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 …
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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 …
What Type of Real Estate Listing Agent to Choose
On a regular basis, I see advertisements for real estate offices that say “discount broker – full service”. This is nonsense. A discount broker has consciously chosen a business model whose economics do not permit them to give the same service provided by a full service provider. Here’s the rundown. A discount broker’s listing agreement …
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The Basis of War
(This was originally going to be part II of Is the United States Worth Defending? but that got too long to continue.) What are my political priorities? Quite simply, I want to make the world as a whole and the United States in particular better places to live. I want people to live longer, richer, …
Asset and Income Rentals – Borrowing Trouble at Usurious Rates
I found this article by Ken Harney in the paper. WASHINGTON – Call it funny money for the housing boom: Now you don’t need actual cash in the bank to buy a house. All you need is somebody who says you’ve got money in the bank. Need a hundred grand on deposit to convince a …
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Shopping for Long Term Care Insurance – Who Should and Shouldn’t Buy, and Policy Characteristics
I’ve run two prior articles this week on the theme of Long Term Care, one on Long Term Care Issues, and one on Non-Tax-Qualified versus Tax-Qualified, and Partnership Insurance Policies. Now, I’m getting down to nuts and bolts of what you need to know while shopping for a policy. The two most important characteristics are …
Privacy Concerns in Real Estate Transactions
Every once in a while I get someone who is unhappy with required paperwork for privacy reasons. There are three forms that are the driving force behind this. The first is the standard form for a mortgage loan application, known in the business as the 1003. Admittedly, the form does ask for rather a lot …
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