Should I Buy? Should I Sell?
Sara Faitelson • October 28, 2020
Should I Buy? Should I Sell?
Hello blog readers. As many of you know I love to run on Sunday Afternoons. As I run through my neighborhood, I will see a few for sale signs posted. Then a few weeks later the house is sold, and it sold higher than the asking price. Why are many people buying and selling homes in this market?
How about we look at the elephant in the room: the pandemic. Since many people are working from home and their children are learning online, they see no need to live in an apartment in the city. The children need space to run and be outside. The parents need a home office. The amount of money people pay to live in the city can be much more than a mortgage payment in the suburbs. People are overcrowding the suburbs because it is hard to work and do homework in a small apartment. All the glitz and glam of city life has been taken away and many people are making the move.
Why are they overpaying? Interest rates on mortgages are at an all time low. Many people figure I will overpay for the house by $25-$50k and pay around a 3% interest rate. They see it as a good compromise. Is it really a good compromise? Well if you speak to a tax consultant, you will find out that only interest on a house is tax deductible and not principal. It is important to talk to a tax consultant and do the math before making a twenty or thirty-year mistake.
Why are people selling? They are retiring or have lost their jobs. Many people make their house their number one asset and if they are no longer working, they can sell the house for a more than it is worth. They may move out of state and take a job online or in the state they decide to move to. Who really is making this situation beneficial for them economically? The retirees.
What it is the answer to this post?.....
It depends on what phase of life you are in. The best advice I can give is speak with a tax consultant before buying or selling. It is important not to make a fast decision.
Picking investments should be like picking shoes. What do I mean by that statement?
Can I Use Life Insurance for Only Death Benefit Purposes? Are there Any Other Benefits?
What Kind of Relationship Do you Have with Money? Can it be Improved?
Why am I Always in the Red Zone at the End of Every Month?
Are You Bad at Saving Money?
Should I Worry About Probate?
I am not Married / We Do Not Have Any Children: Who Should We Leave Our Estate to?
Hello blog readers. I hope everyone is safe and healthy. It has been quite a year. Who would have thought we would still be in a pandemic a year and a half later, but here we are. Lately, we have been laughing about what people are calling Covid 15 – gaining 15lbs during this pandemic. I do not know about you, but I am a big fan of pizza, which is why it is easy to become a victim of Covid 15. Most of us cut the pizza pie into 8 -10 slices. Would you ever buy a whole pizza, cut off one slice, and then throw away the rest of the pizza? I doubt it, but that is what many people do when assessing their financial goals. Last week, my business partner and I were sitting with a couple who is in this situation. They have one piece of their financial business with one person and then other pieces with other people. When I asked how their pension works with their retirement plan, they looked at me like I was speaking a different language. No one has ever looked at this piece of the pie and tried to fit it in the rest of the retirement plan. I asked about reviewing the pension booklet and creating a game plan where they can start planning for their retirement date. They said “oh, that’s how you figure out when to retire.” This is a situation that happens more than I can count. Clients have different people doing different things for them, but no one has an end game. Retirement because reactionary rather than proactively assessed. What is the point of this story? The lesson is: “don’t eat one piece of the pizza and throw the rest of the pie in the trash.” If you want to have success, all pieces of the pie must be analyzed, and they must work together to compliment each other. Registered Representative of, and Securities and Investment Advisory services are offered through Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC, (HTK), Registered Investment Advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC. (215) 957-7300. Stiletto Financial and other listed entities are unaffiliated with HTK does not provide legal and tax advice. 7585271RG_Jan28
Hello blog readers. I know it has been a few weeks since I have been able to post. It is tax season and it gets crazy here. This time of the year I am usually on the phone or clients reach out every day non-stop. One week we had a waiting list because we received so many calls in a week. Things are finally calming down and I wanted to write about two types of clients I have. Let me start by saying it is not great to go extremes. I want clients to open their statements and ask questions when we do our quarterly reviews. However, I do not want to receive a call if a client looses 17 cents. Having balance will help you be realistic, and you will not make knee jerk reactions. Balance is the key. It is good for people to want to know how their account is doing, what kind of trends advisors, and the tax consequences associated with their decisions. However, a financial advisor is not focused on day trading. We look at money from a long-term perspective and take the emotion out of investing. What do I mean by that? Have you ever gone food shopping on an empty stomach? It is the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I ended up buying way too much food that I could never eat by myself. I was hungry and everything looked appetizing and I started to fill up that shopping cart. We can make the same mistake when it comes to investing in the market: buying investments because everyone tells you to and you are always looking for a good tip. What is the moral of the story? Keep track of your accounts, maintain a balanced view, and don’t go food shopping on an empty stomach when it comes to investing. 3473555RH_MAR23
Hello blog readers. I hope everyone has been as busy as me. I thought it was time to write about a call I received a few weeks. A couple I have been working with has decided they want to get a divorce. The wife calls me and tells me what is going on and her husband knows we are speaking because they both want to speak to me. The wife handles the finances mainly for the family and they each had some questions. We first went over the children. They have a blended family, and I needed to know if any of the children are legally adopted by the other party. They had one child together and the other children were not legally adopted by either of them. That helped me explain if any child support could come into play during negotiations. Next, we went over the house: how much they owe, who wants to stay in house, or will they sell it. We also went over how much it is worth and if they were both contributing toward paying the mortgage and taxes. Third, we went over the investment accounts and pension plans. I specialize in separating assets and in particular pensions. Some people make the mistake of giving up their assets in exchange for keeping all of their pension. I explained what would happen in that situation, particularly if the other party passed away. In the end the client was happy to get a financial picture before calling her attorney. She was able to pinpoint topics that need to be discussed and negotiated. What is the lesson? Before calling your attorney, it is imperative to reach out to a certified divorce financial analyst to give you a fuller picture. It will save you time, energy, and aggravation when starting the divorce process. 7585248RG_Jan28