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Buying a home is a major life decision, and most people spend years planning for the process. The hardest parts are typically saving for a down payment and choosing the right size and location to fit your budget. Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey shares some key tips and blunt words on preparing for success in the housing market and avoiding major financial mistakes. 🚨 Don’t miss this amazing Black Friday Move! Get 50% off TheStreet Pro. Act now before it’s gone. 😲 Ensuring you have enough savings for a hefty down payment is the foundation for securing a home with manageable monthly payments. However, finding the right mortgage rate and term for your situation is equally important. Below, Ramsey explains his no-nonsense take on the best way to plan for buying a home. Shutterstock Dave Ramsey says making a considerable down payment is crucial Though the traditional 20% down payment recommendation is ideal, it’s not necessary. Younger buyers looking to close on their dream home can put down between 5 and 10%, but they’ll be subject to private mortgage insurance — an extra fee added to mortgages until homeowners have paid off 20% of the home’s value. Making a 20% down payment will not only spare you from added fees but it will also mean lower monthly payments since your overall balance will be lower. Lower monthly mortgage payments will help ensure you can make payments regardless of other financial strains and unforeseen life events. More on Dave Ramsey Ramsey notes that choosing a 15-year mortgage over a 30-year mortgage has a significant payoff, saving buyers tens of thousands of dollars overall. "If you sign the dotted line on a new home when you aren’t prepared financially and emotionally, the house will wind up being a curse instead of a blessing," Ramsey wrote . "It will wind up owning you instead of the other way around." Saving up enough to put at least 20% down on a home and opting for a shorter loan term are two key ways buyers can position themselves for financial stability and success. Ramsey discusses additional hidden costs to consider when buying a home While the initial down payment and recurring monthly mortgage installments are the biggest financial considerations, there are other recurring costs homeowners must factor into the overall cost of owning a home before committing. Related: Dave Ramsey has blunt words on mortgage rates and buying a home now Property taxes can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year, depending on where you buy a home. This makes choosing a location within your budget even more important, as it could change your annual taxes considerably. Protecting your home from the elements through homeowners insurance is an important safeguard, and Ramsey highlights that your mortgage lender will require it to protect their assets. Many areas in the southeast U.S. are facing extreme climate conditions and significant weather damage, which is significantly raising homeowners insurance bills in those areas. Buyers hoping to save on insurance will need to consider risk factors in the location to which they moving and how much homeowners insurance will rise over time. Homeowners Association (HOA) fees can cost up to $300 per month or more, depending on the location, amenities, and neighborhood maintenance required. While this may only add up to a few thousand dollars per year, it is an added expense that buyers must budget for or risk falling behind in mortgage payments. Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
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Stock market today: Tech stocks and AI pull Wall Street to more recordsFirst Nations chiefs in Manitoba call on Ottawa to address Jordan's Principle backlog OTTAWA — First Nations leaders in Manitoba are calling on the federal government to address a backlog in requests for Indigenous children to receive swift access to health care and other services. Canadian Press Dec 5, 2024 3:59 PM Dec 5, 2024 4:05 PM Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Executive Director of First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, Cindy Blackstock speaks on child welfare during the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. First Nations leaders in Manitoba are calling on the federal government to address a backlog in requests for First Nations children to receive swift access to health-care and other services. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby OTTAWA — First Nations leaders in Manitoba are calling on the federal government to address a backlog in requests for Indigenous children to receive swift access to health care and other services. They say the delay in approval of requests under Jordan's Principle has resulted in communities paying out of pocket for health, social or educational services that are supported under the principle, putting other important programming at risk. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said the backlog has added financial strain to communities, forcing them to provide essential services with limited resources. "Many First Nations are trying to meet the needs of their families. They are not receiving funding to provide these services. They are currently running deficits," acting Grand Chief Betsy Kennedy told reporters in Ottawa on Thursday during the Assembly of First Nations annual winter meeting. "First Nations need (Indigenous Services Canada) to fully resource and prioritize full and equitable funding and reimbursement for costs before year's end." Kennedy added First Nations often have to refer their members to other organizations that are also not getting fully funded to complete requests for assistance. The principle is named after Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. Born in 1999 with multiple disabilities, Anderson died at the age of five without ever leaving the hospital because federal and provincial governments couldn't decide who should pay for his at-home care. The principle stipulates that when a First Nations child needs health, social or educational services, they are to receive them from the government first approached, with questions about final jurisdiction worked out afterward. Some projects in the 11 First Nations the Keewatin Tribal Council in northern Manitoba represents are at a standstill because money has had to be allocated to cover the costs of service requests, said Grand Chief Walter Wastesicoot. "There's a deep, deep hole there right now," he said. The Keewatin Tribal Council previously had to pay $7 million out of pocket for Jordan's Principle requests before the federal government reimbursed them, said Wastesicoot. He said the Keewatin communities are currently owed millions, but could not provide an exact amount. Kennedy said a regional Indigenous Services Canada representative told the assembly that there may not be further funding for First Nations until the fiscal year ends. Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The department says on the government's website that Ottawa has provided more than 8.2 million products, services and supports under the principle from 2016 to the end of October of this year. The office of Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu previously told The Canadian Press that the department remains focused on ensuring First Nations children can access the services they need, and that since 2016, the federal government has allocated nearly $8.1 billion to meet the needs of First Nations children. The Manitoba chiefs' complaints come as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered Canada to address a backlog of requests. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society raised concerns earlier this year that Ottawa was taking too long to process requests for financing through Jordan's Principle, leaving children without access to services. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Caring Society, said the ever-growing backlog is of Canada's own making. "Canada chose to create these backlogs," she said while supporting chiefs on Thursday. "They're not saying they're overwhelmed and backlogged with thousands of cases under a Canadian pension plan or under an unemployment insurance. The government does this stuff. It is choosing not to do it and it's making excuses for itself." Urgent Jordan’s Principle requests are supposed to be processed within 24 hours. But they are taking up to one month to be reviewed, says Independent First Nations, an advocacy body representing a dozen First Nations in Ontario and Quebec. Blackstock filed an affidavit earlier this year that said nearly half of requests made by individuals from those First Nations in 2023-24 are still in review, along with 10 per cent of the files submitted in 2022-23. The tribunal ordered Canada to return to it with a detailed plan, timelines and targets to address the backlog before Dec. 10. -- By Brittany Hobson in Winnipeg. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024. The Canadian Press See a typo/mistake? Have a story/tip? This has been shared 0 times 0 Shares Share by Email Share on Facebook Share on X Share on LinkedIn Print Share via Text Message Get your daily Victoria news briefing Email Sign Up More Health Police release new photos as they search for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Dec 5, 2024 3:50 PM Eli Lilly invests $3B to expand Wisconsin factory to help meet demand for Mounjaro, Zepbound Dec 5, 2024 3:11 PM Eli Lilly invests $3B to expand Wisconsin factory to help meet demand for Mounjaro, Zepbound Dec 5, 2024 2:27 PMCONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Two New Hampshire fathers who were barred from school district events for wearing pink wristbands marked “XX” to represent female chromosomes insisted at a federal court hearing Thursday that they didn't set out to harass or otherwise target a transgender soccer player at the game they attended. But a judge hearing the case suggested the message the parents sent may matter more than their intentions. Kyle Fellers and Anthony Foote sued the Bow school district after being banned from school grounds for wearing the wristbands at their daughters' soccer game in September. The no-trespass orders have since expired, but a judge is deciding whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to wear the wristbands and carry signs at upcoming school events, including basketball games, swim meets and a music concert, while the case proceeds. Testifying at Thursday's hearing, both men said that they did not view the wristbands as a protest against Parker Tirrell, a transgender girl on the opposing team, but rather as a show of support for their daughters and their teammates. U.S. District Court Judge Steven McAuliffe questioned whether there is a meaningful distinction and whether their intentions matter. “Sometimes the message you think you’re sending might not be the message that is being sent,” he said. McAuliffe asked Foote whether it occurred to him that a transgender person might interpret the pink XX wristbands as an attempt to invalidate their existence. “If he’s a trans female, pink might be a color he likes,” Foote said. McAuliffe also noted that while both plaintiffs said they had no problem with transgender people outside the issue of sports, they repeatedly referred to the athlete in question as a boy. “You seem to go out of your way to suggest there’s no such thing as a trans girl,” McAuliffe said. Foote disagreed, saying it was “like learning a new language” to refer to transgender people. In a separate courtroom earlier Thursday, another judge held a hearing on a lawsuit brought by Parker Tirrell and another student challenging the state law that bans transgender athletes in grades 5 to 12 from teams that align with their gender identity. It requires schools to designate all teams as either girls, boys or coed, with eligibility determined based on students’ birth certificates “or other evidence.” U.S. District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty ruled earlier this year that the teens can try out for and play on girls school sports teams. The order only applies to those two individuals for now as they seek to overturn the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act on behalf of all transgender girl students in New Hampshire. Lawyers for the teens said in court Thursday they hoped the matter could go to trial and be resolved before the start of the next school year in September. They said the teens’ school districts and others in the state have asked for guidance regarding the statute. Lawyers for the state said they needed more time to prepare. Judge Talesha Saint-Marc suggested the timing of the trial was ambitious and asked that both sides talk further about scheduling. Gov. Chris Sununu, who signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law in July, has said it “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions.” About half of states have adopted similar measures. In the Bow case, school district officials have said they acted appropriately in sanctioning the parents for conduct they knew violated school policy at athletic events. They'll explain their evidence on Friday. On Thursday, the plaintiff's lawyer, Endel Kolde, accused the district of “breathtaking” overreach by asserting that the wristbands target transgender students in general, regardless of whether such students were present at the events. “This is viewpoint discrimination, and it’s very clear they’re proud of it,” Kolde said. Kolde initially conceded that a school district can limit speech “to some degree” to protect children from harassment, but he stopped short of agreeing with the judge’s claim that yelling “transgender students out” at a particular player would be subject to such regulation. “It might be,” he said. “I’m trying to get you to concede the obvious,” McAuliffe said. “It’s less than obvious to me,” Kolde said. Feller, the first witness in the case involving the wristbands, said he purchased them thinking his daughter and her teammates would wear them, but ended up wearing one himself after they declined. After being told to leave the game, he stood in the parking lot with a sign that said “Protect women’s sports for female athletes.” “I wanted to support women’s sports and I believed what was going on was a travesty,” he said.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes rose to more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much of a boost they’re getting from the artificial-intelligence boom. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to add to what’s set to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s the 56th time the index has hit an all-time high this year after climbing in 11 of the last 12 days . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record. Salesforce helped pull the market higher after delivering stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit fell just short. CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s artificial-intelligence offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global labor, reshaping how industries operate and scale.” The stock price of the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, jumped 11%. Marvell Technology leaped even more after delivering better results than expected, up 23.2%. CEO Matt Murphy said the semiconductor supplier is seeing strong demand from AI and gave a forecast for profit in the upcoming quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. All the optimistic talk helped Nvidia , the company whose chips are powering much of the move into AI, rally 3.5%. It was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 by far. They helped offset an 8.9% drop for Foot Locker, which reported profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Mary Dillon said the company is taking a more cautious view, and it cut its forecasts for sales and profit this year. Dillon pointed to how keen customers are for discounts and how soft demand has been outside of Thanksgiving week and other key selling periods. Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market . This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A narrower report released Wednesday morning suggested employers in the private sector increased their payrolls by less last month than economists expected. Hiring in manufacturing was the weakest since the spring, according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. The report strengthened traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. The central bank had appeared set to continue cutting rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat. Trump’s preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , which could alter the Fed’s plans . Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank can afford to cut rates cautiously because inflation has slowed from its peak two years ago and the economy remains sturdy. A separate report on Wednesday said health care, finance and other businesses in the U.S. services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected. One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed’s rate cuts haven't pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped. Plus, “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.” In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.23% late Tuesday. On Wall Street, Campbell’s sank 6.2% for one of the S&P 500’s sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the National Football League’s Washington Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse as its team president. Gains for airline stocks helped offset that drop after JetBlue Airways said it saw stronger bookings for travel in November and December following the presidential election. It also said it’s benefiting from lower fuel prices, as well as lower costs due to improved on-time performance. JetBlue jumped 8.3%, while Southwest Airlines climbed 3.5%. All told, the S&P 500 rose 36.61 points to 6,086.49. The Dow climbed 308.51 to 45,014.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 254.21 to 19,735.12. In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4% following a night full of drama in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. He revoked the martial law declaration six hours later. In the crypto market , bitcoin climbed near $99,000 after Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins , a cryptocurrency advocate, to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Four fraudsters jailed for £5.1M worth of stolen phones in LondonIT’S 5pm on Saturday night in Leeds City Centre where bars are already packed full of gangs of raucous women letting their hair down whilst cocktail shakers clatter noisily in the background. An hour later, tables are strewn with empty porn star martini glasses and half-downed bottles of Prosecco, as the lively crowd takes to the dance floor. Following a boozy afternoon it feels like the punters here have already had their fill, and it’s a scene which will play out between now and Christmas in this buzzing northern city where I was born and bred. It’s a place where women certainly know how to let their hair down and I used to be one of them. I've encountered all sorts on nights out - from my mate flashing her t**s and running through a car wash, witnessing an amorous couple having sex in a car park, me backflipping off a table, to another pal being sprayed with a fire extinguisher by a bouncer. That was until I ended up so paralytic after a daytime drinking session with friends in the city I ended up in a car at midnight with strangers who saw me stranded and offered me a lift home. I vaguely remember getting into a taxi just before, but minutes into the six-mile journey home the driver told me to get out. I’m not sure whether I offended him, or if he was worried I was so drunk that I might be sick in the car, but my next memory is shuffling my way along the side of the road in high heels, completely alone. I was incredibly lucky and made it home unscathed to my husband and two young children, but it’s terrifying to think how differently that night could’ve turned out. And it was all because I didn’t know my alcohol limits and when I got started I simply couldn’t stop. While I've now been predominantly sober since 2020, before I was your 'classic binge drinker' - I didn't see the point in drinking if it wasn't to get p****d. Now, women like me are under the spotlight and the latest statistics are concerning. According to the most up-to-date Department of Health and Social Care figures for Leeds from 2022/23, there were 1,330 female alcohol-related admissions to the city’s two hospitals Leeds General Infirmary and St James’s. The city was also rated the second most dangerous binge drinking city after London in a study by private alcohol rehab clinic, Delamere. Its research looked at the numbers of bars and nightclubs, alcohol-related hospital admissions, off-licences and alcoholism rates combined. Experts say fuelling the statistics are bottomless brunches which are a staple of Leeds, a city which has also been ranked 8th on the list of the booziest cities in the UK according to research by reduced-alcohol retailer DrinkWell - and a huge hit with women rather than men. In a one-mile radius, Leeds City Centre offers 25 bottomless brunch locations which start as low as £26 per person for 90 minutes of unlimited beer, wine and cocktails. Even now in the run up to Christmas when alcohol consumption increases as office parties and boozy nights kick off, one bar has a sign on the window claiming to be the number one bottomless brunch spot in the city. Who is going to pay for a bottomless brunch if you’re only going to have a glass or two? It’s just not worth it. The whole idea of it is to get absolutely smashed. I was no stranger to a bottomless brunch where me and my friends made the most of the unlimited drinks. The ethos is simple and that’s to binge drink as much alcohol during the time slot. I did around five bottomless brunches before realising they were the devil - they took my binge drinking attitude and multiplied it by five. Women love them, they’re touted as being drinking sophistication, aimed at girls who want to get dressed up and spend the day in a classy bar. We worked our absolute hardest to make sure we got as many refills for the money as possible. Who is going to pay for a bottomless brunch if you’re only going to have a glass or two? It’s just not worth it. The whole idea of it is to get absolutely smashed. In the most recent health survey for England published in September, 78 per cent of women said they had drunk alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 15 per cent drinking at increasing or higher levels of harm per week. Four per cent of women admitted drinking over 35 units per week. According to the most recent ONS statistics, from 2018, liver disease is consistently among the top three causes of death each year among women aged 39-45. And when the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) compared alcohol consumption across 33 countries, British women topped the global chart for binge drinking - defined as at least six drinks in one session. Amin Bini, 49, who owns popular takeaway, Dixy Chicken in Leeds city centre which is open until 4am on weekends, says some female customers - like me - often need help getting home safely. He said: "Sometimes we have to get customers a taxi or you have to charge their phones. “I've woken some people up, given them a free bottle of water and helped them outside so they can get some fresh air. "One woman came in once and we had to call the police and when they arrived they had to call an ambulance." Amin sees his job as being much more than just serving food and he sees it as his responsibility to keep women safe. He said: "You have to be very, very patient with them.. You have to take care of them - when they come into my takeaway, I want them to feel safe. "Especially with females because if they don't know what they're doing, they can put themselves in danger and people outside can take advantage of them. "It's not just serving takeaways, it's managing the situation that you see in front of you.” Alcohol-specific deaths are at their highest levels in the UK, since records began in 2001. Although the problem is undoubtedly bigger in men, more women under the age of 45 are dying due to alcohol-related liver disease, or ARLD, than ever before, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures from 2001-22. Meanwhile, Dr Richard Piper, CEO at Alcohol Change UK said alcohol and binge drinking are often dangerously associated with ‘self-care’ for women. He says: “We need only look to sponsorships in prime-time television shows aimed at women, highly visible advertising as they travel to and from work, and the often inescapable (but false) associations between alcohol and self-care - ‘me time’ and ‘girls’ night’ - to see how much effort and investment from alcohol companies goes into placing it in the spotlight of our day-to-day lives and society.” The NHS defines binge drinking as ‘drinking heavily over a short space of time’. More than 8 units of alcohol in a single session for males, or more than 6 units in a single session for females is the technical definition, according to Drinkaware. That’s equivalent to about four pints of normal strength beer for a man or three pints for a woman. When you binge drink, other than getting drunk, your heart rate and blood pressure will rise. It can cause irregular heartbeats, known as arrhythmias. Alcohol increases stomach acid production - queue the nausea and potentially vomiting. You're also likely to experience impaired judgement, coordination, memory blackouts and poor decision making. This could lead to accidents, falls, drownings and other mistakes. Long term, binge drinking can cause acute liver damage and increase the risk of chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Cardiovascular problems include cardiomyopathy - which is when the heart loses the ability to pump blood efficiently - and an increased risk of stroke. Over time, binge drinking can contribute to permanent brain damage. This may present as a mental health condition, such as anxiety or depression. Binge drinking can also lead to alcohol dependence, or "addiction". Dr Katherine Severi, Chief Executive of the Institute of Alcohol Studies agrees that the ‘targeted tactics’ to encourage binge drinking come at a high cost to women’s health and well-being. She said: “Alarmingly, over the past 20 years, deaths from alcohol among women have increased by 91 per cent. "One major factor behind this trend is the alcohol industry’s targeted marketing towards women. “The recent emergence of ‘bottomless brunches’ is an example of how women are nudged towards social occasions that revolve around heavy drinking. “These targeted tactics are not only effective; they come at a high cost to women’s health and well-being." Now I'm about to turn 50 later this month, and while I might have the odd glass here and there I steer clear of wine completely and I’m adamant that I won’t slip back into my old ways. Alcohol is the second biggest risk factor for death in the UK - I’m actually thankful that I was pushed into making a decision to quit drinking to excess. The day I reach my sixth decade is a milestone I want to remember. A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “Teams across the council work closely together and with our partners to ensure that people can enjoy Leeds’ thriving hospitality sector safely. “Our licensing team liaises closely with licensed venues supporting them to operate responsibly and meet their legal obligations, such as not supplying alcohol to those who are intoxicated. "Our guidance includes providing a substantial food offering and drinking water, pacing the provision of drinks, ensuring all staff are vigilant and door supervisors monitor customers leaving the premises. Anyone who is struggling with the impact of drug or alcohol use is encouraged to seek help from Forward Leeds .