{"id":48859,"date":"2018-05-19T04:15:28","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T11:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=48859"},"modified":"2023-05-12T10:31:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:31:12","slug":"black-coffee-19-may-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id48859-black-coffee-19-may-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Hope and Chains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Okay, away we go …<\/p>\n

“He who goes a borrowing goes a sorrowing.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Benjamin Franklin<\/strong><\/p>\n

“A man in debt is a man in chains.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— James Lendall Basford<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Despite the Fed and mainstream financial media continuing to push the “booming economy” narrative, Adem Tumerkan wants to know, “If things are going so well<\/a>, why are subprime loan delinquencies at a 22-year high?” Good question. Maybe because the economy really isn’t<\/em> booming?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Frankly, Mr. Tumerkan may be on to something. Especially after a recent survey found that 12 million millennials between the ages of 24 and 36 still live with their parents<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> I suppose a large chunk of those millennials who still haven’t left the nest must live in San Francisco because this week 6580 people applied for 95 subsidized low-cost apartments there. No, really<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of affordable housing — or a lack thereof — this week the Chicago Fed formally proposed<\/a> that Illinois homeowners with houses worth $250,000 pay an additional $2500 per year in property taxes, while homes worth $500,000 and $1 million would see property taxes increase by $5000 and $10,000, respectively. I know — but it’s a desperate attempt to save Illinois’ crumbling public pensions.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately for pension recipients, this absurd plan can’t save them because property values would simply fall until the tax burden returns to the level it was before<\/a> that insane rate increase — leaving the government with the same revenue as before the increase. However, what the plan will<\/em> do is put a lot of Illinois homeowners in a bad mood. How bad? Well … most likely this<\/em> bad:<\/p>\n