{"id":90829,"date":"2026-04-18T01:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T08:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=90829"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:42:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:42:56","slug":"black-coffee-18-apr-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id90829-black-coffee-18-apr-2026.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: On a Wing and a Prayer"},"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

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2015 Idowu Koyenikan<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit: <\/strong><\/span>Did you see this? The parents of more than four million children have claimed those new Trump Accounts<\/a> \u2013 tax-deferred investment accounts for children that were instituted in last year\u2019s \u00a0One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Those accounts include a $1000 contribution from the federal government for all children born to US citizens between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028. Keep in mind that if those parents contribute $1000 per year for the child\u2019s first 18 years, the account would be worth approximately $1.5 million by the time the child turns 65 (assuming an ROI of 8% annually) \u2013 even if the account never saw an additional contribution. Or you can just take the \u201ceasier\u201d alternative …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Debit: <\/strong><\/span>The odds are good that those Trump Accounts kids are going to need every dime<\/a> they earn by the time they retire \u2013 especially if they become homeowners. That\u2019s because a new study is projecting that homeowner insurance rates in the US will see more jaw-dropping increases after a string of natural disasters rocked the nation in 2025, with the largest projected rate hikes in California (16%), Nebraska (13%), New Mexico (11%) and Georgia (10%). Last year, some states saw their rates rise even higher, including: Minnesota (34%), Colorado (33%), Iowa (28%), Nebraska (25%), Oklahoma (24%) and South Carolina (20%). Thankfully, there’s a silver lining…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, 72% of sports fans and 60% of those who say they’re not sports fans feel that sporting events should be required to remain on free broadcast television<\/a> \u2013 not locked behind streaming service pay walls. In fact, the paywall issue has sports fans so incensed \u00a0that nearly 6 in 10 of them say they’re skipping games rather than subscribing to a streaming service. We don\u2019t blame them. Not that there really bigger potential things to worry about out there…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"

The Far Side \u2013 Gary Larson<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, the private credit fiasco has yet to be fixed, with BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Apollo Global, and Blue Owl Capital still imposing gating restrictions. Or, as James Howard Kunstler puts it: “investors can\u2019t get all or part of their money out of plays that are folding on collateral rot<\/a>.\u201d We suspect those restrictions will only be getting tighter in the coming months. Then again, we\u2019re not the only ones with this uneasy sense of foreboding…<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> For his part, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stated several times in the last two weeks that he sees no risk<\/a> of contagion in private credit markets that could spread to the wider financial system. Translation: Contagion eventually escaping the private credit markets to the wider economy is all but assured. After all, we all know the Fed is as useless as a parrot with a cell phone. Oh, wait …<\/p>\n