The Labor Market In September 248,000 new jobs were created in the U.S. 🙂 The national unemployment rate dropped from 6.1% to 5.9%, the lowest since 2008. This must mean we’re almost back at pre-recession, full employment right? Well if you ask people on the streets how they feel about the strong labor market recovery, many of them will not know… Read More »
Difficult to Refinance You know the credit market is tight when the former Chair of the Federal Reserve can’t even refinance his mortgage. 😛 If that’s of interest to you, you’re not a loan. 😀 Ben Bernanke graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1975 from Harvard University. He later received his Ph.D. in economics at The Massachusetts Institute of… Read More »
I came across a story recently about a couple who moved from Colorado to California. Their incomes doubled and within two years they became debt free 🙂 The article starts off as follows. This couple dropped $185K+ of debt in 20 months – Here’s how! What do too many student loans, a mortgage, and a few bad money decisions equal? A… Read More »
I have been battling a financial addiction since 2008. It has unfortunately gotten worse every year 😐 I just kept going back for more, and couldn’t help myself. The potential harm of this long term abuse came up in a discussion recently when a friend in Toronto asked me what would happen if I lost my job 😕… Read More »
Last week I invested roughly $5K into two new companies: Timbercreek, and Atrium. Both are mortgage backed securities called MICs and trade publicly on the TSX. Timbercreek (TMC) is based out of Ontario, where it conducts most of it’s lending business. TMC recently lowered its interest payout to 7.8% a year, which is still pretty attractive 🙂 Its CEO… Read More »
All Money Comes from Debt All the money in your bank account right now was created from debt in one form or another. The government creates money by issuing debt (bonds.) It then pays this money to public service employees, and the money eventually gets spent into the economy. The money from private sector jobs comes from debt as well. Small businesses often… Read More »