Text Box: Interest rates (from page #1) Text Box: investments—not interest rate! Today's national macro outlook is strong for the US economy in 2004, and continuing into 2005. This is despite current geopolitical political pressures, and the uncertainties created by the coming presidential November elections (See page 4-Economic Outlook). Text Box: of our adult lives exceeding 7.0 - 7.5%. If these are the facts, why all the "hullabaloo”? Never have there been more mortgage loan products available that make it easier than ever to own Real Properties. Perhaps the uncertainty created by interest rate change is also one of the benefits of working with the longer term wealth that comes with real Text Box: property investments. It is unnecessary in the longer term valuing of real estate, to deal with all the micro economic changes occurring daily and monthly in our current economic times. In other words “don’t worry about the short term rate changes”. Make your decisions based upon today’s risk factors, and trends, but beyond that development, scarcity, and use will determine the value of real property Text Box: Life of Riley (from page #1) Text Box: regardless of income, are still reporting for work, something well beneath your dignity. Brace yourself ! So now that you have the concept; let's get on with the bad news. In 1980, with the 40th percentile household income at $24,800 and a simple Couch Potato-like portfolio yielding some 8.36%, you could be independently middle class with an investment account of only $296,828. By 1993 the portfolio yield had been nearly cut in half -- to 4.33% -- but the required income had risen to $45,030. That took the index to a bit over $1 million for the first time. Text Box: Austen novels are. Forgoing the indignity of work You are independently middle class when your dividend and interest income pays your rent on time, pays for your car, and allows you to eat three meals a day, plus snacks. The same dividend and interest income allows you to keep up with the millions of Americans who don't spend their weekends pricing helicopters or puzzling over whether they should have one, or two, dozen chairs in their home theaters. You're independently middle class when you can live like Text Box: most people -- without the indignity of work. At a party, when someone asks, "What do you do?" You answer: "In event of what?" Just to give the Life of Riley Index a bit of an edge -- to avoid being smack in the middle of the hoi polloi -- I have keyed it to a slightly superior income. Specifically, this is household income at the 40th percentile, as measured by the Census Bureau. This means 60% of all households have lower incomes. And 40% have higher incomes. The difference, of course, is that most people, Text Box: Page # Text Box: Gary’s June Newsletter Text Box: Understanding the current economic scenario, it is my opinion that this is an excellent time to be fully invested, and to your money working for you! Text Box: “ the real problem in America isn't price inflation. It's wealth inflation.”