26 June 2019 FT — Articles to Read

Question: According to CNBC, what are five (5) downsides of early retirement that no one tells you?

Fed Chairman fights back at Trump attack – Pg. 1

  • Jay Powell yesterday defended the Federal Reserve’s independence, saying the central bank was insulated from short-term political pressure, ….
  • Mr Powell said in a speech yesterday that Congress had chosen to “insulate” the Fed because it had “seen the damage that often arises when policy bends to short-term political interests”

US housing data flag softening across sector – Pg. 3

  • US house prices continued to moderate while new sales fell…although there are signs of buyers returning and early-stage construction approval
  • House prices across 20 US cities rose 2.5% year-on-year in April,…this was down from a rise of 2.6% in March, and a touch lower than the 2.6% forecast
  • Rising mortgage rates in the first quarter of 2018 contributed to a drop-off in the housing market last year
  • The number of building permits rose by 5,000 or 0.7%, month-on-month to 1.299m in May…

Building a bubble – Pg. 7

  • Anbang, meanwhile, is under the control of the Chinese government and looking to unload US properties worth billions of dollars
  • What pushed back the tide was not the poor performance of those investments.  Rather, it was events in Beijing
  • The Chiense pullback has hardly capsized the market.  But it has removed one of the most prominent sources of fuel from a rally whose sheer duration has convinced many that it must soon be coming to an end
  • The Chinese have fallen so far down the New York league table – behind the Canadians, the Germans and the Dutch…
  • Not only had the central government cracked down on outbound investments, financial regulators were putting the brakes on shadow banking, a key channel for accessing liquidity
  • Acquisitions for all classes of property in New York have shrunk by a third in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier,…

Answer: (1) You may suffer from an identify crisis (Prof Note: In the U.S. I find that many individuals have their identify tied to their profession.  Remember that a company can downsize, eliminate, etc, at any time.  Work at an identity that you control/own.); (2) You may second-guess yourself (Prof Note: Always work at believing in yourself); (3) People may treat you like a misfit (Prof Note: Embrace who you are and while you cannot control others work at open-mindedness always); (4) You will be surprised that you are not that much happier (Prof Note: Create your own happiness and do NOT allow others to detract from your happiness!); (5) You may get really, really bored (Prof Note: this is just silly!  Learn to occupy your time!)