Mortgage rates have been frustratingly high for the past few years, so much so that many would-be buyers are opting to sit out the market rather than pursue their homeownership dreams. But lately, mortgage rates have been easing. And if this trend continues, more retirees may be tempted to buy a home for the stability and opportunity to build equity. If you're a retiree who's now looking into a mo...
Mortgage rates have been frustratingly high for the past few years, so much so that many would-be buyers are opting to sit out the market rather than pursue their homeownership dreams. But lately, mortgage rates have been easing. And if this trend continues, more retirees may be tempted to buy a home for the stability and opportunity to build equity. If you're a retiree who's now looking into a mortgage, you should know that buying a home isn't necessarily a poor choice. But here are three crucial things to know before shopping around for a home loan. 1. Rates are nowhere close to historic lows Today's mortgage rates are lower than they've been in recent years. But they're nowhere close to historic lows. For much of 2020 and 2021, 30-year mortgages sat at under 3%. And while those historically low rates were fueled by the pandemic, even prior to the events of 2020, mortgage rates held steady for years in the 3% to 4% range. In other words, a roughly 6% mortgage, which is what you may be looking at today, isn't a bargain. So don't rush to sign a mortgage because you think you're looking at a limited-time opportunity. There's a good chance that in the coming years, rates will fall even further. 2. A lower-cost mortgage is still debt It's easy to get excited about lower mortgage rates. But do remember that a mortgage is still a type of debt -- even if it's the "healthy" type. Before you apply for a mortgage, figure out what monthly payments you can afford based on your current retirement income. And if you're used to renting, remember that homeownership can bring about surprise costs like extra maintenance and unplanned repairs. If you're on a fixed income, those added expenses could throw your savings for a big loop. 3. Qualifying for a mortgage can be challenging in retirement Mortgage lenders look at different factors when approving loan candidates, including credit scores, debt, and income. But if you don't have a strong enough income, you may be denied a loan. The...
Gender equality in politics remains far from achieved across Japan’s 47 prefectures, research by a group of experts has shown as it released local index scores on International Women’s Day. While nearly 80 years have passed since women in Japan first exercised their right to vote, the politics index fell in eight prefectures, including Kanagawa near Tokyo, from the 2024 figures, while many other p...
Gender equality in politics remains far from achieved across Japan’s 47 prefectures, research by a group of experts has shown as it released local index scores on International Women’s Day. While nearly 80 years have passed since women in Japan first exercised their right to vote, the politics index fell in eight prefectures, including Kanagawa near Tokyo, from the 2024 figures, while many other prefectures also saw little change. With a score of 1 representing full equality, Tokyo scored 0.386, ranking first for the fifth consecutive year, helped by a high percentage of women in the metropolitan and other local assemblies. Advertisement Yamagata and Osaka prefectures ranked second, both at 0.271, followed by Chiba and Kanagawa at 0.258 and 0.255, respectively. 04:31 Prime Minister Takaichi’s ruling coalition wins supermajority in Japan election Prime Minister Takaichi’s ruling coalition wins supermajority in Japan election The House of Representatives election in February has not helped much to improve gender equality in politics, with women accounting for 14.6 per cent of all elected candidates, down 1.1 percentage points from the previous general election. Advertisement In 16 prefectures, the margin of improvement was 0.010 or smaller from the 2024 index, which had reflected the outcome of the nationwide local election the year before.
Key Points Investing and betting are different, but prediction markets are hot. And this bet about Bitcoin seems right. 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin › It can be fun to see what the general sentiment is about the odds of an asset you own reaching a flashy price target. In that vein, on Polymarket, a major prediction market, the crowd as I write this is predicting that by the end of March 2...
Key Points Investing and betting are different, but prediction markets are hot. And this bet about Bitcoin seems right. 10 stocks we like better than Bitcoin › It can be fun to see what the general sentiment is about the odds of an asset you own reaching a flashy price target. In that vein, on Polymarket, a major prediction market, the crowd as I write this is predicting that by the end of March 2026, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has just a 1% chance of being priced at $150,000 or more. The odds also look quite poor for it to hit that same milestone by Dec. 31, at 11%. Those probabilities might be right, or they might be wrong. Here's what I predict is going to happen next. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Price predictions can be right for the wrong reasons Prediction markets are all the rage these days, but it's important to recognize that they aren't oracles. Sure, they're effective at aggregating information about the sentiment of prediction market traders across a wide variety of topics and potential outcomes. But they aren't at all immune to events being mispriced due to thin liquidity or people overpaying for getting exposure to their preferred outcomes for a story in progress. With all of that said, these predictions about the (very) slim chances of Bitcoin's price surpassing its prior all-time highs to reach $150,000 practically in the blink of an eye are pretty well grounded. Right now, Bitcoin sits around $67,000 after a shockingly powerful upward move on Feb. 26. But tagging $150,000 would require the coin to explode by more than double in approximately a month. And such moves are unprecedented, at least outside of very rare occurrences in the coin's early history, like its absurd upward explosion of 449% in November 2013. Today, that kind of sprint probably isn't possible. Wha...
High-rise buildings under construction in Mumbai (Punit PARANJPE) · Punit PARANJPE/AFP/AFP For years India's economy was driven by its vast services sector that saw millions of people working away in low-cost back offices providing consultancy for predominantly western companies. But over the past decade they have given way to centres that allow firms to tap top-tier talent and technology, where w...
High-rise buildings under construction in Mumbai (Punit PARANJPE) · Punit PARANJPE/AFP/AFP For years India's economy was driven by its vast services sector that saw millions of people working away in low-cost back offices providing consultancy for predominantly western companies. But over the past decade they have given way to centres that allow firms to tap top-tier talent and technology, where white-collar staff perform tasks ranging from IT and data analytics to innovation and design. Today, these centres are the shiniest parts of India's red-hot economy but not everyone has been able to enjoy the boom times as opportunities remain uneven. Amazon's biggest office in the world is now located in southern India, and top financiers like JPMorgan have roughly 20 percent of their workforce scattered across Indian cities. The government says the country is now home to about one-fifth of the world's chip design engineers, helped by hiring from firms like Qualcomm and MediaTek. This has boosted services sector growth and helped make India the fastest-growing major economy -- a title it has firmly held onto since 2021. Alouk Kumar, the head of an Indian consultancy that helps global giants set up offshore business centres, says his phone hasn't stopped buzzing in recent weeks. "Demand and interest have been crazy... the number of calls I have got from European firms has soared," he said. "The way it is increasing, the next 10 years will belong to India." The surge in growth saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government declare in December that India had overtaken Japan as the world's fourth-largest economy. But figures last month indicate the announcement was premature, with the crossover unlikely to happen for at least another year. Still, economists say the eventual switch will represent a landmark achievement -- less than three decades ago, Japan was the second-largest economy in the world, and India was still struggling to dismantle its quasi-socialist economic system....
Zelenskyy cites Ukraine expertise with ‘Shahed’ drones; deaths and casualties rise from Russian attack on Kharkiv. What we know on day 1,474 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the situation in Iran and the Middle East and restated Kyiv’s offer to help deal with Iranian drones. “Ukraine has been fighting against (Ir...
Zelenskyy cites Ukraine expertise with ‘Shahed’ drones; deaths and casualties rise from Russian attack on Kharkiv. What we know on day 1,474 Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the situation in Iran and the Middle East and restated Kyiv’s offer to help deal with Iranian drones. “Ukraine has been fighting against (Iranian-designed) ‘Shaheds’ for years, and everyone acknowledges that no other country in the world has such experience,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram of his conversation. “We are ready to help and expect that our people will also receive the necessary support.” Ukrainian manufacturers of cheap interceptor drones designed to knock out enemy unmanned aerial vehicles say they have the capacity to export in large volumes, amid inquiries from the US and Middle East prompted by the Iran war. Hundreds of drones based on Iran’s Shahed model and now made in Russia fill Ukraine’s skies during frequent attacks, and many are downed by air defences including western missiles, fighter jets, truck-mounted guns and interceptor drones. Reported deaths and casualties from a Russian missile strike on a five-storey residential building in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv have risen to at least 10 people, including two children, and 16 others wounded, officials said. Zelenskyy condemned Saturday’s attack and called for an international response. He said Russia struck Ukraine overnight with 29 missiles and 480 drones, targeting energy facilities in Kyiv and other central regions, with damage reported in at least seven other locations. Police in Sweden have seized a false-flagged cargo ship off its southern coast believed to belong to Russia’s shadow fleet and suspected of transporting stolen Ukrainian grain, authorities said Saturday. The 96-metre (315-foot) Caffa left Casablanca in Morocco on 24 February and was headed for St Petersburg when armed Swedish police boarded it on Friday off th...