{"id":89443,"date":"2025-10-18T01:00:45","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=89443"},"modified":"2025-10-31T09:06:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T16:06:47","slug":"black-coffee-18-oct-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id89443-black-coffee-18-oct-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Burning Down the House"},"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

Well… another busy week is behind us. So with that in mind, let’s get this party started!<\/p>\n

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Lucius Seneca<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? This week the IRS unveiled the higher federal tax brackets for 2026<\/a> to adjust for inflation, with the top rate of 37% applying to individuals with taxable income above $640,600 and married couples filing jointly earning $768,700 or more. The standard deduction will also increase \u2013 from $16,100 for single taxpayers all the way to $32,200 for married couples filing jointly. Even better, the long-term capital gains tax rate<\/a> for annual investment earnings under $49,450 for singles and $98,900 for married couples is zero<\/strong><\/em>. (Psst. Please don’t spoil the party and tell that to Congress.)<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, a new study by Wells Fargo Securities has determined that the insured losses due to this year’s Southern California wildfires is $30 billion<\/a>. Within that total, about 85% of losses are expected to come from homeowners’ insurance policies, while 13.5% are commercial property and 1.5% are personal auto losses. The trouble is, very few building permits in the burn zones are being issued thanks to local and state government bureaucrats who are strangling these poor homeowners with miles of red tape. You can bet the system wouldn’t be so gummed up if this was 1930…<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of building permits, they have been falling steadily since late 2021 \u2013 this is a historically-reliable recession signal. Maybe that\u2019s why Google searches for \u201chelp with mortgage<\/a>\u201d have surpassed the level seen during the 2008 housing crisis. Uh oh. Then again, there are plenty more recession signals out there \u2013 for those who are looking…<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, it’s not just homeowners with mortgages who are struggling to stay afloat financially \u2013 many renters find themselves drowning in a sea of red ink<\/a> too. In fact, late payments by apartment renters have been steadily rising since April 2024. The good news is the stock market is still toying with new all-time highs almost every week! Then again, so is this:<\/p>\n

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h\/t: Mike Maloney<\/p><\/div>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The commercial real estate (CRE) market is on even shakier ground<\/a>, with the national office vacancy rate surging to an unprecedented 21% at the end of June, according to the most recent available data. However, in many major big cities the vacancy rate is far worse. For example, in Charlotte and New York City, it\u2019s 23%, while in San Francisco it\u2019s 28% and Denver is a staggering 37%. That being said, CRE isn’t the only<\/strong><\/em> thing that seems to be crumbling before our eyes…<\/p>\n

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h\/t: @spillthememes<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The good news is that there is a new financial technology firm out there that lets people with terrible credit scores<\/a> tap into the equity in their depreciating used cars at a 30% interest rate, even if it’s not paid off, in which case the entire auto loan is transferred. After signing up, the company – known as Yendo \u2013 issues the borrower a credit card which incurs an additional 3% fee if used at an ATM to pull cash out. The good news is it also rewards its suckers \u2013 er, customers \u2013 with 1.5% cashback on all purchases!<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of paying the bills, US tax revenue has increased more than six-fold<\/em><\/strong> since 1980; that’s not a revenue problem. The trouble is that America’s debt<\/a> has gone up 38 times<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0over the same period. Try running your<\/strong><\/em> household like that. On second thought, if earning income by printing counterfeit currency was actually legal for us private citizens, I’d probably<\/del><\/span> definitely use that strategy too. After all, it sure beats earning a living by the sweat of your brow \u2013 especially on days like this:<\/p>\n