The Sobering Facts about America’s Middle Class

Here are just some of the sobering facts:

• There are 8.5 million people receiving unemployment insurance and over 40 million receiving food stamps.
• At the current pace of job creation, the economy won't return to full employment until 2018.
• Middle-income jobs are disappearing from the economy. The share of middle-income jobs in the United States has fallen from 52% in 1980 to 42% in 2010.
• Middle-income jobs have been replaced by low-income jobs, which now make up 41% of total employment.
• 17 million Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor's degree.
• Over the past year, nominal wages grew only 1.7% while all consumer prices, including food and energy, increased by 2.7%.
• Wages and salaries have fallen from 60% of personal income in 1980 to 51% in 2010. Government transfers have risen from 11.7% of personal income in 1980 to 18.4% in 2010, a post-war high.

The middle class is shrinking, which threatens the social composition and stability of the world's biggest economy.

 

Top Ten Things to Do Before Retiring

From Inside Personal Finance
Here’s what to do now if retirement is on your horizon.

1. Decide how you are going to spend your time. What are you going to do during the first 6 to 12 months in retirement, and what do you plan to do for the rest of your retired life?
2. Determine (realistically) how much money you will spend monthly. Remember to include periodic expenditures such as gifts, vacations, taxes, an occasional new car, and emergencies.
3. Anticipate the cost of health care. You’ll have no employer to pay this for you; Medicare, MediGap, and private insurance are all up to you.
4. Buy long-term care insurance. Now.
5. Refinance your mortgage. Many people are shocked to discover that they either cannot borrow money after they retire, or they are forced to pay higher rates.
6. Boost your cash reserves. Make sure your rainy day fund is enough to cover at least six months’ worth of expenses.
7. Evaluate your sources of income. You have already figured out what you’ll spend on a monthly basis. Now figure out where that money will come from.
8. Revise your investment strategy. The way you’ve handled your investments over the past 30 years is not how you should handle them for the next 30. While preparing for retirement, you were focused on asset accumulation. When you’re in retirement, you need to focus on income and on keeping pace with the increasing cost of living. Assets must be flexible and liquid so you can meet needs you did not anticipate. New words will enter your vocabulary: rollovers and lump sums.
9. Review your estate plan. Review your will and trust. Don’t have them? Get them. These documents can protect you and your assets while you are alive and benefit your spouse and children when you pass on.
10. Perhaps the most important thing of all. If you are not excited about retirement, then don’t. Many people quickly become bored after retiring. It’s OK -- even exciting -- to return to school or the workplace. Many do this, often in completely new fields.

In Time for Buying Season, Rates Reach Yearly Lows

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular choice among buyers, sank even lower this week, matching its yearly low of 4.71% from January, reports Freddie Mac in its weekly mortgage market survey. Last year at this time, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5%.

Homes are more affordable than they’ve been in the past 35 years

Not only have home values have fallen up to 70% in many key markets, making homeownership more accessible to the average buyer, interest rates are at historic lows, meaning that once a home is purchased, monthly payments are smaller than in our recent past.

Today’s median home buyer can expect to pay about 17% of his monthly gross income on his mortgage, compared to a 25% average since 1975. In the 1980's, when interest rates were dangerously near 20%, this would take up nearly 45% of a buyers gross monthly income. In comparison, today's rates are very low.

The main obstacle to homeownership these days, is getting a loant. Although nearly one-third of all home purchases in recent months have been all-cash, that leaves the majority of the market shares requiring financing. So, while it is more difficult for many homeowners to get into the market in today's economy, for buyers who have good credit and adequate savings, homes may never have been more affordable.

Obama ridicules Trump at Correspondents’ dinner, mocks ‘birther’ crusade

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110501/ts_yblog_theticket/obama-ridicules-trump-at-correspondents-dinner-mocks-birther-crusade

Skier's amazing avalanche cliff jump becomes Internet hit

http://www.grindtv.com/snow/blog/26377/skiers+amazing+avalanche+cliff+jump+becomes+internet+hit/

Here is The BIG problem When You Want To Pay off you Mortgage

After Storms, Home Owners May Struggle to Rebuild
April 29, 2011

A powerful storm system on Wednesday ripped through Southern states, wiping out entire towns and killing at least 209 people so far.

Many home owners in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Virginia are finding their homes torn apart, after 137 tornadoes were reported around the regions.

But as home owners look to rebuild, they may find a shortfall in adequate home insurance coverage to cover all of the damages, the USA Today reports.

Most home owner insurance polices provide coverage for tornadoes, and home owners do not have to buy extra coverage like they do for earthquakes or floods. However, research has shown that despite 96 percent of people having homeowners insurance, 64 percent of U.S. homes are undervalued for insurance purposes, according to a 2008 research by Marshall & Swift.

While home values have decreased in many areas, many home owners did not think they still needed to upgrade their insurance. However, building costs in many areas have gone up, insurance experts note.

So let's assume you have $500,000 home equity, there is an earthquake, or a storm or a fire and you lose your home. What happens to your home equity, you have built for the past decades?? IT WILL BE GONE OVERNIGHT, IN IN INSTANT, AS WELL AS ALL YOUR WEALTH.

DO NOT count on your insurance companies to get you all the money you expect to rebuild your house, because it will most likely not happen.

Thus if you want to protect your wealth, you must be prepared and the best way to do that is to MANGAE YOUR HOME EQUITY, SO YOU DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN THE SAME BASKET.

Call The Wealth Creation Team at 1-877 APPLYFREE.