Equity Management
Financial Planning Crisis
To any conscientious financial planner or mortgage consultant, the numbers are distressing. The federal government is concerned that it has revamped provisions of the U.S. tax code at least three times in recent years in an effort to reverse the trend. Recent studies have shown that most American families are now living beyond their means, cramped for cash, and few have taken adequate steps to secure their financial futures.
Only about four out of ten have established a tax-deferred savings fund – a 401(k), IRA or Keogh account – and even these forward-thinking Americans seldom contribute the maximum allowed. Today, the average balance on a 401(k) account nationwide hovers around $50,000; and half of all account holders have $15,000 or less saved against future uncertainties that often aren’t uncertain at all.
Let’s look at just two examples: First, college tuitions in the U.S. now double about every decade, so the cost of educating a son or daughter born today will be roughly three times higher by the time he or she graduates from high school. Secondly, the typical retired couple can expect to face an average of about $10, 0000 every year in uncovered medical expenses. Clearly, the time to plan is now.
Part of the problem, often the biggest problem, is a general lack of knowledge about financial planning and how to manage the single greatest asset that the majority of Americans will ever own: the equity in their homes.
The core of the American Dream, residential property is the linchpin of government tax and investment laws designed to assist the middle class. Though few homeowners think of it in these terms, their houses are legally considered “financial shelters” through which lawmakers aim to promote saving, the accumulation of personal wealth, and the empowerment of ordinary people to educate their children and secure their Golden Years.
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