Think Glink

As if it weren’t enough to save every spare cent for retirement costs, you may have to start saving for retirement health care too.

More and more employers are cutting health care benefits for retirees reports Washington, D.C.-based Employee Benefit Research Institute.

In 2006, only 29 percent of employers with 500 or more employees offered health care benefits to early retirees. Only 19 percent of the same companies offered benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees.

In 1993, 46 percent of those employers provided early retiree health benefits. And 40 percent of them supported Medicare-eligible retirees.

EBRI also reported in July 2006 that even though workers may be working for firms that offer retiree health care, those workers may not be eligible for it in the long run.

You’ve probably heard that Chrysler recently shifted its retiree health care burden to unions. It’s funding a $10.3 billion trust that will be run by the union. This is probably the first step in making the union fully responsible for retiree benefits.

It’s going to be all up to you. Here are some options:

*Start a health savings account (check out http://www.treas.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa/).

*Get long term care insurance if you’re young enough and healthy enough to afford it. Premiums will be lower if you start younger.

*Designate a savings or money market account for future health care costs. Hope it gets at least a 10 percent average annual return to stay ahead of soaring medical costs.

And remember, while you can’t control your genes, do all you can to stay healthy. You can control whether you eat the whole pan of brownies, whether you work out and how much sleep you get.

Melanie G. Rogers
ThinkGlink.com Staff Writer

WORLD POPULATION GROWTH HISTORY
POPULATION Year Reached Time Span (Years)

1.00 Billion 1800 65,000+
2.00 Billion 1930 130
3.00 Billion 1960 30
4.00 Billion 1974 14
5.00 Billion 1987 13
6.00 Billion 1999 12
6.75 Billion 2007 8

Last Friday, the House passed a bill which will reduce the amount of tax due on mortgage debt forgiven during foreclosure or while in bankruptcy. Currently, taxpayers must pay tax on this amount as it is considered income. It’s really "phantom income:" income that’s taxable but not spendable.
The bill, H.R. 3648, is currently a permanent measure but the White House wants to limit it to three years, according to the Washington Post.
What does this mean to the average taxpayer? Not much. According to RealtyTrac, almost 500,000 foreclosures were filed in the first quarter of 2007. Even if the same number filed each quarter this year, we’re looking at 2 million foreclosures out of 75 million households, per the U.S. Census.
Still, families that filed for bankruptcy in 2007 or went through foreclosure will be grateful for the tax break.

Melanie G. Rogers, ThinkGlink.com Staff Writer

I don’t know about you, but I’m already thinking about the toys that I can buy for my little nieces this holiday season. I’m worried about the news about lead paint, etc.

Here are some websites you might want to check out to find out the latest safety information:

www.Mattel.com/safety
www.ToysRUs.com/safety
www.etoys.com/safety
www.astratoy.org (American Specialty Toy Retail Association)
www.fao.com (FAO Schwarz tells you where toys are made, so you can shop by country)

Bob Bruss passed away this week, on Wednesday. If you’re a regular reader of your local real estate section, you probably have read Bob’s work many times.

Bob was one of the great real estate writers, using his experiences as a real estate attorney, property investor, teacher and real estate broker to infuse his columns with a dose of reality. He hailed from Edina, MN, and often wrote about his hometown.

He was smart and he really cared about his readers. He felt an obligation to provide them with the best information and always looked at new technology and trends with an eye toward how it would help consumers.

He was unfailingly polite, a true gentleman. He was kind in his reviews of my books, but was also kind when he explained why he wouldn’t review the 3rd edition of my 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask book (he said it wouldn’t be fair when he had reviewed the two previous editions and there were so many new titles out). He was nice to everyone.

I first met Bob at a meeting for the National Association of Real Estate Editors nearly 20 years ago. I last saw him in early August, at the most recent Inman Connect, in San Francisco. He looked great, despite walking slowly from a recent surgery, and said he’d see me at the National Association of Realtors conference in the fall, or perhaps at the next Inman Connect, in NY.

He won’t be there. And, we will miss him very much.

We’re talking about the economy today on the Ilyce Glink Show.

I find I’m confused why the stock market is at 13,895, nearly at its all-time high, while gold is also at an all-time high, and a barrel of oil is nearly at an all-time high (at $83 per barrel). Meanwhile, consumer confidence is holding up.

On the show this morning, we took a couple of calls from folks who say that on the ground, if you’re making good money, life looks pretty good. The manager of a Lexus dealer called to say sales are up 23 percent this year! That’s pretty good. Another caller, Mack, said he’s in sales and he’s having a good year, too.

(BTW: It’s not sour grapes. I’m also having a good year financially.)

But some analysts say we’re looking at at the wrong things. Harley Davidson, the motorcycle manufacturer, says sales are way down. Manufacturers of RVs aren’t doing well either. These analysts say that looking at same store sales for Target, Costco, and WalMart is a red herring. No matter what, people will still buy stuff — they’ll just buy less. Look to discretionary purchases to see what’s going on.

Is this true? Are you thinking of pushing off a big expenditure this year? Or, are you buying more because life, as we head into an election year, is good?

Feel free to post your comments here. Hope you can tune into the show.

Here’s the link to the recall information from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

If you have a crib that has been recalled, don’t allow your child to sleep in it for one more night. Here’s the information to call to get new pieces which will allow you to fix the crib:

Consumers who have a crib with older style hardware can receive a free repair by immediately contacting Simplicity toll-free at (888) 593-9274 between 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET on Friday, and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, or by visiting the firm’s Web site at www.simplicityforchildren.com

We had a call this morning on the show about selling a timeshare. You should know a couple of things about timeshares:

* Some people like ‘em, some people don’t use ‘em, but timeshares are really difficult to resell or unload. They’re even tough to give away.

* Buying a timeshare is not like buying real estate. It will not appreciate in value. It will probably be worthless when you sell it.

* Be careful when financing at timeshare. You can easily pay credit-card interest rates on the loans. You won’t be able to refinance it with a traditional mortgage lender. And, if you stop paying on your timeshare loan, it will ding your credit and turn up as a debt and drop your credit score perhaps 100 points or more.

Where can you try to sell a timeshare? Try these websites:

* Ebay.com, craigslist.com, zillow.com

But the best way to sell your timeshare might be to actually go to your timeshare week and try to connect with some of your neighbors. Chances are that someone else might want to bring a friend along and buy your timeshare for just the cost of your outstanding loan.

You can try to give your timeshare to a charity, but make sure that you handle the ownership transfer correctly, or it could cause problems down the line.

BE FOREWARNED:

If you use on of the timeshare sales sites, don’t pay anything upfront to sell your timeshare. Oftentimes, these companies will take your cash and you’ll STILL have your timeshare.

Well, we’re officially into Fall — and in many parts of the country, the summer weather continues unabated …. unless you live in Los Angeles which is experiencing drenching rains and mud slides.

On the show today:

* The government continues to collect all sorts of information about how you travel…..

* HSBC is cutting another sub-prime company and eliminating 750 jobs. E-Trade is taking a huge charge relating to its sub-prime lending (apparently some are surprised that E-Trade is making subprime loans.)

* 1 million baby cribs are recalled — I bought one — here’s what you need to know

* Americans saved a little last year — but no help from home appreciation.

And, more. Hope you can join us. www.wsbradio.com