Courtesy of Paul E. FallonWhat is our responsibility — to ourselves, our family and our community — for the assets we have accumulated during our lives?
My estate is not large — nowhere near the richest 1% — though my assets provide steady income. Back in 1992, when most families with young children headed to the suburbs, my wife and I wanted to raise our children in the city. We bought an aging four-family home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We weren’t seeking such a large property, but as Jimmy Stewart says in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “we couldn’t afford anything smaller.” We became homeowners and landlords.
The difference between being a “have” and “have not” in the United States is largely a matter of home ownership. American homeowners’ equitybetween 2012 and 2019 . That’s more than $57,000 per American ― more than the average annual median income. Unfortunately, our nation’s home appreciation is not equally distributed. In fact, the distribution closely mirrors our nation’s wealth gap. More 115 million Americans have exactly zero equity.
, a Cambridge-based nonprofit housing and service provider. Finally, there was legal language, a friendly realtor, a gifted estate attorney and details too weedy for HuffPost.When I die or become incapacitated, my building will be bequeathed to Just-A-Start Corporation. My children have a six-month period to purchase it back at 90% of appraised value, with a proportionate down payment and the remainder financeable through a local bank who’s already greenlighted the scheme.
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