Even though housing prices throughout much of the U.S. are at or near all-time highs, there are still many distinct financial advantages to owning a home.1 From tax benefits to capital gains exclusions and guaranteed rates of return, we explore four of the biggest economic benefits that can come from homeownership
Did you know that the average mortgage holder has $185,000 home equity? This past year’s record-setting housing prices have dramatically increased the amount of home equity the average American homeowner holds. This means the temptation to borrow against this equity is much greater than it has been in recent history. But before you tap into your home’s equity, understand the options you have and how each may impact you
Reading a homeowners insurance policy for the first time can be intimidating. With all the jargon, exclusions, and conditions you’ll encounter, you may start thinking that Mom was right–you should have gone to law school after all. Nevertheless, all homeowners policies share certain common elements and follow a recognizable design. Once you understand the roadmap, you’ll be able to make sense of the provisions and locate key information when you need it
A gift to charity is simply a gratuitous transfer of property to a charitable organization. The key is that your gift must be some kind of property–your time or personal services do not count. There are several different types of property that can be donated to charity, and a gift is limited only by your imagination. Are you the type who wants to donate cash, stock, or your lunch box collection from a 1960s sitcom?
For us, the value proposition for core bonds (as defined by the bonds within the BloombergAggregate Bond index) is that they tend to provide potential for liquidity, diversification (topotentially counter equity market risk), and positive total returns to portfolios. Unfortunately,none of those values are 100% certain all the time. Like all markets, fixed income investinginvolves … Dawn Of A New Era For Bonds
BY THE NUMBERSIn our earnings season preview, we expected a high single-digit increase in S&P 500 Indexearnings for the quarter, and that is what we got. The consensus estimate coming intoreporting season was calling for a 4.7% earnings gain, and now it looks like 10% is possiblewith more than 40 index constituents still left to … Corporate America Delivers, Market Attention Focused Elsewhere
WHAT INVESTORS ARE SAYING: EXTREME PESSIMISM When investors are asked their opinions about the outlook for the stock market, recent responses have been very bearish. The sentiment data derived from these surveys and polls has in some instances reached multi-decade levels of pessimism (which as a contrarian signal would be positive for markets): 1) AAII … Have We Really Seen Extreme Pessimism Yet?
THE WORST SIX MONTHS OF THE YEAR“Sell in May and go away” is the seasonal stock market pattern in which the six months fromMay through October are historically weak for stocks, with many investors believing that it’sbetter to avoid the market altogether by selling in May and moving to cash during the summermonths “Sell in … Why You Shouldn’t Sell In May This Year