Category: Blog

Often the first house a person buys is an affordable condominium, townhouse or older single-family dwelling, also referred to as a “starter home.” It might be small and lack features they dream about, from new appliances in the kitchen, to dual sinks in the bath, to a large yard or a garage.

However, the key to a starter home is not to acquire your dream house, it is to build equity that you can eventually deploy to buy your dream home. It’s important not to wait until you have enough money for the ideal property. Start as early as you can and buy something affordable to get your foot in the door of homeownership.

Interest Rates and Maintenance Expenses

Buying a home when mortgage interest rates are low offers a key advantage for building wealth because it reduces your loan payment, thereby freeing up more discretionary income to put toward other investments, home upgrades or pay down the mortgage balance.

When deciding your price range for purchasing a home, it’s also important to budget common maintenance costs, such as utilities, repairs and upgrades, as well as homeowner’s insurance and property taxes. These costs can be substantial, yet many new homebuyers do not account for them in their budget. They only take into consideration whether or not they can afford the monthly mortgage. It is always a good idea to have a lower payment that you can well afford in order to avoid relying on savings or credit to pay for maintenance expenses as they arise. And remember, maintenance of your property is critical because it can help improve your sale price when you move, which is key to building wealth.

Building Home Equity

The next step to building wealth through homeownership is to sell for a substantial profit. Home equity, which is the market price for which you can sell the home minus your remaining mortgage balance, is achieved in two ways. One way to build equity relies on the real estate market. Over time, houses generally increase in price, so most people are able to sell their home for more than they paid for it. How quickly home prices rise will depend on the overall economy and your home’s particular appeal. That’s why it’s important to make an attractive location one of your top requirements. For example, even if you don’t have children or want children, buying a home in a sought-after school district will likely increase the value of your home faster. Other location features include easy access to shopping districts, major highways and even an airport.

The second way to build equity is through the monthly payments you make on the mortgage, which reduce the balance owed. If you can afford it, adding more to your monthly payment and directing the excess toward your principal balance helps build home equity faster. Another payment option that can help build equity faster is to apply for a shorter-term loan than the standard 30-year mortgage. For example, a 15-year term mortgage features a lower interest rate and the borrower pays off the loan in half the time. Note that monthly payments will be higher, but a homeowner can save thousands of dollars in interest with a shorter-term loan.

Transaction Costs

The garden variety advice is to remain in your home for at least five years. That’s because selling your home and buying a new one involves substantial transaction expenses, from closing costs to initiating a new loan, as well as paying commission fees to both the seller’s and buyer’s real estate agents (usually 3 percent each). Therefore, you need to have lived in the property long enough to build equity through payments and market appreciation to offset these expenses and still make a profit.

Sales Tax

Be aware that it is advantageous to live in your primary residence for at least two years before you sell. Otherwise, your sales profit could be subject to capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 for single tax filers, and as much as $500,000 for married filing jointly. The tax rate is the same as your ordinary income tax rate if you owned property for less than one year; after that, the capital gains rate is based on your tax bracket (15 percent or 20 percent).

Trade Up, Then Down

Over many decades, you can build wealth by buying a home and then periodically “trading up” once you attain substantial equity. The tactic of trading up means you invest your profits in a more expensive home and then begin building equity again. One way to save for retirement is to keep trading up until you retire, then downsize to a less expensive home with lower maintenance expenses. At that point, you can redeploy the profit derived from the home equity you have accumulated into a stream of retirement income.

Today’s Market

In recent years, high prices and low inventory in the residential real estate market have made it harder for young adults to buy a starter home. For those currently shut out, keep saving until the market stabilizes, because the higher your down payment, the lower your monthly payments will be – and the more equity you’ll have in your home. You can still build wealth through homeownership, even if you start late.

Thanks to the Great Resignation trend over the past year, there is a high availability of jobs. Therefore, now is a good time for retirees who would like to go back to work to ease into the job market. However, if you’ve already begun drawing Social Security benefits, you should understand how earning income will affect those payouts.

First of all, you have two options if you’d like to stop receiving Social Security. One option is available only if you’ve been drawing benefits for a year or less. In this case, you may cancel your application; but be aware that you must repay all the benefits that you and your family have received to date. That includes spousal benefits and even Medicare premiums that were deducted from your payout. You will still be able to reapply for Social Security later.

The second option is available only if you have reached full retirement age but have not yet turned 70 years old. In this case, you may request to have your Social Security payouts suspended.

There are two benefits associated with these strategies: 1) foregoing Social Security income will likely reduce your tax bill; and 2) your Social Security benefits will start accruing again based on the delay and calculations that include your new wages.

However, you may continue receiving Social Security while you work, which could be important if your spouse is receiving benefits based on your earnings record. Under this scenario, a portion of your benefit may be withheld or even subject to higher taxes. It all depends on how much you earn. If your annual income is $19,560 or less (2022), it won’t impact your Social Security benefits.

Note that only wages from a job or self-employment count toward your Social Security income limit for withholding purposes. Distributions you receive from pensions, annuities, investment income, interest, veterans benefits or other government or military retirement benefits are not considered earned income.

Once your income totals more than $19,560, the impact depends on your age. If you have not yet reached “full retirement age,” Social Security will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn over the limit.

During the year you reach full retirement age, your annual total earnings limit increases to $51,960 (2022), and the subsequent benefit reduction drops to $1 for every $3 you earn over that amount. In fact, they count only how much you’ve earned up to the month before your birthday – not what you end up earning in a whole year. Once you’ve reached full retirement age, it doesn’t matter much how you earn, there will no longer be any withholding of benefits.

Better yet, starting in January of the year after you turn full retirement age, regardless of whether you continue working or not, your Social Security benefit will increase to reflect any previously withheld benefits due to your income exceeding the limit. And if the years you subsequently worked rank among your 35 highest earning years, your payout will increase even more to reflect a higher benefit calculation (since you paid FICA taxes on that income).

Tax Considerations

In the case of all beneficiaries, at least 15 percent of Social Security income is exempt from federal income taxes. Be aware though, that for tax purposes, your reportable income includes half of your Social Security benefit plus all other forms of income, such as a job, pension or investment income. If your total annual income is between $25,000 and $34,000, then as much as 50 percent of your Social Security benefit is taxable. If you earn more than $34,000 in a year, then up to 85 percent of your Social Security benefit is subject to taxes.

This is a general overview of what happens to your Social Security benefits when mixed with earned income. There are additional details, so it’s a good idea to work with a Social Security expert to decide if you should cancel or suspend payouts, and to understand how your income and tax situation may be impacted by going back to work.

With that said, if your portfolio has taken a beating this year, you might want to stop investment distributions for now and give it time to grow. Fortunately, the United States is currently enjoying a robust job market in which highly experienced candidates can negotiate a flexible work schedule, job site and higher salary, so it may be worth it to go back to work for another year or two to help secure your long-term retirement plans.