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Did You Know?
For the first time in history, the Olympic Village will have a nursery for athletes with children. Thanks to the advocacy of Allyson Felix — the most decorated track and field athlete in history — the Olympic Village will be home to its first-ever nursery.
Did You Know?
Millions of homeowners are forced to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars when they refinance their mortgages to protect against unexpected costs from a challenged property title. Yet claims on such insurance are exceedingly rare. Payouts may only amount to about 3% of overall premiums. Doma’s data suggest the cost of title insurance is out of sync with the risk it covers on mortgage refinancings. (WSJ)
Did You Know?
Some states with the lowest incomes have the highest home ownership rates: Mississippi (76%), West Virginia (77%), Alabama (74%), Kentucky (69%), and Arkansas (66%)..... do low incomes allow for cheaper home building perhaps? Does home ownership with a fixed housing cost help? New York, California and Massachusetts have some of the highest levels of personal income yet count themselves among the states with the lowest homeownership rates. Populations concentrated in larger cities is often the issue with high land costs..large cities and their surrounding suburbs also have strict zoning laws that dictate how land may be used. (CNN)
Did You Know?
If corporations raised prices simply to cover higher operating and production costs, someone, somewhere might have to explain why inflation-adjusted profits for US corporations rose from $1.6 trillion in 2019 to $2.5 trillion in 2023.....an increase of almost 44%….
Did You Know?
The U.S.’s hottest job market in 2023 was Utah’s tech sector, nicknamed Silicon Slopes for its proximity to the Wasatch Mountain Range. Heavily concentrated in the state’s north region, startup and established tech companies run about 80 miles from Ogden to Provo, with Salt Lake City in the middle. Roughly halfway between Salt Lake City and Provo is Draper, a city that 30 years ago had a population around 8,500, according to census data. Today, with a population closer to 50,000(WSJ). As you know our son and his family is a pediatric Surgeon in SLC so we feel like we are partial UTE!
Did You Know?
The maximum amount that can be gifted each year tax-free is $18,000 for an individual or $36,000 for a couple. Wealthy people are transferring money to kids much sooner while they are younger and probably need more aid than when they are older ….and this may be in part because the current estate tax exemption put in place by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is set to expire at the end of 2025…. reducing the size of an estate now could avoid estate taxes later….. (or is it because we all read the book Die with Zero????)
Did You Know?
The London-based Institute for Quality of Life recently released its 2024 Happy City Index, a ranking of the world's happiest places. It found that Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the happiest city in the US, and the only U.S. city to earn a coveted "Gold" ranking, alongside cities in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Canada. Cities were analyzed on the basis of five key categories of happiness-citizens, governance, environment, economy, and mobility, as well as 24 areas of activity, touching on everything from social inclusivity and access to cultural resources to smart public transportation and the planning and expansion of green spaces with 180 parks that are home to 22 lakes, 12 gardens, and 55 miles of bike trails and walking paths.
Here is a GREAT Tedtalk about the longest running US research project through Harvard University on happiness. Click here.
Did You Know?
Employers added 206,000 nonfarm payrolls in June. Economists expected a gain of 189,500 jobs. That compares with a gain of 218,000 in May. That number was revised lower from 272,000 originally reported. Revisions for April and May's data meant that U.S. employment in those months was a combined 111,000 lower than previously reported. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in June from 4% in May. A September Fed rate drop seems more likely.... (BARRONS)
Did You Know?
Total charitable giving in the U.S. in 2023 reached $557.16 billion, a 1.9% increase from 2022 in current dollars, but a 2.1% decrease when adjusted for inflation. Mike Bloomberg and McKenzie Scott led the pack of the most generous. Giving from estates valued $10 million and above totaled $25.16 billion. Over his lifetime, Bloomberg has given over $17 billion to philanthropy....and Mckenzie Scott has donated over $16 billion since 2019.... Warren Buffett has a lifetime giving of $56.7 billion. and Bill and Melinda Gates $42,5 billion....now that's some share! (Giving USA 2024)
Did You Know?
Italy a tax-haven? Yup! Italy offers one of the most attractive tax incentives in the world with a fixed €100,000 tax on any foreign income for anyone who moves to the country. It also offers a tax-free allowance of up to 50% on income capped at $650k for anyone, Italians or foreigners, who move to Italy from abroad. The wealthy population in Italy is soaring. The owners of Sant Ambroeus are now opening a club - The Wilde - in Milan to compete with Soho House. Other outposts are coming to New York, London and Los Angeles soon. (FT)
Did You Know?
Saks Fifth Avenue appears to be close to buying out Neiman Marcus which includes Bergdorf Goodman.....three of the most revered retail brands joining forces? Yup.....and Amazon is part of the deal to help facilitate their online activities as well as Salesforce.....and .... Toronto-based Hudson's Bay Company - North America's oldest company established by English royal charter in 1670 - is the primary buyer! Who would have thought 💃🏻….
Did You Know?
Learning from the past is wise: economists evaluating what exactly caused the recent inflation spike put the blame on multiple factors including lots of government stimulus, pent up demand and FOMO spending, price-gouging, etc, but all agree that it was the combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Federal Reserve policy mishaps that fueled most of it. (CNBC)
Did You Know?
Yes, there are areas of DEflation happening right now: lumber is priced about half off its high's during the peak of the Covid boom. Lumber futures shed 3% Friday to end at $452.50 per thousand board feet, down 27% since mid-March. Housing starts declined 17% between February and May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.28 million. Natural gas, steel and Heating oil are back down to 2018/19 levels too, off sharply from their high's. (WSJ)
"Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change." — Wayne W. Dyer
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