Say Anything Blog

Yeah, but many of those people who make good choices are becoming wealthy when others who don’t think ahead aren’t.

There are two America’s.

How much of the wealth disparity is just the fact that not everyone uses the opportunities they are offered.

Take two people.  One works hard in school, goes to college and gets good grades.  Takes a job and keeps working everyday.  They live within their means and take advantage of their 401K and the like.

They’ll likely retire rich.

On the other hand if you have someone who drops out of high school, bounces from job to job, lives paycheck to paycheck.  They’ll never save anything.

It’s not that fault of the first person that the second made bad decisions.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Yaahoooo
great news.
I’m sure Americans will feel so good that there gonna go to the mall and purchase products from other countries and when they return home they will refi their over leveraged home for the fifth time to make up for their measly pay check from a low paying service sector job they took after their higher paying job moved to India.
Hope they hurry coz refi lenders are gettin hard to find, it’s just like findin a Bush supporter in South America.

I hope this good news overshadows the record foreclosure rates or the falling equity extraction rate, as home values fall below what the home owner owes. Pay no attention to sub prime mortgages.... it won’t effect you or I one bit, and if it does we will blame the democrats Implode o Meter

Let’s hope the carry trade continues.........

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

Mark would be part of the 2nd group.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

They live within their means and take advantage of their 401K and the like.

If you haven’t figured out yet that the 401K invest plan is a tax scam you had better wake up.  Employees’ locks up their money for x number of years and when they retire; the house is paid off and their is no children, they don’t have any tax write offs.  So the largest share goes to the government.

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, so much as downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”
- John Adams

Well troy the important thing is that people are putting money away.

The fallacy in your thinking is that when you retire and you have your house paid off and you aren’t supporting the kids you won’t need to take out that much money to live well.

You do have a point though.  If you want things to work the other way I think the Roth IRA’s will work for you.  Don’t you pay the tax today but not when you take the money out?

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

If you want things to work the other way I think the Roth IRA’s will work for you.  Don’t you pay the tax today but not when you take the money out?

Thats True!  The Roth is superior for now.  However the control is still in the governments hands.  What I mean is that it is not taxed now, but I willing to bet in the future it will be.  Social Security benefits used to not be taxed either.  I know they are not the same; however the government will and has changed, and when you look at the entitlement nightmare ahead of us, I can see where it will and can change.

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, so much as downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”
- John Adams

Nothing like some truly mindless, economically illiterate, partisan snark first thing in the morning.

Here’s a tip, Mark.  Stick with topics you actually know something about.  Instead of economics, finance, and fiscal and tax policy, try animal husbandry, cartoon characters, and maybe Anna Nichole Smith’s funeral.

Few of us actually enjoy watching another person make a complete fool of himself.  Save yourself the embarrassment.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Well that’s the rub isn’t it Troy, the house changing the rules on us in mid-stream.

Look for Social Security to be either age adjusted or means tested (or both) by the time we are too old to work. 

I would also agree that it’s likely that the government having made all of these promises steal the money from those of us who didn’t believe them.  They very well will tax the money out of our retirement accounts because half of the people wouldn’t save.

But what would be your solution, buy gold?  That might appreciate, but then again it might not.  (It’s not really intrinsically worth much.) Plus you’re supposed to pay taxes on the gains when you go and sell it.

Heck I could see them pulling a FDR and confiscating it (at a set price).

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

The article sets the total net worth of American households at $55.6 trillion, up 2.5%, but since this figure includes the net worth American billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet it tell us nothing about a typical (median) American household.

A better headline would have been, ”Net worth of wealthy Americans skyrockets”, since the vast majority of American wealth is held by the wealthiest 10% of households.

TW

Mark would be part of the 2nd group.

I was doin ok till I got laid off from New Century.
Guess I go to Mao-Mart see for job for me in fishin department. shooda stayed in scool.

batty

Here’s a tip, Mark.  Stick with topics you actually know something about.  Instead of economics, finance, and fiscal and tax policy, try animal husbandry, cartoon characters, and maybe Anna Nichole Smith’s funeral.

you forgot Geriatric Erotica Link

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

Will,

You’re being less than candid.  That 2.5% growth rate you cite wass for just the third quarter of ‘06.  For the entire year, household net worth climbed at a rate of 7.4%, down from 2005’s 7.9%

Furthermore, if you go back to the Federal Reserve where Ms. Aversa, the AP economics reporter, got her information, you find that there are more and more American households moving up into those higher income brackets.

Screeching and braying about Bill Gates or Mr. Buffett is not only gratuitous… it’s childish.  Besides, as I recall, Mr. Buffett gave away nearly all his wealth, nearly $40 billion, last year.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

If you haven’t figured out yet that the 401K invest plan is a tax scam you had better wake up.  Employees’ locks up their money for x number of years and when they retire; the house is paid off and their is no children, they don’t have any tax write offs.

Point #1: The idea behind a traditional 401k is that you are diverting income that would have otherwise been taxed at your highest marginal rate.  When you retire (assuming it’s your primary source of income) a portion of it will be taxed a lower rates just like your income is now.

In some ways, a Roth is a wash since you have less money to put in since it’s already been taxed.  However, it’s all a bet on whether you expect to pay a higher or lower tax rate after you retire.  The Roth IRA is more flexible for a down payment on a home or for your childrens’ education.  Also, the effective contribution limits are higher for Roth (5k Roth is worth more than 5k traditional since it’s after-tax)

Point #1 (semantics): Roth 401k are now available for many companies, so saying that a Roth IRA is better than a 401k may not always be the case, especially since Roth 401k have higher contribution limits and the expenses are typically paid by the employer.  I do both since you can combine the limits of 401k + Roth IRA

Point #3 pne special case: If you work in a municipality collects income tax, but live in a suburb that doesn’t, a traditional 401k protects a portion of your income from the city income tax since you don’t pay tax when you earn the $$ and you pay tax based on your residence location when you take it back out.

If you haven’t figured out yet that the 401K invest plan is a tax scam you had better wake up.

Investing is good and all, but I think its better just to go out and make a lot. No risk there.

I wonder if the houses are worth the same and the $ is worth less?

Screeching and braying about Bill Gates or Mr. Buffett..

Bat, calm down.  All I said about them was that they were billionaires.  I said nothing judgemental or non-factual about either one.

Warren Buffet is still considered the 2nd wealthiest man on earth, so I don’t think he’s given his fortune away yet…

If you’ve got it, could you provide the link to the Federal Reserve info Ms. Aversa was citing?

The fact that Bill Gates is wealthy doesn’t take anything away from you Mark.

It’s about what you do (and there’s some luck to that) than what other people do.

I think the bible says the poor will always be with us.  That’s because there are some people who will live hand to mouth.  They won’t save and if they ever get to where they are getting comfortable they’ll leave their job.  I’ve seen it many times.

There are also a lot of people that work hard, make the right choices and put away their money.  I don’t see any reason why they should be held back because some people hold themselves back.

Referring to Sparkie’s comment on making a lot being better than saving.  That’s true to a point, but it’s a stereotype of doctors that their debts go up faster than their incomes.

There’s an Amish saying, it’s not what you make, it’s what you spend.  There’s a lot of truth to that too.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

The fact that Bill Gates is wealthy doesn’t take anything away from you Mark.

In fact, it’s just the opposite; Bill Gates’ wealth creates prosperity for many people.  Besides, without the rich, who would the socialists tax to pay for their vote-buying social spending programs?

If you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it.

I should have said that Robert, in fact Bill Gates created a lot of wealth in regular folks by making them more productive.

In a free economy every transaction results in parties that are better off than they otherwise would have been.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

TW thank god I will always be here....thank you jesus

in fact Bill Gates created a lot of wealth in regular folks by making them more productive.

yah, in India.....and hackers are busy as heck

who would the socialists tax to pay for their vote-buying social spending programs?

Yah like that vote-buying republican prescription drug plan

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

yah, in India.

Yes there too.  If you haven’t noticed unemployment is quite low so it’s great we can hire them to do our less valuable work.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

The problem is: A significant number of American voters, despite their own prosperity and the booming economy do not believe it. My own wife, despite my attempts to educate her on the ecomomy can only see that our bills ‘appear’ to be getting higher and more numerical and our income does not seem to be keeping up so she blames Bush. The state is in a financial mess because Schwratzenkennedy has screwed things up here and she is a social worker, so for her departments budget and the poor people she serves things look bad and it is Bush’ fault!

President Bush, despite my growing disenchanment with him, is responsible for the ecomomic policies that have encouraged private business to flourish in this country; and yet he is the worst salesman of his own successes in the history of the White House. That man stinks at publicizing good news!

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

Good point Neiman, no matter how much you make you can always outspend it.  The fact that we spend it on luxeries (as most of the worlds people would think) isn’t the fault of the economy.

(If that doesn’t apply to you, it does apply to me.)

When it comes to social services “budget shortfalls” it seems to me that as long as you’re giving away money there will be more than enough people to spend it.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Neiman: The problem with social spending is that it doesn’t produce anything that helps pay its own bills.  The consciousness of any social worker will always be that there isn’t enough money, but they don’t realize it’s because of the fundamental failure of social engineering.

If you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it.

Will,

The Federal Reserve’s “Flow of Funds Accounts” quarterly report, from which Ms. Aversa took her statistics, can be found here.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Neiman,

An interesting point you raise about Mr. Bush.  I suspect a large part of the reason has to do with his personal religious faith.  The man simply does NOT blow his own horn… even when it’s warranted.

Common sense tells me that a person must have an enormous and well-founded ego just to want that utterly thankless job.  And yet…

The last time we had so humble and self-effacing a two term president was Eisenhower.  Strange.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

The man simply does NOT blow his own horn

Clinton didn’t either.....that was Monica’s job

I don’t know what channel or what radio waves you guys are receiving or where your cave is located, but the economy is far from “robust” or “booming”.
If it were would we not have a surplus instead of a deficit? Would we be experiencing record foreclosures?
Manufacturing jobs declining?
Low unemployment rate? What is Mexico’s? 3.2%
What is our underemployment rate?

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

underemployment

definition: a term that was made up by the left when unemployment rate was too low to justify their sniveling about how bad the economy is.

MarkD: First, we are in the middle of a global war on terrorism, we suffered economically from the 9/11 attacks and the corporate scandals and these things, as well as excessive government spending for which we can thank Republicans did create a huge deficit; but with Bush economic policies, not the least of which were the tax cuts, we are cutting the deficit at a record rate and if Congress would restrain their big spending ways it would disappear damn soon.

We are at a place in our employment picture wherein by all reasonable measures we are at full employment. What do you suggest we do to improve on that?

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

Mark D,

Where DO you get your information? 

The Department of Labor announced this morning that the unemployment rate has dropped again to 4.5%, while an addition 97,000 new jobs were created last month.  (Mexico, incidentally, is hardly a valid point of comparison with at least 10 million of its citizens here in the US ILLEGALLY.  Perhaps the Mexican government is counting those individuals among their employed, since if the Mexican economy were that robust and growing there would be no reason for all those ILLEGALS to sneak across the border coming here.)

Finally, please let us know just where you get the idea that the foreclosure rate is at a record high.  It isn’t.  Both the delinquency and foreclosure rates have gone up, as have interest rates.  But all three were at extraordinary lows to begin with, so increases in all three was hardly unexpected. (While we’re on the subject, interest rates are still at or below historical averages.)

As I said before, a certain amount of creative embellishment is to be expected, especially among the hysterical uninformed such as you.  Just don’t expect to have your frantic hyperventilation taken seriously.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Perhaps the Mexican government is counting those individuals among their employed…

No economic information from a command economic system should be regarded as accurate, even if they intend it to be.  Their stats are generated politically, not from the facts on the ground.

If you don’t know by now, don’t mess with it.

Mark -

Must agree with BatOne - having worked in the Mortgage Industry going on now 20 years I can confirm that even with the recent increases in the Delinquency and foreclosure rates they are still historically very low - even including a full implosion of the subprime market.

Also - becareful with unemployment figures - each country calcualtes them differently - and if you think our 4.5% rate is high check some of the social “democracies” like France in Eurpoe whose rates approach double digits.

Fred
States that experienced the fastest growth in home prices are also the states that have the highest foreclosure rates.
We are nowhere near the bottom and foreclosures will continue to escalate.
We have never experienced this level of home ownership purchased with 0 money down, 30/40 and ARM’s that are now reseting to higher interest rates that strapped borrowers can’t afford. 
New Century just the latest victim in the mortgage companies closing their doors.

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

Fred,

Welcome aboard!  If you are a 20 year mortgage pro, then your are certainly not inclined to panic having seen all this before about 10 years ago.  I’ve still got the scars… and the T-shirt.

Of course that was not quite as dramatic as the current sub-prime crunch, but then rates weren’t nearly as low at the bottom back then as they were this past time.

Interesting too that the media has chosen to trumpet the “crash” in the housing market.  Home ownership, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of total population is at an all-time high.  And again, given the over-stimulation of excessively low rates a few years ago, one would be an idiot not to expect some decline in home building and sales as rates climb back to more reasonable levels.

“Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of the mind is irreparable.”

Bat 1
Some decline is showing up in California.......
But I’m sure you saw this coming.

For Q3’06 California foreclosures were up 111.8% from Q3’05 and 28.3% from the prior quarter

The number of foreclosures that lenders are taking back in California has increased from an average of 32 a day in August 2006, to 205 a day in February 2007. In dollars that’s an increase from an average of $13.3M per day to $83M per day in seven months.

A total of $1.5 billion of loan value was returned lenders in February versus $425 million in Sept. 2006
and thats just CA

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

The increase in foreclosures is tied to the high number of adjustable rate mortgages/loans of the last several years. People taking on more longterm debt than they can carry.

And the housing bubble had to pop. In many areas there has been a glut of new residential construction that was never viably sustainable. Tell you what is on the rise, remodeling/refurbishing of existing home and multi-resident structures.

And Bravo1, when I saw your comment of 16:30 I thought you were openning a new front in the FICA/FICO campaign!

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

Mark reminds me of chicken little, always looking for something to panic about.

I guess he’ll always be able to make up something that might be bad for someone.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Sounds like a duck, quackquackquackquack.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

TW
I’m not panicking....I don’t have a hybrid loan

I think you guys need a reality check.
This housing crash will be unlike any other. It’s not a rosy as you think.

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

Markie, pick a better employer next time.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem

2h9
the only employers that will result in job security are defense contractors..... well so long as you are legal

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

Sorry, meant to add this link

Earlier this week, more than 300 illegal immigrants were rounded up at Michael Bianco Inc. in New Bedford. About 200 were transferred to facilities in Texas and New Mexico. Link

defense contractor runs a sweat shop

Link

“We have a dollar that’s adjusting and I am for a strong dollar.....
Our dollar doesn’t buy as many barrels of oil as it used to and so therefore it’s more expensive for the American people”..... Bush 3/12/08

This increase does not reflect the standard of living at all because you may have several areas in America where wealth is high but the rest of the areas do not score very high on the wealth scale and that needs to be calibrated.

You are poor in America? It is your fault. You have no “right” to steal money from me because you are a lazy, ignorant asshole.

Una Salus Victus Nullam Sperare Salutem