Colonel Mustard in the hotel room with a ...

At the Blackwell hotel in Columbus, which is terrific by the way, our room had the following:

1 set of fireplace tools
0 fireplaces

There is only one use for fireplace tools if there is no fireplace.

A word about housing and Millenials.

It turns out that millennials are not that into buying houses. For reasons that range from desired freedom of mobility to not trusting the "system" that created the financial crises we saw in the late 2000's, millenials are choosing to rent.

Which has led to inflated rental rates which are getting more and more out of whack, making it harder to build wealth.

I can't address the mobility issue, except to say that unless you're going to move in fewer than five years you should look at the numbers. Market trends are solid if not spectacular and buying may be smart.

Recent changes in the lending system have brought low down payment loans back into the picture, but now they're safer. Check out FHA and USDA loans.They key thing to remember is that our homes are not ATM's. The money that goes in needs to stay in. This is where people got in so much trouble in 2008.

I read someplace that if you want to retire a millionaire you need to start buying real estate in your 30's. With the interest rates at 3.5% this is a golden opportunity. The people who take advantage of it today will be the ones who in ten years will be glad they did.