Cost of McDonald's Meal in the 60s

First, let me say that eating out, even fast food, was a "special treat" in the 60s.   We rarely had meals away from home and McDonald's was affordable.   I recall that my mom, sister and I went to McDonald's for a meal.  Each of us had a hamburger, French fries and a soft drink.  Cost:  90 cents.   Hamburgers were 15 cents, French fries were 10 cents and a drink was 5 cents. An ice cream cone was 5 cents a scoop.  Those were the days.

Nowadays,  we don't eat at McDonald's much.  However, four subs for our family is about $40.   Sheesh!

Unfortunately, fast food is neither cheap or fast right now.  We chose to spend a little more and eat at sit down made to order meals.  

For more on Crossing Generations  check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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Retirement Trap - Investment Advisor Fees

One area that retirees sometimes get over charged on is fees to Financial Advisors for managing investments.    For reference, I am not opposed to fees.    I am opposed to what I consider exorbitant fees for little or no additional service.

IMHO,  a maximum all in fee, mutual fund/ETF expense, commissions and advisor charge, should not exceed 1% for basic investment effort.  I seen cases where the all in fee exceeds 2.5% and sometimes even has a front end load.   

Maybe 10-20 years ago, when brokerage commission were $50 to $100 a trade, a fee over 1% may have been justified.  However, with $0 trading commission and market index ETF expenses of less than 0.15%, it is hard for me to justify and investment advisor all in fee over 1%.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday  for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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College Aged Daughter Can't Get a Summer Job

My daughter, who will be a 2nd year college student, has been rejected for multiple summer jobs, including Starbucks, Chick-Fil-A, McDonald's, and Target.  Some places don't even bother responding to her application. 

Seems to me the economy isn't as strong as some people propose.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financialization of Single Family Housing

Single family housing used to be an dwelling acquired by individuals to live in.  Owning a house was a goal of many people in the past.    Nowadays, single family housing has become a commodity and is being used to accumulate wealth versus being primarily a dwelling in which people live.

For example, corporations own about 19,000 single family homes in Atlanta, Georgia, controlling as much as 11% of the housing in some neighborhoods.   In addition, AirBNB also has contributed to the financialization of housing, which people buying homes solely for the purpose of short term rentals.

Financialization is driving up the price of houses and making many single family homes unaffordable for young buyers.  In addition, it is driving up the real estate taxes of many long time homeowners, some of whom are retired and only have fixed income.

Instead of corporate ownership bringing down house prices through scale, it has increased prices by reducing competition and controlling supply.

For more on  Crossing Generations, check back every Thursday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Student Loans - Just Say No

Student Loans are the worst consumer loans.

• Student loan debt is a crisis right now. 
• Student loans are offered to 18 year olds who usually have little financial understanding.  Often loans are used for living expenses in addition to college tuition.
• Many student loan borrowers are unable to pay off their student loans
• Student loans, except in extraordinary hardship, cannot be discharged by bankruptcy.

The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, CPFB, ought to label student loans as Predatory Loans.

Here's my solution:

• Eliminate the federal funded student loan program.   Data shows that it leaves many borrowers with significant debt that they will not be able to repay. IMHO, this program is a failure.
• Enable future student loans to be easily discharged in bankruptcy.  Let the lenders/banks take the risk.

The result?    Tuition costs at many universities would be reduced without availability of easy money.   More people would consider alternatives to a 4 year degree.   Future graduates would no longer have onerous student loan debt for most of their lives.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every  Tuesday  for a new segment.

This is not financial nor education advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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Expecting Federal Taxes to Go Up

Unless Congress passes a new tax law, Federal income taxes will go up for many taxpayers in 2026.   I expect that this will likely happen for two reasons:

• Inaction by Congress.   It continues to be difficult to pass any laws in Congress.  I don't expect it to get any easier in 2025.
• Spend continues to outpace tax revenue.   The U.S. cannot sustainably keep spending at this pace, without increasing tax revenue.

To address this I am taking two actions:

• Convert as much as possible from Traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs.
• Move cash to municipal bonds or municipal money market funds which are exempt from federal taxes.

If I am wrong, no problem.   Roth IRAs are still a good choice for retirement savings since there is no tax on the withdrawals.   I can easily convert investments exempt from federal taxes back to federally taxable interest.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday  for a new segment.

This is not financial nor tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Hardest Part About Retirement

Uncertainty.

Unfortunately, the only thing that is certain is uncertainty.

Here are some examples:

• What will my Social Security Benefit be in the future?
• What will inflation be in the future?
• Will I have health issues in the future?
• What will be inflation for essentials and health care?
• Will I be able to pay me Real Estate Tax in the future?
• Will my investments keep up with inflation?
• Will Congress do anything to help retirees?

As Yogi Berra once said, it's hard to make predictions, especially about the future.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Putting Cash into T-Bills

Rather than put all our cash into Money Market funds, I'm putting a significant portion into T-Bills via our brokerage accounts.    T-Bill have maturities of 1 year or less and are paying around 5%.   T-Bills can be purchased on the secondary markets in increments of $1000.   T-Bills are guaranteed by the U.S. Government.   T-Bills are very liquid, and can be sold quickly if cash is needed.  Finally, the bid/ask spreads are very small, so that selling before maturity doesn't incur a penalty.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Real Passive Income

I keep reading about "Passive" streams of income ranging from Social Media influencing, to Internet Stores, to Rental properties.    Maybe I'm missing something, but these all seem like "work" but on one's own time.   I can't believe that the majority of these "passive" streams take little or no time.

IMHO, the real passive income is interest and dividends.    CDs and Money Markets are paying around 5%.   Some dividend stocks are paying as much as 8%.   Yeah, they still take some work, but probably a lot less work that producing videos, selling product or maintaining rental properties.

I'll take $1M at 5% interest earning $50,000 per year over the other "passive" income options.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2024 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Voting Strategy This Year -TOGA

Here's how I will think about voting in the 2024 Election!

Most importantly:

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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