Culture of Generosity | Living Mortgage-Free and Thanksgiving Costs

Establishing a Culture of Generosity: Compass Ion Advisors is committed to generosity. There is no greater way to build meaningful impact than through giving back, which is why we donate 20% of our yearly net income to local and global organizations committed to impact, justice, and serving the most vulnerable. You can find out more about our giving in our Guide for Good. We are also personally committed to generosity. Recently, Josh Manifold, Principal, recorded a short piece on generosity with the idea of teaching the next generation about generosity. Consider watching it below.

Please let us know how you cultivate generosity in your home or with your grandchildren. Some of the best ideas are those shared with others for greater impact. We are always seeking to learn and grow in this area.

The Three Housing Market Groups: There is often talk of a great divide in the U.S. housing market: new buyers who are crushed by the 8% mortgage rates and earlier buyers who gratefully cling to their loans of less than 3%. However, a third group is the rapidly growing number of Americans who own their homes outright.

The share of U.S. homes that are mortgage-free jumped five percentage points from 2012 to 2022 to a record just shy of 40%. More than half of these owners have reached retirement age. Freedom from mortgage debt gives them an option to age in place—or uproot to sunnier climates.

As baby boomers age, they are snapping up—or holding onto—a larger share of homes overall. Of the 84.6 million owner-occupied homes that existed in 2022, almost 33% were owned by people age 65 or older, a 4.6 percentage-point increase from 10 years earlier.

There are different routes to mortgage freedom. Some people inherit their home; others chip away at debt by making extra payments. Almost two-thirds of all mortgage-free homes in the U.S. are paid off over a period of more than 21 years according to data from a real estate property data provider.

If you’re interested in reevaluating your financial plan as it relates to your mortgage debt, please let us know. We’re happy to discuss your options with you.

Business Briefing

• High Sugar Prices: Just in time for holiday baking, sugar prices worldwide have surged to their highest level since 2011. This is mostly due to dry weather that has reduced harvests in India and Thailand, the world’s second- and third-largest exporters. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has predicted that global sugar production will be down by 2% in the 2023-24 season, compared to a year earlier. That amounts to the loss of 3.8 million tons. (The Associated Press)
• Gas Prices Drop: Gas prices fell by about 25 cents per gallon in less than a month, according to AAA data. The national average dropped to $3.31 per gallon Monday at the start of a busy week of Thanksgiving travel, with 55.4 million people expected to travel between Wednesday and Sunday, including 44.9 million of them by car. A gallon of regular gas is now 36 cents cheaper than a year ago after the national average for a gallon of regular gas dropped for nine straight weeks. The decline, “largely seasonal due to weakening gasoline demand, could extend for another week or two, leading to potentially the lowest gas prices since 2021 by Christmas,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. (The Wall Street Journal)

Thanksgiving Meal Costs: Thanksgiving is a food holiday, typically filled with nostalgia. We want to have the foods we’ve always had, and we don’t often consider the costs. While inflation is easing overall, food prices are still relatively high. It’s a decline from last year, but still 25% higher than 2019. Here’s the overall look:

And a breakdown of a “typical” holiday table by item:

At the average cost of just over $60/meal, it’s definitely worth going back for seconds!