Money Sense

[Anonymous]

Helping you out little fella. Gold has value

[Anonymous]

The big US banks are as secure as Canadian banks.

Seriously, what makes you an authority on $$$$? Working in a bank?  I'd like to hear more Seoulbro

[JOE]

I should probably cash out my 401K and pay the house off and start over. I'd be money ahead compared to what I'll lose soon.

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

[Lokmar]

I should probably cash out my 401K and pay the house off and start over. I'd be money ahead compared to what I'll lose soon.

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

Nope. Thinking about cashing it in before it loses all its value. Also thinking about stopping my payments into it altogether for the next year or so.

[JOE]

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

Nope. Thinking about cashing it in before it loses all its value. Also thinking about stopping my payments into itOh altogether for the next year or so.

Oh. I thought if you got land, esp farmland, it can only go up..Lokmeer!



Cuz even if the dollar becomes less, the value of the land will stay constant in an inflationary environment.



Plus...you said you have a farm, so if it grows food/crops this can only add value cuz food itself will continue to increase in price.



So even if the dollar becomes increasingly worthless, like gold, the value of land will be constant, don'tcha think....Lokmeer?! Unless you overpaid or are highly leveraged on it.



Anyways, that's what I'd do. I've even heard of people leaving the farm, retiring somewhere else but renting the land out to someone else to grow food on, you takin a cut.

[Anonymous]

I should probably cash out my 401K and pay the house off and start over. I'd be money ahead compared to what I'll lose soon.

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

I built my house, guest house and pool about 25 years ago. Paid all in cash. About $130,000. Y'all would hate me more, if you knew it's value today. Couldn't imagine having a pesky mortgage, insurance, etc.

[JOE]

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

I built my house, guest house and pool about 25 years ago. Paid all in cash. About $130,000. Y'all would hate me more, if you knew it's value today. Couldn't imagine having a pesky mortgage, insurance, etc.

I don't think I'd ever buy land in Costa Rica, Seamajor.



Nevermind the tenuous land ownership laws, just establishing permanent residency is another but more important obstacle to overcome.



Given what you've written about Costa Rica, they are pretty much in line with the experiences of others I've read about on the Web - that it took expats a long time to establish safe secure residency in Costa rica



CR might be a nice place to visit but I wouldn't wanna live there.



If I wanted the sun, sand and surf, I'd probably move to Hawaii instead.

From the sounds of it, a lot safer too. For all of its faults, the USA still has more stable laws and lower rates of violence than many other countries in the world, particularly Latin America.

[Lokmar]

Jumpin' jahosephat....are you still payin' off yer mortgage...Lokmeer!?!



How many more years have ya got til it's paid off, Bud?

I built my house, guest house and pool about 25 years ago. Paid all in cash. About $130,000. Y'all would hate me more, if you knew it's value today. Couldn't imagine having a pesky mortgage, insurance, etc.

I doubt anyone is jelly of the CR hovel. Once the natives revolt, you're likely to be the new caption for "cannibal is me".

[Lokmar]

Nope. Thinking about cashing it in before it loses all its value. Also thinking about stopping my payments into itOh altogether for the next year or so.

Oh. I thought if you got land, esp farmland, it can only go up..Lokmeer!



Cuz even if the dollar becomes less, the value of the land will stay constant in an inflationary environment.



Plus...you said you have a farm, so if it grows food/crops this can only add value cuz food itself will continue to increase in price.



So even if the dollar becomes increasingly worthless, like gold, the value of land will be constant, don'tcha think....Lokmeer?! Unless you overpaid or are highly leveraged on it.



Anyways, that's what I'd do. I've even heard of people leaving the farm, retiring somewhere else but renting the land out to someone else to grow food on, you takin a cut.

Your alzheimers meds wore off, josephine. Its my in laws who own the farm. I just go down there and mass murder furry little woodland creatures on it.

[Anonymous]

I built my house, guest house and pool about 25 years ago. Paid all in cash. About $130,000. Y'all would hate me more, if you knew it's value today. Couldn't imagine having a pesky mortgage, insurance, etc.

I doubt anyone is jelly of the CR hovel. Once the natives revolt, you're likely to be the new caption for "cannibal is me".

Thank you for demonstrating your ignorance.

[Lokmar]

I doubt anyone is jelly of the CR hovel. Once the natives revolt, you're likely to be the new caption for "cannibal is me".

Thank you for demonstrating your ignorance.

I've talked with plenty of Americans who vacation in Central America. Its not a big deal and its affordable for just about anyone.

[JOE]

Thank you for demonstrating your ignorance.

I've talked with plenty of Americans who vacation in Central America. Its not a big deal and its affordable for just about anyone.

It may be affordable, but the pitfalls of land ownership seem a tad dubious.



Buyer beware. Proceed at yer own risk.

[DKG]

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve face a tough decision at their meeting tomorrow: ratchet up its benchmark interest rate again to quell inflation, or hold steady to avoid stressing the financial system.



KEY TAKEAWAYS

There's a 25% chance the Federal Reserve will keep its interest rate flat, and a 75% the Fed will hike it 25 basis points when it meets Wednesday, according to trading data.

The Fed might back off of its year-long campaign of raising rates to fight inflation for fear of destabilizing the financial system, which has been rocked by the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature banks.

On the other hand, the Fed could stay focused on taming inflation and raise rates despite the risk of putting banks under more stress.

[DKG]

In more alarming news about the state of Social Security, some experts are warning that up to 20% in payment cuts could be coming as early as 2032, unless Congress intervenes with measures to preserve funding for the program.



Upwards of 66 million people currently receive benefits, with the average coming in around $1,691, according to January 2023 data from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Cuts of 20% would see payments shrink to $1,352, which is going backwards from the progress made to increase benefits through cost of living adjustments (COLAs), the latest of which came earlier this year and bumped payment amounts by 8.7%. More than half of retirees say even that higher adjustment isn't enough to get by on, as GOBankingRates reported.

[Lokmar]

I've talked with plenty of Americans who vacation in Central America. Its not a big deal and its affordable for just about anyone.

It may be affordable, but the pitfalls of land ownership seem a tad dubious.



Buyer beware. Proceed at yer own risk.

I'd never vaca in one of those terd wurlds let alone buy land in one.