44 Numbers From 2018 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

Was 2018 everything that you expected it to be?  Every year contains surprises, but 2018 truly turned out to be a year that we will never forget.  Over the past 12 months we witnessed great political shaking, Wall Street experienced the worst downturn that we have seen since 2008, the crust of our planet was rattled by an increasing number of major seismic events, social decay spread like wildfire, and America continued to become even more divided as a nation.  In comparison, 2017 was rather bland and boring, and I truly believe that one day we will look back on 2018 as a major turning point.

It is amazing that 12 months has flown by already.  It seems like the years just keep getting faster, and perhaps that is because we are all getting older.

In any event, the following are 44 numbers from 2018 that are almost too crazy to believe…

#1 One study found that the average American spends 86 hours a month on a cellphone.

#2 A different study discovered that 37 percent of all Americans have eaten fast food within the last 24 hours.

#3 90 percent of the beer that Americans drink is produced by just 2 gigantic corporations.

#4 McDonalds feeds approximately 70 million people a day globally.  Pornhub gets more than 78 million visits a day.

#5 60 percent of all Americans actually believe that they have seen a ghost.

#6 The middle class continues to decline, and at this point half of all American workers make less than $30,533 a year.

#7 During the 2018 midterm elections, Democrats were able to pick up 40 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Those that were forecasting a “red tsunami” were completely and totally wrong.

#8 Kevin Spacey’s incredibly creepy YouTube video entitled “Let Me Be Frank” in which he promises that he will never be held accountable for his actions has already been viewed more than 8 million times.

#9 Since 2007, the total amount of student loan debt in America has nearly tripled.

#10 The suicide rate in the United States has risen by 33 percent since 1999.

#11 Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Americans from age 15 to age 24.

#12 Netflix recently made a deal to renew streaming of “Friends” for another year for 100 million dollars.

#13 According to the United Nations Population Fund, 40 percent of all births in the U.S. now happen outside of marriage. But if you go back to 1970, that figure was sitting at just 10 percent.

#14 13 million households in the United States do not always have enough food to eat.  So if you have enough food to eat every day, you should consider yourself to be very blessed.

#15 According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, almost 1 out of every 4 children in rural areas is currently living in poverty.

#16 At this point, almost 52 percent of all children live in a home that receives monthly help from the federal government.

#17 Over half a million people are homeless in the United States right now.

#18 Today, a million Americans are living in their RVS, and that number is rising with each passing year.

#19 Social decay is clearly evident even in our most prosperous cities.  One recent investigation found 300 piles of human feces on the streets of downtown San Francisco.

#20 62 percent of all U.S. jobs do not pay enough to support a middle class lifestyle.

#21 In 1980, the average American worker’s debt was 1.96 times larger than his or her monthly salary. Today, that number has ballooned to 5.00.

#22 Over half the country now receives more in government transfer payments than they pay in taxes.

#23 According to one recent study, the “rate of people 65 and older filing for bankruptcy is three times what it was in 1991”.

#24 More than 100 churches in the United States are dying every single week.

#25 If you go back to 1986, just 10 percent of all young adults were “religiously unaffiliated”, but now that number has jumped all the way to 39 percent.

#26 According to one recent survey, Americans from the age of 18 to the age of 29 favor Democrats over Republicans by a 66 percent to 32 percent margin.

#27 One study found that one-third of all American teenagers haven’t read a single book in the past year.

#28 The number of married couples with children in the U.S. just reached a 56 year low.

#29 In the city of Baltimore, approximately one out of every four babies is born as an opioid addict.

#30 According to the New York Times, approximately 110 million Americans have a sexually-transmitted disease right now.

#31 It is being projected that the total amount of plastic in the oceans of the world will exceed the total weight of all fish by the year 2050.

#32 90 percent of all seabirds in the world now have plastic in their stomachs.  Back in 1960, that number was sitting at just 5 percent.

#33 In August, we learned that the number of global earthquakes over the last 30 days had risen to a level that was 50 percent above normal.

#34 In September, an all-time record high seven named storms were swirling across the globe simultaneously.

#35 In October, we witnessed the third largest single day point crash in stock market history on the exact same day that the third most powerful hurricane in U.S. history made landfall.

#36 In November, the Camp Fire destroyed 14,000 homes and businesses in northern California.  It was the most destructive wildfire in the history of the state.

#37 According to the official Twitter account of Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, they had wind chills of between -70 and -75 degrees on Thanksgiving morning.

#38 In the aftermath of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rattled Anchorage, the state of Alaska was shaken by more than 1,400 earthquakes.

#39 In early December, the largest earthquake in 45 years hit eastern Tennessee.

#40 During the last full week before Christmas, the Dow fell 1,655 points.  That was the worst week for the stock market since the financial crisis of 2008.

#41 The National Retail Federation was projecting that total Christmas spending would surpass $465,000,000,000 in 2018. Only 25 countries on the entire planet have a GDP that is greater than that number.

#42 In 2017, the Dow was either up or down by 1 percent or more just 8 times.  In 2018, it happened 64 times.  Volatility has returned to Wall Street in a major way, and that is a really bad sign.

#43 A recent survey of corporate financial officers discovered that 82 percent of them believe that a recession will have started by the end of 2020.

#44 During 2018, the U.S. national debt increased by nearly 1.4 trillion dollars.  We are now almost 22 trillion dollars in debt, and there is no end to our debt problems on the horizon.

How To Buy Property In The UK

How To Buy Property In The UK

​Overseas property is a commodity now and if there is one country where buying such property is an adventure, it's the UK.

From modern condominiums to old manors and period homes, the UK has a wealth of property types waiting to be seen, bought and lived in.

With such an eclectic range of homes to choose from, you can potentially find your dream house somewhere in the UK.

However, property prices vary on the locations. For example, property costs in London are higher because it is a popular and well-connected city.

Other popular cities are Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh.  Infrastructure and transportation are well integrated in these locations which are some of the reasons why property prices are higher there.

Therefore, you will need to determine beforehand if your budget meets the location.

How to buy
As a foreigner, it is advisable to look at a house twice before you decide to negotiate for a deal. Once you decide if the property is what you are looking for, you can then put in an offer.

The offer can be any amount you feel the property is worth and need not be the asking price.

Be aware that there is no guarantee your offer will be accepted as you may be bidding for the property alongside others.

The buyer should also be wary of any last minute outbids. This is considered gazumping and there are no laws protecting the buyer from it, except for in Scotland.

However, the sellers consider two other things than just price before making their decision.

1. Chain: This means you have a UK property you intend to sell to fund your new purchase. Being in a chain lowers your chances drastically.

2. Cash buyer: You can pay immediately as you are not reliant on a mortgage.

If you are a cash buyer and are not ‘chaining' properties, you stand a higher chance of a successful bid over others.

Should your offer be accepted, you will now need to hire an estate agent, solicitor and sanction an official survey of the property.

These costs will be borne by you.

If the survey results are not to your liking or if you have simply changed your mind, you can rescind your interest in the property with no penalty.

As long as the contracts have not been exchanged, you can pull out of the purchase at any point.

However, the owner is also at liberty to pull his property out of the sale or switch buyers if someone outbids. If this happens, you will lose all money you have already spent in hiring a solicitor and having the survey done.

During the survey period, your solicitor will make searches on and about the property on your behalf. The solicitor will also iron out all contractual problems with the seller's lawyer.

After the contract is finalized, you can exchange contracts.

Once contracts are exchanged, the deal is official and neither party can back out.

The purchase will be completed roughly within seven days, after which, you can move in.

Legality
Even though there are no legal restrictions in purchasing property in the UK, it is advisable to verify with a tax advisor before you hire a solicitor.

This is because you, as a foreigner, may be expected to pay stamp duty and capital gains tax. Income tax is a necessity should you receive any rental income.

The specialist tax advisor will be able to assist you in this. They will also advise you on the best type of survey to commission and the costs involved.

Finance

If you are not paying full in cash, there are mortgage alternatives you can consider.

Sterling mortgages are available to non-residents although the rates you receive may be less favourable compared to a UK buyer who is borrowing.

You will need to fulfil a range of criteria to be eligible for non-resident mortgages however.

These criteria are;
• Age: The loan will run for 25 years or until you reach your retirement age
• Affordability: your existing finances and if you are able to afford the property
• Rental income: How much you are expecting to charge for rental should you choose to lease
• Finances: If you are self-employed, you must provide minimum 3 years of your income

Most loans available to foreigners also require a 35% deposit. However, you should be able to opt for a traditional residential mortgage or a buy-to-let loan.

If neither of these mortgages is available, you should still be able to choose between a fixed rate loan and a base rate tracker.

Consult your solicitor or estate agent on the best loans available and consider all your options carefully.

sources:  globalpropertyguide.com, home.co.uk

Vietnam Property Foreign Ownership Guide

Vietnam Property Foreign Ownership Guide
Can foreigners buy property in Vietnam? Since the newly reformed Vietnamese Law on Residential Housing (LRH) Officially kicked-off in 1st July 2015, several major past restrictions on property ownership have been removed for foreigners.

Here are the LATEST UPDATES on Vietnam Property Foreign Ownership Law Investors Need to Know:

Individuals:
Foreign individuals are eligible to buy residential properties in Vietnam, as long as they can enter the country legally.

Entities:
All legal entities like foreign investment funds, banks, Vietnamese branches and representative offices of overseas companies that are established in Vietnam; are eligible to buy Vietnam properties.

Types:
The new Residential Housing Law allows eligible foreign entity and individuals to buy and own all residential sectors including apartments and landed properties such as villas and townhouses (previously only applicable to apartments).

Foreigner Quota Restrictions:
(i) Foreigners can own not exceeding 30% of the total units within one condominium complex;
(ii) and not exceeding 10% for the total number of the separate houses for each project.

Purpose of Purchase:
The properties owned by foreigners can be sold, sub-leased, inherited and collateralize (previously only for owner occupying purpose).

Land Tenure
(i) Foreign Individuals: up to 50 years leasehold from the date of issuance of ownership certificate  + possible renewal (subjected to approval by authorities.)

(ii) Foreign Individuals + Vietnamese spouse: Freehold

(iii) Foreign organizations: up to the duration (inclusive of extended duration) indicated in the investment certificate.

WHAT RISING INTEREST RATES MEAN FOR SINGAPORE PROPERTY

As the era of ultra-low interest rates fades, Singaporeans with mortgage payments are feeling the pinch. But is it homeowners or investors who are most at risk of getting their fingers burned?

Homeowner Grace Koh had barely settled into her new condominium apartment along Singapore’s breezy East Coast in August, when the interest rate on her mortgage jumped from 1.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent.

When she first took out the S$1.1 million (US$800,000) home loan with her husband in June last year, the interest rate had been an even more attractive 1.3 per cent.

Their mortgage is pegged to a floating interest rate that fluctuates according to the rise and fall of the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR), the benchmark rate at which banks borrow from one another.

The SIBOR, in turn, is closely correlated to interest rates in the United States, which have been on the rise since late 2016, and are likely to continue on an upwards trajectory.

But for Koh, 28, a legal counsel, the rate increases on her home loan – all in under two years – still came as a rude shock.

She and her husband had gone with a floating rate package for their loan simply because “it was the lowest rate” they were offered.

“My mortgage repayment used to be S$3,800 each month (at a rate of 1.5 per cent), but now it’s about S$4,000. The S$200 mark-up may not seem a lot, but it all adds up,” she said, adding that next year – when the couple are due to refinance their loan – the rate will be raised further to 2.4 per cent.

For Koh, and other Singaporeans like her, the pinch of mortgage payments is likely to hurt even more as the era of ultra-low interest rates starts to fade.

STILL HIGHER TO GO
In the US, a strengthening economy and rising inflation has led the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, which are now at their highest level since 2008.

The impact has trickled down to Singapore, where interest rates on home loans have followed suit.

The latest fixed rates on mortgages offered by banks today can be as high as 2.5 per cent – well above the 1.65 per cent from earlier in the year, said Alfred Chia, chief executive of financial advisory firm SingCapital.

More rate increases are on the horizon. Song Seng Wun, an economist with regional banking group CIMB, expects SIBOR rates to climb from current levels of about 2 per cent to 3 per cent by the end of 2019, in tandem with more US Fed rate increases set to take place over the next year.

That said, Chia believes that the impact for homeowners will still be “manageable”, and that they should review their mortgages and refinance their loans to better manage interest costs where possible.

In the same vein, property expert Ku Swee Yong said that while owner-occupiers would be affected by higher interest rates, the impact was unlikely to be huge.

This is because they have “a real need for the home, and they can simply reduce other expenses to take care of their mortgage payments”.

It is the real estate investors who could get their fingers burned, he said.

“Investors who are getting rental returns of about 3 per cent are unlikely to be able to break even on their monthly cash flows, and those who have overstretched their investments may find it difficult to keep up with mortgage payments,” said Ku, who is CEO of property consultancy International Property Adviser.

“Adding to that, with the vacancy rate of private residences hovering at around 7 to 8 per cent [over 26,000 such units are vacant], the lack of rental income over a few months means that some of these owners could become urgent sellers.”

All of this points to little respite for a softening property market that has been hit by cooling measures in recent years- the latest round of which were announced in July.

RISKS CONTAINED
With interest rates set to climb further, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has urged caution when looking to buy property.

“Households considering property purchases should carefully consider the impact of interest rate increases and the upcoming supply of new units in the medium term,” it said in its annual Financial Stability Review released last month.

“Over-leveraged households could also see a rapid deterioration in their balance sheet indicators if there is a sharp correction in property prices.”

During the third quarter, household debt rose 3 per cent year-on-year, mainly driven by a 3.4 per cent increase in housing loans over the same period, according to the MAS.

As of July, however, the value of new housing loans surged 30 per cent year-on-year as market appetite for residential property grew.

For now, there are no real danger signs. The MAS said Singapore’s household balance sheets remain healthy, with liquid assets such as cash and deposits exceeding total household liabilities.

“In Singapore, the pace and magnitude of increases in short-term interest rates do matter to [households’] mortgage debt servicing burdens,” said OCBC Bank’s head of treasury research and strategy Selena Ling.

She said the government’s “macroprudential property cooling measures” – policies such as how big a loan homebuyers can take to purchase a property – were likely to keep property prices stable.

“As long as the labour market remains relatively stable, the overly exposed segment should remain small,” said Ling.

WAGES STABLE, FOR NOW
Wage rises are also expected to keep pace, and should income levels hold steady, households should be able to keep up with mortgage payments.

In 2018, median monthly wages before taxes in Singapore rose to S$4,437 from S$4,232 in 2017, according to official data.

ECA International, a firm that provides data for managing and assigning employees worldwide, predicts wages will rise by an average of 4 per cent in 2019 – the same as this year – although higher inflation will trim average real pay increases to 2.6 per cent, compared to 2.9 per cent this year. This could be derailed should the economy start to slow.

Uncertainty in the global trade order remains the biggest risk for the Singapore economy, amid the trade war between the US and China, said OCBC’s Ling.

She expects Singapore’s economy to expand 3.3 per cent this year, and 2.7 per cent in 2019. This rate of growth, however, is subject to “downside risks”.

Singaporeans will also have to brace for higher prices next year, especially in staples such as food, education and health care.

The MAS has forecast headline inflation to come in at about 1 to 2 per cent next year, up from about 0.5 per cent in 2018.

For Koh, besides tightening the purse strings, plans to have children and start a family are also being shelved, for now.

“The cost of living here is rising, but our salaries aren’t moving much,” she said.

Zac Property Singapore

Tesla vehicles have completed 70% of the 1 million taxi rides at Amsterdam airport

Tesla vehicles have completed 70% of the 1 million taxi rides at Amsterdam airport this year

The Schiphol airport, Amsterdam’s international airport, announced today that they completed their one-millionth taxi ride this year and an impressive 70% of those rides were done by their large fleet of Tesla vehicles.

BIOS-groep, a taxi company operating in Amsterdam, was an early adopter of electric vehicles and built the largest fleet of Tesla taxis (167 Model S sedans) back in 2014.

Stef Hesselink, Managing Director of BIOS-groep, said about the use of the vehicles:

The Model S have held up beautifully since they’ve been put to work in 2014, having an average of over 250,000-300,000 km on each odometer by the end of 2017.

They say that “taxis and other commercial vehicles have a very different usage pattern and could drive up to over 100.000 km per year.”

Earlier this year, we have learned that they started updating their fleet with Model X electric SUVs.

The company announced today that the fleet has been responsible for 70% of the 1 million taxi rides from the airport this year:

“Today marked the one-millionth taxi ride to leave the Schiphol taxi stand in 2018. Of these journeys, around 70% were driven in a Tesla: electric and no emissions. As a celebration, we treated the passengers who went on the one-millionth ride, as well as all of the taxi drivers.”

They covered the cost of the ride for two travelers from the United Kingdom who were the one-millionth customers and they were given “a souvenir model Tesla.”

Tesla’s vehicles have become particularly popular with taxis in the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway, and are starting to get there in America too. Last year, we talked to the very first Tesla Taxi driver in North America when his Model S hit 100,000 miles.

More taxi companies and drivers are taking advantage of the low-cost of operation and Tesla’s 8 year or unlimited miles Battery and Drive Unit Limited Warranty.

Tesla app update works to keep you warm this winter

An update to Tesla's mobile app software lets owners remotely activate their heated seats and steering wheels.

Last week, the Tesla mobile application's fart Easter eggs stole the update's spotlight; this week, as Tesla owners begin their holiday travels, its new climate control features are in the spotlight.

Via the application, you can remotely heat your seats and steering wheel, choosing from low to high heat on individual seats to endure everyone will be comfortable and cozy in their respective places.

Additionally, the application allows users to schedule an appointment to have their vehicle serviced through the app – no need for any phone calls. You can pick the date and time on your smartphone. This feature comes as a response to the recent onslaught of customer complaints regarding painfully slow service.

Last month, Musk tweeted the company's plans to also integrate a technician request option into the application, which will bring Tesla service experts out to fix some of the most common Tesla issues that don't require a tow or trip to a repair shop. That feature will likely arrive in the next software update.

Since Musk proclaimed that Tesla's "service & parts supply in general will be the top Tesla priority", improvements have been steadily trickling out to customers. The new software is only available on version 3.8.0 of the app, which was released on Dec 21 for iPhone and Android. – AFP Relaxnews

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