All Posts in "Personal Finance/Consumers"

Americans are dealing with sky-high inflation, which hit a 40-year high earlier this year. Though inflation has started to slightly trend downward due to factors like the Federal Reserve rate hikes, the year-over-year inflation rate was still a whopping 8.3 percent in August.

This high inflation is driven by a variety of factors, including the continued presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and labor shortages.

The U.S. government is hoping to continue to rein in inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes this year, but exactly how much of an effect that will have remains to be seen.

Inflation is rising more quickly in some places than others, though. In order to determine the cities where inflation is rising the most, WalletHub compared 23 major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across two key metrics related to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation.

Cities and their metropolitan areas rising the most, in order, were Phoenix, Ariz., Atlanta, Ga., Tampa, Fla., Miami, Fla., and Dallas, Texas.

The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metro region is the 11th-fastest rising, with a CPI increase of 9 percent over the previous year.

WalletHub said it compared the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the latest month for which federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data is available to two months prior and one year prior to get a snapshot of how inflation has changed in the short and long term.

Sources: WalletHub, a personal finance website, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

srmedia by — October 26, 2022 in Personal Finance/Consumers

New research reveals the United States, with an average cost of $7,000-plus, has the second most expensive funerals in the world.

The research by Aging in Place, an organization that provides consumer information for older adults and their families, reviewed the cost of funerals and the average salaries in each country to reveal the most expensive countries for a funeral.

The 10 most expensive, in order, and their average prices (in U.S. dollars) are:

Japan: $22,292. Most of the funeral fees go to Buddhist temples that hold the funerals. Due to the high cost of land, burial plots have become prohibitively expensive, so many people opt for cremation.

United States: $7,289. The pricetag is 12percent of the average American’s salary. Funeral costs have risen sharply over the last 30 years, especially for caskets, the most costly expense for a burial; they’re up 200 percent, outpacing the inflation of other consumer products by more than double.    

Germany: $7,215. The highest among European countries, due to strict laws and regulations governing burial and cremation reducing competition and driving up prices. A deceased person must be laid to rest in a coffin and burial plot in a cemetery, even if they’ve been cremated.

The least expensive countries for a funeral are:

India: $115. The majority of funerals are Hindu-based and the deceased are mostly cremated, as Hindus believe the physical body serves no purpose after death and doesn’t need to be preserved, and that cremation is the quickest way to release the soul.

Argentina: $421. That’s $51,750 in Argentine pesos. Despite being a majority Catholic country where burials are the most common ceremony, cremations are becoming popular thanks to the country’s economic downturn, forcing the bereaved to go for the cheaper option.

Brazil: $458. The price is barely 3 percent of the average salary of Brazilians, who, rather than celebrating the life of the deceased, focus on the pain of the loss of loved one. Funerals usually take place within 48 hours of death.

srmedia by — October 13, 2022 in Personal Finance/Consumers
Pierce property values still climbing

Pierce County communities with the the largest current increases in home values, all at 20 percent or more, include the Puget Sound waterfront town of Steilacoom.

Home values increased by a “startling” countywide average of about $80,000 per home in the past year, said Assessor-Treasurer Mike Lonergan.

Overall, residential properties went up 19 percent this year, compared to 16 percent in 2021. By individual communities, the largest increases this year (20 percent or more) are in Gig Harbor, Carbonado, Key Peninsula, Steilacoom, University Place, South Prairie, Parkland, Spanaway, Roy, Pacific, and the Pierce County portion of Auburn.

Longeran, who attributes the increases to a hot real estate market, cautioned homeowners not to expect higher values will result in a hefty tax increase. He noted state law limits the amount taxes can go up without a vote of the people.

“It’s a math equation, and when values are rising, the legal limits on each taxing district will reduce their tax rates per thousand dollars of value,” Lonergan said.

Tax bills in 2023 will be the new 2022 value multiplied by the combined tax rates of school districts, cities, and fire districts in homeowners’ areas, added to the statewide school levy “that everyone pays,” Lonergan explained. “So a lot depends on public votes in local districts, such as levy lid lifts and bond issues.”

While home values are all up “dramatically,” the change varies from community to community based on sales of similar properties,  Lonergan explained. For example, the 18.4 percent increase in Tacoma was near the countywide average, bringing the typical Tacoma residence to $493,000–an increase of $77,000. By contrast, Edgewood’s increase was the lowest at 12.9 percent ($69,000) for an average 2022 residential value of $604,000.”

As for commercial property, most showed slight value increases as COVID-9 restrictions eased, with the exception of hotels which remained unchanged, according to Lonergan. Retail, restaurants and office space each went up around 5 percent, while apartment buildings and warehouses showed another year of double-digit increases due to continuing demand for affordable housing and online-ordering businesses.

Tax bills based on 2022’s valuations will be sent to property owners next year, with the first half payment due April 30.

For current tax bills this year, the second half payment is due Oct. 31.

More information is available from the assessor-treasurer’s office at piercecountywa.gov/atr and 253-798-6111.

srmedia by — September 28, 2022 in Personal Finance/Consumers

By Barbara Morrison

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are around 28,900 residential care and assisted living facilities in the U.S.. The majority of the facilities contribute greatly to the country’s social and economic fabric. However, despite the importance of these facilities in our society, they often struggle to find affordable financing to expand or improve their services.

Fortunately, the Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loan program provides an affordable way to obtain funding for building or improving an assisted living facility. The SBA 504 program significantly reduces the amount assisted living facilities have to pay for a down payment and provides a long-term, below-market, fixed interest rate.

The loans enable a business owner to purchase, renovate, construct or refinance commercial real estate with only a 10 percent down payment. With the low down payment, businesses can retain precious working capital so that the company can continue to grow. Renovations, equipment, closing costs and soft costs can be financed as part of the total project cost, and the down payment is only 10 percent of that total.

SBA 504 loans are designed to solve important challenges. Recent Census data indicates there are around 76.4 million baby boomers in the United States. The first boomers were born in 1946, which means those 76 million-plua people are at or quickly approaching the age of 76 years old. As they  get older, they often need assisted-living arrangements to ensure a high quality of life. The SBA 504 loans provide business owners with access to the funding they require to own and manage facilities that help care for the nation’s aging population.

The  loan process streamlines funding and reduces the risk for lenders, as well as assisted-living facility owners.

The structure of an SBA 504 loan is designed to mitigate the risk associated with lending without limiting the amount of capital borrowers gain access to. Here’s how that’s done:

  • The loan can consist of two mortgages. The first mortgage is provided by a conventional lender, representing approximately 50 percent of the total project cost. The SBA 504 second mortgage, representing generally 40 percent of the total project cost, has a long term, up to 25 years, and fixed interest rate, fully amortized for the full term of the loan.
  • The rest of the funds come for the borrower as a down payment, meaning it is possible to borrow as much as 90 percent of the money needed, paying the remaining 10 percent out of pocket.
  • Monthly payments are fixed for the life of the loan, providing small business owners with affordable payments that enable them to control overhead costs for the long term. The interest rate is below-market and to the current market rate for five-year and 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, always being a certain amount above it.

To be eligible, an assisted living facility needs to:

 

Barbara Morrison is the founder and president of TMC Financing, which provides SBA commercial real estate financing. She’s a former mayor and City Council member for the city of Belvedere, Calif.

srmedia by — September 14, 2022 in Everything Else