Wisdom on Wealth

Fifteen minutes will save you…

You can probably fill in the blank. Because one of the largest insurance companies in America has built a brand on the promise that spending fifteen minutes getting a quote from them can save you fifteen percent on premium costs.

I’ve never called those folks, so I can’t speak to the value they do or don’t offer. They do have cleaver ads, I’ll give them that.

But the higher the cost of failure, the more concerned I become when the first thing mentioned is price.

If I find myself wandering around the cereal aisle at Huge-Mart and notice that the Huge Mart brand of granola is $2 lower in price than a nationally advertised, well-known brand, what is my risk if I go for the low-cost option? If I find I just don’t like the cheapo brand, I’m out a few bucks.

But if I make a decision about automobile insurance based on someone offering me a low price, I need to wake up and pay attention.

I’m a repeat offender.

A two-time loser. Maybe three. Incorrigible. I wonder if there’s a registry somewhere I’ve need to be on.

It started about fifteen years ago. I decided I would switch things up in my exercise routine by taking up cycling. Unfortunately, the borrowed bicycle I was using wasn’t the right height for me (who knew bicycles came in sizes?). As a result, I aggravated my middle-aged back. It was my first foray into the world of back pain.

But it wouldn’t be my last.

Like any good ex-jock, I determined to push through the pain. That was a mistake.

I spent the next several months in a doomed loop of exercise, injury, lay off just long enough to feel better but not get better, rinse and repeat. If you’ve ever suffered from chronic back pain, you know there is no shortage of opinions as to how to effectively treat the issue. You’ve spent many sleepless nights reading up on this stuff, unable to rest due to your pain.

The problem with the conveniences of a short cut are the consequences in the long-term. 

Reese and Kyle were one of the 40% of first time home buyers who hadn’t saved any money (at all!) for a down-payment. What to do?

No problem! Crowd sourcing to the rescue! HomeFundMe showed them how to solicit donations from parents and friends (online, so it was cool) so they wouldn’t actually have to go through the yucky process of saving money. 

Another option they had, according to the Wall Street Journal story about them, was borrowing the down-payment from Loftium. All they had to do was agree to rent out a room in their house on Airbnb and share the income. 

Is it just me, or does anyone else remember what happened ten years ago when we let a lot of people buy houses with no skin in the game? What happens when hard times come and they cannot (or no longer wish) make the mortgage payments? See ya!

“Should I be worried?”

In my world, you get this phone call on a regular basis. I’m actually glad to get it, because it gives me an opportunity to remind folks what we are doing and what we are not doing.

“The market was doing so well last year, now it’s really slowed down. Should I be worried?”

He was right. The stock market did extraordinarily well in 2017, much to the surprise of nearly everyone. Depending on which measuring stick you use, the United States stock market was up anywhere from 21% to 28% in 2017.

Now, things seem to have taken a pause. Is it North Korea? Or corn prices? What about all these new tariffs? The new tax law? The president? The congress? The Illuminati exercising secret mind control over the markets?