Today is November 11^th, Veteran's Day. The bond markets are closed, as are many companies, but what does this date represent? (On a personal note I will be spending it with my Dad who served for 20 years in the Navy including WWII and the Korean Conflict.) Originally called Armistice Day, the date marks the anniversary of the end of World War I and is meant for us to remember the sacrifices of those who served our country. There are over 19 million veterans and of this, 1.6 million were women and 9.4 million were 65 years old or older. Our Census Bureau tells us that the most popular states where veterans live include California (1.7 million veterans), Texas (1.5 million veterans) and Florida (1.5 million veterans). The median income for male veterans is $37,000, while the median income for male non-veterans is $32,000 and the median income for female veterans is $32,000 compared to $22,000 for female non-veterans.

Are regulations hitting credit unions and jacking costs up? You bet they are - especially as some audit teams charge the company for expenses. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told lenders Friday that it will soon be starting its initial examinations of compliance with the TRID rules. During its initial TRID compliance exams, the OCC said that its examiners will be evaluating a bank's compliance management system and overall efforts to come into compliance, "recognizing the scope and scale of changes necessary for each bank to achieve effective compliance." The OCC also stated that it expects banks to make good faith efforts to comply with TRID.

"Examiners expect banks to make good faith efforts to comply with the rule's requirements in a timely manner," the OCC memo states. "Specifically, examiners are considering the bank's implementation plan, including actions taken to update policies, procedures, and processes, as well as training of appropriate staff and handling of early technical problems or other implementation challenges."

The OCC states that its TRID supervisory approach will be similar to the approach it took with its examinations for compliance with the mortgage rules implementing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that went into effect in January 2014. Banks of less than $10 billion are "kind of" outside the CFPB's direct purveyance but according to the OCC the guidance applies to national banks and federal savings associations with $10 billion or less in total assets.

I don't remember the last time I went to a conference that didn't have some kind of break-out session on how to either hire, retain, or market to people aged 15-33. Millennials - per our Census Bureau those born between 1982 and 2000 - will eventually marry, have kids, and save up enough money and then finance a house. The lending industry sure is fascinated with their every move.

The median age of a first time homebuyer is now 33 years old. That is notable when you consider the middle of the millennial generation is about 26 years old. Community bankers should note the oldest millennials are now 33 years old, just tipping them into the next BLS category of spending that includes home and other purchases. This is important to note because Merrill Edge reports 61% of millennials say they will spend more in 2016 vs. only 26% of Gen X and Baby Boomers.

Baby Boomers? No one seems to care about us anymore, but Over50JobBoard. com has released the top ten cities for baby boomers to find employment. New York ranked as the best city for baby boomers to find a job with 2,200 job postings, followed by Newark, NJ with 1,758 open positions and Fairfax, VA with 1,587 available jobs. Other cities rounding out the ten top include, Philadelphia, PA, Los Angeles, CA, Atlanta, GA, Dallas, TX, Chicago, IL, Miami, FL and San Francisco, CA. On average, 10,000 baby boomers exit the workplace every day either to retire or they are laid off. At least one fifth of cohort haven't saved enough for retirement either.

Results from Experian's recent reports suggest that Millennials have the lowest credit scores of all generations. Millennials often mistake what their generation's average credit score and average debt is. For example, the estimated average credit score was 654, compared to the actual score of 625. The estimated average debt was $26,610 with the actual debt amount reaching $52,210. Credit card debt also makes up the most common millennial debt at 38 percent, followed by student loans (36 percent), auto loans (28 percent), home loans (20 percent) and personal loans (17 percent). In order to manage finances, 57 percent of Millennials use financial mobile apps and have about three financial apps on their phones and most are willing to use alternative companies/services that innovate to better meet their needs. Roughly 39 percent of Millennials are familiar with "non-bank" lenders, 13 percent have already used such a service and 47 percent would like to use alternative lenders in the future due to an easier application process.

Experian goes on to tell us that many Millennials (46 percent) look for new financial companies/services that better meet their needs and more than 75 percent would switch financial accounts if they find a better option. The main reasons Millennials switch financial companies are due to better interest rates (47 percent), better reward programs (43 percent), better identity protection (43 percent) and better customer service (32 percent). Surprisingly, 71 percent of Millennials feel confident about their credit knowledge, but 32 percent do not know their credit scores and 67 percent question how their scores are generated. Another 73 percent have a handle on their finances, but more than half feel they are "going it alone" and that "the odds are stacked against them." Their top financial future concerns are supporting a family (30 percent), retirement savings (28 percent), and financial independence (25 percent). On a positive note, 83 percent said being debt-free is a reachable goal and 71 percent felt confident about their financial futures.

Has the rise in rent prices prevented Millennials from buying a home? Wells Fargo Economics Group found that the rent portion of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased over the past five years, and is up 4 percent from a year ago. This means that the increase in rent prices has pushed up overall inflation rates for younger Millennials, while inflation is less among older Millennials as they are not as likely to rent. Roughly 89 percent of households headed with someone 25 years old or younger are renters, compared to 37 percent for all ages. Thus, one-fifth of spending by young Millennials goes towards rent, while those between 25-34 years old allocate 12 percent of spending towards rent, compared to 7 percent for all age groups. In addition to rent, households less than 25 years old allocate about 10 percent of their spending towards educational expenses and the rise in rent and education has contributed to young Millennials experiencing the fastest inflation of any group. Although this cohort is affected by high rental inflation, their share of spending on health care is less than their older counterparts, as rising medical costs have increased inflation rates for older households. The slow wage growth among young Millennials has also contributed to their higher rate of inflation but the upswing in wage growth for Millennials over the past year has helped offset higher inflation for young Millennials. This should allow more Millennials to save for a down payment and qualify for a home loan.

The homeownership rate rebounded off the 50 year low set in the second quarter. It rose from 63.4% to 63.7%. Household formations have been decelerating all year; however, they increased by a 1.3 million pace in September. So far it looks like these people are renters and not homeowners, as rental vacancies remain low and rental inflation continues. We have yet to see a downturn in Millennials living at home with their parents.  

Looking to the bond markets, they're closed today in the United States. But Tuesday fixed-income securities finally put an end to their ten-day sell-off that had pushed up the 5-year note yield up by as much as 44 basis points. The reason? More certainty that the Fed will raise short term rates. The $24 billion 10-year note auction was met with a lower than average bid-to-cover ratio but a greater than average indirect bid.

In spite of the holiday the MBA released its application data from last week (-1.3%). Tomorrow we'll have the Initial Jobless Claims and September JOLTS (job openings) data. We ended Tuesday with the 10-year T-note sitting at 2.32%, slightly better than where it started the day.

Jobs and Announcements

In recruiting news, lenders & vendors that were prepared for changes in RESPA-TILA are using it to their advantage. "Privately-held International City Mortgage first addressed TRID by putting together a task force to design TRID training for our sales team but also help train our Realtor partners.  We rolled out our first TRID training in early May at our sales conference. We then pushed out training courses through the summer months to our Realtor partners. In September we hosted multiple webinars that trained our whole staff on the loan estimate and closing disclosure, how TRID would affect turn times, answered any questions on how to prepare disclosures and set our buyers up for success. By the end of October we funded our first handful of TRID loans and hit a 25 day close with TRID. Due to our preparedness TRID has had little to no impact on our turn times and we are still focused on 30 COEs." Licensed in 14 states and the US Virgin Islands, ICM is searching for talented LOs and origination teams that want to work for a company that has its eyes on the future.  Please contact CEO Kirk Hankla for more information."

And Peoples Bank (KS), an FDIC community bank with 2015 mortgage production on pace to hit $1.8 billion, is seeking LOs and branches nationwide. Peoples Bank is Fannie and Freddie approved, servicing its own loans, has both Retail and Direct-to-Consumer Call Center Sales channels, and has been in business for over 30 years. Besides a solid book of business, origination candidates need strong collaboration and team-building skills. Parties who would like to hear what a bank can offer should contact Jim Lind for a confidential discussion.