Personal Finance Decision Guide – Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA
June 4, 2007
What money decision are you trying to make today? Read on, it may be covered in this second edition of the Personal Finance Decision Guide. This is a compilation of money articles from various sites comparing or explaining two sides of money concepts. In an interesting turn of events, this is the first time there […]
Three Easy Ways to Lower Your Heating & Cooling Expenses
May 21, 2007
How long has it been since you’ve had your HVAC serviced? It had been six years for me until last week when I hired a local heating & cooling company to stop by for a tune-up visit. The friendly tech went over three simple things that can save us thousands of dollars. Check Your Air […]
Personal Finance Decision Guide – 1st Edition
April 29, 2007
Simplifying Your Personal Finance Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Personal Finance Decision Guide! Read more about the goals and strategy behind the decision guide here. Then check out the articles listed below to help you focus on simplifying your personal finances by making one decision at a time. If you’ve written about a […]
How Absentee Landlords can Save Thousands of Dollars with One Simple Change
March 24, 2007
Managing a rental property from a distance can be a challenge for an absentee landlord. An important tip is to make sure the company that holds the mortgage for the rental property has your home mailing address on record as point of contact. If that’s not the case, make the change and avoid the unfortunate […]
Defaults Rising on Subprime Loans. What did New Century and Everyone Else Expect?
March 15, 2007
When rates were low almost anyone could get a home loan with no money down. The booming real estate market flooded financial institutions with cash and companies like New Century Financial and Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co couldn’t loan money out fast enough. It was inevitable that rates would rise and that subprime lenders would […]
Family’s Will Suffer, Mortgage Lenders & Investors Will Profit
January 31, 2007
Robert Reich reported on Marketplace today that home foreclosures were up 42% last year resulting in over a million families losing their homes. Many of these people had signed up for adjustable-rate mortgages or interest-only loans with no down payments and sometimes 100% financing. Rough Times Ahead The bad news for families that borrowed with […]
How Discounting the Value of Your Home Could Keep You Out of Financial Trouble
January 3, 2007
In a comment on my post about the Dangers of Owning Your Own Home, Enough Wealth, pointed out that “home equity IS part of your net worth” and what you do with the realized value once its sold is irrelevant”. From a financial perspective I agree that the equity in your home does make up […]
The Dangers of Owning Your Own Home
January 2, 2007
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is running a Devil’s Advocate series and his first article is Rent Forever, Don’t Buy A Home. We own our home and despite the repair work and property taxes he mentions, I’m glad we decided to buy our own place. However, there are two that mistakes I think it’s easy for […]