Monthly News and Halloween Updates!

I hope you had a great Halloween!

My wife and I took our daughter, Penny (now 19 months old), trick or treating.

She dressed up as her favorite character, The Very Hungry Caterpillar! We dressed up as her sidekicks, the food she ate. I was a watermelon and my wife was a lollipop.

We all had a great time, with Penny enjoying her first-ever candy bar (and ensuing sugar rush).

Onto the finance world, I came across a few articles and charts this past month that I found interesting and wanted to share.

Remembering the Crash of 1987: On Monday, October 19, 1987, the Dow fell 22.6%. This was and still is the largest one-day drop in its more than 126-year history. Can you imagine?
Americans Have Never Been Wealthier & No One is Happy: The headline pretty much says it all. Across the board, people are doing much better financially than ever before, but sentiment remains low.
Reducing Taxes: This article covers a variety of ways to reduce your taxes. Not all will apply to everyone’s situation, but it’s a good list to review.
How to Invest During Times of War: A look at how various investments have performed during wars.
The New Inflation Bond Interest Rate is 5.27%: This new rate, announced today, pays a competitive interest rate on cash.
Open Enrollment Is an Opportunity: It’s open enrollment time for your employee benefits. Before you simply renew the same benefits you chose last year, ask yourself: Are you taking full advantage of your employee benefits? This article walks you through how to do that.
How Economists Got It Wrong for 3 Years (NYT, paywall): On how and why experts misjudged the economy over the past few years.

Real Estate

I’m giving real estate its own section since there is so much interesting data. Here are a few charts that stood out.

Home sales are on pace for their lowest annual total since 2008:

Supply (aka inventory) is low. There are fewer homes for sale today than any other time on record (going back to 1999):

Given that mortgage rates are around 8%, and prices remain high as a result of low inventory, home affordability metrics are awful.

The median American household would need to spend about 44% of their income to afford the median priced home, a record high:

And lastly in real estate news, the way realtor commissions are paid may change in the next few years. The results of a recent verdict between the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and a group of sellers stated that sellers would no longer be required to pay the buyers’ agents commission. Agents would then be free to set their own commission rates. The NAR has promised to appeal, and the Department of Justice would need to edit the current rules, so we’ll see where this ends up.

I hope you found these helpful! As always, please reach out if you have any questions or would like to connect.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

The graphs and charts in this commentary are for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any actual investment. Index returns do not reflect any fees, expenses, or sales charges. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Stocks are not guaranteed and have been more volatile than other asset classes. Historical returns were the result of certain market factors and events which may not be repeated in the future. Financial professionals are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgement in determining whether investments are appropriate for clients.

This material is intended for information purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities.

Data from Morningstar. Returns over one year are annualized.

Disclaimer: Investments are not guaranteed and are subject to investment risk, including possible loss of the principal amount invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. All allocations and opinions expressed are as of the date of this presentation and subject to change. The information contained herein does not constitute investment advice or a solicitation. Information obtained from 3rd parties is believed to be accurate, but has not been independently verified.

The opinions expressed in this article are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific security. The material is presented solely for information purposes and has been gathered from sources believed to be reliable, however Think Different Financial Planning cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information, and certain information presented here may have been condensed or summarized from its original source. Think Different Financial Planning does not provide tax or legal advice, and nothing contained in these materials should be taken as such. As always please remember investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Think Different Financial Planning and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure. No advice may be rendered by Think Different Financial Planning unless a client service agreement is in place.

Real Estate

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