Free Republic

Many Americans continue to find homeownership financially out of reach due to rising house prices and stagnant wages, among other contributing factors. But which U.S. cities are the least affordable?One way to assess housing affordability is through the home price-to-income ratio, which measures the ratio of the median home price to the median household income.This map, via Visual Capitalist's Kayla Zhu, shows the home price-to-income ratio of 54 large cities (population over one million) in the U.S. using data from Construction Coverage’s analysis of Zillow and U.S. Census Bureau data.Housing Affordability Worst in Coastal U.S. CitiesBelow, we show the home...

Social Security is among the rare topics that can make Republicans and Democrats see eye to eye, according to a new survey. In Pennsylvania, people on both sides of the aisle agree that it’s time to raise payroll taxes on high-income earners, cut benefits for the wealthiest retirees, and even push the full retirement age from 67 to 68 if that’s what it takes to keep Social Security from running out of cash. A new poll conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program For Public Consultation found majorities from both political parties want to see lawmakers tackle Social Security’s looming...

Three years ago, San Francisco launched an experiment to give 150 pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for the duration of their pregnancy and six months after the birth. *** Now, that effort is almost certainly about to come to a screeching halt. And another guaranteed income program to assist San Francisco’s transgender residents — who are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population — already has been shut down. Participants were only given a month’s notice before being cut off. *** So, how could two successful programs, lauded by...

The Evanston, Illinois, city council on Monday expanded eligibility of its guaranteed basic income program that it previously touted as a model that other municipalities should follow. Evanston's city council voted 5-4 to increase the age restriction for children in the program. Per The Chicago Tribune, the vote stemmed from prior concern that the program was not reaching enough residents within Evanston’s tract 8092. (According to the federal government, "census tracts are small, relatively permanent statistical subdivisions of a county.") The program did not have as many applicants as expected, with only 60 households participating with 90 spots left. Before...

The Center Square) – More than 87,000 people moved out of Illinois taking with them nearly $10 billion in income, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service data. For the last six years, the total lost adjusted gross income is more than $47.5 billion. For nearly a decade, annual population estimates from the U.S. Census show Illinois losing population. For well over a year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has denied the state’s population decline, saying the Census is getting it wrong. In May, he doubled down. “You should take what I’m saying as truth that actually when we count people, it...

POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- The city of Pomona is seeing growth with new apartments and new businesses. There are some people, however, who can't afford basic needs. "In a city like Pomona, where you have a poverty rate of about 16, 16.5% - people are struggling. People are having a very difficult time being able to just have housing," Mayor Tim Sandoval said. The city wants to give some residents stimulus checks, a guaranteed income program to help with living expenses. It's called the Household Universal Grant (HUG) program.

Earlier in 2023, top American lawmaker Rich McCormick, while addressing the US House of Representatives, said that Indian-Americans constitute about one per cent of the US population but pay about six per cent of the taxes. Does it ring a bell? Interestingly, Indians are the highest-earning ethnic group in the US — ahead of people from countries like China and Japan. How many Indians are there in the US and how much are they earning? The number of people identifying as Asian in the United States nearly tripled in the past three decades, and Asians are now the fastest-growing of...

DOWNTOWN — Mayor Brandon Johnson is putting $30 million more in federal pandemic relief dollars toward a revived guaranteed income program that will give more Chicagoans $500 monthly cash payments. Johnson is also committing more money for violence prevention, rapid rehousing and other initiatives as he revamps the city’s approach to spending what remains of the $1.9 billion in pandemic financial aid the city received in 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act.

In a recent interview with MSNBC, Galloway discussed the current challenges facing young adults, remarking, “For the first time in our nation's history, a 30-year-old man or woman isn't doing as well as his or her parents were at 30, that is the social compact breaking down.” According to a 2016 study from Harvard-based research initiative Opportunity Insights, over 90% of children born in the 1940s grew up to earn more than their parents at age 30. However, for children born in the 1980s, only half managed to outearn their parents. Galloway, said the economy is "purposely" transferring money to...

n a couple of weeks, California's Public Utilities Commission will vote on whether or not to adopt a new fixed charge for electricity, one that will likely be based on income.When I first wrote about this proposal a year ago, the utilities were suggesting that fee could be as high as $85 a month for some households. That's not including whatever the utilities charge for actual usage of electricity. The new fixed fee as proposed was essentially an income tax being paid via your electric bill. Since then, the proposal has been scaled back quite a bit but some version...

ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul and her husband, Bill, brought home much more bacon in 2023 than the year before. The couple made around $2 million in adjusted gross income in 2023, up a staggering $1 million from 2022, media reports covering the pair’s tax returns indicate. The tax return reportedly shows Hochul, who is in the second year of her first full term, and her husband paid $610,000 in federal taxes and $123,090 in state taxes.

If you plan to deposit $10,000 or more into your checking account, there are a few things you should consider first. By law, banks have to report deposits that exceed a certain amount. Not only that, but many bank accounts come with maximum deposit restrictions. You may also be subject to certain fees when making such a large deposit. If you frequently make large deposits, you should also watch out for any potential scams or fraudulent activity. But even if this is a one-time thing, it’s still important to know about these factors and how they might affect you. Banks...

The cost to afford a median-priced home has increased at twice the rate that the average household income has risen as inflation and high interest rates inflame housing expenses, according to Redfin. The median monthly home payment in February was $2,838, up 12% year-over-year, while the median household income was just $84,072, an increase of 6% over the last year, according to Redfin. Over the past decade, the income needed to afford a home has tracked closely with the median household income until around the start of 2022, when the amount of household income needed skyrocketed to its current median...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Illinois lawmakers are considering a bill that would create a state-based guaranteed income program. State Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) sponsors Senate Bill 3462, which calls on Illinois to adopt such a program after the 2027 calendar year. Through this legislation, residents who meet certain qualifications would be eligible for monthly $1,000 cash payments, regardless of immigration status. It’s unclear how long the payments would last. According to the bill’s language, those potentially eligible for $1,000 cash payments include people who: Provide care for a child or other specified dependent Recently gave birth or adopted a child Enroll...

With a $650 payment for 72 months, this is going to be one expensive Toyota CamryYour twenties are the perfect time to screw up and try to get your xxxx figured out. Sometimes it takes getting to the rock bottom before you can dig yourself out of it. For the sake of everyone involved here, I hope this young woman on Caleb Hammer’s Financial Audit show has reached her bottom and will find a way to get her life turned around. Right now, it seems like the best first step would be to sell her car and find her way...

The average American 65 years of age and up earns an annual pre-tax income of $55,335, and that same group spends $52,141 yearly, or $4,345 a month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That income doesn’t leave a lot of extra cash for unexpected expenses or emergencies. The average American aged 65-69 has about $200,000 in retirement savings, according to an analysis of Federal Reserve data, and might still need to work even when they reach retirement age. High expenses often play a role. These four categories of spending tend to eat into monthly expenses — here’s how...

Here’s a look at average retirement incomes and how much people spend during their golden years. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. households led by someone age 65 or older spent an average of $57,818 in 2022. Key Takeaways: * Sources of retirement income include Social Security, retirement accounts, pensions, dividends and employment wages. * Retirees can expect to spend 70% to 80% of their pre-retirement income in retirement, according to one rule of thumb. * Older Americans spent an average of $57,818 in 2022, but about 40% of households led by someone age 65 or...

Eating costs more in Biden's America. The last time this much of your income went to buying groceries was 30 years ago. Inflation may be ebbing but food costs are not. Don't look for relief any time soon. Restaurants and food companies are dealing with rising labor costs and the rising costs of some ingredients, like cocoa Prices at restaurants were up 5.1% last month compared to January 2023. Grocery costs increased 1.2% during the same timeframe. The sad fact is that once food items go up in price, they don't come back down. Shoppers have to adjust to the...

I first reported in April 2023 about a new California state law that would require utility companies to come up with a fixed-rate plan as a way to help stabilize rates and make billing more "equitable." Hence, the state’s soon-to-be-implemented "equitable" policy will base residential electricity bills on income rather than usage, even as public and political opposition to the idea builds in the Democratic coalition.I titled my 2023 article "Marxism, California Style? New State Law Will Lead Energy Companies to Bill Customers Based on Income" because of a phrase popularized by Karl Marx as part of a larger communist...

Let’s face it: income inequality in our country has gotten out of hand. I know that these words sound like a Marxists slogan. Marxists will always grab at a shred of truth to push their destructive economic policies in the name of fairness. We all know (those of us with functioning brains) that there is no fairness in the world, and there never has been, and there never will be. That does not excuse us from being wary of the extreme divisions arising from unhealthy income inequality. There does exist a point where we cannot ignore the issue as libertarians...