Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For January 27, 2007
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From:
“2007-01-26 10:05:07
lot’s of people in my area in the Netherlands have been doing this for years; some homes have been for sale for nearly ten years now (of course they are relisted every 6 months or so with another agent) and they just keep increasing”.
This says several things to me:
1. Don’t underestimate the power of greed
2. Don’t underestimate the stupidity people exhibit when it comes to real estate
3. Agents will tell sellers anything to get the listing
I never underestimate the stupidity. Real estate is the only investment asset whose value is not publicized and monitored through a reputable exchange (NYSE, Chicago Board of Trade, etc.). You believe it’s worth what you want to believe it’s worth. That’s how the market tanked in the ’20s, and in the ’80s, and now.
There is the non-public aspect, but there is also the issue that, unlike financial assets (stocks, bonds, options, etc), whose ownership is heavily concentrated in the hands of people wealthy enough to hire well-qualified financial experts to handle their money, the typical homedebtor earns only slightly above the median income, has the financial sophistication of a slug, and typically “owns” a home worth a large multiple of the household’s annual labor income (a lumpy asset).
More accurately, the homedebtor rents the home from the bank over the long term but also owns the asset price risk, and the bank owns the right to take possession should the homedebtor ever stop making interest (and eventually, principle) payments on the debt he owes. This makes homebuyers an attractive target for REIC scam artists who want to fleece them, but also creates liquidity problems under certain market conditions, such as periods of downside price adjustment (like currently experienced).
Homedebtors will happily consult the first moron who claims to be an “expert” when it comes time to make a big financial decision, like “How can I price this home to sell at a level where I can repay the bank what I owe it?” Consequently, to a large degree the real estate market is dragged down by the friction of ignorant noise traders, who have no idea that you need a bid in excess of the asked price in order to execute a trade, and hence cannot figure out how to price their homes to ever attract willing buyers. The result of lots of sellers having no clue how to price their homes to sell is akin to throwing sand in the gears of a machine — liquidity dries up and the market freezes.Think of what happens to the “liquidity” of a car’s engine if the radiator freezes, and you will get the picture…
Speaking of frozen liquidity…
—————————————————————————————
The chill at luxury’s low end
By JUNE FLETCHER The Wall Street Journal
Saturday, January 27, 2007
As the national housing market continues to weaken, prices of homes in the $1 million range are slumping in many parts of the country. In once-golden Sunbelt cities like Miami and Santa Barbara, Calif., as well as in major Midwestern cities like St. Louis and Chicago, prices fell in the fourth quarter of 2006 from a year earlier, in some places by as much as 7.2 percent. In other areas, prices rose slightly but appreciation was sluggish, with gains of 4.3 percent or less. Still, analysts say, the category is holding up better than the overall market, which declined 10 percent during the same period.
These are some of the results of an exclusive report done for The Wall Street Journal by the National Association of Home Builders. “The million-dollar market is slowing down,” says NAHB’s director of research, Gopal Ahluwalia, who conducted the analysis using information from First American Real Estate Solutions, a Santa Ana, Calif., data provider.
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/01/27/features/home_and_garden/iq_3790392.txt
I’m glad they mentioned Chicago. People like to claim there’s no bubble here. And I guess if you look at the median compared to other large cities (NY, LA) you’re right. As I’ve said before, the real bubble here is in McMansion speculation and condos. A little different than in the major bubble areas, but significant nonetheless. I’ve already seen one McMansion builder in my town go down in a sea of preforeclosures, and I bet others are going to follow.
“In once-golden Sunbelt cities like Miami and Santa Barbara”
But wait, I thought that Santa Barbara was going to be the next “Santa Barbara”. How can prices go down?
“How can prices go down?”
Because Santa Barbara already is the next “Santa Barbara.”
“…the real estate market is dragged down by the friction of ignorant noise traders, who have no idea that you need a bid in excess of the asked price in order to execute a trade, and hence cannot figure out how to price their homes to ever attract willing buyers.”
A valid point. However, greed has more to do with it. I would be willing to bet that MOST individuals whose overpriced POS’s are languishing on the market completely understand that significant price reductions would stimulate more interest and ultimately, offers. But that would be in direct conflict with the financial windfall they have already deposited in their mental bank account.
principal, GS, principal
Speaking of noisy traders, check out “The Statistical Mechanics of Financial Markets”.
Thanks for the lead — have not seen that one yet (but it sounds right in line with my interests…)
and as mentioned before: because of this it will be a long, long way to the bottom - certainly in Europe.
It is hard to figure out what the comps are when nothing is selling. And please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe at least some auction sales results are kept out of the REIC’s price index calculations (NAR, DataQuick, etc.), which creates an upward bias to published price statistics.
For instance, suppose DataQuick uses MLS data to compute its area median price statistics, but the MLS sales systematically exclude foreclosure auctions. Those foreclosure auctions would typically be at the low-end of the sales price results (and highly representative of current market values), but will be excluded from the median, resulting in upward bias. Small wonder real estate never goes down in price!
yes, this is a serious problem; in Europe it’s even worse because many of the statistics that are available for free in the US are only available here for big $$.
We have major statistical problems in Netherlands as well. Until some years ago sales above 450K euro were excluded from the statistics because they were assumed to be ‘not for personal use’; currently all ‘company purchased’ homes are still excluded (very expensive homes are often purchased through some kind of company because of tax incentives).
Around 2000, many old rental homes were sold to their owners for top $$ - thus seriously skewing the averages.
Foreclosures are not included here either.
A few years ago, when the more expensive properties here were discounted 20-30% from asking price (instead of selling 10-15% over asking price a few years earlier), the average home price didn’t blink. The way the ‘average’ is calculated in the Netherlands has been ‘refined’ a few times after that in order to produce steadily increasing numbers. By the time realtors report seriously declining average sales price we are probably close to the bottom …
“… that are available for free in the US are only available here for big $$.”
For the most part, it costs big $$ to get primary source real estate statistics here as well. But there are looming threats to the REIC’s monopoly control of real estate data, thanks in part to the internet.
“…sales above 450K euro were excluded from the statistics…”
I vaguely recall a thread here about similar exclusion of high end sales for purposes of compiling OFHEO repeat sales indexes. It is very laughable to construct a price index for NY or California which excludes almost everything except for condos and low-end SFRs.
“similar exclusion of high end sales for purposes of compiling OFHEO repeat sales indexes”
Yup, I think it was because they only kept numbers for ‘conforming’ loans, I think because those were the loans that the GSEs could handle. That limit was in the $400Ks, but might have been bumped up recently. And yes, that means most homes in the hot areas don’t get analyzed.
the problem with this kind of statistics is not only that many homes in hot areas are excluded, but most of all that the statistics reflect a different group of homes every year when prices are rising or declining strongly. So average prices don’t tell you anything about what is really happening in the market (which is probably exactly what the realtors want …)
Oh GS that is a priceless quote: “It’s hard to figure out what the comps are when nothinng is selling. Priceless!
Haven’t laughed so hard for days!
Maine home sales fall in 2006
By The Associated Press wire report
January 26, 2007 02:04 PM
SOUTH PORTLAND - Home sales slumped in Maine for the second year in a row in 2006, while the median sales price was flat, according to statistics released Friday by the Maine Association of Realtors.
The association, which tracks sales of homes by licensed real estate agents, said 13,359 single-family homes were sold in Maine last year, down 7.2 percent from 2005. The median sales price was $192,519, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier.
Maine’s numbers mirrored the national trend. Home sales nationwide fell 8.1 percent in 2006, while the median sales price rose 1.4 percent to $222,0000, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Alan Peoples, president of Home Sellers of Maine, said the downturn is good for the real estate industry in the long run after years of sharp upward sales. Sellers now need to base their asking prices on current competition rather than past sales, he said.
“It’s all good for buyers, as they have a good number of homes from which to choose, the interest rates are low, and sellers are more motivated than they have been in the past,” he said.
Home sales in Cumberland County fell 8.4 percent last year, while the median price stayed flat at $250,000, according to the association. Home sales also fell in other populous counties, including York, Penobscot, Kennebec and Androscoggin.
At the same time, home sales were up 36 percent in Piscataquis County, 31 percent in Aroostook County and 18 percent in Washington County.
The highest median sales price in 2006 was in Cumberland County. The lowest-priced homes were in Aroostook County, where the median price was $80,000.
http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/008847.html
Home sales up 31% in Aroostook County is clear proof that Southern and Central Maine are in a huge bubble. That area’s been losing population since the 1800’s.
The locals won’t know what hit them with all the new blood moving in. Unless maybe it’s mainly vacation/flipper buys?
Prices in Aroostook are driven largely by equity nomads from southern Maine. They’ve taken the money and run and avoided large property taxes too boot. And Portland is kept aloft by equity nomads from NY, NJ, Ct, Mass, California, etc. Prices have held so far in Portland and inventory has never gotten high. My guess is a modest price drop followed by 2-4 years of flatness.
Boomers are saving way too much for retirement. Their nest eggs are getting too big. Group of economists says Americans should save less, consume more now:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27money.html?_r=1&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fPeople%2fD%2fDarlin%2c%20Damon&oref=slogin
Unabashedly ridiculous. The economists cited haven’t a clue of how much health insurance alone is going to cost in the decades to come, much less utilities and transportation.
I suppose all of the seniors currently living on $1 a day like this week’s USA Today article are among those 12% who were inadequately prepared for retirement, huh? (It’s a helluva lot more than 12% out there.)
I think you are being way too hard on this group of economists. This sounds right to me. I think a lot of the experts are wrong in their respective fields and contrarian voices are important. That’s why I have started to eat more trans-fats to lower my cholestrol. I am drinking more vodka to help stabilize my liver. I have begun a weight-gain program to try to improve the health of my heart. I am also having relations with every hooker I can find to try to keep myself free of social diseases.
Not saving money, in order to have more for retirement makes perfect sense to me. You just need to have a more open mind. Did you ever think of that?
I concur. That’s why I just bought 28 homes in Florida — because the “experts” are saying now is a bad time to invest.
Don’t buy homes, by Condo-Hotels, where you get all the financial return of Time Shares combined with the shared liability of Condos. It’s a sure money maker. I plan on cornering the market, just as soon as I sell my beanie baby dolls and Pet.Com stock for a profit.
Sure Condo-Hotels are a sound investment strategy — but I think buying a Trump-[anything] is the quickest path to real-estate riches. Be sure to use an interest-only/teaser-rate mortgage for maximum leverage purposes.
Real-estate only goes up, and Trump always wins — so naturally a combination like that is pure gold.
Also looking forward to attending a “Financial Planning with Mike Tyson” seminar - M.C. Hammer and Jeff Skilling (via video-link) are also featured speakers. Can’t touch this!
Wow, even if you are wrong and die young, at least it sounds like you had some fun doing it.
Luckily, I was joking…
“Luckily, I was joking…”
GS, I was talking about NYCityBoy. Buying 28 homes in Florida doesn’t sound like as much ‘fun’ as what NYCityBoy was joking about.
“Not saving money, in order to have more for retirement makes perfect sense to me.”
It sounds like you didn’t read the article. It doesn’t say saving less will provide for more.
Yeah, I think I am going to start smoking three packs a day of unfiltered Camels. Also, I looking to buy that 155 Million dollar home with gandola on an i/o option pay over 100 years. Hell, just seize the day since you might be gone tomorrow!
The article quotes an example where “way too much” is $2.8M, and suggests that a mere $1.8M or so might suffice.
I think it is possible, barely possible I grant you, that some boomers out there might reach retirement without $1.8M saved.
You are correct! It is barely possible a few boomers do not have 1.8mil saved up. I know quite a few,including some members of my family that have no where near that amount. These so called economists are so far away from reality it’s pathetic. Of course it did come from the N.Y. Times so consider the source.
I remember reading an article some months ago that stated that more than half of the US boomers will have less than $50K available at retirement. That sounds far more likely to me.
I think you meant to write “$5k”.
My mom has around 80k plus a pension of maybe 1700/month.
What gets me with this is that with costs of insurance and longer life increasing the bottom line, without soundingso much like Robert Kiyosaki, is income stream. Bottom line is no so much about how much saved, but do you have money coming in. Granted, if you socked away 2 million @ 5% you are earning $65K/year after taxes. However, if you are a landlord, or have royalties, or a pension, or just work for someone/company that keeps you until 70, 75, or 80, that might even be better. Also, as someone said, there are so many variables, you can’t state with absolute certainty the exact amount needed. Better to have as many options as possible, i.e. social security, pension, savings, somethin interest bearing, and maybe a small part-time job on the side. Don’t have all the eggs in one basket. This isn’t our father’s retirement anymore.
Better to have as many options as possible, i.e. social security, pension, savings, somethin interest bearing, and maybe a small part-time job on the side. Don’t have all the eggs in one basket.
———————–
Agree very much with you on this, OCDan!
ING Direct advertises on the radio here and says 90% of boomers have an average savings of $50,000. So I don’t know where this “saving too much” hogwash comes from.
“I think it is possible, barely possible I grant you, that some boomers out there might reach retirement without $1.8M saved.”
Huh? I think less than 1% of baby boomers will have even $1 million saved. I bet that when they hit 65 only 10% will have more than $100k saved.
All of the financial assumptions are stupid. Few people can realistically save $1.8 million. Fewer will actually do so. The vast majority of baby boomers will live off social security checks and not much else for 20 years or so and then croak. I don’t feel sorry for them and they’ll get by.
I think he was joking.
“Huh? I think less than 1% of baby boomers will have even $1 million saved. I bet that when they hit 65 only 10% will have more than $100k saved”.
This almost guarantees that there will be a dramatic domiciliary downsizing in the next 15 years - from Starter Castles to small apartments. Want to buy a good LL Bean tent?
Except that the housing stock that we have is the housing stock that we have. As people are discovering, prices can adapt more quickly than the amount and kind of housing can.
We have more than that and a lot of my husband’s law school classmates have multiples of what we have.
I just got my Social Security statement today and it claims that we’ll be getting over 45K a year when we retire just from that. Hell, we spend less than that now. I guess I can throw away our 19 year old couch and buy a new one
I assume you are talking about the $1M figure and not the $100k figure?
It’s the Times’s all the news fit for the rich reporting again — average amount a boomer retirement plan holds at retirement is
(drum roll) is around 50-60 thou.
http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/tables/cm20050114ar01t3.htm
this is 2001 data, with some revisions for 2005
also this:
http://www.advisortoday.com/200607/bustfortheboomers.html
That was a fascinating article - thanks.
There are so many uncertainties in life that it’s difficult to plan for the future exactly. So if I can, I”’ try to err on the side of squirrelling away more than less. So maybe this means I don’t get to go to some exotic vacation locale when I’m young. That’s OK, as the tradeoff is I have a bit more peace of mind. I’m not sure I could enjoy driving an $80,000 car if I thought it would lead me to a geiatric diet of Alpo.
Nevertheless, the article really makes you think. I have always questioned those retirement formulas that are based on needing an income equivalent to “X” % of what one’s pre-retirement income was. Perhaps such percentages are valid averages, but individuals must decide for themselves.
If one has already paid in full for such things as their dwelling, their furnishings, sending the kids to college and contributing to a retirement plan, indeed you might need a lot less than what some formula % would suggest.
savers will get rewarded soon
how many months,years to “hard money” ?
any opinions
“savers will get rewarded soon”
On which side of the Pacific Ocean?
well, certainly not on the EU side of the ocean. savers have been punished there for at least the last 15 years, and the ECB war on savers continues with a vengeance.
By the time savers get rewarded again in Europe, what’s left of their capital is probably nothing to be happy about.
Twenty years ago I looked into my retired parents spending.
What they “should” have been spending was about three times MORE than what they spent.
Of course, they were never big spenders but what happens for most people is that, as they age, their desire to acquire, their “need” to acquire falls dramatically. They move around less, don’t go as far and, day by day, their monetary needs (outside of healthcare) fall in many areas almost as often as they rise in others.
Whether you should save a lot or not really depends a ton on genetics. Look at the life span of black males over 50. Its not good (this is why they get screwed by social security). A black man, generally, probably shouldn’t save as much for retirement because he’s very unlikely to enjoy much of it.
Sad. “Unfair”. But wouldn’t you take into consideration if you were a black male with a typical history of modest longevity (among males) in your family?
My experience in financial planning and with 20-30 years of observing retired people is that most don’t spend anywhere near 3/4 of their final pay in retirement. Maybe in the early years, maybe longer if they retire younger or are unusually vibrant, they spend along these lines but after 70, the personal spending falls off significantly.
“My experience in financial planning and with 20-30 years of observing retired people is that most don’t spend anywhere near 3/4 of their final pay in retirement. Maybe in the early years, maybe longer if they retire younger or are unusually vibrant, they spend along these lines but after 70, the personal spending falls off significantly”.
Couldn’t agree more. With all the big ticket expenses paid for and I suppose much (or some?) of healthcare provided by Medicare, what really are your expenses?
I think of what I’d like to spend my money on in retirement - travel, food, the kids - and if we’re luck the grand kids. I’m sure I could spend every cent. After all, the molecules always expand to fill the bottle. But much of what could get spent is not what I would classify as “NEED” to get spent. For me, and we’ve been decent savers, the 75% seems way high, in terms of what we would need. As has been sung, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”.
As for the companies like Fidelity having a motive to pump that percentage up high so they take in more money, yeah, I’d be surprised if they don’t do that. It’s like making the speed limit 65mph, knowing damn well people will drive 75mph. If they say 75%, maybe they’ll get 50%. And simply money and greed could be motivating them.
As for the idea of black men not saving as much because they’ll not be around to enjoy it, wow. If I were a black man, I would hopefully look at the stats and try to do whatever I could do to live healthier. I know for example that Diabetes is very high amongst blacks, so I’d watch that carefully and try to keep my weight down through diet and exercise. And hopefully I’d encourage my fellow black and white men - and women - to do the same. Let’s face it, we eat too much and we no longer have to burn up energy hunting and gathering to survive as we did along evolution’s path. We need to apply the same intelligence that created such abundance and get our asses off the couch or the chair in front of our computers.
“As for the idea of black men not saving as much because they’ll not be around to enjoy it, wow.”
Who were these experts? I am wondering if Lawrence Summers was one of them, as this sounds like something he would be quick to point out — kind of like the observation he made that the rich countries should ship more solid waste carcinogens to poor countries with low life expectancies, because everyone over there dies of something else before they are old enough to face serious cancer risk. This would be technically correct, but guaranteed to provoke a media backlash.
Whether you should save a lot or not really depends a ton on genetics. Look at the life span of black males over 50. Its not good (this is why they get screwed by social security). A black man, generally, probably shouldn’t save as much for retirement because he’s very unlikely to enjoy much of it.
I am going to ne charitable, and assume you are simpy mistaken, instead of pushing propaganda.
There are instances of all sorts of people of all races dying at age 65. Also at age 67. And at age 34. If you look at life expectancy at each age, however, as Steve has pointed out, you will note that more blacks die younger than whites (and Adrock is absolutely right - that cries out for a solution), many without ever having contributed significantly to social security because of their age and economic circumstances, and that life expectancies have flattened out among races around retirement age. At age 65, there is about a two-year difference between life expectancies of blacks and white males. Now add in the disproportionate participation of blacks in disability and survivor benefit programs, and it becomes apparent that claims that blacks are paying into social security and getting nothing out is not factually correct.
Table 27. Life expectancy at birth, at 65 years of age, and at 75 years of age, according to race and sex:
United States, selected years 1900–2002. from the CDC’s National Center for Health Stats.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus04trend.pdf#027
GAO has also said “In the aggregate, blacks and Hispanics have higher disability rates and lower lifetime earnings, and thus as a group tend to receive greater benefits relative to [Social Security] taxes than whites.”
If you dont like SS, campaign to get rid of SS. Instead of inventing all this racial bogeymen.
That’s leaving aside the blacks’ real life expectancy problem - that most blacks get substandard medical care.
Propaganda?
Here’s the fact: The average life expectancy of a black male is roughly 68.6. The retirement age of Social Security is set under current law to eventually rise to 67.
I’m only talking about the retirement aspect of social security for black men. It obviously stinks. If you can make a case for the equity in the system being found in the disability part of the program, fine.
But using the “racial bogeyman” line, along with “propaganda” imputs to my point an AGENDA which, frankly, I don’t have. I’m not black. I think they’re getting screwed from a retirement perspective, maybe I’m wrong, but I suggest you not project upon others an intention you cannot possibly infer from one, casual, aside.
Disagree? Looks like you’ve got far more of a stake in an “agenda” than I, no?
I wonder how much of the difference in “average” life expectancy can be attributed to higher death rates for black males at early ages — due to higher homicide rates, etc.
Interesting that one can make the argument that being a black woman would increase your chances of being the oldest living person in the world, IMHO (just for the sake of argument).
As of August 2005, the world’s oldest living person was an African-American woman:
“Aug. 31, 2005 – An American woman, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Bolden, 115 years and 14 days old, has officially become the oldest living person and woman in the world…”
http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/SeniorStats/5-08-31OldestPerson.htm
AND ANOTHER AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN:
“Bettie (Rutherford) Wilson (September 13, 1890 – February 13, 2006) became the oldest verified living person in the United States with the death of Emma Verona Johnston on December 1, 2004.”
http://www.answers.com/topic/bettie-wilson
AND ANOTHER AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN:
(but they could not verify because birth certificates were not issued at the time of her birth…)
On August 9, 2005; the Chicago television station reported, “A local woman on Tuesday celebrated a day most people will never see — her 118th birthday! Mrs. Roberta Weston was recognized by Mayor Richard Daley as the oldest living person in the United States, and she may be the world record holder as well.”
http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/SeniorStats/5-12-20-EcuadoHasOldestPerson.htm
“Of course, they were never big spenders but what happens for most people is that, as they age, their desire to acquire, their “need” to acquire falls dramatically. They move around less, don’t go as far and, day by day, their monetary needs (outside of healthcare) fall in many areas almost as often as they rise in others.”
Dan Arnold has the same age related argument:
http://www.thegreatbustahead.com/
the problem i have with such argument as baby boomers spending less in retirement and tanking the economy is that it ignores the next generation that will be taking over. i mean it is not as if all 80m boomers will suddenly reduce spending in 5 years to 50% of there previous consumption. it will occur to a fraction of them every year, but the next group in line, also a fraction of the next generation, will be there starting to spend more along with the reduce consumption of the leading edge. i would like to think that overall it will be awash or just a little be less than before. also, there is this argument that the next generation, fraction of next generation, will not be earning as much as the baby boomer so be prepared for not having enough tax revenue. come on, if the job needs to be done here, not exported, the next guy will take it over. he may be younger, or much younger, than what you think, but he will most likely get the same pay check, or a little bit off than the previous guy leaving.
the problem i have with such argument as baby boomers spending less in retirement and tanking the economy is that it ignores the next generation that will be taking over.
Government policies are reactionary, so today’s workers are supporting today’s retirees. This pattern works if the population plot looks like a pyramid — but it’s not! I’m currently of the belief that U.S. expects to fill the population void largely with Mexicans. However, I have little faith that they’ll be productive enough to support me when I retire particularly since an increasing share of my current income is supporting them. In addition, my income growth is not keeping up with real inflation rates, so while it might be easier to pay down fixed-rate debt with inflated dollars I’m beginning to feel that I won’t share in any of these inflated dollars. I’m already spending less because I have to save more for my retirement, and savers are not rewarded for their thrift these days.
the problem i have with such argument as baby boomers spending less in retirement and tanking the economy is that it ignores the next generation that will be taking over.
Do you somehow not understand the basis for the term “boomers”?
Well the BB as a cohort have had a tendency towards profligacy. To anticipate them to imitate the parsiomony of their parents just because they get older seems….unwise.
“most don’t spend anywhere near 3/4 of their final pay in retirement.”
Thank you for saying that. I’ve tried the retirement calculators seraching for some guidance on how much money I’d need, but they only say “75% of your income.” As if I know what my income is going to be! The calculators think we all have secure 30-year secure jobs with an unchanging cost of living increase. Even then, why would somebody who makes $200K need twice as much someone who makes $100K? The richer guy may want to travel and stuff, but they give no indiciation of a person’s basic needs.
“They move around less, don’t go as far and, day by day, their monetary needs (outside of healthcare” ….. My mother lived until 92 years old, been a saver and thrifty all her life, but those last 4 years of medical bills ate up everything and more. I noticed you brushed off the medical costs in trying to make your point, I suggest you might do some further exploration of what is not covered by MEDICAL, the costs of drugs, and what it costs to live in a quality retirement home, or the cost of home health care workers.
or maybe those economist are factoring in a universal healthcare coming soon.
You know, you’re right - I never factored in that you would no longer have to squirrel away 15,000 in your 401k anymore - that would be a 15% reduction of a 100,000 salary right there!
Many retirees have insufficient funds that rapidly get eaten up by withdrawals which become progressively larger with inflation over time.
However, other retirees have enough put away that their annual appreciation in assets is greater than what they withdraw and these folks can get very, very wealthy over time.
What is scary is there’s a great chance that those two types of retirees may very well have had the same type income. One saved and allowed Einstein’s theory of compound interest to build a snowball. The other impressed us at cocktail parties about how they spend Christmas in the Caribbean every year and how Muffy and Biff have their own $10,000 shed in the backyard.
So next time some sh_thead pulls up next to you in their fancy Hummer, sunglasses in place, cellphone in hand and just perspiring frigging pomposity, be impressed. At your ability to appreciate your ten year old Honda Accord.
In the long run, more than not, the Honda Tortoise beats the Hummer Hare.
Unless the Hummer drivers gang up and beat the savings out of the Honda buyer by changing the rules and laws when penury in old age is staring them in the face.
When you’re old, too much is better than too little. For all the bluff talk about “never retiring”–age catches up with folks, health breaks down, and employers are reluctant to hire the old.
Again, nobody can predict health costs, even inflation ravages.
My father saved and invested like a demon–and ended up with a stunning nest egg vs. what he probably earned. Nice that there are no money worries, and I am one of the few (only?) adult children that I know with no concerns for providing for my elderly folks. Now that’s a gift.
yep, that is the greatest gift you can give to your kids, a life of their own.
I really like the idea that you can spend yourself into prosperity. It’s worked pretty well for the government.
This could only come from someone on a university campi estranged from the real world. I retired at age 57 because every time I got a raise I put it into savings and didn’t adjust my standard of living. I have four children and they didn’t miss a thing. We took car trips across the USA and did a lot of camping. Now ten years into retirement I have sent my wife on cruises to Tahiti, Hawaii, and taken the wife and kids on cruises to Mexico. If I had planned on SS I’d still be working for another three years until I was 70 and then be asking WalMart for a job as a greeter.
Agreed…I retired last year at 52. We might have used different tactics, our goal was the same. I’m 10 years or so behind you and look forward to this chapter….boy am I looking forward to it….LOL
Make choices so you HAVE choices…..
Retired @ 44 last year…
My wife and I are dinks, so it wasn’t that hard to accumulate all the do re mi, we think we’ll need in the future. Of perhaps 30 friends we know, only 3 or 4 have saved anything, the rest fritter away their wealth on a constant basis, buying junk to impress themselves or others.
I think one of the biggest reckonings to come will be the vast amounts of our citizenry that have been trained, much like Pavlov’s Dog, to become good shoppers, almost like a badge of honor, of sorts.
aladinsane, It’s good to see sensibility in some younger people to save money (I’m 47). I figure I’ll need $2,000,000 to retire, so it’s quite a way off. Sometime between now and then I will want to buy a home, and I have a few places in mind that are currently overinflated by 100%. I doubled my income in late 2000 by becoming an independent consultant, and still lived well below my means, so this allowed me to reduce risk in my investments by diversifying into government securities. I’m interested in Wyoming, Washington State, and Tucson real estate. I knew some old timers who would spend winters in Tucson and summers in Montana (one of the old timers) and Idaho (the other). They would go mountain biking in the Arizona desert in winter. I’ll probably just end up having one home, but escape the heat (or cold) and rent another home for several months. I already am used to living in two different places at once. Usually my work is in a city hundreds of miles away from my primary residence and I get great tax benefits to make it worthwhile.
I tell younger employees who are starting out that they should invest aggressively in stock funds. They have 30 or 40 years until they will consider retirement. Some of them are pretty good about it and I marvel at how wealthy and independent they could be at my age!
I applaud both of you guys…
We are working hard toward those same goals…we have no debt, the kids are out and fairly independent, my husband, a very “prudent” (tight) guy (and life) taught me hard lessons about saving vs spending (I was a financial nitwit in my youth)…we got nearly wiped out with medical bills for one daughter, but did what was necessary to get back on track.
I am aghast at how people who make less than a third of what we do, spend every dime and then some.
How do they sleep????
I love reading about real financial success stories, not the get-rich-quick schemes. They speak more about character.
oh, they sleep very soundly. it is other people’s money.
These American economists are talking about Chinese boomers, no doubt…
“A study last October by another group of economists, including two working for the Federal Reserve Board, found 88 percent of retirees age 51 and older had adequate wealth.”
No selectivity bias in that data, is there? What a bunch of hacks!
Wasn’t the NY Times also the paper that had that article about renters not being able to “commit” to a house purchase, and that there was something psychologically wrong with people who choose to rent, even when they could afford to buy?
arroyogrande, I’d love to see a link to the article. I would print it out and post it on my refrigerator in the apartment I’m renting, so I can have something to laugh about in the kitchen!
Great combination — very limited citation of sources and data, except to mention that one of the sources, Kotlikoff, is hawking his own financial savings software - and what better way to sell it than to tell folks what they want to hear.
Odd that this same source has been trumpeting warnings about the economy for years:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:bxBvXcqE-lgJ:mitworld.mit.edu/video/202/+kotlikoff&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
what’s in your local paper ?
WAPO has barny frank -otherwise ads and no comment
an inventory clock/counter might be nice for the site
sort of like the nuclear dudes……….
On that clock it’s a little after breakfast. There’s a long day ahead.
Just wanted to pass on what a radio-tv RE agent in SC-SJ is passing out:
“Is the real estate market heating up? Within the past 5 days - consider this: I just sold a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home that was not moving at all during the Holiday Season for the asking price I listed a 2 bedroom, 1 bath property on 1.4 acres for $1,350,000 and got multiple offers
I went to preview a home for a client of mine in Campbell that must have had 40 people or more going through the open house and after speaking to the listing agent, she already had an offer for higher then the asking price. While the real estate market may not heat up to the way the market was 2001-2005, in my opinion it will get some strong activity over the next few weeks as home buyers come back out and start acting on some pretty fair deals in the market while rates are still low.
Funny thing, but the indicator that we use in the industry for the real estate market coming back to life is just after the Super Bowl. No kidding. And guess what? That is less then 2 weeks away.
If you have been thinking of buying a property, let’s talk about it. But don’t wait too long, opportunity is knocking and its time to open the door.
On behalf of myself at “Let’s Talk Real Estate!” , I would like to thank you for being a part of “Let’s Talk Real Estate!” and for making us your source of any and all real estate and mortgage information. ”
“Tomorrow we will be having our “Special Programs and Financing Workshop” that is geared towards:
• School Teachers
• District Employees
• City Employees
• Public Employees
• First Time Buyers
If you have ever thought of buying a property and wondered how you could do so at today’s prices, this workshop is for you.
This very special workshop will outline the following:
• Low Interest Rate Loans
• No Interest Rate Loans - No Kidding!
• Down-payment and Closing Costs Assistance Programs
• City Programs and Grants
• Teacher & District/City/Public Employee Loans
• First-time Buyer Loans
• Much More!
• A representative from the City of San Jose will also be there to share some special City Programs that are available
• You can earn well over $100,000 per year or still be a home owner today and still qualify for some of these loans - seriously”
Ahh, but which will be a bigger blowout - the Super Bowl or the home fire sales?
“Is the real estate market freezing over? Within the past 5 days - consider this: I just dealt with a fraudster who agreed to purchase a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home that was not moving at all during the Holiday Season for the asking price I listed plus a few thousand more which I planned to split with him after closing. It’s a 2 bedroom, 1 bath property on 1.4 acres for $1,350,000 and got multiple offers of fraud, but I agreed to take the one that would net me the most ka-ching after the contract.
I went to preview a home for a client of mine in Campbell that must have had 40 people or more from the bank going through the open house trying to assess how much they could get for it at bankruptcy auction and after speaking to the police, she already had a plea bargain for higher than the minimum sentence. While the real estate market may not heat up to the way the market was 2001-2005, in my opinion it will get some strong foreclosure auctions over the next few weeks as home buyers come back out with bags packed and moving vans idling and start acting on some pretty fair deals from the court system while sentences are still low.
Funny thing, but the indicator that we use in the industry for the real estate market coming back to life is just after the Super Bowl. No kidding. We made that sh*t up ourselves! And guess what? That is less then 2 weeks away. So’s my next job interview.
If you have been thinking of buying a property, let’s get you on some medication. But don’t wait too long, insanity is knocking and its time to open the door.
On behalf of myself at “Let’s Talk Real Estate!” , I would like to thank you for being a part of “Let’s Talk Real Estate!” and for talking real estate with me. I get so lonely sometimes in this dismal little office above the dry cleaner’s.
“Tomorrow we will be having our “Special Programs and Financing Workshop” that is geared towards:
• Poor School Teachers
• Subprime District Employees
• Underpaid City Employees
• Immigrant Public Employees
• Sucker First Time Buyers
If you have ever thought of buying a property and wondered how you could do so at today’s prices, you’re probably the only ones who have a brain in your head. Let’s talk Real Estate! Let’s talk lobotomy!
This very special workshop will outline the following:
• Crooked Low Interest Rate Loans
• No Interest Rate Loans - No Kidding! - No legal paperwork!
• Loan Shark Down-payment and Closing Costs Assistance Programs
• City Programs and Grants you have to pay back at 100% interest
• Teacher & District/City/Public Employee Loans easy to defraud
• Illegal Immigrant First-time Buyer Loans
• So Much More! I get all giggly just thinking about it!
• A representative from the City of San Jose will also be there to share some special City Programs that are available to those who enjoy being nailed into a coffin of debt
• You can earn well over $1,000 per year or still be a home owner today and still qualify for some of these loans - seriously”
One thing is for certain: a market which depends on the lubrication of fraud as a key source of liquidity is not sustainable.
Thanks for a good laugh!!!!
• No Interest Rate Loans - No Kidding!
Where do I sign up? That sounds just to good to be true!
This is the same gent who was pushing ARM’s piggybacked to cover PMI and promoting bidding on property late last year. He even talked about how one of his clients missed out because he wouldn’t bid something like $3000 more on a property that was already bid up $100K over asking price. I always hoped that his client was now setting somewhere saying ‘thank God I didn’t go higher’ but something tells me the client probably bought some other overpriced POS.
The cartoon I saw said:
“I would like a no-interest loan since I have no interest in paying it back”
Where, pray-tell? (I could not find it on google, or I would have linked it…)
http://activerain.com/blogsview/36851/When-bloggers-attack-fighting
Catfight Alert!
I couldn’t read through that diatribe due to the distracting photograph on the right side of the page…
Aha! So you noticed……
Almost every female in the real estate business uses a photo from the shoulders up or holding some freaky dog or cat. She, on the other hand, proudly displays her assets. ROFL
Hmmmm…..I’m wondering if that has something to do with the wimmin’s claws typing out mean ‘ol emails.
I think I might be persuaded to buy something from Mary Mcknight:-)
What range of services does Mary provide?
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/128753/the_sugarloaf_country_club_madames.html
Real estate and mortgage loan fraud investigators might be able to use the same techniques by looking at the client lists (little black books) of agents and brokers. Ironically, they might discover the worlds of real estate and bedroom play for pay go hand in uh, hand.
Obviously poofreading isn’t one of them:
RSS Pieces is the only blog developed for Realtors® with real estate specific functinality.
Three good housing charts.
http://www.wallstreetbear.com/board/view.php?topic=43236&post=139444
One of my in-laws (that my immediate family despises) put an offer on some property in a western state. The price doesn’t sound too unreasonable, $180k for a basic home on 2 acres.
The kicker is this guy declared BK two years ago and has held no serious job for two years. (He lived off what his wife earned selling Mary Kay and cleaning other people’s homes, while he spent his time at home arguing on fundamenalist religious blogs.) He currently “works” part time at a very entry-level skill-less job, that he’s held for one month, about 40 miles away from the home site. Oh yeah, and they have several kids to care for.
Broker says they’re approved around 8%. The insanity continues.
How to build a better liquidity sump pump…
—————————————————————————————————–
Behind a Link Of NYSE, Tokyo Are Two Friends
By Andrew Morse
Word Count: 941 | Companies Featured in This Article: London Stock Exchange Group, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings, NYSE Group, Euronext, Nasdaq Stock Market
TOKYO — Taizo Nishimuro, president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, faces a tough financial test: globalize one of the biggest stock markets in the world.
The 71-year-old executive — who has been in the top job a little over a year — came to the exchange just before it suffered one of its biggest embarrassments: On Jan. 18, 2006, a flurry of trades overloaded its archaic trading systems, forcing the world’s second-largest exchange by market value of listed companies (behind the New York Stock Exchange) to temporarily shut down.
The incident triggered a crisis of confidence in Japan’s financial infrastructure, …
http://users1.wsj.com/lmda/do/checkLogin?mg=wsj-users1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB116985457844589536.html%3Fmod%3Dtodays_us_nonsub_money_and_investing
“The 71-year-old executive…”
San Diego economy at a crawl, experts say
By Bruce V. Bigelow
STAFF WRITER
January 27, 2007
For years, new-home construction was the engine that drove the growth of the San Diego economy. But since the housing industry hit the brakes, regional growth has slowed to a crawl, local economists said at a forum yesterday.
Experts predicted that local economic growth would be “weak” – at roughly 2 percent – through the first six months of this year. That’s comparable to the national economy, which one economist described as “disappointing but not a complete disaster.”
The outlook for San Diego County job growth in 2007 is “very slow,” with job gains pegged at 13,000, or roughly 1 percent of the regional work force. Labor experts said unemployment would probably run at slightly more than 4 percent.
Home sales appear likely to recover slowly from last year’s downturn. But the high cost of housing has emerged as the most critical issue facing both employers and employees in San Diego County.
In fact, housing could prove to be the primary factor in prospects for the region, speakers at the 23rd Annual San Diego County Economic Roundtable said.
Home sales have emerged as the main variable, said James D. Hamilton, an economist at the University of California San Diego.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070127/news_1b27econ.html
Any discussion as to why BofA would buy Countrywide? Is it CYA or part of the move by major banks to achieve vertical integration of the loan origination to securitization pipeline? Any other reasons?
I don’t take that rumor too seriously. B of A has said many times they’re not interested in subprime. More like the insiders at CFC wanted to unload more shares.
Also, CFC holds a significant CD portfolio. B of A is near the 10% cap on FDIC deposits so a major acquisition now would prosest some obstacles.
CFC is probably about to blow a stinker on Wall St. and they needed a low cost back stop for their stock price in the short term.
Here’s my true story from 8th Ave. last night. We were hanging out at the bar at a little place off of 14th St. We were eating and drinking and the bartender seemed like a nice, young kid. I think he is probably 23 or 24.
We are going about our business when he says something like, “oh wow.” He was checking the news on his smartphone. He said to us, “did you realize that home sales fell by 17% last year?” Of course I started laughing and said, “that was just new home sales. Existing home sales fell by the most in 25 years.” It was great fun to me.
He started to look more serious. It turns out that he owns a 2-family house in Connecticut. He wants to sell it next year. He was hoping that interest rates would fall before then. I just looked at my wife. She knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to tell the kid that he was screwed. It is amazing that somebody gave this 23-year old bartender enough money for a 2-family home. I bet it is adjustable rate and possibly interest only. I went back to drinking my beer and didn’t say another word. Yep, this should be very very very very very ugly.
Yeah, I guess because we read this shiznit every day, we are amazed when we hear someone so completely out of it…I mean, I run across people who still believe it’s 2005 and real estate is still the best thing since sliced bread.
It’s like they don’t read or listen or investigate a damn thing.
The only three words you should have said to this kid were:
PETS
DOT
COM
I think large problem loans and small local banks, may be the next developing story.
We are all familiar with the CFHI fiasco by now, right? Well here is a bank in Virginia sweating over a couple of multi-million loans. Ther 4th quarter profit was reduced to almost nothing. How long before we start hearing about write-offs?
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/101946
I think we will see more and more of these mid to small size local banks in trouble…
Fishy, Smelly Stuff out of Wall Street and other Loose Ends:
http://wallstreetexaminer.com/blogs/winter/?p=359
This is an email exchange from a neighborhood listserve.
Gotta keep the cattle calm before the slaughter!!
—– Original Message —–
From: mariposa cydwel
To: Shaw Talk
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 7:09 PM
Subject: A Bit of concern
The following is by no means meant as criticism of the property owners. With that caveat, it was with great concern that I saw “for rent” signs on recently rehabbed properties on Shaw Blvd. today; two town homes and one 2 family conversion. Until now these buildings had “For Sale” signs. While I understand the developers may have no other choice if real estate is not moving, I hope it is not the beginning of a trend.
Elaine Kidwell
My response:
“Unfortunately, it is the begining of a trend that the devolpers have no control over, and will be with us for quite some time. The speed of the deterioration of the housing market has been breathtaking even to me–and I knew it was coming in mid 05. These developers started these jobs in a very different real estate environment.
We don’t yet know how deep this contraction in real estate is going to get–I suspect very bad. But we will probably see several of the develpoment projects and maybe some of the single family homes in the current “for sale” inventory turned into rental property. The good news is that these properties are in great shape and should attrack high quality renters. ”
The REIC response:
“Please don’t believe all the gloom & doom you hear or read. While the
number of houses changing hands went into a bit of a slump this year, the
average price of homes still went up nationwide. The general housing
environment is still in pretty good shape (economy + income growth +
interest rates), with the biggest problem being that new home builders put
up far too many developments over a period of several years. It also
doesn’t help that the general population has been beaten over the head with
talk of a “housing bubble” for the past 5-7 years; when enough people are
convinced that something is happening, it can become a self-fulfilling
prophecy to some degree.
Also remember that nationwide trends are not the same trends going on in a
revitalized urban neighborhood. Our biggest problems are in more
speculative markets on the coasts. I listened to a friend who commutes into
Manhattan talking about how his Greenwich flat cost $600k two years ago,
which turned into $700k one year ago, and then turned into $500k now.
Markets like these are much more of a boom and bust proposition than most of
the country.
One last stat: the average housing price nationwide has not declined since
the Great Depression. Some of this can be attributed to a highly developed
mortgage market in our country; most of it can be attributed to powerful
demographic trends that continually have driven demand for home ownership.
And that’s enough about that. Sorry for the longish note.”
Chris
Chris,
There is no need to apologize for your note. I am grateful for reassuring news from a professional banker/economist.
Elaine K.
Back to American Idol!!!
My daughter graduates from university in April, She has done work terms in Calgary Alberta, where she would rent for 4 months at a time. She has accepted a job with a oil company and will be moving into bubble land. The rent for the same apt has now increased by $ 350. She put a posting on yahoo for a roomate in calgary. She got a e-mail from a guy saying he lives in the u. k. and is going to marry his fiancee from geneva switzerland .Thus he will no longer need his 4 bedroom house in Calgary,as he will now have no time to visit. It is fully furnished, but was bought by his father who is now 72 , who was in the jewelery bussiness. He wants to keep the bussiness going in Canada . He says the uk charges him 25% tax , for him to receive the money from the bussiness ,but would only charge 7% from a individual. He will provide her with free rent in this lovely home(WOW)and give her 5% of receipts if she wire transfers them to him, his father , or his fathers representatives. He says he is looking for someone trustworthy and with semi-cleanliness. (sweet deal huh?) I am sure all you renters on this blog would jump at this opportunity!!!. (I told her better jump fast on this offer before they are all gone) lol . I think he responded to the wrong market segment, If he is looking for that big a can of stupid ,he should go to realtor or a flipper. What ya think?
I smell something fishy, eh?
The oil company my daughter is going to be working for also will pay for her relocation . They use a relocation specialist . These to me are realtors who will be trying to get her into a home or rent one of their own rentals at a higher price. They have called her everyday to set up appointments. She is so tired of them bugging her she told them not to phone her cell, or home phone. She said she doesnt need a place till may 1st . , and not to call her, if she needs them she will call them. what are the chances they will get her a better deal than doing it herself.?
The financials for Fannie Mae as of Dec. 04′ are below:
Total Assets 1,020,934.00
Total Liabilities 982,032.00
Total Equity 38,902.00
3.8% of Fannie’s assets are equity and the rest are liabilities. If about 4% of Fannie’s liabilities fall into default, it appears Fannie Mae becomes worthless. Is that right?
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=fnm
Not necessarily. It’s all in the management.
Suppose liabilities equaled assets, and there is no equity. Restructure the liabilities at better interest rates and sell of some assets for good prices, and you have equity again.
Even if you can’t do that, if the enterprise is profitable, it would recapitalize itself.
A related thought - once this cycle is over, there may be an opportunity for a new company with a business model like Fannie Mae, but without the nonperforming loans, like a new GM without the pension problem.
friend who just bought a house had a great idea. Sure, buying the house now was pretty stupid but when he picked a RE troll, he told them up front that he wanted half their commision… And he got it… Are they desperate for sales in SD!!!
That’s the way to take the troll by the horn! Good job!
One thing I don’t understand in world economics: Why don’t countries with a younger workforce, low health care costs, no serious military expenses and cheaper standard of living expenses (i.e. HOUSING) kick the economic ass of countries with an aging workforce, high military expenses and high costs of living?
Deep-roote corruption and poverty. When you have to worry about where your next meal is going to come from, you have no appetite for risk. Even if you did, those few who benefit from the status quo will obstruct you. An entrepreneur gets attacked by leeches from all sides who quickly bleed him/her dry. In some countries credit is getting easier to obtain, but is mostly used up for consumption.
In the same way the telecom industry of the third world has leaped from nonexistent to wireless, newfound credit is catapulting the majority of their citizens from being non-participants into salivating consumers financed to the hilt by the vendors. Entrepreneurs are few and far between.
There are many countries with a younger workforce and no military ventures, but most (if not all) of these have low mortality rates and low rates of literacy. Africa is full of examples like this. Harry Dent made this point in his “Roaring 2000s” books. America in the early 1980s had an abundance of educated young people (boomers) and a low mortality rate, hence about 18 years of economic boom. It will be an interesting experience to google any country of your choice with the word “demographics” added. I just checked Japan, India, and Russia on Wickipedia. Japan and Russia are losing population. You need to beware of issues like this before you invest money in those countries. Japan is aging fast. It had a stock market recovery since 2000, but could be in for another major setback. The alarming problem in the world today is that highly educated and productive people are having fewer children. Japan is fighting the decline in population by outsourcing and automating. But it can only go so far. China has had annual GDP increases of 9 or 10% for years. But it had a 1 child per couple policy for quite awhile and it could kick China in the a$$ in a few years. For now, China has a far lower percentage of people over 65 than the U.S. But you have to check its mortality rate and average lifespan. 12% of the U.S. population is 65 or older. That’s double of the percentage of China’s and India’s. Japan was at 11.6% in 1989 and is projected that 25% of its population in 2030 will be 65 or older. Scary situation if you are an equity investor.
I hope this is not a duplicate post:
Do you think free housing is next for the illegals?
This might be of some interest to you who have had a problem with your insurance.
Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas is a fairly famous institution and for a variety of reasons:
1. John F.Kennedy died there in 1963
2. Lee Harvey Oswald died there shortly after
3. Jack Ruby-who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, died there a few years later by coincidence
On the flip side, Parkland is also home to the second busiest maternity ward in the country with almost 16,000 new babies arriving each year.
(That’s almost 44 per day—every day)
A recent patient survey indicated that 70 percent of the women who gave birth at Parkland in the first three months of 2006 were illegal immigrants! Crikey, that’s 11,200 anchor babies born every year just in Dallas. According to the article, the hospital spent $70.7 million delivering 15,938 babies in 2004 but managed to end up with almost $8 million dollars in surplus funding. Medicaid kicked in $34.5 million, Dallas County taxpayers kicked in $31.3 million and the feds tossed in another $9.5 million.
The average patient in Parkland’s maternity wards is 25 years old, married and giving birth to her second child. She is also an illegal immigrant. By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their immigration status or ability to pay. OK, fine. That doesn’t mean they should receive better care than everyday, middle-class American citizens. But at Parkland Hospital, they do.
Parkland Memorial Hospital has nine prenatal clinics. NINE. The Dallas Morning News article followed a Hispanic woman who was a patient at one of the clinics and pregnant with her third child—her previous two were also born at Parkland. Her first two deliveries were free and the Mexican native was grateful because it would have cost $200 to have them in Mexico. This time, the hospital wants her to pay $10 per visit and $100 for the delivery but she was unsure if she could come up with the money. Not that it matters, the hospital won’t turn her away. (I wonder why they even bother asking at this point.)
How long has this been going on? What are the long-term effects? Well, another subject of the article was born at Parkland in 1986 shortly after her mother entered the U.S. illegally—now she is having her own child there as well. (That’s right, she’s technically a U.S. citizen.) These women receive free prenatal care including medication, nutrition, birthing classes and child care classes. They also get freebies such as car seats, bottles, diapers and formula. Most of these things are available to American citizens as well but only for low-income applicants and even then, the red tape involved is almost insurmountable.
Because these women are illegal immigrants they do not have to provide any sort of legitimate identification—no proof of income. An American citizen would have to provide a social security number which would reveal their annual income—an illegal immigrant need only claim to be poor and the hospital must take them at their word.
My husband is a pilot for the United States Navy (yes, he fought in Iraq) and while the health care is good, we Navy wives don’t get any of these perks! Car seats? Diapers? Not so much. So my question is this: Does our public medical care system treat illegal immigrants better than American citizens? Yes it does! As I mentioned, the care I have received is perfectly adequate but it’s bare bones, meat and potato medical care—not top of the line.
Their (the illegals) medical care is free—simply because they are illegal immigrants? Once again, there is no way to verify their income. Parkland Hospital offers indigent care to Dallas County residents who earn less than $40,000 per year. (They also have to prove that they did not refuse health coverage at their current job. Yeah, the ‘free’ care is not so easy for Americans.)
There are about 140 patients who received roughly $4 million dollars for un-reimbursed medical care. As it turns out, they did not qualify for free treatment because they resided outside of Dallas County. So the hospital is going to sue them! Illegals get it all free! But U.S. citizens who live outside of Dallas County get sued! How stupid is this?
As if that isn’t annoying enough, the illegal immigrant patients are actually complaining about hospital staff not speaking Spanish. In this AP story, the author speaks with a woman who is upset that she had to translate comments from the hospital staff into Spanish for her husband. The doctor was trying to explain the situation to the family and the mother was forced to translate for her husband who only spoke Spanish.
This was apparently a great injustice to her.
“In an attempt to create a Spanish-speaking staff, Parkland Hospital is now providing incentives in the form of extra pay for applicants who speak Spanish. Additionally, medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern for which Parkland Hospital is the training facility will now have a Spanish language requirement added to their already jammed-packed curriculum. No other school in the country boasts such a ridiculous
multi-semester (multicultural) requirement.
In the meantime, I have to end my column here. I have to go buy a car seat.
(Ed: Sorry for the length, but this needs wide circulation—-particularly to our “employees” in the Congress.)
Quote of the Day
“Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public*, there will be no shutting them again.” -Grover Cleveland
POST SCRIPt FROM A U.S. CITIZEN.— Many of us are now in the so called, “Donut hole” with our prescriptions. We paid our money to protect us in our later years, but our people in Washington have elected to give it to the illegal immigrants, How fair can that be.
It will only get worse until we make Congress a Libertarian majority.
It will only get worse until we make Congress a smoldering hole in the ground.
I’ll take this tidbit as something to ponder re your, “The alarming problem in the world today is that highly educated and productive people are having fewer children.” comment above.
By law, pregnant women cannot be denied medical care based on their immigration status or ability to pay
Actually, I believe that the law states that women in labor cannot be denied access to care. How do you think all of those women end up at Parkland? They are refused service at for profit hospitals and told to go to Parkland.
That the reason why hospitals near the border in Arizona and New Mexico do not have maternity wards.
Suit says lender blocked reforms
An ex-Ameriquest CEO claims that his efforts to stop alleged predatory practices were thwarted.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ameriquest27jan27,1,2667582.story?coll=la-headlines-business
This whole schmeal just keeps getting more juicy… It’s really starting to fee like we’re getting beyond reports of “the slow sales figures” - and into the aftermath and repercussions.
Stock up that popcorn.
SEC launches formal probe of KB Home
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-kb27jan27,1,5081764.story?coll=la-headlines-business
O.K. everyone, you gotta listen to this. My wife just opened the mail and received an “invitation” with two complimentary VIP tickets ($149 value, LOL) to the Women’s Financial Conference (Sunrise FL, 20 Feb). Guess who is shilling this?…WTF???, None other than Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Along with friends Jane Seymor (the actress, & touted as a “self-made millionare expert”). You will learn how to: 1. Regulary buy real estate for 31-57% below value; 2. Find income producing properties; 3. Learn how to cash in on the new billion dollar booming foreclosure opportunity; 4. Get government approved investments guaranteeing 9.6 to 32% return. Etc… You have got to be friggin kidding me. We must have hit bottom. This is complete INSANITY!!! Please, Fergie, show me how to get rich the easy way, I never knew you or your good friend Jane Seymor, were expert real estate investors. WTF, WTF, WTF,…I am starting to lose it.
Those two are experts by virtue of them being famous. I love to laugh at celebrities who think they automatically are experts on finances, sports, foreign policy, military policy, and so on!
“None other than Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Along with friends Jane Seymor”
When the celebrities are serving the koolaid it’s time to look for the exits.
A blessing for Phoenix area house sellers?
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/rfs/260299127.html
RED ALERT!!! The realestatehaircuts blog has mysteriously disappeared!
WOW just what I was looking for. Came here by searching for sign dog drops