Friday, February 20, 2009
Interesting.
I thought the Democrats tried to convince everyone that the Republicans never brought up having any oversight of Fannie and Freddie.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Investment Advice for the Day:
It's more important now than ever before, to stash as much as you can into ROTH IRAs because in a few short years, let alone when it's time to retire, inflation and taxes are going to be through the ROOF.
If your company offers a ROTH 401k plan.......DO IT! Even if you just put it in bonds or a guaranteed income fund for now. And don't worry about the "tax break" you get putting it in a regular 401k. Trust me......it's not worth saving a couple hundred dollars in taxes now.
Just DO IT!
If you don't have a ROTH 401k option, open a regular ROTH and max it out. Again, let it sit in cash if you want. Or maybe a nice gold fund.
Seriously. No, seriously. You'll thank me 10 or 20 years from now for the free advice...........
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
My Epiphany
I feel really lame because it really just all made sense to me, like literally, yesterday. So please, those who already know this plan, don't laugh at me. I'm really am smart.
See, I've been told before about how you can pay off your mortgage using your HELOC in a matter of a few short years. We thought we were smart about 6 years ago when we refied our first home to a 15 year loan. We took out an HELOC about a year later because we had a lot of equity since our principle balance was going down quickly. We did an addition to the home as well as maxed out our HELOC money available to us to purchase our current home. It is now our rental property and a great investment for lowering our income for tax purposes.
But what I just figured out is the deal where people pay their living expenses using their HELOC while putting most of their paycheck toward paying down the principle balance on their mortgage. Now, obviously it wouldn't make as much sense if your interest rate on the HELOC was 8% ( like it was about a year ago ) and your mortgage rate is 5.7% but now that the HELOC rates are hovering around 2.5 - 3%, it makes perfect sense! It's amazing how much you can buy down in a year. I really don't see the rates going up, or at least back up to the 6 - 8% rate it was anytime soon Not until the economy starts showing signs of improvement and the Government has to inflate interest rates again to buy back the money they sunk into the system. So why not take advantage of the low rates for now?
So, I've made a goal to try it. If it goes the way I THINK it should, we should have our rental property's first mortgage paid off in a year without having to sell some stocks which was my previous plan. Paying off an original 30 year mortgage in 10 years is an amazing, freeing feeling!
Brilliant! Wish I had this epiphany a couple of years ago.
See, I've been told before about how you can pay off your mortgage using your HELOC in a matter of a few short years. We thought we were smart about 6 years ago when we refied our first home to a 15 year loan. We took out an HELOC about a year later because we had a lot of equity since our principle balance was going down quickly. We did an addition to the home as well as maxed out our HELOC money available to us to purchase our current home. It is now our rental property and a great investment for lowering our income for tax purposes.
But what I just figured out is the deal where people pay their living expenses using their HELOC while putting most of their paycheck toward paying down the principle balance on their mortgage. Now, obviously it wouldn't make as much sense if your interest rate on the HELOC was 8% ( like it was about a year ago ) and your mortgage rate is 5.7% but now that the HELOC rates are hovering around 2.5 - 3%, it makes perfect sense! It's amazing how much you can buy down in a year. I really don't see the rates going up, or at least back up to the 6 - 8% rate it was anytime soon Not until the economy starts showing signs of improvement and the Government has to inflate interest rates again to buy back the money they sunk into the system. So why not take advantage of the low rates for now?
So, I've made a goal to try it. If it goes the way I THINK it should, we should have our rental property's first mortgage paid off in a year without having to sell some stocks which was my previous plan. Paying off an original 30 year mortgage in 10 years is an amazing, freeing feeling!
Brilliant! Wish I had this epiphany a couple of years ago.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Geithner? Really? Give me a break......
Because he points out my feelings as well, I'll just let the article explain itself...........
The Real Problem with Geithner
By Jonathan Hoenig - Published: January 15, 2009
TIM GEITHNER IS an awful choice for Treasury secretary, but not for the reasons other objectors are suggesting.
Geithner is accused of employing an immigrant with an elapsed work visa. From my perspective, this is a complete nonissue. If Geithner wants to hire an illegal immigrant to mop his floors, nobody's rights are violated. He wants his socks laundered, an immigrant wants a job, and they make a mutually beneficial trade.
Geithner also reportedly failed to pay self employment taxes from 2001 to 2004, a shameful oversight for a man responsible for spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars over the past year in various bailout schemes. While he certainly should have been aware of his obligations, given the subjective, contradictory and virtually impenetrable tax code, it's easy to get lost amid a sea of paperwork.
The Tax Foundation estimates over $250 billion is spent in compliance costs, simply figuring out how much we owe each year. Why is it that even college-educated professionals need to spend hundreds of dollars simply figuring out their tax obligation? He has since paid his obligations - with interest.
No, the problem with Geithner is, well, Geithner himself.
The Real Bailout Czar
In an age of bailouts, Geithner is the original Bailout Czar. It was Geithner, after all, who was the instrumental figure in arranging JP Morgan's (JPM) takeover of Bear Stearns, a deal in which $29 billion of taxpayer money was pledged as a backstop against illiquid and toxic assets.
It wasn't Hank Paulson, but rather Tim Geithner who put together the plan to have the government rescue AIG, to the tune of $85 billion and growing.
It has been widely noted Geithner was in favor of stepping in with taxpayer dollars to save Lehman Brothers. I guess it's pretty easy to spend taxpayer dollars when you aren't even paying your own taxes.
If you are unfamiliar with Geithner, simply go the Federal Reserve's web site to see a line-item balance sheet of his work: billions of tax dollars for AIG, Bear Stearns (look for "Maiden Lane LLC"; it's the corporation created for Bear Stearns's liquidation), commercial money markets and loans to primary dealers.
What Happened on His Watch
Of course, the financial deterioration at most of the large banks now begging for bailouts occurred under Geithner's watch as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. One could argue he missed the credit storm despite being in the catbird seat for more than five years.
He has, according to The Wall Street Journal, been looking for "as much firepower as possible" as Treasury secretary. Take note: That "firepower" is your tax dollars.
There is uniform agreement that the TARP -- along with all the trillions in bailouts and backstops that have gone along with it -- has been a complete disaster, as we predicted it would be from the start.
Now Obama seems poised to rely on the guy who was responsible for getting this bailout train underway.
Wealth is not created because of a bailout, backstop or government stimulus plan. Geithner's history suggests he believes government intervention is key to growing the economy.
It hasn't worked since Bear Stearns. Eight trillion dollars later...why would it work now?
Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC
The Real Problem with Geithner
By Jonathan Hoenig - Published: January 15, 2009
TIM GEITHNER IS an awful choice for Treasury secretary, but not for the reasons other objectors are suggesting.
Geithner is accused of employing an immigrant with an elapsed work visa. From my perspective, this is a complete nonissue. If Geithner wants to hire an illegal immigrant to mop his floors, nobody's rights are violated. He wants his socks laundered, an immigrant wants a job, and they make a mutually beneficial trade.
Geithner also reportedly failed to pay self employment taxes from 2001 to 2004, a shameful oversight for a man responsible for spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars over the past year in various bailout schemes. While he certainly should have been aware of his obligations, given the subjective, contradictory and virtually impenetrable tax code, it's easy to get lost amid a sea of paperwork.
The Tax Foundation estimates over $250 billion is spent in compliance costs, simply figuring out how much we owe each year. Why is it that even college-educated professionals need to spend hundreds of dollars simply figuring out their tax obligation? He has since paid his obligations - with interest.
No, the problem with Geithner is, well, Geithner himself.
The Real Bailout Czar
In an age of bailouts, Geithner is the original Bailout Czar. It was Geithner, after all, who was the instrumental figure in arranging JP Morgan's (JPM) takeover of Bear Stearns, a deal in which $29 billion of taxpayer money was pledged as a backstop against illiquid and toxic assets.
It wasn't Hank Paulson, but rather Tim Geithner who put together the plan to have the government rescue AIG, to the tune of $85 billion and growing.
It has been widely noted Geithner was in favor of stepping in with taxpayer dollars to save Lehman Brothers. I guess it's pretty easy to spend taxpayer dollars when you aren't even paying your own taxes.
If you are unfamiliar with Geithner, simply go the Federal Reserve's web site to see a line-item balance sheet of his work: billions of tax dollars for AIG, Bear Stearns (look for "Maiden Lane LLC"; it's the corporation created for Bear Stearns's liquidation), commercial money markets and loans to primary dealers.
What Happened on His Watch
Of course, the financial deterioration at most of the large banks now begging for bailouts occurred under Geithner's watch as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. One could argue he missed the credit storm despite being in the catbird seat for more than five years.
He has, according to The Wall Street Journal, been looking for "as much firepower as possible" as Treasury secretary. Take note: That "firepower" is your tax dollars.
There is uniform agreement that the TARP -- along with all the trillions in bailouts and backstops that have gone along with it -- has been a complete disaster, as we predicted it would be from the start.
Now Obama seems poised to rely on the guy who was responsible for getting this bailout train underway.
Wealth is not created because of a bailout, backstop or government stimulus plan. Geithner's history suggests he believes government intervention is key to growing the economy.
It hasn't worked since Bear Stearns. Eight trillion dollars later...why would it work now?
Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at Capitalistpig Hedge Fund LLC
Friday, December 19, 2008
Non Fiction: A Real Life Story of the Bailout
One day, a girl called up her mortgage broker when the 30 year interest rates were at record lows of 4.75 percent ( APR of 5.0% ). This girl has a credit score that always has new loan officers amazed as they rarely see scores so high. She is smart with her money and has maintained a good debt to income ratio with her only debt being a mortgage. She also was careful to save and put 20% down on her house when she bought it and responsible enough to get a fixed rate rather than be suckered into an ARM.
But those honorable and responsible qualities became her downfall. Because her home value three years later has dropped 30% ( 10% lower than the 20% intially put down ), she is not able to refinance her fixed rate to a lower interest rate that would save her $400/month.
Now, I ask........exactly WHO is this "TARP" fund supposed to be helping? Because honestly, if someone like the person mentioned above isn't able to refinance, who is? Those who got 3 and 5 year ARMs most likely didn't put ANY money down and are more under water than the person who put 20%. Why are they able to be bailed out/principle reduced and get a lower interest rate? The same group of people who are foreclosing and caused home values to depreciate 30%+? Honestly. How is a lower interest rate going to help this mess? The 10 year treasury could drop to 1% and our non fiction person in our story STILL wouldn't be able to refinance unless they coughed up another 10% and then would still have to pay $100/month of PMI which she has never ever had to pay on previous mortgages.
idiots.
But those honorable and responsible qualities became her downfall. Because her home value three years later has dropped 30% ( 10% lower than the 20% intially put down ), she is not able to refinance her fixed rate to a lower interest rate that would save her $400/month.
Now, I ask........exactly WHO is this "TARP" fund supposed to be helping? Because honestly, if someone like the person mentioned above isn't able to refinance, who is? Those who got 3 and 5 year ARMs most likely didn't put ANY money down and are more under water than the person who put 20%. Why are they able to be bailed out/principle reduced and get a lower interest rate? The same group of people who are foreclosing and caused home values to depreciate 30%+? Honestly. How is a lower interest rate going to help this mess? The 10 year treasury could drop to 1% and our non fiction person in our story STILL wouldn't be able to refinance unless they coughed up another 10% and then would still have to pay $100/month of PMI which she has never ever had to pay on previous mortgages.
idiots.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
If only it was real money.......
Not bad for a days work!
$1.042M Total Portfolio Value*Top 0.4% Game Rank*1368th Game Rank Position*36,935 (3.7%)Gain/Loss, Intraday 41,935 (4.2%) Gain/Loss, Weekly*41,935 (4.2%) Gain/Loss, Overall* ( plays were YHOO/RIMM/GOOG/AAPL/IBM )
Have you registered to play yet?
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Time to Register!
for the next CNBC Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge!
Trading starts on November 17th so register today at
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