Optimizing Your Social Security Claiming Strategy for the Wrong Thing

Social Security is a critical part of making retirement even somewhat affordable for many Americans.

According to Fool.com, Social Security can replace over half of career-average wages for low-income Americans, and about 40% for middle-income Americans. By the time you reach the maximum Social-Security-taxable income, benefits replace just over a quarter of your career-average income.

Obviously, unless your income is extremely low, you can’t count on Social Security as your sole source of income.

However, given how little most Americans have saved for retirement by their 60s, Social Security can make the difference between a barely livable retirement vs. …

If You’ve Just Had It with Your Job…

You just got out of yet another meeting with your jerk boss…

Or, it’s Monday morning and you can’t face another week at your soul-sucking job…

Or, you’ve been scrolling through your Facebook feed or Instagram and can’t stop fantasizing about traveling to all those exotic locations (once it’s safe again)…

Or, … fill in the blank with why you personally have absolutely had it with work and want to finally stop.

You’ve been saving as much as you can for as long as you can remember, and your portfolio finally crossed that $500k or the quasi-mythical $1 million mark…

Is Accepted Investing Wisdom Always Right?

I’ve been investing in (mostly stock) mutual funds since 1994.

As I wrote elsewhere, after a rocky start, I developed a method for picking mutual funds that’s worked pretty well for me.

2 Pieces of Accepted Investing Wisdom I Rarely Follow

There are two commonly accepted pieces of investing wisdom that I mostly reject.

First, Warren Buffet’s assertion that investing in low-cost index funds is the best way to invest. I’ve invested almost every dollar in actively managed funds, and my picks beat the S&P 500 (including dividends) by about 1% per year over nearly 2 decades.

Second, that using past results to pick investments is like “driving while…

With Prices Ballooning Faster than They Have in Decades, You Need to Pay Attention

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks thousands of prices, and folds them all into a weighted average they call the consumer price index, or CPI.

Last month, I wrote how the CPI’s year-over-year increase was 5.0%, which followed a string of gradually growing 12-month readings, from 1.4% in January, to 1.7% in February, to 2.6% in March, to 4.2% in April, to 5.0% in May.

I wrote how the CPI’s year-over-year increase was 5.0%

Now, the BLS reports June’s ballooned 5.4% year-over-year, with a monthly increase of 0.9% (not seasonally adjusted).

Do All Prices Move Up Together?

No, they don’t.

Not at all.

You…

Inflation Is Heating Up, for the sixth Month in a Row

There’s no two ways about it.

Prices are moving up.

For some things, by over 50% in the past year!

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the official score-keeper, May’s year-over-year change in the consumer price index (CPI) was 5.0%.

This is part of a rising trend of year-over-year numbers, from 1.4% in January, to 1.7% in February, to 2.6% in March, to 4.2% in April, to 5.0% in May.

Will June continue this trend? Will July? Will the rest of 2021?

What Does It Mean?

A handy website shows the history of monthly US inflation numbers from 1914 to 2021…

Opening Your Own Small Business Is an Adventure, but Shouldn’t Become a Nightmare

As the owner of several (really) small businesses, including a consulting practice and a financial strategy practice, here are the top 3 things I learned to not do, from my own experience and the experience of clients.

3. Not Setting Aside Enough Money to Pay Taxes (and Build a Reserve)

I met Jane (made up name) for a one-off coaching session to help her with this one.

Every January, April, June, and September, she’d get stressed and upset because of the large sums of money she needed to send to Uncle Sam and her state’s taxing authority. …