Three Risks of Relying on the S&P 500 in Retirement Planning
The analysis is based on rolling monthly 15-year windows from 1965 to 2025 and could be improved in future research using moment-match parametric Monte Carlo simulations or bootstrapping from observed returns.
Future research could also incorporate longer time horizons, multi-factor portfolios, additional asset classes, dynamic withdrawal policies, and regime-based risk management techniques.
Distributions were set as a percentage of the portfolio as opposed to a hard initial dollar amount, both practical and behaviorally driven. However, there are many other acceptable and commonly used ways to take distributions, like the most common 4% starting amount, then linearly adjusted for inflation (CPI). Future research could investigate how various portfolio designs affect the different withdrawal methods.
Appendix & Citations
Data Source: Compustat.
Calculation: Hartford Equity Modeling Platform.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy in U.S. City Average [CPILFESL], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPILFESL, January 9, 2026.
Style Definitions:
Top 500 Value: US top 500 stocks top 30% based on composite value as defined by multiple equally weighted valuation metrics to arrive at an aggregated valuation metric. Valuation metrics include: P/E, EBITDA/EV, operating cash flow/EV, revenue/EV, and B/P Yield (used only in financials and real estate as a replacement to EBITDA/EV), then cap weighted.
Top 500 Low Volatility: US Top 500 Stocks top 30% based on a composite volatility score defined by multiple equality weighted volatility metrics to arrive at an aggregated volatility metric. Volatility metrics include three-year weekly beta and six-month daily standard deviation, then cap weighted.
Top 500 Low Volatility VMQ: US Top 500 Stocks top 50% based on a composite volatility score defined by multiple equality weighted volatility metrics to arrive at an aggregated volatility metric. Volatility metrics include three-year weekly beta and six-month daily standard deviation, then cap weighted. Then top 50% based on combined score of 50% value, 30% momentum and 20% quality. Combined scores for financial and real estate sector companies are assigned weightings of 65% Value and 35% Momentum. Composite value as defined by multiple equally weighted valuation metrics to arrive at an aggregated valuation metric. Valuation metrics include: P/E, EBITDA/EV, operating cash flow/EV, revenue/EV, and B/P Yield (used only in financials and real estate as a replacement to EBITDA/EV), then cap weighted. Composite momentum equally weights Last 12 ex-1 monthly returns and last 6 ex-1 monthly returns to arrive at an aggregated momentum metric. Composite quality uses gross profitability to total assets.
Top 500 Growth: US top 500 stocks top 30% based on five years sales growth, then cap weighted.
Top 500 Cap Weighted: US Top 500 stocks, cap weighted.
Top 500 Equal Weighted: US Top 500 stocks, equal weighted.
Will Mortgage Rates Hit 7% Again?
With mortgage rates on the rise again, it’s a logical question to ask: Will mortgage rates hit 7% again?
It’d definitely be a gut-punch for prospective home buyers, though I don’t know if it would derail them entirely.
Recently, I pushed back on this return to 7% narrative since some folks will use the highest possible readings to say mortgage rates are already there.
This happens a lot on social media. A post will claim rates are the highest since X date, with some random mortgage rate chart that doesn’t reflect reality.
But now it’s kind of true. The 30-year fixed got as high as 6.75% the other day, meaning it’s only about .25% away from a 7-handle again.
We Had 7% Mortgage Rates Almost Exactly a Year Ago
We’ve seen this movie before. The recent rise in mortgage rates driven by sticky inflation and geopolitical concerns.
The weirdest part for me was how long it took. We knew things were bad in the Middle East, yet rates stayed put and even fell in April on some sort of blind optimism.
It wasn’t until the past few weeks, and especially the last week, that mortgage rates finally faced the music.
Now that fear-mongering I was referring to using charts that make mortgage rates look as high as possible might not be so far-fetched.
If rates continue to feel the pressure, it won’t take too much more to get them back in the 7s.
And recall that it wasn’t that long ago that we were there. Sure, we had a sub-6% rate at the end of February and early March of this year (seems like a distant memory now).
But we also had a 7-handle 30-year fixed as recently as last May!
Yep, almost literally a year ago the 30-year fixed stood at 7.02%, according to Mortgage News Daily.
So it’s not out of the realm to revisit those levels, especially if we have good reason to.
With oil continuing to trade at more than $100 per barrel and no sign of a peace deal anytime soon, why wouldn’t mortgage rates keep going up? Or put another way, why would they fall?
What Keeps Us Below 7%?
Still though, they’d have to rise another quarter-percent from here and they’ve already climbed quite a bit.
So one could argue that a lot of the high cost of oil and sticky inflation is baked in to some degree.
You’d need more pessimism and high inflation readings to see mortgage rates continue to climb.
I hope we don’t revisit 7% mortgage rates because it seemed they were finally behind us.
But that was before the Iranian conflict surprised us all. So I’m a bit more cautious today than I was to start the year.
What I kind of see playing out is a temporary spike to 7% (or very close) that could happen if bond investors continue to fret about current conditions.
That is, stubborn and even worsening inflation, renewed global tensions, and hot economic data such as resilient labor.
There’s been a lot of talk lately about rate hikes, with rate cuts apparently completely off the table.
It probably wouldn’t last long, but even a brief visit would be enough to scare home buyers and slow the housing market to a crawl, especially in markets with excess inventory and high prices.
However, this isn’t a guarantee and the data could surprise us. Maybe jobs data comes in colder than expected…
Favorable Spreads Make It Harder to Hit 7% Today
And remember that mortgage spreads are a lot better today, so even with higher bond yields, we have lower mortgage rates.
I don’t really see spreads worsening because they were wide mostly due to prepayment risk.
And with mortgage rates more or less in a range now, there’s less of that fear of everyone refinancing their mortgages quickly.
That means it’s actually harder for mortgage rates to rise above 7% again today.
If we assume a spread of around 210 basis points above the 10-year treasury, you’d need it to rise to roughly 4.90% to get a 7%+ 30-year fixed.
It’s currently around 4.57%, meaning it’d need to come up quite a bit for us to surpass 7%.
So that’s one thing we’ve got on our side as mortgage rates perhaps flirt with the idea of the 7s again.
But either way though, I expect rates to rise above their year-ago levels, serving as yet another gut-punch and psychological hit.
Read on: Check out my mortgage rate calculator to see what even an eighth of a point can make on your home loan.
Before creating this site, I worked as an account executive for a wholesale mortgage lender in Los Angeles. My hands-on experience in the early 2000s inspired me to begin writing about mortgages 19 years ago to help prospective (and existing) home buyers better navigate the home loan process. Follow me on X for hot takes.
Tech billionaires convinced Trump to back off AI executive order
The tech bros struck back.
That’s the best way to describe what happened yesterday when President Donald Trump suddenly decided to indefinitely postpone signing an Executive Order on AI, even as technology company executives he had invited to be present at the White House for the signing were traveling to Washington for the ceremony.
“I didn’t like certain aspects of it,” Trump explained to reporters at the White House on Thursday morning. “I think it gets in the way of—we’re leading China. We’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that.”
The order would have created a system in which AI companies could voluntarily submit their most advanced models to key national security agencies for testing and vetting up to 90 days prior to releasing them. Officials from multiple government departments and agencies had spent weeks negotiating over the executive order’s language, and leading AI companies had been briefed on its content. At least two of those companies, Anthropic and OpenAI, had indicated they were in favor of the voluntary vetting system.
David Sacks, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg led last-minute push
The executive order was under consideration following the debut of Anthropic’s Mythos model, which possesses unprecedented cyber capabilities. The AI company has voluntarily limited Mythos’ release out of concern that those capabilities, if widely shared, could help hackers to launch devastating cyber attacks against critical infrastructure.
But David Sacks, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who stepped down in late March as Trump’s AI and crypto czar, successfully mounted a last-ditch lobbying effort to derail the order’s signing. Sacks called Trump on Thursday to express his concerns, according to press accounts. The campaign also included similar calls to Trump from Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, both of whom are developing advanced AI models. There were also, reportedly, efforts to convince members of Vice President JD Vance’s staff to voice concerns about the order with Trump.
Sacks is a prominent AI “accelerationist” who believes that any federal regulation will harm U.S innovation, hurt the business interests of U.S. technology companies, and delay the country from experiencing the many benefits he believes AI will bring. He also sees the U.S. as being in a potentially existential race with China to develop advanced AI capabilities, and believes that regulation will result in the U.S. falling behind in this geopolitical contest.
Although no longer officially serving as Trump’s AI advisor, Sacks continues to wield influence on the administration’s AI policy. Earlier this week, according to news reports, he attended official briefings on the executive order. At the time, he reportedly indicated he would not oppose the voluntary model testing framework.
But, according to a story in Politico, Sacks later told Trump that he feared the voluntary vetting would act as a de facto licensing regime, slowing down AI companies’ releases of new AI models. He also worried, Politico reported, that a future administration might easily turn the voluntary procedure into a mandatory one.
Trump’s decision to postpone signing the order leaves U.S. AI policy in a strange place both in terms of policy and politics. AI regulation is an issue which splits Trump’s base. Trump came into office supported by a cadre of “move fast and break things” Silicon Valley billionaires, including Sacks and Musk. They have expressed admiration for the president for tearing down what they see as unnecessary red tape and bureaucracy, and for embracing crypto currency. Zuckerberg, who was a critic of Trump during his first term as president, has in the past year emerged as a vocal supporter.
Americans, largely, want some AI regulation
Prior to Trump’s decision to pull out of signing the executive order, many in Washington thought the order was a done deal and that the forces opposing the approach were in retreat. Poll after poll indicates that the majority of Americans—including a majority of Republicans—are fearful about AI’s impact on jobs and its potential negative impacts on education and children’s mental health. Many oppose the construction of data centers near them. And many religious Christians are deeply suspicious of AI, viewing the technology as a kind of “false god,” equivalent to idolatry.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, for instance, was among more than 60 MAGA loyalists who earlier this week signed an open letter to Trump urging him to test and approve powerful AI models before they are released. The letter was organized by Humans First, a conservative group whose tagline is “technology should serve humans…not replace them.”
A poll of Republican voters released today by the Future of Life Institute, an AI safety group concerned with AI’s potential existential risk to humanity, found that 79% were in favor of the government testing AI models before they are released to ensure they are safe, and that 87% favored the government having the power to block the release of AI models that pose a national security threat.
“Our image and the stereotype is that Republicans are against regulation,” Michael Kleinman, head of U.S. policy for the Future of Life Institute, told Fortune. “But what we are finding instead is when people see a technology that has direct and often incredibly negative impact on their lives, their kids, and their communities, they want the government to step in and put in place common sense guardrails.”
U.S. policy remains fragmented on advanced AI models like Mythos
Kleinman said that while Sacks and the Silicon Valley faction of Trump’s base have prevailed for now, public opinion and the trends in AI development were against them. “Public opinion is solidifying on both the left and the right,” he said. “Mythos won’t be the last model that these companies release that will pose significant national security threats—it is the first such model. So the pressure is only going to continue to build for the government to take common sense action.”
The Trump administration is, for the moment, continuing to exercise a kind of ad hoc licensing process for just that one AI model, Anthropic’s Mythos. Anthropic has shared the model with the U.S. government and, under what Anthropic calls Project Glasswing, with a select handful of U.S. technology companies and financial institutions who make software that underpins much of the internet and other critical infrastructure. But the White House, according to press reports, blocked Anthropic from expanding the number of companies with access to Mythos due to national security concerns.
Meanwhile, OpenAI has created an AI model, GPT-5.5, that—according to OpenAI’s own testing and that carried out by the U.K. government’s AI Security Institute—is almost as capable as Mythos. OpenAI has released the model only to partners in a “trusted access” program, although the program is less limited than Anthropic’s Glasswing. The U.S. government has not applied the same scrutiny to the expansion of OpenAI’s trusted access program for GPT-5.5 as it has to Glasswing.
A number of AI companies also voluntarily share their most advanced AI models with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), which evaluates them for some potential risks. But CAISI is part of the Department of Commerce and its experts do not necessarily have access to classified information to help them assess the risks AI models pose, or the expertise in advanced cyber security methods that parts of the U.S. national security establishment have.
The discussion over the now-postponed executive order, according to a story in The Washington Post, involved heated wrangling between different branches of the U.S. government over who should be in charge of testing and approving AI models. The Commerce Department wanted to hold on to its leadership on model evaluation with the CAISI, but the U.S. intelligence community was also vying for responsibility. Meanwhile, it is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who has been leading much of the administration’s response to Mythos so far.
There were also disputes between factions of Trump advisors. Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, suggested last week that the administration would set up a licensing system similar to how the Food and Drug Administration reviews testing of drugs before approving them for sale. That brought a rebuke on social media from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who said the president was not “in the business of picking winners and losers.”
Grab CTO Suthen Paradatheth on how using his competitors’ robots ‘keeps us on our toes’
On May 20, Grab announced that one of its robots, named Carri, will start deliveries in Singapore’s Punggol district, the city-state’s hub for testing robotic services.
But Carri has already been plying the corridors of Grab’s Singapore headquarters, says chief technology officer Suthen Paradatheth. And Carri’s not alone. “We don’t oblige our business units to just use our robots,” Paradatheth told Fortune during an interview on the sidelines of the Asia Tech (ATx) summit. “If you go to the Grab office now, you’ll see robots from other companies as well. We use a 1+n strategy which keeps us on our toes.”
Paradatheth has been involved with Grab from almost the very beginning, before the company even got its name. He joined the firm, then a Malaysia-based ride-hailing outfit called MyTeksi, as a part-time consultant after a mutual friend introduced him to its founders, Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling.
“Our mission was to make taxis safer in Kuala Lumpur,” Paradatheth explained. “Ling told me a story of starting a call with her mom whenever she rode home at night; even if they didn’t speak, it was a way to make sure the driver knew she was being monitored by someone.” The anecdote hit home for Paradatheth, whose own sister had similarly recounted feeling unsafe while riding taxis. “I saw a very real problem to get involved in,” he said.
Paradatheth joined full-time in 2015 and followed the company to Singapore, where it rebranded to Grab. He then moved through roles including chief of staff and head of engineering at Grab’s Singapore research and development center, before being appointed as CTO in 2022.
“A lot of folks have grown with the company, just like me,” he said. “Many of the senior leaders in the company are people who were with me during the 2012 storeroom days; they came as interns and are now heads of engineering.”
Building a Southeast Asian tech empire
Grab, No. 128 on Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500 list, reported $2.8 billion in revenue last year, up from just $469 million in 2020.
Paradatheth credits the global rise of smartphone ownership for Grab’s growth, but he remembers a time when the device wasn’t quite so ubiquitous. “Back in 2012, smartphones were still a thing that only early adopters were buying.”
Grab decided to give its drivers a basic smartphone, a Samsung Galaxy Y, so they could access the app. Drivers could pay for the phone via installments or through a cut of their earnings.
“In Southeast Asia, we’re working under pretty tight economic constraints, with most markets being emerging markets,” Paradatheth said. “And so engineering for that—both in terms of optimizing for what the customer has and what they can use, and making sure we’re constantly able to drive down costs—have been things we’ve invested in from those early days.”
Grab’s app has expanded far beyond ride-hailing to include digital payments, insurance, and delivery. It also developed its own mapping service, GrabMaps, weaning itself off third-party mapping solutions like Google Maps.
“We found that third-party mapping providers just didn’t have the coverage we wanted,” Paradatheth explained. “For example, the small side roads which our two-wheel riders on motorcycle taxis use weren’t really captured in third-party maps.”
‘AI first, with heart’
Grab has embedded over 1,000 AI models into its platforms, and leaders claim they’re guided by the principle “AI first, with heart.”
“It’s about harnessing the AI inflection to create customer value,” Paradatheth says.
He points to Grab’s AI-powered translation models, which it built to provide in-app translation for Southeast Asia’s languages, as an example of the firm’s attempts at harnessing the technology. He said the tool is at least 90% accurate, and can even capture informal contractions and “SMS speak”. (The firm now operates in eight markets across Southeast Asia and may soon enter Taiwan, after paying $600 million to acquire Foodpanda’s local business in March.)
“Southeast Asia, in particular, has layers of locality,” he said. “There are thousands of languages, but also lots of tourists from China, Japan and South Korea who come to visit, and often, English isn’t their primary language.”
Grab is also working to strengthen AI literacy and adoption in the markets it operates in. The platform will launch a program for small- and medium-sized enterprises in its home market of Singapore, hoping to encourage AI adoption across 10,000 food and beverage, e-commerce, and retail firms.
Still, Grab’s push towards AI is worrying some who rely on the platform for their income. The platform is making a big push towards automated driving, investing in several self-driving vehicle startups and launching a robobus in Singapore.
“We are living in a world where humans who don’t embrace AI will very likely be displaced. This is not a dystopian future, folks, it is a reality we must confront today,” said Grab CEO Anthony Tan during the firm’s flagship event in Jakarta in April.
Paradatheth swears that humans will remain at the heart of all Grab’s operations. “We don’t see our autonomous vehicles or delivery robots as substitutes for people,” he said. “We see them as complementary to what our driver partners already do.”
Looking forward, he wants Grab to become a global leader in urban embodied AI. “There’s an opportunity to provide all kinds of optimization—to make journeys smoother, and living in cities more enjoyable and fun.”
FutureCard Shutting Down – Danny the Deal Guru
FutureCard Shutting Down
🔄️ Update (May 22, 2026) – Another email has gone out saying “We’re sad to share that the Future app and web app will no longer be available after the end of May, as we continue working to find a path forward for Future.” (HT: DoC)
Original article (Mar 23, 2026)
FutureCard has is shutting down, or at least it looks like it is. They sent out emails to members today notifying them then current accounts will be closed on April 23, 2026 as they transition to a new banking partner.
They are encouraging members to transfer or withdraw balances and claim any outstanding rewards before the closure date. Unclaimed rewards will be forfeited, but they will refund balances and prorates prepaid subscriptions.
Thank you for being a valued member of the Future community. Future is changing how we deliver value to members like you, with an enduring commitment to boost your spending power without debt.
We are in the process of transitioning to a new banking partner. As part of this transition, the current FutureCard Visa Debit Card issued by Piermont Bank and your Future checking account at Piermont Bank will be closed on April 23, 2026. Stay tuned for details on FutureCard’s next chapter.
We know our members rely on their FutureCard for everyday spending and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
You can continue using your FutureCard and checking account until April 23, 2026. After this date, your account will be closed. After April 23, 2026, all direct deposits, ACH transfers, and bill payments will be rejected and returned to the originating financial institution.
Please start making arrangements to update your direct deposit and any bills or recurring payments that you currently pay with your FutureCard or checking account. For security, we kindly ask that you dispose of or destroy your FutureCard after April 23, 2026. Please note that pursuant to Future’s Rewards Terms and Conditions, all rewards will cease to be earned as of April 23, 2026. Please claim any outstanding rewards before April 23, 2026. Any unclaimed rewards will be forfeited. Annual prepaid FuturePass subscriptions will be refunded at a prorated amount. In addition, pursuant to your deposit agreement with Future, interest will cease to accrue on your account as of March 23, 2026.
We encourage you to transfer or withdrawal your balance before the closure date. Should you have a balance in excess of $1.00 in your account on April 23, 2026, those funds will be returned to you via transfer to your linked bank or via a paper check sent to the address on file. Please ensure you update your address and/or linked bank account, if necessary.
Our support team will be available during this transition period to address any questions you may have. Just reply to this email or reach out to us via secure messaging in the Future app.
Please watch this space for updates on the transition and Future’s next chapter
Thank you for being part of the Future community.
Grade 12: Finance | Everything you need to know
Timestamp
00:00 – Intro
⏱️ Section 1: Interest Calculations
🟣 Simple Interest
02:13 – Determining the Accumulated Amount (3 min)
05:09 – Determining the Principal Amount (2 min)
07:23 – Determining the Interest Rate (2 min)
09:49 – Determining the Number of Years (3 min)
🟣 Nominal and Effective Interest Rates
12:49 – Nominal and Effective Rate Notes (2 min)
14:43 – Nominal and Effective Rate: Example (9 min)
🟣 Compound Interest
23:33 – Determining the Accumulated Amount (4 min)
27:10 – Determining the Principal Amount (3 min)
29:48 – Determining the Number of Years (4 min)
34:08 – Determining the Accumulated Interest Rate (4 min)
🟣 Depreciation
38:07 – Straight-Line Depreciation (4 min)
42:36 – Reducing-Balance Depreciation (6 min)
⏱️ Section 2: Value Over Time
🟣 Future Value
48:59 – Determining the Future Value (7 min)
55:37 – Future Value with Immediate Deposits (5 min)
01:00:30 – Determining Monthly Payments (5 min)
🟣 Sinking Funds
01:05:00 – Sinking Funds (14 min)
🟣 Present Value
01:18:56 – Determining the Present Value (8 min)
01:27:06 – Determining Monthly Payments (7 min)
🟣 Outstanding Balance
01:34:00 – How to Calculate Outstanding Balance (12 min)
source
A New Bill Proposes Tax-Free Savings for Homeownership—Here’s How It Could Help Prospective Investors
In the quest to boost homeownership, a new bill has been floated that could gain enough bipartisan support to take flight: a tax-free homeownership savings account. For potential investors, should the bill pass, it offers a low barrier to entry to begin their investing careers.
Targeting First-Time Homebuyers, but It Helps Newbie Investors Too
Representative Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) has just introduced the Homeownership Savings Act (H.R. 9709), which aims to help first-time homebuyers save for a down payment and closing costs. Eligible buyers could deduct their contributions from taxable income (within set limits) and withdraw them tax-free, as long as they are used for qualified home purchase expenses such as down payments and closing costs, Newsweek reports.
Using the Program to Buy a Small Multifamily Home
Of particular interest to potential real estate investors is the likelihood that the program will extend to small owner-occupied multifamily buildings (two-to-four-family), allowing first-time homebuyers to house hack and have their tenants’ rental income cover the mortgage while they save enough money to buy property No. 2.
Although the act applies only to first-time homebuyers, not second or third properties, it could be an invaluable first step toward starting an investment career and benefiting from rental income, depreciation, and other tax breaks that owning an investment property offers.
“The Homeownership Savings Act addresses a real barrier by allowing first-time buyers to save in a tax-advantaged account specifically earmarked for a down payment, which could meaningfully shorten the savings timeline for moderate-income households who are otherwise competing against rising prices and high rates,” Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com, told Newsweek.
How the Bill Would Actually Work
The bill would enable first-time homebuyers to save money in a dedicated account for homebuying expenses only. They would be able to deduct contributions from their taxable income, provided they adhere to the annual limits.
Savings would then be able to grow tax-free, as with other tax-free accounts, such as Roth IRAs or 529 college saving plans. Borrowers can withdraw funds tax-free when they are used specifically for home purchase costs.
What Are the Limits on Saving?
Per the Newsweek article, the lifetime contribution is $40,000 per buyer. The annual tax-deductible contributions vary by filing status: $3,000 for married couples filing jointly and $2,500 for head of household. For single filers, the limit is $2,000.
The bill also allows employer contributions, potentially shortening the savings timeline for eligible workers. But the limits are still low—more on that later.
Who Qualifies?
Qualification is targeted toward first-time buyers with limited incomes. All funds must be used for first-time home purchases and cannot be repeated for additional homes.
Although the savings limits are low, for potential investors, combining this with an FHA loan, which requires a 3.5% down payment (or a 3% down payment), and then bolstering it with rental income from tenants means there is a low-cost path to buying a first investment property. However, this is only likely to work in very affordable housing markets.
“With home prices up 60% nationwide between 2019 and 2025, it is increasingly difficult for young families to achieve the dream of homeownership,” Stevens’ office said in a press release.
The Affordability Conundrum
While the sentiments behind the plan are valid, the numbers are woefully off. At a savings rate of $2,000-$3,000 a year, potential homebuyers enrolled in the plan will likely never catch up to rising home prices.
Drew Powers, founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek:
“This does nothing to address affordability, which is the real issue in housing. The current median new home price is nearly $400,000. After saving $3,000 per year to a $40,000 cap, a decade has passed, and the saver would have barely a 10% down payment on today’s prices, let alone what home prices will be 10 years later.”
Despite the obvious drawbacks, Newsweek reports that several industry groups, including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Michigan Bankers Association, and the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, have voiced their support.
As H.R. 8709 is still in the early stages of the legislative process, Newsweek contends that modifications to savings limits are likely. This could work alongside the White House initiative to allow would-be homebuyers to use their 401(k)s as down payments, thereby increasing the down payment amount.
Down Payment-Saving Strategies
Assuming that a would-be homebuyer requires 3% for a down payment and 2%-5% for closing costs and other fees and wishes to achieve their goal of saving $30,000 in three years, The Wall Street Journal calculates potential buyers would need to save $830/month. Multiple strategies working together will help buyers reach that target faster.
Cut down on housing expenses
If lowering your housing costs seems like an oxymoron, in the current climate, it’s not as outlandish as it sounds, but it might mean some inconvenience.
Living with roommates or moving back in with parents are tried-and-true ways to lower housing costs. Other methods include remote working and living in an affordable country as a digital nomad. That is also a savvy way to jump-start your real estate investing career, should you stay overseas and continue to acquire investment properties, deducting taxes and renovation costs in the process.
Forgo luxuries
Extra Starbucks runs, DoorDash, eating out, travel, and streaming subscriptions all add up. Forgoing luxuries to reach your investment goal will be more than worth it in the long run.
Use side hustles and gifts
A 2026 guide from AmeriSave mentions that strategic side hustles, such as Uber/Lyft driving, dog walking (which can net six figures in some cities), tutoring, and many more, can contribute to sizable additional income. AmeriSave also mentions websites such as Zola and Honeyfund, where friends and family can contribute financially to wedding registries, baby showers, and milestone birthdays.
Final Thoughts
While readers and viewers of BiggerPockets are used to hearing about investors talking blithely about the number of doors they own, it’s always worth remembering that they started somewhere. That’s unless they were handed an investment portfolio by their parents, which usually started with an owner-occupied home they later used as an investment property or a small multifamily home they house-hacked.
Getting to that all-important first home and having it pay for itself is an invaluable first step toward freeing you from a housing obligation that financially strangles most Americans. That’s why incorporating any savings strategy that helps you buy your first small multifamily building is something worth taking seriously.
Exclusive-US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair warns of China role in Argentina contract bid
Exclusive-US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair warns of China role in Argentina contract bid
British Airways To Increase Cash Portion Of Award Flights
British Airways as sent out an e-mail to inform users that on May 27, 2026 the price of award flights will increase, but only the cash portion. Flights booked before this date won’t have the new fees applied. They provide some examples here.
British Airways seems to be being careful to not call these increases fuel surcharges so I wouldn’t expect these ever to go back down even if the reason for increasing them in rising fuel costs. British Airways surcharges are already notoriously high and the above examples are an increase of 10-30% of what they currently are. Hard to even call these reward flights anymore with the additional fees being charged.