4 Easy Ways to Pay Your Mortgage Off Early

August 16, 2013

One of the things that I’ve grown to believe in more and more as I talk to people who are nearing retirement and hitting the panic button about their ability to fund their retirement lifestyle is that retiring debt-free is the only way I want to retire.  I’ve always been debt-averse, but as I help people look at their financial lives and their ability to live the lives they want in retirement, the more clear the vision I have for myself is becoming.  I have seen people with near identical incomes, 401(k) balances, pensions, and Social Security estimates have completely different views on retirement.  The #1 reason for those views is their mortgage payment.  Continue reading “4 Easy Ways to Pay Your Mortgage Off Early”

The Case Against “Moderation”

August 01, 2013

In this blog post, Michael makes the argument for a moderate middle ground between a couple he knows that are living well beyond their means and another couple he read about in this article that managed to pay off their mortgage in less than 5  years. While paying off your mortgage early may seem like a great thing, Michael worries that the couple may look back on this time of their lives with regret at all the things they didn’t do with that money. I don’t and here’s why. Continue reading “The Case Against “Moderation””

In All Things, Moderation

July 26, 2013

To borrow a line from Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” The title of A Tale Of Two Cities really hit me as I read this article about a couple who paid off their mortgage in less than 5 years.  They made a lot of changes/sacrifices in their financial life in order to pay off their mortgage and be totally debt free in a short period of time. They are being very frugal, looking for ways to trim their cost of living and putting off instant gratification and some “fun” right now in favor of getting totally out of debt and putting into place a lifestyle that would require only minimal incomes to sustain.  This is a family that is taking financial independence and financial security VERY seriously.  Continue reading “In All Things, Moderation”

Is There Hope or Doom on the Horizon?

July 19, 2013

For a long time now, I’ve talked to people who have found it relatively difficult to come up with a 20% down payment and banks have not been very flexible with the 20% down payment requirement. Things may be changing though.  This article talks about what may be an encouraging sign for borrowers. It looks like there is some relaxing of the 20% rule now, with the return of the mortgage with a 10% down payment being seen more widely.  Is this a sign of hope that banks are having money flow back into the economy?  Continue reading “Is There Hope or Doom on the Horizon?”

To Buy or Not to Buy

July 18, 2013

I was reflecting on my “best investment decision” from my post last week and realized that the same caution that led me to not buy a home at the top of the real estate bubble also made me miss buying  a home near the bottom of the real estate market last year. I looked at several properties that I liked and they were priced low enough that I could have easily more than covered the monthly costs by renting them out if I had to. However, there were so many good options that I suffered from “analysis paralysis” and ended up not buying any of them. Continue reading “To Buy or Not to Buy”

Rules That Are Meant to Be Broken

May 10, 2013

It looks like the FAA may relax the rules on what types of electronic devices you can use while the plane is zooming down the runway about to take off.   I’m not sure it would have helped Alec Baldwin continue to play Words With Friends a little bit longer and avoid that confrontation, but it might make a lot of people (including me) happy. I’m a big fan of reading and my favorite thing to do on flights is to read. And lately I’ve been reading more on my iPad, using the Kindle app and my local library’s e-reader checkout program.(Bonus tip:  For those of you who love to read, check out this link to Overdrive, which is the program I use to check books out of my local public library for free rather than buying the book via digital download. It’s a great money saver!)  Sometimes, there are rules that need to be updated in order to keep up with the changing world.  Here are a couple of rules with your financial life that you might want to consider updating. Continue reading “Rules That Are Meant to Be Broken”

Determining Your Life Insurance Needs Takes More Than a Calculator

March 22, 2013

While I don’t sell life insurance, I get a lot of questions about how much insurance someone should own.  Maybe it’s BECAUSE I don’t sell it that I get the question.  If I sold it, I’d have a vested interest in giving you a high number (along with my business card) so that you know how under-insured you might be!  While I get this question a lot, there really is no simple answer to it.  Continue reading “Determining Your Life Insurance Needs Takes More Than a Calculator”

Why a Home is Still a Good Investment

March 21, 2013

Today is the first day of spring and among other things, that means many people will begin the process of buying a home. Despite the crash in the real estate market a few years ago, real estate remains a great investment. In fact, it can often make the difference of whether someone is able to retire. Here are some reasons why: Continue reading “Why a Home is Still a Good Investment”

Get Rid of Your “Monopoly Iron”

February 08, 2013

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve played the game Monopoly. It’s such a classic, and I had no idea that they eventually get rid of (OK, “retire…”) game pieces. They are retiring the iron now and replacing it with a cat! I’m a dog person and have been known to wear some wrinkled clothing, so I really prefer the iron to a cat…but it wasn’t my decision! And it did take me down a different thought path. Continue reading “Get Rid of Your “Monopoly Iron””

If I Won the Lottery

January 09, 2013

Recently, my 10-year old son Ethan asked me what I would do if I ever won the lottery.  What a great question.  How we answer this question says a lot about how we feel about money and what we value most.  After pondering the question for a moment, here is what I would do. Continue reading “If I Won the Lottery”

Protecting Your Retirement From Inflation

October 18, 2012

Are you worried about rising inflation and how it could impact your retirement planning? With the Federal Reserve announcing QE3 (printing more money) and our rising federal debt and entitlement obligations (may need to print more money in the future), you’re not alone. Many economists are warning about the dangers of inflation in our future. Continue reading “Protecting Your Retirement From Inflation”

Should You Pay Your Mortgage Off Early?

September 21, 2012

A topic that comes up all the time in my conversations with people looking for guidance is the usefulness of paying off a mortgage vs. keeping it.  This article talks about three homeowners who developed plans to pay off their mortgages in order to reach goals that are important to them.  One wanted to have his mortgage paid off prior to retiring so that his cost of living in retirement was very manageable.  It’s easier to retire comfortably if your biggest cash outflow item (for nearly everyone I talk to their mortgage or rent payment is by far their largest monthly obligation) disappears.  Imagine how little you would need to live on if you didn’t have to pay rent or a mortgage!  Another homeowner wanted to pay off the mortgage prior to their children going to college so that their monthly income could be used to fund education for the kids and the kids wouldn’t be saddled with massive student loan debt upon graduation.  The last one wanted to aggressively pay additional principal on their mortgage in a bigger house while they had kids at home and after the kids were gone, they downsized and used the equity in the big house to fully pay for a much smaller, empty nest house.   These homeowners all had goals and reached them.  Continue reading “Should You Pay Your Mortgage Off Early?”

Why I Don’t (Always) Hate Debt

July 26, 2012

In his blog post last week titled “Why I Hate Credit Scores,” my colleague Michael Smith wrote about his aversion to debt and why he wants to get to a point where he doesn’t care about his credit score. I generally agree. Debt can really get people (as well as businesses and governments) into a lot of trouble. We see that all the time in the people we help. That being said, I don’t think all debt is bad debt. Instead, I would argue that there are circumstances where debt can be a good thing. Continue reading “Why I Don’t (Always) Hate Debt”

Proper Mortgage Planning Helps Avoid Financial Challenges Later On

April 25, 2012

Financing a property is considered to be a good investment. If you plan properly and take out a mortgage for your home, down the road, it may turn out to be a great asset for you. However, if you make a wrong decision, then it can lead you to face severe financial challenges later on. So, proper mortgage planning is very important so that you can lead a stress free life after you take out a loan. Continue reading “Proper Mortgage Planning Helps Avoid Financial Challenges Later On”

Is It Time to Refinance Your Mortgage?

March 28, 2012

The chance to refinance a home mortgage loan is rarely missed by a homeowner who is struggling to make his minimum monthly payments on time but this is not always the best option for every homeowner. Being able to refinance a loan doesn’t always give you the bragging rights in your neighborhood. Instead, you should give some thought behind the timing of your decision so that you don’t end up making the wrong decision about your rising mortgage debt level. Remember that multiple refinancings can reduce the overall financial benefit so when you decide to refinance your home loan, you should make sure you make the best decision in order to make it the final one. Don’t be a refinancing junkie as this will hurt your credit score and make you less able to get new lines of credit at an affordable rate. Continue reading “Is It Time to Refinance Your Mortgage?”

7 Ways to Reduce the Single Biggest Expense for Retirees

February 27, 2012

Housing costs and related household expenses make up the single largest spending category for Americans over fifty, a recent study by Employee Benefit Research Institute reports.  This has many pre-retirees concerned because for most retirees’, their income declines or is fixed but certainly doesn’t grow.  At the same time, expenses just keep on coming.  While household expenses eventually decline with age as Americans reach their mid–eighties, health care costs increase substantially for that age group, wiping out any advantage of the cost savings. Continue reading “7 Ways to Reduce the Single Biggest Expense for Retirees”