湾区中位数薪资水平 高于全加州、全美大部分地区
世界新闻网
4/16/2022
许多湾区城市中位数家庭收入于过去十年飙升，主要由人口转移与科技业薪资驱动，推动湾区中位数薪资水平高于全加州及全美大部分地区。
旧金山于过去十年间成为湾区中位数收入涨幅最多的前十名城市，并不令人惊讶。但是，东巴洛阿图位居第一、赫克力斯(Hercules)排名垫底，则描述出在财务差距扩大期间，迁徙、群体薪资增加、经济机会所发展形成的故事。
中位数家庭收入数据来自美国人口普查局2015与2022年的五年期社区调查，其中包括在湾区居住至少2万名居民的地点。旧金山家庭收入中位数自2015年的8万1000元(经过通货膨胀后相当于近8万9000元)上涨至约12万元，增加34%。涨幅比全国同期间的中位数家庭收入涨幅10%增加了3倍多，远高于湾区70多个城市平均涨幅23%。
Healthcare Certification and ESL Programs
在人口普查指定的人口集中的湾区74个城市中，旧金山家庭收入中位数排名最高第32位，东巴洛阿图排名第61位。洛斯阿图则排名第一。
旧金山首席经济学家伊根(Ted Egan)表示，过去十年可以见到全国市值最高科技公司在旧金山崛起，包括Airbnb、Uber、Twitter与其他公司，他们是在2010年代创办且越渐成熟的科技公司，推动大型科技公司成长，也拉高了薪资。
不过，旧金山中位数家庭收入增长仍低于东巴洛阿图市的47%涨幅，部分原因是东巴洛阿图靠近科技公司Meta(Facebook前身)总部。尽管该市人口几乎没有增加，但在过去十年期间，薪资增幅超过湾区其他地方，中位数家庭收入从5万6000元飙升至8万多元。
「这是所谓贵族化(gentrification)。」加州经济持续研究中心主任朗文(Stephen Levy)表示，随着Meta与其他科技公司将园区扩展至半岛与南湾，住在东巴诺阿图的相对贫穷居民有机会卖房获利，提高收入水平。这也代表着房价上涨。2015至2020年间，东巴洛阿图房价中位数自通膨调涨后的77万3000元增至近100万元。
特别是在硅谷，收入中位数掩盖了该地区日益加剧的不平等。「硅谷联合发展协会」(Joint Venture Silicon Valley)首席执行官汉考克(Russell Hancock)表示，硅谷收入最高的四分之一者掌握了当地92%财富。相较之下，硅谷最底层四分之一人口仅拥有约2%财富，是收入分层显著且恶化的指针。
富豪都这样存钱：储蓄7要点「小钱要省、睡饱重要」
世界新闻网
01/14/2022
每个人都想变有钱，而想要累积财富，平时就必须养成良好的储蓄习惯。日本网站「All About」就分析，那些可以存到一亿日币（约87.4万美元）的人，都有哪些特征。
1.收入增加 维持同样消费习惯
有的人虽然钱赚得多，但随着收入增加，对于支出也开始不受控，常常把钱砸在买名牌或者去高级餐厅等等，到头来存款还是没变多。能够控制住自己冲动购物的欲望，才不会钱一到手就花光光。
2.小钱也不浪费
很多人常常对几块钱的金额不放在心上，想说随便花一点，买个饮料或什么的不会怎样，等到了缺钱的时候，才发现自己都不知道都把钱花到哪里去了。反之，平时从小地方就一点点累积，长久下来其实相当可观。
3.不轻易犒赏自己
存不了钱的人，常常都会在拿到意外之财时，想着要好好犒赏自己一下抒解压力，结果又是花大钱购物。不如把储蓄本身当作一种成就，让自己心里感到满足，自然就不会想再额外花钱。
4.保持充足睡眠
许多创业者及成功人士，共通点都在绝不削减睡眠时间。即使再怎么忙碌，也要求自己要睡满八个小时，如此才能保持头脑清醒，以及储备足够的体力与精神，更能维持健康的身体继续打拚。
5.选择自己愿意全心投入的工作
人在做自己喜欢的事时，往往不会感觉到辛苦。工作也是一样，只要找到和兴趣相符合的事物，做起来自然格外卖力，也能够加速吸收成长，最终获得成功与优渥的报酬。
6.无时无刻都保持工作态度
有些人下班之后，就想全力摆脱工作，好比跑去追剧或玩游戏转换心情。不过对成功人士而言，即使下了班，也都保持着工作与学习的态度，好比走在路上看到什么特别的东西，都会深入思考，找寻有没有能帮助到工作上的灵感。
7.比起钱 时间更重要
有些人会为了赚钱，而牺牲掉自己的时间。不过缺乏效率硬赚，帮助其实非常有限，每天浪费的这一分一秒，长久下来都是巨大的损失。有时花点小钱促进效率，才是更好的做事之道。
美国公务员赚多少? 福奇每年退休金居然有这么多钱?
文章来源: 纽约邮报
12/31/2021
公务员待遇的 ” 天花板 “？据美国《福布斯》杂志 29 日报道，美国国家过敏症和传染病研究所所长、总统首席医疗顾问福奇一旦退休，每年可得 35 万美元，将创造美国联邦政府雇员退休待遇的最高纪录。
报道称，已为美国政府效力 55 年的福奇连续两年成为 ” 全美收入最高的公务员 “：2019 年的收入为 41.7 万美元，2020 年涨到 43.4 万美元。他的薪资水平比美国总统、上将以及大约 430 万美国政府雇员都高。根据美国联邦人事管理局的标准，福奇退休金的计算方法是其 3 年最高收入的平均值，再乘以 80%。如果他在 2021 年和 2022 年获得的薪资与 2020 年持平，那么其退休金能达到 34.7 万美元。另外，他的 ” 超长工龄 ” 能带来额外的政府年金补贴，数额至少是每年 8344 美元。
《纽约邮报》称，福奇退休后仍有可能 ” 涨工资 “，这是因为他同时还享受 ” 生活成本津贴 ” ——如果美国出现通货膨胀、物价上涨，那么其收入会随之增加。不过，刚过 81 岁生日的福奇最近对媒体表示，美国疫情未得到控制前，他不会考虑退休。
Social Security cost-of-living increase will boost benefits 5.9% in 2022 as inflation spikes
By Paul Davidson | USA TODAY
10/13/2021
Now that’s more like it.
Older Americans scraping by on meager increases in their Social Security checks the past decade will reap a relative windfall next year.
The roughly 70 million people – retirees, disabled people and others – who rely on Social Security will receive a 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment next year, the Social Security Administration said Wednesday. That’s the biggest bump since 1982.
The sharp increase is tied to a COVID-19-fueled spike in inflation after years of paltry consumer price increases.
For the average retiree who got a monthly check of $1,565 this year, the bump means an additional $92 a month in 2022, boosting the typical payment to $1,657.
“The guaranteed benefits provided by Social Security and the COLA increase are more crucial than ever as millions of Americans continue to face the health and economic impacts of the pandemic,” AARP CEO Jo Ann Jenkins said in a statement. “Social Security is the largest source of retirement income for most Americans and provides nearly all income (90% or more) for one in four seniors.”
SSA bases its cost-of-living adjustment on average annual increases in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, or CPI-W, from July through September. The CPI-W largely reflects the broad CPI that the Labor Department releases each month.
On Wednesday, Labor said the CPI-W rose 5.9% annually in September following a 5.8% jump in August.
The COLA has averaged 1.4% the past 10 years – half the average over the prior decade – because of unusually low inflation, according to the Senior Citizen League, an advocacy group.
During this period, tens of millions of Social Security beneficiaries saw much or all of their cost-of-living increases effectively erased because of sharply climbing premiums for Medicare Part B, which are automatically deducted from many Social Security checks.
That shouldn’t be the case for most recipients this year because of the healthy COLA advance. The Part B premium is set to rise by $10 and prescription drug plan premiums are likely to increase an average of about 5%, says Mary Johnson, a policy analyst for the Senior Citizen League.
Johnson has long complained that the basket of goods that determines the CPI-W index doesn’t reflect the spending patterns of seniors who buy less gasoline, electronics and other products that make up a big portion of younger workers’ spending. Seniors instead spend more on food, health care costs and other items that have seen sharp price increases during the pandemic.
Johnson has called for the SSA to base its COLA on a proposed index for the elderly called CPI-E that would put more weight on health, food and other expenditures.
Since 2000, Social Security recipients have lost 32% of their buying power as COLAS grew by about half as much as the cost of goods and services typically purchased by retirees, according to the league.
With energy prices soaring this year, part of that dynamic is being reversed, with seniors, who don’t buy as much gasoline, poised to gain from the large COLA increase.
“They’re getting the benefit of that,” Johnson says.
At the same time, older Americans will still face sharply higher costs for some goods and services, including food, rent and prescription drugs. Seniors also could be socked by a 21% to 25% surge in home heating oil and natural gas costs this winter, according to the league and the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“Retirees have been pummeled by the rising cost of health care, and the CPI-W does not accurately reflect how much retirees are spending on health care,” says Rhian Horgan, CEO of Silvur, maker of a retirement planning app.
Although the COLA bump could somewhat narrow Social Security recipients’ longstanding shortfall in buying power, “it’s not going to restore it,” to 2000 levels, Johnson says.
“While the high COLA is welcome, we have received hundreds of emails from retired and disabled Social Security recipients who say that the low COLAs in recent years have not kept pace with their rising costs,” Johnson says. “That has made it more difficult for many to cope with the rampant inflation of 2021.”
And, she says, the more generous payment will subject some recipients to new taxes or bump them into a higher tax bracket, offsetting some or all of the increase.
Also, many economists are forecasting high inflation again next year as supply chain bottlenecks continue to drive up product costs while labor shortages push employee wages, and related prices, higher.
“The COLA is paying for inflation from last year,” Johnson says. “Not,” she adds, “for future years.”
Federal Communications Commission
Emergency Broadband Benefit
The Emergency Broadband Benefit is an FCC program to help families and households struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new benefit will connect eligible households to jobs, critical healthcare services, virtual classrooms, and so much more.
About the Emergency Broadband Benefit
The Emergency Broadband Benefit will provide a discount of up to $50 per month towards broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.
The Emergency Broadband Benefit is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.
Who Is Eligible for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program?
A household is eligible if a member of the household meets one of the criteria below:
- Has an income that is at or below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, or Lifeline;
- Approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year;
- Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
- Experienced a substantial loss of income due to job loss or furlough since February 29, 2020 and the household had a total income in 2020 at or below $99,000 for single filers and $198,000 for joint filers; or
- Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider’s existing low-income or COVID-19 program.
How to Apply
The online application for the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program is experiencing high demand. We appreciate your patience as we actively work to resolve any connectivity issues users may encounter.
Apply Now
There are three ways for eligible households to apply:
- Contact your preferred participating broadband provider directly to learn about their application process.
- Go to GetEmergencyBroadband.org to apply online and to find participating providers near you.
- Call 833-511-0311 for a mail-in application, and return it along with copies of documents showing proof of eligibility to:
Emergency Broadband Support Center
P.O. Box 7081
London, KY 40742
After receiving an eligibility determination, households can contact their preferred service provider to select an Emergency Broadband Benefit eligible service plan.
Get More Consumer Information
Check out the Broadband Benefit Consumer FAQ for more information about the benefit.
Which Broadband Providers Are Participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit?
Various broadband providers, including those offering landline and wireless broadband, are participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit. Find broadband service providers offering the Emergency Broadband Benefit in your state or territory.
Broadband providers can find more information about how to participate here.
Source: https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit
Evictions During COVID-19: Landlords’ Rights and Options When Tenants Can’t Pay Rent
Tips, resources, and advice for landlords whose tenants aren’t able to pay the rent due to the coronavirus outbreak.
By Ann O’Connell, Attorney
11/01/2020
Many renters are facing financial challenges resulting from coronavirus-related business shut-downs, furloughs, layoffs, and stay-at-home orders. The longer this crisis goes on, the more likely it is that many will not be able to pay their rent. When renters default on rent, landlords suffer, and might not be able to meet their own financial obligations, such as making the mortgage payments on the rental property.
Here are some suggestions about how landlords can mitigate the financial impact of tenant defaults during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Terminations and Evictions
Under normal circumstances, when tenants don’t pay rent, landlords have the option of terminating the tenancy (by serving the tenant with either a pay rent or quit notice or an unconditional quit notice, depending on the applicable laws). When tenants don’t pay the rent or move out by the deadline given in the notice, landlords can then file an eviction lawsuit to have the tenants physically removed from the rental.
However, health and safety concerns due to COVID-19 have led many states, cities, counties, and courts to place moratoriums on evictions. The scope of these temporary bans on evictions varies greatly: some have banned any and all action relating to evictions, while others simply postpone hearings on evictions until the court can arrange a hearing via telephone or video.
If you are a landlord in an area with an eviction moratorium, you might still be able to file eviction papers with the court, but your case might not be heard for a while. However, even if there are no bans in place, evicting tenants who can’t pay the rent due to the coronavirus crisis probably shouldn’t be your first recourse. Aside from optics (you don’t want to get a reputation as the ruthless landlord who booted tenants out of their home in the middle of a stay-at-home order), if you remove tenants right now, you’re going to be faced with having to disinfect the rental, advertise the rental, screen new prospective tenants (of which there might be very few), sign a new lease or rental agreement, and get the new tenants moved in—all while taking measures to abide by emergency guidelines and health and safety measures.
Consider the following options instead.
Evaluate Your Personal Financial Situation
Take a moment to evaluate your own finances. As dire as it sounds, it might be time to take stock of what could happen in a worst-case scenario. Most landlords have likely considered the situation where tenants don’t pay rent, as this can happen at any time. But there’s no denying that this is a different situation—what will happen if your tenants can’t pay for a long time, and your options for finding new (paying) tenants are slim?
Your assessment of how this worst-case scenario will affect your ability to pay your mortgage (if any) and your personal bills will inform how you respond when your tenants can’t pay their rent.
- If your financial situation looks grim: If your ability to pay the mortgage on your rental property hinges on month-to-month rental income, you should take actions to prevent your own default This includes options discussed below, such as contacting your lender and proactively seeking arrangements with tenants that allow them to make at least partial payments.
- If you have a few months’ reserves: If your personal reserves or financial position won’t feel too much of a pinch if tenants aren’t able to pay rent for a while, you still might have to make some compromises to retain good tenants. If you have tenants who have previously been reliable and are simply finding it hard to make ends meet currently, do what you can to take some pressure off them—see the discussion below about working out a temporary solution with tenants.
Try to Work Out a Temporary Solution With Tenants
Depending on how desperately you need to receive income from your rental, you have a few options for working with tenants who aren’t able to pay rent because of COVID-19. Consider the following possible arrangements.
- Forgive rent. If your situation allows for it, you could waive rent for a month, with an agreement to revisit the payment arrangement on a certain date. A landlord in Bakersfield recently did this for his tenants.
- Postpone rent. You could offer to postpone rent payments for a month, with an agreement that it will be repaid. Your repayment arrangement could state that the rent owed could be spread out over time, paid all at once, or paid when (if) a stimulus check
- Reduce rent. If you can, consider dropping the rent temporarily to a level that enables you to meet your obligations but forgoes profit for the time being. For example, if you normally collect $1200 a month, but your mortgage is $900 a month, you could temporarily drop rent to $900 to make sure you at least don’t get in trouble with your lender.
Before deciding to make any of these adjustments, try talking to your tenants. Ask them straight out what they think they can make work. If you’re able to accommodate their suggestions, chances are higher that they will do everything they can to hold up their end of the bargain. Be sure to put any agreements in writing, preferably as an addendum to your current lease or rental agreement that includes all details of the arrangement.
Look for Outside Assistance
Even if you think you can float a month or two without rental income, you still might want to consider taking some measures now to protect your position in the event that the coronavirus crisis lasts longer than your cushion can handle. If you’re already feeling the pinch, take these actions immediately.
Attend to Your Mortgage
At this point in the COVID-19 crisis, most private lenders are willing to work with borrowers to ensure that they don’t lose their homes. Call your lender directly and ask what steps it is taking to assist borrowers who can’t meet their mortgage obligations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
- If your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, you might be able to delay making payments for a certain period of time without incurring late fees or getting hit with a credit score penalty.
- Look into your options under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.
- The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has put in place a foreclosure moratorium for single family homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages.
- Visit your state’s website to find out if the state is offering assistance to homeowners. For example, New York has announced a delay of mortgage payments for 90 days. Many other states are postponing any foreclosure actions indefinitely. Find your state’s website at State and Government on the Net.
Look Into Property Tax Breaks
Some states and counties are extending the deadline for paying property taxes, or cancelling late fees and interest. Check your county’s tax assessor’s website to see if this is an option where your property is located.
Seek a Loan
Consider seeking a loan from family, friends, or private lenders. The U.S. Small Business Administration might be another source of assistance—its disaster loan assistance web page has a wealth of information. You can also contact your regular bank or credit union and inquire about what assistance it can offer.
Research Options for Your Renters
Some areas are beginning to offer rent vouchers or emergency funds to renters in need. For example, the Pennsylvania Apartment Association is collecting donations for funds to give to renters who can’t pay rent. Currently, renters’ needs are getting a lot more attention in the press than landlords’ needs, and there are already a lot more resources being made available for renters. It’s in your best interest to research these options and bring them to your renters’ attention—do what you can to help your tenants pay you.
Landlords are getting squeezed between tenants and lenders
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to sympathetic figures, landlords aren’t exactly at the top of the list. But they, too, have fallen on hard times, demonstrating how the coronavirus outbreak spares almost no one.
Take Shad Elia, who owns 24 single-family apartment units in the Boston area. He says government stimulus benefits allowed his hard-hit tenants to continue to pay the rent. But now that the aid has expired, with Congress unlikely to pass a new package before Election Day, they are falling behind.
Heading into a New England winter, Elia is worried about such expenses as heat and snowplowing in addition to the regular year-round costs, like fixing appliances and leaky faucets.
Elia wonders how much longer his lenders will cut him slack.
“We still have a mortgage. We still have expenses on these properties,” he said. “But there comes a point where we will exhaust whatever reserves we have. At some point, we will fall behind on our payments. They can’t expect landlords to provide subsidized housing.”
The stakes are particularly high for small landlords, whether they own commercial properties, such as storefronts, or residential properties such as apartments. Many are borrowing money from relatives or dipping into their personal savings to meet their mortgage payments.
The big residential and commercial landlords have more options. For instance, the nation’s biggest mall owner, Simon Property Group, is in talks to buy J.C. Penney, a move that would prevent the department store chain from going under and causing Simon to lose one of its biggest tenants. At the same time, Simon is suing the Gap for $107 million in back rent.
Michael Hamilton, a Los Angeles-based real estate partner at the law firm O’Melveny & Myers, said he expects to see more retail and other commercial landlords going to court to collect back rent as they get squeezed between lenders and tenants.
Residential landlords are also fighting back against a Trump administration eviction moratorium that protects certain tenants through the end of 2020. At least 26 lawsuits have been filed by property owners around the country in places such as Tennessee, Georgia and Ohio, many of them claiming the moratorium unfairly strains landlords’ finances and violates their rights.
Apartment dwellers and other residential tenants in the U.S. owe roughly $25 billion in back rent, and that will reach nearly $70 billion by year’s end, according to an estimate in August by Moody’s Analytics.
An estimated 30 million to 40 million people in the U.S. could be at risk of eviction in the next several months, according to an August report by the Aspen Institute, a nonprofit organization.
Jessica Elizabeth Michelle, 37, a single mother with a 7-month-old baby, represents a growing number of renters who are afraid of being homeless once the moratorium on evictions ends.
The San Francisco resident saw her income of $6,000 a month as an event planner evaporate when COVID-19 hit. Supplemental aid from the federal government and the city helped her pay her monthly rent of $2,400 through September. But all that has dried up, except for the unemployment checks that total less than $2,000 a month.
For her October rent, she handed $1,000 to her landlord. She said her landlord has been supportive but has made it clear he has bills to pay, too.
“I never had an issue of paying rent up until now. I cry all night long. It’s terrifying,” Michelle said. “I don’t know what to do. My career was ripped out from under me. It’s gotten to the point of where it’s like, ‘Am I going to be homeless?’ I have no idea.’”
Some landlords are trying to work with their commercial or residential tenants, giving them a break on the rent or more flexible lease terms. But the crisis is costing them.
Analytics firm Trepp, which tracks a type of real estate loan taken out by owners of commercial properties such as offices, apartments, hotels and shopping centers, found that hotels have a nearly 23% rate of delinquency, or 30 days overdue, on their loans, while the retail industry has a 14.9% delinquency rate as of August.
The apartment rental market has so far navigated the crisis well, with a delinquency rate of 3%, according to Trepp. That’s in part because of the eviction moratorium, along with extra unemployment benefits from Washington that have since expired.
“There are bad actors, but the majority of landlords are struggling and are trying to work with a bad situation,” said Andreanecia M. Morris, executive director of HousingNOLA, a public-private partnership that pushes for more affordable housing in the New Orleans area.
Morris, who works with both landlords and tenants, said that government money wasn’t adequate to help tenants pay their rent, particularly in expensive cities. She is calling for comprehensive rental assistance.
She fears that residential landlords will see their properties foreclosed on next year, and the holdings will be bought by big corporations, which are not as invested in the neighborhoods.
Gary Zaremba, who owns and and manages 350 apartment units spread out over 100 buildings in Dayton, Ohio, said he has been working with struggling tenants — many of them hourly workers in restaurants and stores — and directs them to social service agencies for additional help.
But he is nervous about what’s next, especially with winter approaching and the prospect of restaurants shutting down and putting his tenants out of work. He has a small mortgage on the buildings he owns but still has to pay property taxes and fix things like broken windows or leaky plumbing.
“As a landlord, I have to navigate a global pandemic on my own,” Zaremba said, “and it’s confusing.”
