More than 1 million seniors have taken advantage of this “retirement secret.”
It’s a well-known fact that for many older Americans, the home is their single biggest asset, often accounting for more than 45% of their total net worth. And with interest rates near all-time lows while home values are still high, this combination creates the perfect dynamic for getting the most out of your built-up equity.
But, many aren’t taking advantage of this unprecedented period. According to new statistics from the mortgage industry, senior homeowners in the U.S. are now sitting on more than 7.19 trillion dollars* of unused home equity.
Not only are people living longer than ever before, but there is also greater uncertainty in the ecomony. With home prices back up again,
For example, a lot of people mistakenly believe the home must be paid off in full in order to qualify for a HECM loan, which is not the case. In fact, one key advantage of a HECM is that the proceeds will first be used to pay off any existing liens on the property, which frees up cash flow, a huge blessing for seniors living on a fixed income. Unfortunately, many senior homeowners who might be better off with a HECM loan don’t even bother to get more information because of rumors they’ve heard.
In fact, a recent survey by American Advisors Group (AAG), the nation’s number one HECM lender, found that over 98% of their clients are satisfied with their loans. While these special loans are not for everyone, they can be
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, was one of those most responsible for the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, which resulted in the deaths of three police officers and the injuries of 140 others.
And now, he has the gall to claim he stands with the police.
On Monday, questioning attorney general nominee Merrick Garland, Hawley declared that a months-long increase in crime has been accompanied by “increasing calls by some activists, including members of the United States Congress, to ‘defund the police.’ ” Hawley, informing Garland that such calls send “the wrong message to law enforcement” and make them feel “under siege,” demanded Garland “tell me your position on defunding the police.”
Hawley, you’ll recall, is the guy who raised a fist of solidarity to the mob before the Capitol attack, and the guy whose home-state Kansas City Star charged that he “has blood on his hands in [the] Capitol coup attempt.”
Garland, who prosecuted the Oklahoma City bombing perpetrators before becoming a federal judge, fixed a steady gaze on Hawley. “As you no doubt know, President Biden has said he does not support defunding the police, and neither do I,” he said. “We saw how difficult the lives of police officers were in the body-cam videos we saw when they were defending the Capitol.”
It was a clear message to the violent white supremacists and other domestic terrorists who thrived during the Trump years, most visibly in their attack on the Capitol last month: There’s a new sheriff in town. Garland vowed that domestic terrorism “will be my first priority” as attorney general and promised to “do everything in the power of the Justice Department” to stop it.
For four years, President Donald Trump railed about “law and order” while breaking the former and undermining the latter. In Garland, we see a restoration of actual law and order. Timothy Mcveigh’s prosecutor has the backing of groups such as the Fraternal Order of Police, but he’s also determined to fight discrimination, as he explained during Monday’s hearing.
“I come from a family,” Garland said, his voice breaking, “where my grandparents fled antisemitism and persecution. The country took us in – and protected us.” With difficulty, he continued: “And I feel an obligation to the country to pay back, and this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back.”
Republicans shamefully denied Garland a hearing for nearly a year after President Barack Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2016. It is testimony to the resilience of both Garland and the sorely tested institutions of government that he’s now poised to become the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Riowa, and even Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., signaled their support on Monday.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-texas, who last week fled to the Ritz Carlton in Cancún while his constituents suffered without heat and water, took another trip Monday – back in time. He quizzed Garland about Operation Fast and Furious (2009), the Internal Revenue Service “targeting” of tea-party groups (2010) and a charge that the Justice Department was “weaponizing oppo research from Hillary Clinton’s campaign” (2016).
“Are you familiar with the Steele Dossier?” inquired Sen. John Cornyn, R-texas.
Graham pronounced it “stunning” that Garland declined to denounce former FBI director James Comey.
Grassley inquired about Hunter Biden.
And Hawley thought it necessary to ask the former chief judge on the second highest court in the land if he would “resist calls to politicize the Department of Justice.”
Garland replied calmly that, after 24 years on the bench, “I’ve grown pretty immune to any kind of pressure other than the pressure to do the right thing given the facts and the law.”
Maybe Senate Republicans did Garland a favor when they robbed this good man of a Supreme Court seat, for now he’s getting a more important assignment: defending democracy itself from Hawley, Cruz and mob rule.
Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, @Milbank.
Macy's fourth quarter profit plunged 52%, and sales slid nearly 19%. In the context of a year spent under the weight of a pandemic, that was seen as a pretty good ending to 2020 for the besieged department store chain.
Macy's predicted sales of as much as $21 billion this year, far exceeding the $17 billion that Wall Street had been projecting.
For the final fiscal quarter of the year that ended Jan. 30, Macy's reported profits of $160 million, or 50 cents a share.
Quarterly sales were $6.78 billion, also edging out analyst projections.
Sales at stores opened at least a year fell 17%, but online sales rose 21%.
PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Tuesday called on the state’s attorney general to resign as he faces misdemeanor charges for striking and killing a man with his car.
Jason Ravnsborg, the state’s top law enforcement officer, has indicated he will not step down while he waits for the case against him to proceed. Prosecutors have charged him with three misdemeanors but no felonies in the September death of 55-year-old Joseph Boever.
“Now that the investigation has closed and charges have been filed, I believe the Attorney General should resign,” said Noem, who promised to release more details from the crash investigation.
Republican legislators are also weighing whether to impeach Ravnsborg if he does not step down.