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Unlocking Leadership with Simon Sinek: The Infinite Mindset | Full Conversation



Dive into Simon’s conversation on infinite-minded leadership. Discover how to maintain motivation, transform work culture, and prioritize your people. Simon shares advice on vulnerability, loyalty, and overcoming common leadership challenges.

Video from Parker Seminars Las Vegas, February 2024

⏰ Timestamps
0:00 Leaders never stop learning
3:22 What do most people get wrong about leadership?
6:02 What is the difference between finite and infinite games?
11:30 Simon’s advice for how to create a culture of excellence
13:30 How does your WHY help spread your message?
18:50 The importance of human skills and helping others
27:40 Empowering our people and overcoming egos
31:25 Undoing Jack Welch’s legacy
33:25 How to apply the Golden Circle
38:45 What is the biggest challenge facing leaders?
43:02 How does teamwork improve performance?
45:43 Leaders Eat Last
50:22 Advice for leaders who face resistance to change
56:00 What advice would you give to those watching today?
58:00 Challenging and changing our narratives

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Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game.

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Liquidity Management Tools in Investment Funds


This report presents stress-test simulations using fund holdings data from LSEG Lipper. Its model traces how an initial decline in asset prices prompts investor withdrawals, leads funds to sell assets, and generates further losses as those sales depress prices.

The study compares outcomes without LMTs with outcomes under a 2% redemption fee and a gate that caps redemptions at 5% of fund net asset value during a redemption window. It also examines different fee and gate settings when managers use both tools together. These settings are modeling assumptions, not recommended levels for every fund.

The simulations assess total fund losses, additional losses from forced selling, and cash paid to redeeming investors. Scenarios draw on asset-price volatility in late 2024 and during the 2022 United Kingdom liability-driven investment crisis, alongside more extreme hypothetical shocks.

Social Security’s Trump Bump-Led 2027 COLA Is a Double-Edged Sword for Tens of Millions of Retirees


For a majority of retirees, Social Security income is indispensable. A quarter century of annual surveys from national pollster Gallup show that 80% to 90% of retirees consistently rely on their monthly Social Security payout to cover their expenses, in some capacity.

Given how important this program is to the financial well-being of our nation’s aging workforce, there’s arguably no announcement more anticipated by Social Security’s 55 million retired workers than the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reveal in October.

Social Security’s COLA is effectively the “raise” passed on to beneficiaries to offset inflation (rising prices). If Social Security benefits didn’t rise in lockstep with inflation, the program’s recipients would see their purchasing power dwindle over time.

Social Security’s Trump bump is a mixed bag for retirees. Image source: Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian.

Social Security’s 2027 COLA has shaped up as a double-edged sword for tens of millions of retirees. On the one hand, a second consecutive year with a “Trump bump,” courtesy of President Donald Trump, should deliver a silver lining for the first time since 2023 for around 29 million retirees. However, this Trump bump also comes with unintended consequences for beneficiaries.

Social Security’s 2027 Trump bump can produce a rare silver lining

Following the release of the September inflation report on Oct. 14, the Social Security Administration announced that monthly payouts would climb by 3.6% in 2027. This ties for the fifth-largest raise over the last 35 years.

Additionally, it’s the sixth straight year in which payouts have risen by at least 2.5%, which is something that hasn’t been witnessed since the late 20th century (1988-1997).

While a modest level of inflation is perfectly normal, two of President Trump’s policies are primarily responsible for fueling this outsize COLA.

The president’s tariff and trade policy has lifted goods price inflation and increased domestic production costs for select items, which are then passed on to consumers. This is the second consecutive year that tariffs have increased the prevailing inflation rate and boosted Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustment.

The Trump-led Iran war is also directly influencing consumer prices and, therefore, Social Security payouts. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has led to the largest energy supply disruption in modern history, sending fuel prices soaring.

What makes this 3.6% Trump bump-led Social Security COLA so special is that it may allow approximately 29 million traditional Medicare enrollees to retain more of their benefit in 2027.

Traditional Medicare has three Parts: A (inpatient hospital care), B (outpatient services), and D (prescription drugs). Whereas roughly 99% of workers pay nothing for Part A, Parts B and D have standard monthly premiums. In 2026, the standard monthly premium for Part B is $202.90, and it’s typically deducted from a retiree’s Social Security benefit.

Since the start of the 21st century, Part B premiums have pretty consistently risen at a quicker pace than Social Security’s annual COLA. For example, Social Security raises of 3.2% (2024), 2.5% (2025), and 2.8% (2026) were met by Medicare Part B premium hikes of 5.9% (2024), 5.9% (2025), and 9.7% (2026). When Part B rises substantially faster than Social Security’s COLA, it can result in beneficiaries giving up some or all of their annual raise.

According to the 2026 Medicare Trustees Report, the Part B premium is only expected to climb by 3.25% to $209.50 per month in 2027. If this estimate proves accurate, it would mark the first time since 2023 that Social Security’s COLA grew faster than the Part B premium, and it would enable tens of millions of retirees to hang onto more of next year’s COLA.

A couple is reading content on a shared laptop while seated at a table in their home.

Image source: Getty Images.

Social Security’s outsize Trump bump also exacerbates the program’s solvency issues

While sizable nominal-dollar increases to monthly Social Security checks tend to put smiles on the faces of beneficiaries, outsize raises can come with unintended consequences for America’s leading retirement program.

For decades, Social Security’s financial foundation has been crumbling. The annually published Social Security Board of Trustees Report has warned of an unfunded long-term (75-year) obligation since 1985.

In other words, the estimated income to be collected in the 75 years after a report is published is expected to be insufficient to cover outlays (benefits plus Social Security’s administrative expenses). Ongoing demographic shifts (e.g., rising income inequality, lower net migration into the U.S., and historically low birth rates) have pushed this unfunded obligation through the year 2100 up to an estimated $29.3 trillion.

Yet this gargantuan figure isn’t the biggest worry for retirees. Rather, it’s the Trustees’ projection that the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund (OASI) — the fund that doles out monthly benefits to retired workers and survivors of deceased workers — will exhaust its asset reserves by the fourth quarter of 2032. These asset reserves are currently invested in special-issue, interest-bearing government bonds, as required by law.

US Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund Assets at End of Year Chart

US Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund Assets at End of Year data by YCharts.

The good news is the OASI doesn’t need a penny in its asset reserves to continue making payments to eligible beneficiaries. Since the 12.4% payroll tax on earned income generates more than 91% of the income collected by the program, as long as Americans keep working, Social Security can never go bankrupt.

But just because Social Security isn’t going bankrupt doesn’t mean the program is on solid financial footing. If the OASI’s asset reserves are fully depleted, it would confirm that the existing payout schedule, including annual COLAs, isn’t sustainable. The Trustees predict that sweeping benefit cuts of 22% will be needed once the OASI’s asset reserves run dry.

Social Security’s Trump bump-led 2027 COLA may have made things worse. While the Trustees’ estimates are based on a laundry list of variables and remain fluid, one core expectation is that Social Security’s annual COLA will be modest. That didn’t happen in 2027, with Trump’s policies leading to the fifth-largest raise since 1993.

A larger-than-normal annual COLA can drain the OASI’s already declining asset reserves even faster. This means the projected timeline to benefit cuts may now be less than six years away, and the needed reduction could ultimately be larger than 22%.

Social Security’s Trump bump-led COLA is truly a double-edged sword for retirees.

Bullying rates run as high as 68% at some colleges, on par with emergency services


Faculty and university staff members report being bullied in two ways: by their colleagues and supervisors, and by their students over grades, according to an international study I conducted with colleagues Zahra Moradi and Deborah Circo.

Researchers define workplace bullying as harmful acts of mistreatment between people that go beyond incivility and cross the line to intentionally cause harm. In other words, it’s behavior any reasonable person would know isn’t OK.

Junior faculty and staff faced more workplace bullying from peers. Faculty members and staff who are Black, Indigenous or people of color were targeted more frequently.

Senior faculty were more likely than younger educators to report being bullied by students over grades. Although bullying usually runs down the chain of power – for example, from a boss to an employee – grade bullying flips that. Researchers call it contrapower harassment – when someone with less formal power targets someone with more.

More than 30% of adult workers in the U.S. and Canada experience bullying, harassment and sexual abuse in the workplace at any given time, harming both individuals and organizations.

That rate is more than double in academia, where bullying rates are as high as 68% at some institutions, far exceeding those in general workplaces and aligning with high-stress fields like emergency services, according to our peer-reviewed findings published in the October 2026 Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Practice.

Why it matters

Academic bullying undermines both the well-being of staff and faculty and the integrity of higher education institutions.

Thirty percent of our survey respondents reported that students pressured them for a better grade. Students’ tactics included threatening grade appeals, malicious complaints, negative online reviews, emotional manipulation and intimidation. Women and minority faculty are particularly affected. Over time, the bullying creates a toxic environment that damages relationships between faculty and students and hurts the quality of education for everyone.

Such pressure could result in mental health issues like anxiety and depression, decreased job satisfaction and reduced productivity. These dynamics not only affect individual faculty members but can also lead to long-term damage to the reputation of institutions and negatively impact students’ educational experiences.

How we did our work

We surveyed 189 faculty and staff at colleges and universities in Canada, the U.S. and U.K.

Anonymous respondents reported how often they’d faced 22 common forms of mistreatment from colleagues and supervisors. A separate set of questions asked about pressure from students over grades.

The most common issues related to colleagues weren’t shouting or threats. They were easier to dismiss: unmanageable workloads, withheld information and impossible deadlines.

Pressure from students over grades was reported more frequently than bullying from colleagues.

What still isn’t known

Gaps remain in understanding the root causes of bullying of faculty.

Studies that follow the same faculty over several years could show how grade bullying builds over time, and whether it pushes people to leave or lose trust in their institutions. One likely pattern is that grade bullying escalates when it works, wearing faculty down until they either give in or leave their jobs.

Researchers need to test what actually works to stop bullying, and whether those fixes hold up at different kinds of colleges and universities.

Bigger studies would help. So would sitting down with faculty and hearing their experiences in their own words to add context that a survey can’t capture.

Future research could also explore interventions to mitigate bullying and measure their effectiveness across diverse educational contexts.

Bullying at work is a form of violence. The harm is psychological rather than physical, but it’s real. Change starts with higher standards of conduct for everyone, from first-year students to senior administrators and leaders committed to enforcing respectful rules.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Jason Walker, Associate Professor of Psychology, Health and Wellness, Adler University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Quill.com, Spend $100+ & Receive $20 Statement Credit


Update 11/6/26: Deal is back and valid until 2/5/27. 

The Offer

No direct link, targeted offer

  • Get a one-time $20 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible Card to spend a minimum of $100 in one or more qualifying purchases online at Quill.com by 6/16/26

Our Verdict

Quill used to be popular because they sold $200 and $300 Visa gift cards, but then the fees made it cost prohibitive and now only for business customers. Still useful for general purchases. 

Hat tip to reader Curmudgeon 

View more Amex offers here & if you have any questions about American Express offers then read this post.

AI Spending Hot Again, Remains the Wild Card for Mortgage Rates


Mortgage rates remain flat today, still hovering around 7.375% or so for the 30-year fixed.

The 10-year yield continues to sit just under 5%, which is about all the “good news” bond investors have to offer at the moment.

New home sales came out this morning and AI spending is back in the headlines.

But mortgage rates seem to be in a holding pattern until we get something more substantial, like tech earnings or a Fed presser.

This could be a big week for mortgage rates in terms of where they go next.

New Home Sales Hold Up, But Builders Are Offering Massive Concessions

New home sales slipped to an annual pace of roughly 676,000 in September, per the Census Bureau.

However, that was actually a little better than economists expected, despite being about 5% lower than a year ago.

For the record, new home sales are counted when a contract is signed, which makes this report a little timelier than others.

It likely captured some of the recent run-up in mortgage rates in September when they more or less peaked (at least so far).

The median price was also about 4% lower relative to last year, which may be a composition thing and also a sign that builders are cutting prices (and buying down rates) just to keep sales from falling any further.

The builders have been big on mortgage rate buydowns this cycle, so technically mortgage rates shouldn’t matter as much.

After all, if the builder is paying to lower your mortgage rate, it doesn’t really matter if market rates are higher or lower (you still get the lower bought-down rate).

It just hurts their profits, which might explain why builder confidence just fell to its lowest level since 2012.

Long story short, the home buyers are still out there, but they want a discount and a lower rate to boot.

Why Is AI Spending Back in the Mortgage Rate Conversation?

Last week’s big drop in bond yields was mostly about concerns related to AI spending, with investors flocking to the safety of bonds.

There have been bubble fears for a while now and everyone seems to be kind of waiting for it to burst.

But this week it seems chips are back en vogue, perhaps driven by the Anthropic IPO news and the likelihood of OpenAI following suit.

There was also a $63 billion deal unveiled that involves the big banks and Broadcom.

So just like that, AI and chips and their associated debt are hot again.

And that means the AI spending could once again crowd out bond investors and push mortgage rates higher because those bonds compete with mortgage bonds.

In other words, the pullback we got from AI last week could unravel this week, especially if the tech companies reporting this week add fuel to the flames.

[Try my new mortgage rate calculator to compare payments fast and see if it’s worth buying down your rate.]

Don’t Forget About Oil…

While the AI story is latest focus for mortgage rates, oil continues to be a key driver as well.

Fortunately, oil prices continue to ease and are close to about $100 a barrel thanks to hopes for diplomacy with Iran.

That could be the real reason the bellwether 10-year bond yield remains below 5%, though it’s precariously perched.

It wouldn’t take much to rile bond investors again and send yields surging higher once more.

The Fed’s two-day meeting starts today as well and could also complicate matters.

We know they’re likely holding, so the press conference after the decision will be what to watch.

It could be a pivotal week for bonds and mortgage rates between the Fed meeting, the ever-changing AI story, tech earnings, GDP, and the PCE inflation report on Thursday.

If yields can manage to stay under 5% through all that, mortgage rates could continue to trend lower and even build on it.

If not, a move back to 7.5% or higher for the 30-year fixed could be in the cards instead.

(photo: Saundra Castaneda)

Colin Robertson
Latest posts by Colin Robertson (see all)

Gold, Asset Allocation & Market Cycles: What Investors Should Know | Friday Investment Satsang



Markets will keep changing. Your investment process shouldn’t.

In this episode of Friday Investment Satsang, Parimal Ade and Gaurav Jain discuss the economy, market cycles, gold, asset allocation, global diversification, mutual fund performance and the opportunities emerging in India.

The conversation goes beyond short-term market noise and focuses on what actually matters for long-term investors:

• What is happening with inflation and interest rates globally?
• Why are long-term bond yields staying resilient despite rate-cut expectations?
• Why should gold be part of a diversified portfolio?
• Asset allocation vs chasing the next multibagger
• How investors should deal with underperformance in popular mutual funds
• Why process matters more than products
• How to align investments with financial goals
• Why global diversification is becoming increasingly important
• India’s potential in AI and data centres over the next 3–5 years

A key message from this Satsang: successful investing is not about predicting every market move. It is about having the right process, asset allocation and behaviour to stay invested through different market cycles.

Watch till the end for the discussion on India’s next growth opportunities and the future of AI and data centres.

Subscribe to InvestYadnya for practical insights on investing, personal finance, mutual funds, markets and wealth management.

00:00 – Introduction
01:15 – How resilient is the Indian economy?
01:44 – US Inflation: What Investors Need to Know
07:21 – Why Gold Matters in Wealth Management
08:00 – Interest Rates & Long-Term Bond Yields
11:27 – Asset Allocation vs Chasing Multibaggers
18:34 – What to Do When Your Mutual Fund Underperforms
22:00 – Trusting the Investment Process
26:00 – Process Over Product in Financial Planning
28:55 – Aligning Investments With Financial Goals
43:50 – Why Global Diversification Matters
46:56 – New Global Model Portfolios & Investing Opportunities
1:01:31 – India’s Economic Resilience
1:04:12 – India, AI & Data Centres: The Next Big Opportunity?
1:05:28 – Final Takeaways for Investors

#Investing #MutualFunds #AssetAllocation #FinancialPlanning #GoldInvestment #WealthManagement #StockMarket #investyadnya

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Use of this information is at the user’s own risk. The Company and its directors, associates and employees will not be liable for any loss or liability incurred to the user due to investments made or decisions taken based on the information provided herein. The investment discussed or views expressed herein may not be suitable for all investors. The users should rely on their own research and analysis and should consult their investment advisors to determine the merit, risks and suitability of recommendation. Past performance is not a guarantee for future performance or future results. Information herein is believed to be reliable, although its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. The images used may be copyright of the company or third party. As a condition to using the services, the user agrees to the terms of use of the website and the services.

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Disclosure with regard to ownership and material conflicts of interest

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6 (Real) Ways to Get a 6% Mortgage Rate in 2027


Mortgage rates are at their highest in years, but that doesn’t mean your mortgage rate has to be. You don’t have to settle for a 7% or 8% rate on your next rental—today we’re sharing six ways to get a 6% mortgage rate (or lower) right now.

No matter what your lender tells you, there are multiple ways to lock in a lower mortgage rate for the life of your loan, or at least for the next few years. These methods can get you into the 4%, 5%, and 6% range, depending on how you use them. That can slash your mortgage payment by hundreds of dollars a month and make the difference between a deal that cash flows and one that bleeds money.

If you’re buying in this housing market, where sellers have few options and buyers hold much of the power, you may find it easier than you think to get a lower rate. In this episode, we’re walking through how to do it, from taking over someone else’s low rate to getting a seller to pay for your lower monthly payment!

Dave:
Mortgage rates are the highest they have been in over a year, making it harder for investors to find rental properties that actually cash flow. But what if I told you that you don’t have to settle for a 7% or 8% mortgage rate? You don’t have to wait for the Fed to cut rates or refinance down the road. Regardless of what your mortgage broker or lender is probably telling you, there are multiple ways to get your mortgage rate down to 6%, 5%, or even lower even in today’s market. The right strategy could slash your mortgage payment by hundreds of dollars. And if you’re buying a rental property, that could be the difference between a deal that cash flows and one that bleeds money every month. And today I’m showing you how to get these lower rates right now and put more money in your pocket. From negotiating with sellers to taking advantage of incentives, these six strategies could help turn your good deal into an even better one in 2027.
Hey, what’s up everyone? Welcome to the BiggerPockets Podcast. I’m Dave Meyer, chief investment officer at BiggerPockets, investor for 16 years. And today on the show, we’re talking about how to get a lower mortgage rate. This is obviously a topic on the mind of every investor right now as higher mortgage rates are making deals harder to pencil. But despite what you see in the headlines, these big numbers where the average mortgage rate is now 7.5% or higher for investors, there are ways that you right now can get a lower mortgage rate. You don’t have to settle for a seven or 8% mortgage. And today on the show, I’m going to share with you six different strategies that you can use right now to lower your mortgage rate. That’s the plan for the episode, but I want to start by just talking about a quick high level overview of where we are with interest rates.
You may have heard this, but mortgage rates are currently the highest they’ve been in over a year. The Fed actually has stopped cutting rates. They have raised rates in recent months. They might be raising rates again in 2026 and again in 2027. And as of right now, most forecasters, and I agree with this, believe that in the next year or so, we should expect the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, the most popular mortgage out there to be in the mid sevens. It’s obviously not where we hope to be. We started 2026, rates briefly got below 6%, but we are heading in the wrong direction. Now, of course, this has made it harder for deals to generate cash flow. And before we go on, I just want to say your properties, the deals that you’re looking to buy need to cash flow even if it’s just a little bit at the rate that you are buying at.
A lot of people are out there saying buy now and you can refinance later. I have hated that advice for years now and I’m feeling a little vindicated about that because now a lot of people are realizing that wasn’t a good strategy because we don’t know the exact direction of rates. And so when you’re underwriting a deal for cash flow, it has to cash flow at the rate that you get when you buy. And that’s what we’re talking about today is not how do you buy now and refinance later, how do you get your rate lower today so you can actually count on that cash flow, hold onto your property long term because that is what makes you successful as an investor. A lot of the six strategies that I’m going to be talking about today include a buydown or a rate buydown. And so before we get into the six strategies, I just need to explain what a buydown is.
So a buydown is basically it allows you to pay upfront to lower your mortgage rate. So you pay more at closing to lower the interest rate on your mortgage. And I’ll talk about how you pay for that, how much it costs, but there are basically two types of buydowns that you need to pay attention to. So the first one is a temporary one. You’ll hear me talk about a three-two-one or a two-one buydown. A three-two-one is basically you get three percentage points off your loan in year one, two percentage points in year two, and one percentage point in year three. A two-one is basically just like that, two percentage points in year two, one percentage point in year one. So these can be really effective. You can go from seven and a half to four and a half percent, but it’s just for one year.
So keep that in mind that these are temporary. On top of temporary buy-downs, there are permanent ones where you lock in a lower mortgage rate for the entire loan term. So you can go out and buy down your rate from seven and a half to six and a half percent, and it stays locked in at six and a half percent for the entire loan. Now, both of these strategies work for investors. I just want to call out that there are different kinds of buydowns and different kinds of mortgages work with different types of buydowns. Just for example, conventional investor loans that are bought and sold by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac do not allow temporary buydowns. You can’t use like a three, two, one or a two-one. For those, you need a permanent buydown. On the other side, portfolio loans that are made by smaller banks that aren’t bought and sold and packaged and resold, those do allow both temporary and permanent buydowns.
So just high level overview before we get into these strategies. Again, there are temporary and there are permanent buydowns, and depending on which kind of loan you’re getting, you have to tailor the buydown to the type of loan. All right, with all of that explanation out of the way, let’s get to our six strategies to lower your mortgage rate today. First strategy, number one, super good right now in today’s market is seller concessions. The basic premise here is asking the current owner of the property to buy down your rate for you. And the reason I like this strategy so much right now is because concessions are very easy to get right now, at least in the majority of markets, not in every single market in the country. If you’re in San Francisco or another really hot market, it’s tough to get a seller to make these concessions.
But actually, if you look at the data right now, you are seeing that we are seeing half of home buyers are getting concessions from sellers, and that’s just regular home buyers. So if you’re an investor and you’re doing your job and you’re negotiating well, you should be able to extract concessions from people. And this can go on top of lowering the price that you pay, or sometimes it’s better to do this in lieu of lowering the price. For some psychological reasons, certain sellers just have a price in mind that they want for their property. So maybe they’re marketing it for 400 grand and rather than selling it for 380, they’ll spend 20 grand buying down your mortgage rate. And this is just a good negotiating tactic because at the end of the day, that might actually work better for you. Some people want a lower price, but for some people who want to generate cash flow, a better way to generate cash flow is buying down your rate than lowering the price.
That will actually increase your rate of return, your cash on cash return in most scenarios. So this is something you should talk to your agent about. When you’re making an offer or when you’re in negotiation for a property, you should propose concessions for a lower mortgage rate. And I encourage you to be as aggressive as possible about this. I personally think, all things being equal, getting a permanent buydown is better. If you can lock in your rate, you know what your cash flow is going to be, barring any vacancies or anything like that. But that is the peace of mind that I like, especially in this kind of market, to underwrite deals because if your rate is going to go up with a temporary buydown, you have to account for that, and we’ll talk about that for just a minute. Now, I want to give you a couple of practical points here.
The whole goal of this show is really actionable things that you can do right now to lower your mortgage rate. And so what you need to know is that even if a seller is willing to buy down your rate a lot, there are actually caps on how much of a concession your seller can give you. It’s a percentage of the total price. So just as an example, $400,000 property, it’s actually a 2% cap. So the seller can’t give you concessions worth more than 2% of the property. So using our example, that’s $8,000. So they’ll be able to buy down your rate up to $8,000. And I’ll explain this quickly, we don’t need to get into it, but there’s a rule of thumb that each discount point, which will reduce the rate of your mortgage by 0.25%, costs about 1% of the loan. So if you’re following me here for a conventional mortgage, that means they can permanently buy down your rate about half a percentage point.
Not bad. That’s pretty good. That’s going to change your cash flow by a hundred bucks a month, maybe more depending on the property. So that is definitely worthwhile, but you should know that that cap exists. If that is good enough for you, great. You can use this 2% concession on top of lowering price if you’re negotiating hard, or there are a couple other things you can do. Rather than using those conventional mortgages, remember I said that certain buydowns work with certain types of mortgages. If you go and use a portfolio loan from a credit union or a small bank or from a private lender, there’s no cap. So you can actually go out and get them to buy $20,000. Like the example I said, if they were willing to put $20,000, that would buy you five discount points or that would lower your mortgage rate by 1.25.
Now you’re sitting in the mid sixes. That is a much more attractive mortgage than you can get currently on the market. So that’s one option. The other option is getting that 2% concession and pairing that with a price reduction. Those are two great ways to use seller concessions right now, but I have a bonus for you. If you are house hacking, this strategy works even better because just based on the way all of these rules work, and I know there’s a lot of rules, but follow me on this one because this one’s important. If you’re an owner occupant and you are going to house hack, or if you’re doing a live-in flip, that 2% concession cap, nuh-uh, it is a 9% concession cap if you put 25% down. So if you are willing to put down money, you can get 9% concession. So following me here on a $400,000 property, that means you can get 2.25% off your mortgage rate.
So instead of sitting at seven and a half, now you’re sitting at five and a quarter. That makes a really big difference. That is hundreds of dollars in cash flow every single month. So extra bonus there if you’re going to owner occupy the property that you buy. All right, so seller concessions, that is strategy number one to lowering your mortgage rates, but there are more ways to get a five or even 6% rate, and we’re going to get to them right after this quick break. Stick with us. Before we go to break, if you’re someone who’s bought a couple of deals and you’re looking to scale up your portfolio into something bigger, I have a really exciting announcement for you. BiggerPockets is hosting its first ever conference focused just on scaling up. It’s this December, it’s coming up soon, this December, 5th through 7th in Phoenix, Arizona.
We’re going to have a full day of programming with speakers like myself, James Daynard, Kathy Fecke, and Devon Kinard talking about how to scale up and build a sustainable business. Tickets are on sale now, but there are only 100 tickets. So go to biggerpockets.com/conferences now and get your ticket today.
Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Podcast. I’m Dave Meyer. Today on the show, we are talking about six strategies to lower your mortgage rate here in 2026 and heading into 2027. The first one we talked about was seller concession, but we have five more great options for you. And number two is builder concessions. So this is very similar to seller concessions, but I just wanted to call out separately that if you are buying new construction right now directly from a builder, the concession rate is insane right now. 65% of builders have reported using sales incentives just this month. And personally, I think that number is going to go up. Builders are in a rough spot right now. They are in a worse spot than their traditional seller, and you have a ton of leverage when you go out and negotiate concessions with builders right now. Now, similar to seller concessions, builder concessions will require you to either use a portfolio loan to bypass the 2% conventional cap or use a combination of concessions and price reduction.
Now, just a little insider information here. Builders, they don’t like giving price reductions. They are loathed to do that because it’s just think about their business model. The average builder, D.R. Horton or Lennar, they’re going out and they’re building dozens or hundreds of homes in a similar location. And if they reduce price on one of those properties, all of a sudden, all of the comps in their area or in their subdivision gets lowered. That makes it harder for them to sell the next property and the next property and the next property at their target price. And so they much prefer to give concessions that other buyers can’t see. That’s just how their game works. And so they will often give concessions in multiple forms and you should negotiate for all of them. They will offer home warranties. They’ll offer credits for closing costs. They will offer upgrades on the properties in terms of nicer finishes, better floors, whatever it is, throwing in appliances.
They will do all of that. But as we’re talking about today, one of the things they will do is buy down your rate. Now, I see all sorts of structures being offered by lenders. Traditionally, they try to offer temporary buydowns because it’s cheaper for them, like a three, two, one. Again, that means you’ll get three percentage points off of your first year. So that might go from seven and a half to four and a half percent, amazing for your first year. They might go for two points for your second year, so it goes to 5% for a second year and then it goes to 6% and then it goes up to that 7.5%. This could really work well, but I encourage you to underwrite the deal with 7.5% because it’s going to go back to that and you shouldn’t count on a refinance. And so if your deal works at 7.5%, and then for those first three years, you’re just getting a little bit of bonus cash flow, amazing.
This is a great concession to try and negotiate with builders. The other thing is using a portfolio loan. And something that I am seeing personally right now is that because this is a little bit harder for buyers, like most buyers use conventional loans sold and packaged by Fannie and Freddie because it’s cheaper for them. They don’t go out and find portfolio loans. So what a lot of builders are doing is going out and establishing relationships with portfolio lenders specifically so you can get around that 2% cap. And so if your builder or who you’re talking to is open to this, that’s when you try and negotiate for a big permanent buydown. See if they’ll buy down your rate by two percentage points forever, three percentage points forever. They might be willing to do that. If you’re in the right place, if you have the right leverage, if you negotiate well, you can get huge discounts here.
This I think is one of the best opportunities in all of real estate right now is negotiating hard with a lender for permanent buydown. If you can’t get permanent, follow my other advice about the temporary stuff, but a lot of them are figuring out ways. They are finding the lenders for you to be able to do this because it’s in their best interest. If they can find the lender and do these buydowns for you, they can move inventory, which is their absolute goal. Builders are concerned about moving inventory as quickly as possible. And so knowing that and leveraging that and saying, “I’ll buy your property, but I need this two and a half percent buydown forever,” that’s an amazing thing. You can get in the fives. Yo might even be able to get in the fours. I’ve heard in now you can get in the fours.
I’ve heard a lot of people getting in the fives. So this is a great way to lower your mortgage rate. So that’s strategy number two. We talked about seller concessions, that’s from a typical homeowner. Number two was talking about builder concessions and they will offer traditionally bigger builder concessions. And I should mention, builders are just more used to the idea of concessions. They are very familiar with this. They use this tool all the time, and so those negotiations might go easier. And that brings us to our third strategy, which is turnkey provider concessions, another group that is willing to buy down your mortgage rate and is very familiar with this concept. If you don’t know what a turnkey rental provider is, it’s companies like Rent to Retirement, you’ve probably heard their ads on BiggerPockets. Their CEO, Zach LeMaster, has been on the show frequently. But what they do is they either go out and buy new construction from builders bulk.
They buy 10, 20, 30 properties at a time and they can drive down the price and they negotiate these concessions with the builders for you. So you don’t actually even have to go and do that. Now, these turnkey providers do have ways of making money. They manage your property and there is a margin between what they buy it for and what they sell it for, but they will do a lot of work for you and you still benefit from it. These turnkey providers, similar to what builders do, is they also go out and find preferred lenders that can get you great buydowns. So they’re not traditionally talking about these conventional mortgages that have that 2% concession cap on them. These are portfolio loans where you can get either really good, really aggressive temporary buydowns or really good, really aggressive permanent buydowns on your mortgages. And I should just say with turnkey providers, you’re not necessarily buying new construction, although many of them do work with builders, you can also get these same kind of concessions with a bur project or a renovation project that you are running through a turnkey provider.
So as we’re talking about, the first three strategies are all buydown strategies, and I know that they sound similar. The mechanism for getting the lower mortgage rate is the same, but you need to think about who’s incentivized and who is familiar with this concept of concessions, who is most motivated to move product. And so I would say builders and turnkey providers understand the concession game and they’re playing the concession game. And so if you approach them and talk to them about this, they’ll know what you’re talking about and they’ll be willing to deal. Sellers, it’s a case by case basis. Some of them, if their property’s been sitting on the market for a long time, they’ve already reduced price. Their agent has probably talked to them about concessions. I would hope so. If they have a good agent, they should be talking to them about concessions, but some sellers are just stubborn, and so you’re not going to be able to do that all the time.
Doesn’t mean you can’t succeed at that. I still recommend trying, absolutely, but that is just part of the game is realizing that not every seller is going to be willing to do this for you and you have to throw out a lot of different concepts. So those are our first three strategies. Let’s move on to our fourth strategy where we’re getting out of the concession rate buydown game and talking about a whole different strategy for getting a lower mortgage rate. And number four, this strategy is seller financing. Seller financing is a creative financing strategy where you’re basically identifying an owner of a property who owns their property outright, and rather than just selling you the property and you going out and getting a mortgage on it, a traditional mortgage on it and taking it over, the seller essentially becomes your mortgage provider. Because they own the property, you can structure a loan with them to pay them back over time.
And this is a really good win-win scenario for people because a lot of times, perhaps it’s a tired landlord or an older person or an older couple who owns this property, a lot of times they like the idea of the passive income that comes with being a creditor. If they negotiate with you a seven or 8% mortgage, they’re getting a seven or 8% return on their money every single month and they were able to sell you the property. So that’s how seller financing works. And the reason this works right now to lower your mortgage rate is because if you’re negotiating with a seller, it’s all fair game. I mean, there are some legal rules, but basically it’s whatever price, whatever interest rate, whatever loan terms you can agree on with the seller is pretty much fair game. You should have a lawyer look at this stuff and make sure that it’s all legal and above board, but it’s fair game.
And so some sellers are willing to offer a lower interest rate in order to get this arrangement. Now, I want to call out here that oftentimes seller financing rates are higher than traditional mortgage rates because a lot of buyers who can’t qualify for traditional mortgages will approach sellers to do seller financing and because of that risk, the seller says, “All right, if you can’t qualify for a traditional mortgage, you might be a risky borrower. And so to compensate for that risk and for me to give you this loan, I need 8% or I need 9%.” And sometimes that works. On the other hand, sometimes they’re lower. If a seller has this idea in their mind that their property is worth 500 and it’s not selling and you say, “Hey, I’ll pay you 500, but I need a 3% mortgage rate,” they might do that. That stuff works.
That stuff happens actually quite a lot. That’s not the most common thing in the world because not every seller is willing to do seller financing, but this actually works. Some sellers care more about the price they sell it for than the interest rate that they’re going to get on the seller loan that they create. This is absolutely a lever you can pull in your negotiations. If you can figure out a way to get a property on seller financing, three, four, 5% mortgage rates are absolutely possible. It’s really whatever you can do. And this is where being a great investor and negotiator and getting creative comes in handy because your job when you talk to a seller is not to demand a 3% mortgage rate or 4% mortgage rate, is to understand what they’re trying to accomplish, what matters to them in the sale of this property.
And if you can find a mutually agreeable solution where you get what you want, which is a lower mortgage rate, they get what they want, which might be certain terms about the sale or the price of the sale, you can absolutely create a win-win scenario with seller financing. So that is seller financing. Again, a way that you can save hundreds of dollars a month, thousands of dollars a year on your mortgage rate. That’s more cash flow in your pocket if you find the right deal and negotiate the right seller financing. Really great strategy right now. Definitely recommend this one. We do have two more strategies for you to consider, but we have to take one more quick break. We’ll be right back after this.
Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Podcast. I’m Dave Meyer. Today, we’re talking about six strategies to get a lower mortgage rate right now. We’ve talked about various different buydowns and concessions. We’ve talked about seller financing. Number five is for people who want to owner occupy. Again, that’s a house hack or a live and flip. This is the assumable mortgage. You might have heard of this, but basically assumable mortgages are when you take over the loan of the homeowner. I know it sounds crazy, but this is a real thing that you can do, and there are actually 12 million loans in the United States right now, 12 million that are assumable mortgages, meaning that if someone bought a home during COVID or hopefully they refinanced during COVID and have a two and a half or a three or a three and a half percent mortgage rate, you could just go in and take over that loan, and now it’s you on that mortgage instead of them.
Now, this only works in certain circumstances, and the number one criteria that you need to know about is that it’s only for owner occupied. So this either needs to be for your primary residence or a house hack or for a live and flip. You cannot do this for a traditional rental property where you’re not living in it. The second thing to know is that not all mortgages are assumable. Most conventional mortgages, if you were just to go out, take out a 20% mortgage, live in your home, and it was a Fannie Freddie loan, it’s probably not assumable. Most assumable mortgages are government backed mortgages. So these are either FHA loans, VA veteran loans, or USDA loans. These are often the best places to look to find an assumable mortgage. And again, there are 12 million out there. Now, you might need to do a little bit of work, talk to your agent about identifying these, but smart sellers right now are advertising this because we’re in a buyer’s market right now.
Sellers have to compete for buyers, and this is a good way for sellers to compete. If I was that one of those people, I would hope my agent is putting that in the listing and making it very clear that there’s an assumable mortgage because that is super valuable. It is so valuable to a buyer to be able to assume a mortgage at three and a half or 4%. I think the logic goes that a buyer would be willing to pay more for a property with that assumable mortgage because it makes it more affordable. And so that is one way to find it, or you can talk to your agent about working together to find those types of loans. Now, if you find one, that is great, but I just want to call out one more caveat here because it’s not just magic. You don’t just get to go in and not have to put down a down payment.
You do have to cover the gap between the purchase price and the loan amount. Because just imagine this, if someone went out and bought their property for $300,000, they put 10% down, they put 30 grand down, and they got a 3% mortgage rate. And now let’s just say it’s 20 years later and they are selling this property to you for $500,000. Even if you’re putting 10% down, the down payment now would be 50 grand instead of 30 grand. And so you do need to come with that cash and cover that cost, but that would absolutely be worth it. Now, I know not everyone has that cash, so you have to decide if this is right for you, but this is an incredible opportunity if you can find these kinds of loans. And frankly, I’m not happy to report this, but if you look at delinquency rates on mortgages and what areas of the housing market are in trouble, FHA and VA loan delinquencies are up.
And so a lot of these mortgages are not underwater, but if delinquencies are up, we could see more sales on FHA and VA loans. And so my thinking is that there is going to be more and more of these assumable mortgages hitting the market, and that is a huge opportunity for investors to find a way to lower their mortgage rate. That’s strategy number five. We’ve covered concessions, incentives, assumable mortgages, seller financing, and we have one more. Strategy six, probably not the most complicated, probably not the sexiest, but you can just buy down those points yourself. We talked about a buydown and getting sellers to do these things, but you could also just do it yourself. And a lot of times this is worth it. And it goes back to what we were talking about with the cap, because if you’re going out and getting a conventional mortgage, the max buy down that you can get is 2%.
But if you want to use a conventional mortgage and get a lower rate and you want to buy down that rate yourself, there’s no limit. You can buy it down really a lot. You can put $30,000 into it. If you want to buy a $300,000 property and put 30 grand into it, you can get your loan down two and a half percent. You can get a 5% mortgage rate. Now, in today’s market, how do you make that work because you should be negotiating? Well, that’s when you negotiate on price, right? So instead of paying 300, Maybe pay 270 and you use that savings in 30 grand, that equity that you’re walking into, you use that to buy down your points. So I just want to give you an example because this really helps in two different ways. So first and foremost, it helps in your cash flow.You’re going to be making a couple hundred bucks more per year, but you’re also just paying less total interest over the lifetime of your loan.
And that’s why I really recommend the strategy only if you’re going to hold this property for a long time because you’re going to put cash down and if you sell it in three or four years, you’re not going to get enough benefit from the cash flow to make this worthwhile. But if you’re buying something that you intend to hold for 15, 20, 30 years, consider this. It’s a good strategy. I actually did the math that breakeven points usually about eight or nine years. I think you need to say at least 15 years because you never know what’s going to happen. But if you’re going to hold onto it for 15 years or so, this can be a great strategy. Just as an example, on a $240,000 property, so a pretty inexpensive property, just buying down your rate from seven and a quarter to 6% will save you $71,000 in total interest over 30 years.
That’s on top of $200 a month in savings. So you’re getting $2,400 a year in cash flow that you wouldn’t be getting. And on top of that, if you held this property for 30 years, you’d save another $71,000. All of that benefit, the cost to do that is $12,000. So $12,000 to make $2,400 a year in cash flow. So that is already a wash in five years. So it pays for itself in five years. And then you make 2,500 bucks a year for another 25 years. That’s another $60,000 you are earning for investing 12,000. So buying down points just on a rate of return, if you think of this at its own investment, the rate of return on that $12,000 is incredible. It’s like a five, 7Xer just on buying down those loans. So yeah, if you can get someone else to buy them down for you, absolutely do that.
That is way better. But don’t write off the idea of buying these down yourself because it’s something I’ve though about doing in my own properties recently and for own acquisitions because if you’re buying something you want to hold long term, I think you know if you listen to the show, I am not optimistic that mortgage rates are going to come down significantly in the next couple of years. But if I can negotiate on price with a seller and I can get a property that’s worth 500, get it for 450 and then buy down those points, that could really change a deal from being good to being really great. Just so you can figure this out. I actually uploaded a calculator to BiggerPockets. It’s free. Go to biggerpockets.com/resources. You can download it for free. And it’s just called Is Buying Rates Points Worth It? And you can put in all the details of your property and it will tell you whether you should buy the points and how many of them.
And I’ll just give you the TLDR. Usually the longer you hold it, yes, it’s definitely worth it. If you’re going to do it for three or four years, don’t bother. If you’re going to do it for five, six, seven years, kind of on the fence. 10 to 15 years, do it. Absolutely do it. It makes a lot of sense. It is an underrated strategy for investors in my opinion, especially with these concession caps. So definitely something for you to consider. So that’s it. Those are our six strategies for getting a lower mortgage rate. And as you can see, these are all things that you can go out and do today. Number one, just as a reminder with seller concessions, this is working with a homeowner or another landlord to negotiate concessions. Number two, builder buydowns and builder concessions. Number three, turnkey concessions. Number four is seller financing.
Five is assumable mortgage. And six is paying down the points yourself. Now, you don’t have to get a lower mortgage rate to make any deal work right now. You can get a traditional mortgage and only buy deals that cash flow with a seven and a half percent rate that we’re seeing today. But right now we are in a buyer’s market. That means you have leverage to negotiate and these are some of the best things that you can negotiate for. Everyone tries to negotiate on price, but why not do both? Why not negotiate on price and get concessions to get a lower mortgage rate that’s going to allow you to walk into equity and to get better cashflow from the outset of your deal? This is how you buy deals during the great stall. This is the kind of stuff, the kind of tactics that really, really work.
And it’s what I encourage all of you to think about as you’re underwriting and pursuing your next deal. That’s our show for today. Thank you so much for watching this episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast. I’m Dave Meyer and I’ll see you next time.

 

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Amplitude CEO Spenser Skates’ spouse sells $16,839 in shares




Amplitude CEO Spenser Skates’ spouse sells $16,839 in shares

Elon Musk said the Cybertruck would be Tesla’s ‘best product ever.’ Now he’s winding down production



Elon Musk said Friday Tesla would be phasing out the production of the Cybertruck, the boxy-looking electric pickup he once pitched as the future of his EV maker.

In a post on X, Musk said: “Tesla will be winding down production of the Cybertruck at Gigafactory Texas around the middle of next year to make room for increased Cybercab production.” 

The changes to Cybertruck production come seven years after Musk introduced the vehicle at a splashy Sci-Fi-themed event at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, Calif., complete with pyrotechnics and a live demonstration of the car’s “armor glass” in which Tesla’s lead designer shattered two Cybertruck windows with a steel ball. Just a month before the launch event, Musk had touted the vehicle as Tesla’s “best product ever” during Tesla’s third quarter earnings call in 2019.

“This could be totally wrong. I could be totally out to lunch here, but I think the Tesla Cyber Truck is our best product ever. That’s my opinion,” he said at the time.

Yet, the Cybertruck, which starts at a whopping $92,490, has been popular, but it has struggled to find the mass appeal of other Tesla vehicles like the Model Y and Model 3.

After production delays pushed the vehicle’s launch date to 2023 from a previously promised 2021 launch, production still fell short of the between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks Musk predicted Tesla would eventually produce annually. 

Tesla sold 38,965 Cybertrucks in the U.S. in 2024 and then just 20,237 in 2025, a decline of 48%, according to estimates by Kelley Blue Book. In the first half of the year, Kelley Blue Book’s parent company Cox Automotive also estimated Tesla sold a total of 7,263 Cybertrucks, which would put them on track for yet another year-over-year sales decline this year. Tesla does not break out its Cybertruck sales in its public filings.

Musk has now pivoted the company’s future prospects to the autonomous Cybercab, which he announced to fanfare at an event in 2024. The first Cybercabs hit roads in Austin, Texas, in September. Tesla also has Robotaxi operations, using the Model Y, in Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth in Texas as well as Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in Florida, with plans for more U.S. cities to be included later. 

Tesla did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

New ambitions

The shift away from Cybertruck production comes as Tesla seeks to convince investors autonomous technology can drive growth in the future by surpassing traditional EV sales, which have fallen since President Donald Trump ended the EV tax credit last year. Tesla sells the most EVs of any company in the U.S.

The EV maker has positioned its Cybercab, a two-seater without a steering wheel or pedals, as key to its expansion into autonomous transportation and robotics.

But the new vehicle also faces hurdles. Federal auto safety regulators in September opened an investigation into whether Tesla properly certified that the Cybercab complies with federal vehicle safety standards. At the end of October, Tesla submitted its answers to questions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), but requested its responses remain sealed because they are “confidential business information.” The NHTSA has not yet ruled on Tesla’s confidentiality request, according to Electrek.

In the autonomous robotaxi market, Tesla is entering late. Alphabet’s Waymo already operates in 15 U.S. cities and reportedly provides 500,000 rides per week, it said in an X post earlier this year. 

For its part, the Cybertruck has been hit with 11 recalls since customer deliveries began in November 2023, according to Reuters. Price changes that made it significantly more expensive than Musk’s original vision have also stood in the way of mass adoption. Tesla advertised a starting price of $39,900 when it introduced the truck in 2019—but by the time deliveries began in 2023, Tesla was advertising a version of the vehicle expected to cost $60,990.

Tesla raised the price of several models of the Cybertruck this month and discontinued orders for the cheapest model, the Dual Motor AWD. That means the cheapest Cybertruck model still available starts at $92,490, up from the $84,990 price the same model reached in August after previous price hikes, according to Electrek.

Tesla has previously tried introducing less expensive versions of the Cybertruck to attract buyers. The company launched a rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck in 2025 but pulled it from the lineup months later.

Musk’s Friday post also leaves existing Cybertruck owners in limbo. Tesla has not said how long it will continue selling remaining inventory or supplying replacement parts, though winding down the vehicle’s production does not mean it will end support for existing vehicles.

Musk, for his part, still appeared enthusiastic about the truck Friday. 

In response to a user highlighting Musk’s Cybertruck announcement as the end of an era, the CEO replied: “True, but the Cybertruck fleet will be around for a long time.”