Get Ready for a $6 Trillion Transfer of Wealth
In the next 10 years, according to a new report from brokerage Coldwell Banker Global Luxury reviewed in the WSJ, 1.2 million people from around the world whose net worth is at least $5 million will pass down their wealth – a total of at least $38 trillion – to their children.
That’s a lot of money.
A good chunk of it – about $4.6 trillion – will be in the form of real estate. Half of those properties are in the US, and some of them are already changing hands because many Baby Boomer parents would rather see the transfers happen while they are still alive.
This is a serious opportunity for brokers, contractors, home decorators, and other service providers. As the lucky youngsters begin to gain ownership over their pieces of this multitrillion-dollar giveaway, they will be buying and selling homes and hiring professionals to make them fit their inexperienced style.
I couldn’t even guess at what they will be buying and selling, nor what sorts of changes they will likely make. But if I were in my 30s or 40s, I’d be working on figuring out how these Gen Xers and Millennials will be directing their newfound wealth.
G7 Shocks the World and Makes a Sensible Decision
This year’s G7 summit has been delayed because the date conflicted with Trump’s White House birthday party, which will showcase, among other Trumpian amusements, an MMA (mixed martial arts) fight in or around the Oval Office.
I’ve never had a high opinion of the annual get-together of the seven so-called world leaders, because they rarely arrive at a course of action that makes economic sense. And when they do, they don’t follow up on it.
But now, after 52 years of loony thinking and wasteful spending, they’ve done something that makes perfect sense. Going forward with the meeting without Trump while half the world is watching a cage fight would have been an embarrassing mistake.
Trump Says He’ll Impose a Credit Card Interest Rate Cap
Is That a Good Thing?
President Trump has announced that he plans to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year.
It was the first time in more than 10 years when nobody – neither Democrats nor Republicans – was outraged by an executive order he issued.
In fact, it felt like everyone liked the idea.
But as with the capturing of Maduro, it’s likely that the nice people with TDS will find a problem with it. And I’m pretty sure I know what that is. If a 10% limit were imposed, it would force credit card issuers to get tougher on their credit rating standards, which would prevent millions of deadbeats from acquiring cards and buying things they can’t afford.
Good News on the US Economy
New orders for key US-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in November, suggesting business spending on equipment maintained a steady growth pace in the fourth quarter.
Non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending, rose 0.7% after a downwardly revised 0.3% gain in October, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said last week.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast these so-called core capital goods orders increasing 0.3% after a previously reported 0.5% advance in October. Shipments of core capital goods rose 0.4% after gaining 0.8% in October.
