One of the most discounted investments available is the annuity. An annuity can be thought of as the opposite of a life insurance policy. Instead of creating an lump sum of money, an annuity liquidates one by providing you instead with a stream of income. The original idea is simple. Suppose you get a lump …
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Libertarians and the Art Of Politics
(Originally written in 2005. Still valid) Of all the political parties, my personal sympathies lie closest to the official platform of the Libertarian Party. Nonetheless, I have never been a registered Libertarian, never sent them money, and likely never will. The Libertarian Party, you see, is primarily interested in ideological purity. They’ve been hijacked by …
Jihad versus Hirabah
Enrevanche sent me an email about a Chapomatic article and his own response on the distinction between Jihad (or “holy war”, a name for war in the name of religion), and hirabah, which to quote The term hirabah refers to public terrorism in a war against society and civilization. In legal terminology it is defined …
Improving your Credit Score and Tradelines
Working with a borrower all day today. Truly ugly situation because he doesn’t have a long history of credit, and this is the major obstacle to getting the loan done. He actually makes the money, and has a sufficient history of making the money to justify the loan “full documentation”. But: He only has one …
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Buying One Property While Selling Another
Most people don’t stay in their first house their whole life. At some point, they want to move to a different home. There are several ways to approach the transaction, but you have to decide which way fits you. You can approach it with an idea to maximizing profit, maximizing cash flow, maximizing speed, minimizing …
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Surveillance – Should it be Illegal?
Balloon Juice has a piece on how you can get anyone’s phone records for just over $100. And this evidently surprises not only him but the place he got it. Since the 1970s, the technology has existed to monitor every conversation in any room that has windows from basically any distance. The great defenses have …
My Favorite Investing Books
A week or so before Christmas, I got an e-mail asking me what my favorite books for investors and real estate folks were. My response? Unless you’re going to practice professionally and undertake the study necessary to do a good job of it, personal financial advice books are largely a waste of money. The only …
Mortgage Life and Disability Insurance
Every few days, I get junk mail wanting me to buy Mortgage Life and/or Disability Insurance. Buy regular policies instead. These are not, in general, good policies of insurance, because the benefits go straight to someone else. Mortgage Life Insurance is straightforward enough. It’s decreasing term insurance – the insurance company’s favorite kind of policy. …
What I Look For In a Mutual Fund Family
Reading the papers, I see all kinds of garbage about mutual funds. Probably the biggest single piece of garbage is that only the so-called “no load” funds are any good. They focus only on the cost of the “loaded” fund, as if there is no benefit to be had from the fact that the “load” …
The Economics of Housing Development
The genesis of all of this is Something’s Gotta Give, a report (.pdf format) from the Center For Housing Policy. Furthermore, there is an article in the Washington Times from UPI that connects the dots on the tactical level. The Center for Housing Policy report details some of the costs to society. Not surprisingly, when …