19 March 2019 FT — Articles to Read

19 March 2019

 

Question: According to MSN: Money, what are seven (7) reasons not to pay off your mortgage before retiring?

 

Business is brisk for Ivy League gatekeepers – Pg. 4

–          Interlaced with the promise of Yale, the company also offers what may be unnerving advice for anxious parents: they should start early – ideally signing their children up by the time they are in the eighth grade – and be prepared to spend upwards of $100,000

–          …US university places had remained stagnant even as applications surged in recent years, including many abroad

–          Services range from test preparation and helping students select suitable schools to coaching them on application essays and, in some cases, building an application over years

–          ….the mere existence of admissions consultants raises questions over a US higher education system that presents itself as striving for fairness but looks to many critics like a game rigged for the wealthy

 

China shadow banking sector cools – Pg. 15

–          As China’s $9.1tn shadow lending industry cools for the first time in a decade, private corporate defaults are on the rise

–          Shadow banking, an industry of loosely regulated, high-yield lending outside the formal banking sector, has attracted the wrath of the country’s watchdogs

–          …equal to 23.5% of China’s total banking industry assets and 68% of its GDP, …

 

Saudi exchange takes first step into global equity benchmarks – Pg.

–           Saudi Arabia’s $636bn stock market took its first step into the world’s main equity benchmarks yesterday when it was admitted into indices run by FTSE Russell and S&P Dow Jones

–          Saudi Arabia’s stock market, known as the Tadawul, is projected to be the eighth-largest bourse in the MSCI EM index by September – when it is fully included – with a weight of 2.7%,…that is greater than Mexico, Indonesia and Poland

–          Investors outside the Gulf owned just 5.1% of the market as of last week,…

–          Tighter US monetary policy, transmitted to Saudi Arabia via the currency peg it has with the dollar, has helped improve margins for the large financial sector, …

 

Answer: (1) You plan to sell your home; (2) You plan to rent out your home – or a room; (3) It’s ore important to repay debts with higher interest rates; (4) You are still saving for retirement; (5) You are low on cash reserves; (6) You would rather maximize your income through investments; (7) You want to deduct your mortgage interest (Prof Note: In general I am not in agreement.  That said, each case is individual.  There is a mental health issue with paying off one’s mortgage.  In my opinion, better to have that occur as early in life as possible.)