Pritzker says state has reached a "critical juncture"

On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker ordered state agencies to identify areas of their 2020 budgets that can be cut by 5% as well as 10% cuts that can be made in their spending plans for the next fiscal year should Congress fail to provide additional COVID-19 relief funds.

"Any cut to the Illinois state budget is a win for taxpayers," said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). "However, a broad cut to the state budget is not enough."

Tobin says the state of Illinois’s financial woes are due to the vast amount it spends on lavish, overpromised retired government employee pensions.

"This is why Pritzker is really cutting the budget, he wants to divert pay from current Illinois government employees to retired Illinois government employees," Tobin said in a release this morning. "Every year former Illinois government employees eat up even more of the state’s budget.

In fact, the primary motivation for a $5 billion state income tax hike that passed a few years ago was to transfer wealth from taxpayers to the black hole that is the Illinois pension funds."

Pritzker calls the current state's budget woes a "nightmare scenario".

We've reached a critical juncture for our own state finances in this COVID induced financial crisis," he said during his press conference in Chicago.

In June, Pritzker signed off on $43 billion dollar budget that began July 1 relied heavily on federal aid and borrowing to fill revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19-induced economic slowdown.

A memo from Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes and budget director Alexis Sturm to agency directors stated the state's current budget "is only affordable in its current form with federal support to bridge the pandemic-related shortfalls and that now appears not to be forthcoming."

Illinois stands to lose out on $6.5 billion in revenue this year and next year. Agency heads were given until Oct. 2 to outline their reductions for the current year.  This includes taking necessary measures from hiring freezes to renegotiating on any planned spending commitments.

Tobin points out that governor's Illinois progressive income tax is purely a move to raise taxes.

"Pritzker’s income tax increase amendment, better described as an income theft amendment, is not what Illinois needs," he wrote. "Illinois taxpayers should vote no on November 3rd to the proposed amendment change, and demand Pritzker to cut spending further."

Illinois Rural Health Association hosts virtural conference in October

Despite restrictions on gatherings due to this year's pandemic outbreak, the Illinois Rural Health Association (IRHA) plans to host its 31st Annual Educational Conference next month.

The theme of this year’s conference is "Pulling Together in these Challenging Times". The two-day series of meetings with more than 20 workshops and panel discussions will be held virtually over the internet using a video communications platform starting on October 6. Planners are working diligently to ensure virtual attendees will have access to valuable knowledge from experts on rural healthcare. The conference is an excellent opportunity for rural healthcare professionals to learn about successful practices from their peers in Illinois. 

Topics for the upcoming annual event include COVID Tracing in Rural Communities, the Latest Case Law Impacting Medical Negligence Matters, Telehealth Billing and Mental Health Care for Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic and more. According to the release from the IRHA, there will also be a specific workshop track for Rural Health Clinics. The Keynote Address will be delivered by Brock Slabach, VP of Member Services for the National Rural Health Association on the Latest in Federal Healthcare Policy

To register or view the conference brochure, interested healthcare professionals can point their browsers to www.ilruralhealth.org.  For additional information, contact Margaret Vaughn by phone at (217) 280-0206 or via email at staff@ilruralhealth.org. 

 

Money Matters:Expected returns and investment experience

This is the fourth and final article Money Matters series by guest columnist Jake Pence. You can read part one What's the best way to invest in your future here, part two on the importance of Liquidity and diversification and part three covering real estate taxation here.

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by Jake Pence, Guest Columnist

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This is what so many people get caught up in "Expected Returns". In other words, which investment vehicle will make more money.

In reality, this is like comparing apples to oranges. The most convenient way to compare the returns is using the S&P 500 and a Vanguard Real Estate ETF and throwing them up side by side.

If I’m being honest, I think this is a lazy methodology and it is only used because of the convenience. In general, the returns will be comparable, but it will come down to the specific investment opportunity and it is lazy to make blanket statements about returns. Obviously, you need to invest in an asset that will create a return; however, there are other items to consider such as the investing experience, diversification, taxation, risk management, liquidity, and your financial goals.

Finally, something that is often overlooked in any investment is the experience of that investment.

When I say experience, I mean how is your investment going to make you feel, affect your sleep, make a societal impact, and so on. To this point, this article has been fact-driven, but the remainder of this section is 100% my personal opinion and it is absolutely biased towards real estate.

The stock market is great for people who want to put their money into a system to generate a long-term return without having to make many decisions. I worry about people who have all of their money tied up in the stock market and/or retirement accounts that are exclusively invested in the stock market (you can use them to invest in real estate too). The reason being, I don’t trust the decision makers that control these financial markets and I would rather have my money in Main Street real estate than on Wall Street.

Real estate is great for people who want to have more control over their investment, make a societal impact, and generate long-term wealth.

I love being able to create my own business plan, to meet my residents and give them a place to call home, and the proven path to create a generational financial impact. I worry about real estate investors who think that they will be able to get rich quick and think it will be easy money.

News flash … it’s a grind. There are a lot of bad actors in the industry that only care about money, and I think that is short-sighted in that this is long-term game.

In conclusion, the answer to this question should come from within and it should complement your financial goals and individual skill set.

To me, that means I should heavily invest in real estate and opportunistically invest in the stock market. To you, that could mean an entirely different investing strategy.

I encourage you to further your research on both of these topics and seek out reputable investors that have experience with both real estate and/or the stock market. When talking with other investors, make sure that you come into the conversation with an open mind, do your best to leave your biases at the door, and give yourself the chance to create a better financial future.

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About the author:

• Jake Pence is the President of Blue Chip Real Estate and a consultant for Fairlawn Capital, Inc.. A 2019 graduate from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois, he is a 2016 graduate from St. Joseph-Ogden High School where he was a three-sport athlete for the Spartans. You can view his latest acquisitions and advice on his YouTube channel here.