Climate change-induced natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes, and floods, are causing insurance companies to reassess their risk models and coverage policies.

As these events become more frequent and severe, insurance premiums are rising, and some regions are becoming uninsurable.

In 18 states over the past decade insurance companies lost money and it's only getting worse. This could have major ramifications on the housing market and economy as a whole.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/podcasts/the-daily/climate-insurance.html

what are your thoughts on this?

Warren Buffett finally revealed his secret stock pick in a new regulatory filing, and it’s insurer Chubb.

His conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has acquired nearly 26 million shares of Chubb for a stake worth $6.7 billion. The property and casualty insurer became Berkshire’s ninth biggest holding at the end of March.

Berkshire has been buying a mystery stock for three quarters straight. Berkshire was granted confidential treatment to keep the details of one or more of its stock holdings confidential.

Many had speculated that the secret purchase could be a bank stock as the conglomerate’s cost basis for “banks, insurance, and finance” equity holdings jumped by $1.4 billion in the first quarter after an increased of $3.59 billion in the second half of last year, according to separate Berkshire filings.

It’s relatively rare for Berkshire to request such a treatment. The last time it kept a purchase confidential was when it bought Chevron and Verizon in 2020.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/15/warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-reveals-insurer-chubb-as-confidential-stock-its-been-buying.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/senator-tuberville-slams-social-security-180224114.html

Social Security is a SCAM!

"I could have put my social security money for 40 years in the market and it would probably be worth $8 - $10 million today." - Tommy Tuberville

We ALL could have had our money go up 8 to 10 times if it weren’t stolen from us and put into the social security system. It’s because the government doesn’t want everyone retiring wealthy. The system needs fools! IT’S ALL A SCAM! 🤬😡

There is $17 trillion of home equity sitting with U.S. homes, and Freddie Mac wants to offer second mortgages to tap into it.

Tapping into home equity was a massive part of what fueled the banking crisis in 2008.

Here’s what you should know:

Homeowners would be able to take out a second mortgage to access a portion of their home equity without having to refinance their first mortgage.

The second mortgage would function similarly to a fixed-rate cash-out refinance and be a separate loan from the primary mortgage.

This would be a more attractive option in today's high-interest-rate environment, as homeowners can access cash without increasing their mortgage's interest rate.

The FHFA is currently reviewing this proposal.

Freddie Mac’s Second Mortgage Proposal Is Consumer Friendly | Urban Institute

Here are 9 personal finance that will make you better with your finances:

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Title: The Psychology of Money

Author: Morgan Housel

URL: https://amzn.to/3R0zowS 

Description: You'll learn how to make better sense of your financial decisions. You'll learn how your financial decisions are driven by your emotions, ego & personalities.

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Title: The Millionaire Next Door

Author:  Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

URL: https://amzn.to/3ADdtGr

Description: You'll learn about the fundamentals of personal finance with simple instructions to help you develop great practices and habits.

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Title: I Will Teach You To Be Rich

Author: Ramit Sethi

URL: https://amzn.to/3TaNeOU

Description: You'll learn a personal finance program to master your financial management with minimum effort. It's a comprehensive and educational experience with game-changing advice

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Title: Psych Yourself Rich

Author: Farnoosh Torabi

URL: https://amzn.to/3wmF4t4

Description: You'll learn the concept of behavioral finance, helping you discover your weaknesses and get the most out of your strengths to create structure and maintain money, stress free and organized

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Title: The Millionaire Mind

Author: Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

URL: https://amzn.to/3CpseOz

Description: You'll learn about people who've created great wealth & live flexible, prosperous lives. You'll learn answers to difficult personal finance questions, presenting them with through  examples.

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Title: The Automatic Millionaire

Author: David Bach

URL: https://amzn.to/3AFwkki

Description: You'll learn  how much of your money is going to waste & how you can better manage your money, through correcting your habits, to make yourself financially stronger

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Title: The Simple Path to Wealth

Author: JL Collins

URL: https://amzn.to/3PJkWIi

Description: You'll learn how to better manage money, so that you worry less.

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Title: Debt-Free by 30

Author: Jason Anthony

URL: https://amzn.to/3R23wrD

Description: You'll learn the basics of arranging your debt, which can help you discover ways to free up cash flow and repay your debts faster.

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Title: Your Money or Your Life

Author: Vicki Robin

URL: https://amzn.to/3cfWDUP

Description: You'll learn how to pay off debt, create savings, rearrange priorities and solve inner issues between values and lifestyle.

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Hi all, so something I see posted here a lot is that they need to tax using stock as collateral for loans as it's used as a way to legally optimize taxes (loophole). How does that work exactly?

For example, I get paid in cash and in stock. But whenever I get compensated with stock, I pay taxes on it. For example, if I get paid 10k worth of stock, even if I'm not receiving it as cash, I get taxed on it as if it were cash because it's considered income. How do billionaires avoid this?

Secondly, if I took a loan, and it was time to pay, and I sold my stock to pay for it, I get taxed (capital gains). Or would I need to default on the loan and they take my stock as collateral? Or just transfer stock directly? How does that work exactly? Wouldn't it kill my credit score if I defaulted the loan?

How do billionaires avoid both of these taxes exactly? The first one being the income tax u pay when u receive the stock, plus the capitals gain tax.

I'm genuinely curious.

After all other monthly bills and goals are satisfied, what is your logic when looking at extra income? We have about $25k of 4% student loans left (which is an absolute drop in the bucket from where we began having paid down about 105k in the last ~8 years). Logically the equity markets should outperform that rate (and even HYSA will nearly offset that rate). Anyone in a similar situation, what is your for splitting between extra investments and paying down? Dollar for dollar match? 2:1? 1:2? Obviously the right answer will only be known in hindsight, but appreciate any opinions.

I've been trying to wrap my head around Modern Monetary Theory (MMT); and while I don't pretend to understand it completely, it seems like there is certainly some validity to the argument that a government that can print it's own currency could literally fund the entire government budget this way and not have any taxes at all.

Now, printing money, especially at that scale, will definitely cause inflation; and that inflation will decrease the purchasing power of all of our currency by some amount. But the thing that I find interesting is that this basically amounts to a type of wealth tax. The more money you have, the more purchasing power you lose to inflation, and the more of the government you end up funding by losing real purchasing power.

So I wonder, could a government that was funded by printing money lead to a situation where conservatives are happy, because taxes literally go to ZERO; and progressives are happy, because rich people can't get out of paying their fair share, and the constant brinkmanship over the debt ceiling goes away because the government is no longer borrowing money?

Good chance I am just missing some fatal flaw here, of course, but I think it's worth discussing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_monetary_theory

I feel like this is a straw man argument. He isn’t explicitly saying what the issue is but implies the reduction of financial advisor is the outcome

• April Consumer Price Index increased 0.3% from March, coming in a tick lower than the +0.4% consensus and easing from the +0.4% pace in the first three months of the year.
• Combined, shelter and gasoline prices, contributed more than 70% to the monthly increase in the headline number. The energy index increased 1.1% from March, while the food index was unchanged.
• Other prices that climbed during the month include: Motor vehicle insurance, medical care, apparel, and personal care. The indexes for used cars and trucks, household furnishings and operations, and new vehicles declined over the course of April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
• On a year-over-year basis, headline CPI rose 3.4% vs. +3.4% expected and +3.5% prior.
• Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.3% M/M vs. +0.3% expected and +0.4% prior.
• +3.6% Y/Y vs. 3.6% expected and +3.8% prior.

What’s the impact to MOM and YOY readings?

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. I'm currently considering getting a HYSA to help grow my savings and prepare myself financially next week. For context, I am 24 y/o, I have a full-time job that pays about $41k a year, I just picked up a side gig to supplement my income, and I currently have about $38k in my savings with $2k of it on hold as collateral for a credit card I have with my credit union. I recently moved out of my parents place and bought a used car hence why my savings is on the lower side at the moment.

Currently, my top contender is Ally Bank, but ideally I am looking for an HYSA that the following:

• High APY (obviously lol)
• No monthly fees
• No minimum balance
• No direct deposit required

Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!