Smart Money Loans & Properties

02/20/2026

https://sdac.sdsu.edu/startups-seeking-investors?utm_source=salesforce&utm_medium=email

DEADLINE TO APPLY MARCH 5!

Scalable startups located in the US can apply to participate in the 2025 San Diego Angel Conference presented by SDSU.

01/27/2026

Ecominic Outlook 2026 from commercial investment perspective. Looking up, finally...

The End of QT and the Quiet Return of QE

Quantitative tightening (QT) is effectively over. Beginning December 1, 2025, the Federal Reserve halted balance‑sheet runoff, and by mid‑December 2025, the Fed’s Reserve Management Purchases (RMP) program was in full swing. These purchases—roughly $40 billion per month in Treasury bills with maturities of three years or less—are designed to “maintain ample reserves” in the banking system. In practice, this is quantitative easing (QE) by another name.

At the same time, regulators are signaling a willingness to lower reserve requirements for commercial banks, a form of deregulatory easing that increases lending capacity without the political baggage of traditional QE. The Treasury is also expected to rely more heavily on short‑term T‑bill issuance to refinance maturing long‑term debt and mortgage‑backed securities.

The combined effect of these factors is that M2 money supply will begin rising again, reversing the contractionary trend of the past two years and reintroducing liquidity into the financial system. For real estate, this will mark the first meaningful improvement in capital availability since 2021.

12/30/2025

Some dates and limits for year end contributions with an eye on taxes The amounts shown in the following table apply per person, unless otherwise indicated.

Financial action
Maximum contributions/donation Federal deadline
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) N/A Dec. 31, 2025
(Exceptions exist for the first year an RMD is required.)
Use flexible spending account (FSA) balances
Health care FSA: $3,300
Limited-purpose FSA: $3,300
Dependent care FSA: $5,000 (per household)
Dec. 31, 2025
(Some plans allow extensions for up to 2.5 months for incurring expenses.)
Roth conversions N/A Dec. 31, 2025
Health savings account (HSA) contributions
Individual coverage: $4,300
Family coverage: $8,550
Age 55 or older (catch-up): $1,000
Tax return deadline, not including extensions
Employer retirement plan contributions
401(k)/403(b)1/governmental 457(b)2 plan deferral limits:

Below age 50: $23,500
Age 50 or older: $31,000
Age 60–63: $34,750
Dec. 31, 2025
SIMPLE plan deferral limits:3

Below age 50: $16,500
Age 50 or older: $20,000
Age 60–63: $21,750
Dec. 31, 2025
SEP employer contribution limits:
Lesser of 25% of compensation or $70,000 Tax return deadline, including extensions
IRA contributions
Below age 50: $7,000
Age 50 or older: $8,000
Tax return deadline, not including extensions
Qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) $108,000 Dec. 31, 2025
Charitable donations Subject to AGI limitations; limit varies by type of asset donated and donee organization Dec. 31, 2025
Annual gifting $19,000 per donee Dec. 31, 2025
1 Additional service-based catch-up contributions may be permitted. Consult your plan administrator.
2 Limit applies to combined employee and employer contributions.
3 Certain plans can contribute 110% of contribution limits. Consult your plan administrator.

Ask us for tips on how to do it yourself Roth conversions
Happy New Year!!!

12/30/2025

https://canhr.org/should-i-really-move-into-a-continuing-care-retirement-community-ccrc/
Some key considerations when making big decisions

Whether to move into a Continuing Care Retirement Community (“CCRC”) represents one of the most important decisions a person can make in their lifetime. Continue Reading

10/21/2025

We all want lower interest rates, right?

If you're retired or planning ahead, it's important to understand just what lower interest rates mean and how they affect your 401(k) plans and IRAs.

07/17/2025

Last week, the state passed its new budget, and with it, sweeping CEQA rollbacks aimed at speeding up key development projects. It’s the most significant environmental reform we’ve seen in decades. Here's the article if you'd like the details: California budget includes sweeping CEQA rollbacks

What it means:
Advanced manufacturing projects (think EV plants, chip fabs, battery facilities) are now exempt from CEQA in industrial zones.
CEQA lawsuits are harder to win across the board — courts can no longer consider wide-ranging evidence or use CEQA to stall projects indefinitely.
California is signaling a clear shift: pro-growth, pro-investment, and pro-speed.

Why this matters for just one of our fund partners:
Our largest deal in the fund is an industrial land entitlement, and while it’s not in the “advanced manufacturing” category, this new law still strengthens our hand. We've had this property under contract for over a year, quietly doing the work — and this legislation just made it a lot more attractive to future buyers and institutions.

The other three projects in the fund are residential, and while CEQA still applies to those, this is a clear sign of momentum: California is finally starting to prioritize speed, certainty, and housing/jobs production.

We were already on track for a strong win — this is just added firepower.

THIS IS REALLY GREAT NEWS FOR CALIFORNIA!!!

05/28/2025

Treading water..
https://www.axios.com/local/san-diego/2025/05/28/city-population-growth-pandemic?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axioslocal_sandiego&stream=top

05/17/2025

We don't see this often but in SD rent vs own is leaning...might this be a catalyst to price reductions or does the housing shortage continue to drive prices higher?

04/25/2025

According to major home builders, the impact of tariffs will likely be felt more with the overall economy (employment, interest rates) than it will with the impact on building materials. One less thing to worry about

04/16/2025

For smaller estates, inheritance just got easier

California now allows some heirs to skip probate when inheriting a primary residence...

04/11/2025

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/economy/us-consumer-sentiment-april/index.html?utm_source=cnn_Breaking+News&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=B9O0ZzOcSmlro4TrdS%2BJkhxZQTzIXPmzWLzymkmbPHLH24L1QGJp%2Bavu0fzK4BM%2F&bt_ts=1744380779959 Is sentiment the predictor for recession? Are we already there? Have your spending habits changed, or are you ignoring the noise?

Americans are rarely this pessimistic about the economy.

03/31/2025

This "tax gap" is quite interesting and may not be getting the attention it deserves with 700B waiting in the wings. Defunding the IRS just makes it harder to collect and takes more time than eliminating complete agencies, but it might save some jobs and valuable services while making the population less grumpy

Cracking down on the tax gap would not only introduce more fairness into the system, but it could be a big help for our nation’s fiscal imbalance.