Today I am going to share with you an article about money everywhere, we should probably end phone-based childhood now, the end of 6% real estate agent commissions, credit card rewards and debt and amazing photography from the Smithsonian magazine photo contest. The regular longer post returns on Friday featuring the usual mix of eclectic curated links along with my commentary, thank you for reading my blog.
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Back with another short Tuesday post. I will see you all Friday with the usual longer post. I am going to try harder to make the Friday posts shorter.
So Much Money Everywhere
This headline just captures what is going on perfectly. All this is happening while we all endure an amazingly flippant political environment that gets us right back to what we were faced four years ago. Then again, four years ago we were all going to die from some weird virus too. Anyway, it is what it is, focus on what you can control and let the markets do their thing.
These two charts from the article just stood out imho:
End the Phone-Based Childhood Now
I am all in favor for this! Is there any doubt about this anymore? The environment in which kids grow up today is hostile to human development.
Also, ban helicopter parenting as well imho, let the kids figure it out!
And this is shocking and so sad:
The most recent Gallup data show that American teens spend about five hours a day just on social-media platforms (including watching videos on TikTok and YouTube). Add in all the other phone- and screen-based activities, and the number rises to somewhere between seven and nine hours a day, on average. The numbers are even higher in single-parent and low-income families, and among Black, Hispanic, and Native American families. These very high numbers do not include time spent in front of screens for school or homework, nor do they include all the time adolescents spend paying only partial attention to events in the real world while thinking about what they’re missing on social media or waiting for their phones to ping. Pew reports that in 2022, one-third of teens said they were on one of the major social-media sites “almost constantly,” and nearly half said the same of the internet in general. For these heavy users, nearly every waking hour is an hour absorbed, in full or in part, by their devices.
There are a lot more depressing paragraphs in the article like the one above, you have been warned.
Are Homebuyers Hit Hardest By Landmark Realtor Lawsuit?
Just like that last week the long standing 6% sales commission for real estate agents is gone. It is amazing this racket lasted so long. Then again, if you knew how powerful this lobby is in Washington DC you will not be surprised. So, what happens next? We will find out as everyone adjusts. It looks like home buyers may get hurt but at the same time overall costs of each transaction should be going down. And the innovative gutsy professionals in the industry have an excellent chance of smoking the competition, perhaps with entirely new business models. And competing is something we do well in this country.
If you are in the industry I would love you to comment with your thoughts.
Is It Worth Chasing Credit Card Rewards If You’re In Debt?
We go back to the roots of this blog. Because chasing credit card rewards is a passion addiction for some of us. But if there is one thing that should never EVER happen is…doing it while in debt! Because, sadly, the ones who do this end up paying for all the rewards that we responsible people earn while never incurring a single dollar of credit card debt.
In my financial planning firm I do not work with any individuals who carry credit card debt. Why? Because there is absolutely nothing else that anyone can do to improve their financial situation other than paying off ALL of this debt. Why would I charge you a fee when it could go towards paying off this debt? It makes no sense. Paying off this debt and then making sure you never ever carry any more of it is a fundamental prerequisite for, well, quality of life, happiness and freedom. In my humble opinion. Some people have serious spending control issues and most likely will never become savers. If you belong in this camp please seek help.
Two-thirds of Americans in debt try to maximize their credit card rewards, according to a new study by Bankrate. It’s tempting to rack up miles or points to earn a vacation or cash back, but there’s no way to win at that game if you’re in debt. [The ironic thing here is that this firm is a giant seller of travel reward credit cards lol]
Be in the top blue like me #winning
I always warn people that if you get into this game you will definitely spend more using your credit card. If you have money control issues this is not for you period. Please stay away until you can trust yourself to always pay your credit card balances every month and do this the rest of your life. Paying a single penny of interest to the banks is like a felony around here!
It’s well-established that people tend to spend more money when they pay with a credit card instead of a debit card or cash — up to twice as much…Drugs like cocaine and amphetamines. So, using your credit card essentially gives you a shopping high. Add cash back or airline miles to that effect, and it’s easy to see how those in debt might be tempted to use their rewards credit cards even when it is irrational.
Obviously, with millions of miles/points earned and burned in this hobby for over three decades I could go on and on about this topic. I always welcome questions in the comments or via email.
60 Stunning Finalists From the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest
Absolutely stunning, enjoy.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/fc/57/fc577bd1-f699-4a6e-9da1-9fd7473e08a4/toddy_palm_climber_kyaw_zay_yar_lin.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/e8/fe/e8fe805b-29d6-4006-940c-ecc8704403f5/the_ice_mushroompeter_ohara.jpeg)
This blog started with a focus on miles and points and travel. It has evolved since then. All the miles & points sections return on Friday, along with the other gems you have become accustomed to.
Let me leave you with this:
Some of the links are behind a paywall. You can try to read them using Archive.is.
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TBB
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Good morning!
The real estate cartel collapsed! It was weakening around here for quite some time. We shall find a new equilibrium I suppose.
Fascinating you use credit card debt as an instrument to gauge client responsibility.
Thanks for the links.
I expect so many real estate agents doing it part time to quit and move on.
Credit card debt must be one of them all time reliable indicators whether someone will become a good client imho.
I read that phone-based childhood article the other day. You are right, it is really affecting people! I almost linked to it on my FB page but sadly, one of my kids would likely have taken offense!
I say NO, sir. Please, sir! Do not make the Friday emails shorter. You always provide lots of good reading so I don’t want to lose any of the good stuff here!
Of course, if you gotta cut back, well, it is your blog, of course and I understand!
Hope the foot is healing!
I need to make them shorter because they are just way too long I have been told by a few readers I value their opinion. Their argument was that our attentions spans have gotten very short and likely it is driving many away not to come back Sure explains the reduced traffic. At the same time, no worries, they will still be long! Maybe slowly shift some material to Tuesday…maybe split then? I don’t know, we shall see.
Walked 2 miles on my day off today. Felt way better but most likely it won’t last. Compensating by exercising at the gym and really improving my eating habits.
Almost skipped today. But a reader sent me a positive note along with a few coffeea so I just could not walk away…until Friday.
And on it goes…At 1 cc sale per month ( if this keeps up) the end is likely here. Told wife when this happens we are moving to Thailand:-)
Ok, I did not even imagine some folks thought the posts were too long. A true YMMV situation for sure, but you got to listen to your audience as well,I agree.
Good on the walking and hope all the things you are doing brings relief to the foot. If nothing else the rest of you will be very healthy!!!
Well, for whatever amount of time you do this, I am in for it. Truly, I look forward to every posting. Thanks for doing all of this!
Will aim to not have more than 3 links in each Section. Except the Miles and Points area. We’ll see how this lasts. Always evolving around here.
What is not evolving is the new credit card provider. Stuck at just one cc sale smh.
Thanks again, help me blog less, this is not healthy beating myself up here you guys.
It is really hard to keep phones away from kids. We do it but it is a constant struggle. Smartphones are one reason why I’m glad we homeschool.
In other news: Bitcoin is a levered way of betting on Nasdaq, change my mind: https://twitter.com/Analyst_G/status/1770103203310285243
I had a thought after I posted that link. What if they take the phones away and lock them up during class and then a mass shooter psycho comes in…Can you imagine the lawsuits? Yikes.
Yeah, getting a little out of hand out there. This is how I lead on Friday’s post.
How do you pay 5-6% commission to sell a home?
In the UK you’d pay 1% outside London and 1.75% in London, all paid by the seller.
And in the UK, you can also get gazumped and gazundered in your real estate transactions….terms I recently had to learn!!
Apparently most service jobs are paid poorly in the UK “
Buckingham Palace hiring £25k communications assistant as scrutiny continues into royal handling of Kate Middleton rumours”
Sure these guys were deeply involved in creating the slave trade. Probably should be happy to just be paid something.
https://t.co/ifcrQuCVkq
But think of the future potential after putting that on the resume 🙂
“Sure these guys were deeply involved in creating the slave trade.”
Lol
Still waiting for that soul to volunteer here to help this blog get discovered. I guess having TBB Intern (very negotiable on letting them pick their own title, how about VP of Strategic Relations”? 🙂
…. and 1.75% is still a swizz. Huge amounts of high end London property is bought sight unseen by dirty money. You’re getting 1.75% on £5m+ just for uploading it onto your website – you don’t even need to do viewings.
(Yes, there are money laundering rules in place for property agents. Not a single conviction has ever been made.)
Yeah, it’s been a racket that inexplicably held for decades.
There may be a lot of way part time realtors looking to do something else. Maybe one day I can afford to hire one around here with my blog (missing) profits 🙂
“In this rural scene, a man is climbing a toddy palm tree to get palm wine. He is climbing with good balance and trying not to fall. ” — Never heard of a toddy palm, nor of palm wine. Did you write that? (Of course he’s trying not to fall!)
🙂
Took me a few minutes to figure out what you talking about! I did not write that, just pasted it as is to hopefully not get nailed for lack of attribution or whatever they call it. Never had palm wine, wonder how it tastes 🙂
We call it lambanog in the Philippines.
Lambanóg is a traditional Filipino distilled palm liquor. It is commonly derived from tubâ made from coconut sap that has been aged for at least 48 hours. It originates from Luzon and the Visayas Islands (where it is known as dalisay de coco).
On another note, we live in San Diego and 7 years ago I decided to get my realtor license to save money from buying and selling my own house. Made/saved about 30K within those years only from my buying and then selling then buying the house we currently have now.
This is great, thanks for your input!
And nice job with the $s in San Diego real estate. I wonder how many were/are? at it doing it this way.
Greece 5 Kazakhstan 0
It was a beautiful game in Athens, for the Greeks. Everything went right, could have been more. Felt sorry for the Kazakhs, it was a horrible day in the office for them. In a sold out rocking stadium.
Now for the BIG game in Georgia.
We win there and we make it to Euro 2024. No one would have expected Greece to be here, been a rough stretch lately…
Of course those darn Georgians have our number, for whatever reason. Will be a bloodbath!
Announcer ended broadcast with:
Georgia, we are coming!