GOOD NEWS ON AGING: Two research reports published in the April edition of the American Sociological Review conclude that the happiest Americans are the oldest. Among the findings: Older Americans have learned to be content with what they have.  They are more socially networked. 75% of people age 57 to 85 engage in one or more social activities at least every week (e.g., socializing with neighbors, attending religious services, volunteering, etc.). Those in their 80s were twice as likely as those in their 50s to do at least one of these activities. In general, the odds of being happy increased 5% with every 10 years of age. DEATH OF THE DEATH OF THE ESTATE TAX?:   John McCain said that if elected he will raise the estate tax exemption to $5 million and reduce the tax rate to 15%.  Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama said that they would set a $3.5 million exemption and leave the tax rate at 45%.  John McCain would index the exemption amount to inflation. Neither Democrat candidate would do so. None of the three would eliminate the estate tax.  It tooks like we will be living under a federal estate tax regime for a long, long time….the only question is the rate of tax and the amount of the exemption.  In any case, the credit shelter trust strategy (which is in so many existing estate plans) will continue to be an effective way to reduce overall estate tax for a married couple who are both U.S. citizens. HELPFUL BUDGETING/CASH FLOW WEBSITE:   I checked out www.mint.com this weekend, and I am very impressed with what I have seen so far.  This software is a good way to organize your cash flow and budgeting. There are two very attractive attributes to this software:  It is 1) fast and easy, and 2) free. THE MARKETS:  The roller coaster was moving up this past week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 4.25% (down 3.13% for the year) and the S&P 500 was up 4.31%  (down 5.31% for the year)  [Past performance does not guarantee future results.] Some of the upward movement was driven by positive earnings reports from, among others, Caterpillar, Intel, IBM, Google and Honeywell. Each exceeded expectations. On the other hand, Citigroup and Merrill Lynch reported massive write-downs on their housing-related debt and other debt instruments. Both companies saw their share prices increase. The U.S. dollar slid again and commodity prices increased. These views are provided by my good friend and business associate Doug MacGray. Doug is a certified financial planner. If you need the assistance of a great financial planner, please let me know and I will get you in contact with Doug.

If you would like to apply for a Mortgage Loan, you can APPLY ONLINE HERE, you can call John Thomas at 302-703-0727.

John R. Thomas – NMLS 38783

Certified Mortgage Planner – Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.

302-703-0727 DE Office / 610-906-3109 PA Office / 410-412-3319 MD Office

248 E Chestnut Hill Rd, Newark, DE 19713

STRUGGLING ECONOMY: Clearly, we are in a poor situation. Almost all data that came out last week was negative, and the markets responded in kind. The job numbers were negative.  Construction spending fell by -1.7%, mostly due to a drop in residential construction. Consumer credit grew by $6.9 billion. Factory orders dropped -2.5% in January.   JOB LOSSES IN PERSPECTIVE: Last month there was a net loss of 63,000 jobs. In the recession of 1980, in April payrolls declined by 145,000, 2.3 times what was lost in February 2008. Of course, since the total number of employees in April 1980 was a little under 91 million versus today’s almost 138 million, this 145,000 loss represented even a far greater percentage decline. Maybe more important, since February 2008 was the second month of job losses, a potentially better reference point would be the 431,000 jobs lost in May 1980, the second month of that year’s recession.   DECREASING EQUITY: In the fourth quarter of 2007, homeowners’ equity fell to its lowest level in more than 60 years. The national average for owners’ equity as a percentage of household value dropped to 47.9%. In 1945, the percentage was 84%.  (Federal Reserve’s Flow of Funds report for the fourth quarter of 2007: www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/).   A COLLEGE SAVINGS ACCOUNT….FOR YOURSELF:  Almost everyone knows that a Section 529 College Savings Account is a good place to put money because you enjoy tax-free growth if you ultimately use the money for qualified education expenses. Occasionally, I have worked with young couples who have started putting money into a plan, naming themselves as the beneficiary, temporarily, until they started having children. However, I believe that the use of these accounts should and will be used much more extensively by baby boomers for themselves.

More and more people are proactively planning what they will be doing in retirement, and for many, it is to move on to some different type of career. I had a very high executive client at a Fortune 500 company who retired and went to law school. But consider some of the following possibilities:

• A semester at sea studying marine biology
• A year-long French lit course in Paris
• A fall session exploring art in Guadalajara
• A summer of music appreciation in Vienna
• An ecological field trip to Costa Rica  

(See http://www.petersons.com/Â for more possibilities.)

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