MiB Smarter Money » Interviews

What Does It Mean When The Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates?

hank — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:01:39 +0000

Photo by: gerrietWe hear all this talk about how the “Feds are lowing rates again today” on the news a lot recently, and that we’re falling into a recession. But what does all that mean? How does that help me in the situation I’m in? What do I do now as far as investing?Well, to put it simply, when the feds lower federal fund rate, it reduces what it costs banks to borrow money from them. When the banks costs go down, banks typically trim rates for consumers and business borrowers. That encourages businesses to expand and households to spend. Homeowners with adjustable mortgages and consumers with credit cards linked to the prime rate often see their rates move down, which is good.

Why is The Fed pushing rates down hard and fast?

Because the government is seeing a danger that troubles them. The housing market could create a downward spiral that would do widespread damage to consumers and businesses. The main problem comes from several things that get started when home prices start the fall. When home prices fall, it inherently fosters large numbers of foreclosures. That throws a bigger supply of houses onto the market, which in turn push prices down further.

Another problem happens when falling home prices force banks and other lenders to take losses on housing-related investments. They certainly don’t want that because it takes a bite out of their capital and reduces the amount of money they have to lend. That in turn makes it harder for home buyers to borrow, and lending banks to lend. If this housing problem continued for an extended period of time, the damage to banks and consumers could become so profound that the economy plunges into a recession the likes of which we don’t want to see.

How is the government planning on fixing this?

Well, they’ve hacked the interest rate 1.25% over the last 11 days. With this drop in interest rates, combined with a stimulus package from Congress, the hope is that they can stave off the looming recession, which isn’t fun. The goal of doing this isn’t pretty in the short term, but it can significantly limit the damage and keep things from falling into the ocean.

So do I want the Feds to cut interest rates or not?

Well, if you are a homeowners with an adjustable-rate mortgages, you like it. If you have an adjustable rate home equity loans, you like it. If you are a homeowners with a good credit rating and can refinance at lower rates, you like it. If you are a business with a loan tied to the prime Fed rate, you like it. However, if you are investing in CD tied to the prime rate, you DON’T like it. If you have a money market account, which is likely tied to that rate at which banks can borrow, you DON’T like it. If you have a savings account at a bank, you DON’T like it.

Overall there are a lot of pieces to the pie, and a lot of people complain about the setup and what the government is doing, but that is what people do, they disagree a lot. You don’t have a lot of choice in the matter so make the best of it and take advantage of the lower priced stocks, and mutual funds you find when the economy is slow.

How Do I Plan To Reach My Investing Goals For Retirement?

hank — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:00:50 +0000

Photo by: emdot

Only 0 days 5 hours 2 minutes left until Hanks Holiday Handout drawing!

To make my goal of having my net worth be $1,000,000USD by 2020 I need to have a plan laid out. Yes it will change through the years, My wife and I will get raises; we won’t get the return we’re shooting for with investments in some of the years, but as a base goal if we take our current principal of $75,000 and continue to invest $21,500 per year for the next 13 and that will put us just over the 1MIL mark. That first MIL is the hardest, Pinyo lays it out here.

Where do I find $21,500 per year to invest? We’re currently contributing 10% of each our salaries for about $16,000 per year to our 401k plans, then add in $4,000 each for our ROTH IRA accounts and we’re well over the limit there. We’re planning on bumps in the road, so that’s why I’m giving the $21,500 number. There are a lot of calculations that need to taken into account, but that is the same with any investment plan. At 10% return with those calculations we’re looking at just under 840k, and at 12% that puts us over the 1MIL mark.

We could have a year where we can’t pay contributions to either our 401k or ROTH, but on the same note, there could be years where we’d contribute MORE to those accounts, For instance, we’re planning on trying to bump the 401k contributions up to 15% in 2008 and that would be $24,000 in itself; add in the ROTH IRA contributions and we’re looking at $32,000 invested per year and in 13 years, that will be worth 1.33MIL.

Numbers are numbers – sticking to the path of just getting money in is the key. In 13 years I’ll still be nowhere near retirement, but the first million is always the hardest to make, after that, it is quite ridiculous how fast it grows. In 35 years on this same $21,500 per year at 10% return we’re looking at 8.5MIL. Which is dreaming, and a lot can happen in 35 years, but there is no time like the present to start planning on it!

Time, as usual, is the key piece of this financial pie; variables are always tossed in to make it interesting. As long as we’re putting in the $21,500 we’ll be on a good pace. I’m sure there will be other investment opportunities, more job promotions, more raises, maybe more kids, but staying on this basic path is the key to our specific financial goal. What’s your path?

What Is A Self-Directed IRA And How Can I Use It?

hank — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:51:23 +0000

I recently had the pleasure to interview Will Sugg, a fellow personal finance blogger that works towards his fortune with Self Directed IRAs. I am no professional in the arena, so he was very willing to answer the few questions I had about them – I hope they can demystify the Self Directed IRA questions YOU may have.

1. What is an Self Directed IRA?

A Self Directed IRA is an IRA that allows you to buy or invest in things other than Mutual Funds, Stocks and Bonds. Self Directed also means that the custodian is merely a holding bank account for your retirement funds and you have to “Direct” them to buy or invest in the Asset you want to hold in your retirement account. The “Direction” for the custodian that I use is a several page form that you fill out with all the details of the investment, then I fax or email it to the custodian. It tells them what to do, what to expect, and where to send a check. I think of a Self Directed IRA as “The Do It Yourselfers” retirement account/plan. If you have specific knowledge bout some area that makes money then you can profit from that in your IRA. There is very little that you cannot invest in with IRA funds. See a list below.

2. Who can use a Self Directed IRA?

Anyone can open a Self Directed IRA as long as you have earned income or your spouse does. Basically if you can open an IRA with a bank you can open Self Directed IRA. Business owners can benefit significantly once they realize the potential of this type of IRA or 401K.

3. What is the difference between a SD IRA, a Traditional IRA, and a ROTH IRA?

There is really only 2 choices in IRAs; Roth or Traditional. Either can be Self Directed.

4. Where can I sign up for one?

You open a Self Directed IRA with a custodian that understands what they are. I’ve listed several on my blog here.

5. Why should I use a SD IRA over a ROTH or a Traditional IRA?

You can have either as Self Directed. If you are opening a new account and you’re not yet retired I would say that you should open a Roth account since the growth it creates is tax free on harvest. I have both a Traditional and Roth Self Directed IRA but almost all of my investment activity is done in the ROTH. The reason you want to Self Direct your IRA is so that you can use your specific knowledge to help your retirement account grow instead of relying on others opinions and management skills.

6. How much can I invest in one?

If you already have a Roth or Traditional IRA established at another custodian you can roll it over to a Self Directed custodian. If your opening a new account with a Self Directed Custodian. Right now the IRA says you can contribute 4,000.00 per year. That figure can change as dictated by the IRA and congress. Of course for the Roth type you are also constrained by the Earned Income limits set by the IRS.

7. Can I roll a ROTH or Traditional IRA over to an SDIRA? How about my 401k?

Sure you can roll over either type of IRA into a Self Directed Custodian. It’s very simple and painless.

8. How long have you been investing in SD IRAs?

I’ve been using my Self Directed IRA for investing for the past 4 years.

9. Where did you learn about SD IRAs?

I learned about using an IRA to buy Real Estate from talking with family, friends, and some business contacts that were using theirs to do the same thing. Then I did a lot of research on the internet to determine which custodian I like better and opened an account. I first rolled just a small amount into it so I could do one transaction. Once I got the hang of it and understood how this could significantly help my retirement plan I rolled the rest of the money I could into my account.

10. What CAN’T I invest in with an SD IRA?

There are such things as Prohibited Investments and you need to learn what they are. Here is a short list:
- Artworks
- Rugs
- Antiques
- Metals
- Gems
- Stamps
- Coins
- Alcoholic beverages
- Certain other tangible personal property

But most folks wouldn’t want to invest in these any way. Here is the IRS language about Prohibited Investments in case you want to see everything. You also can’t profit from the IRA meaning you can’t loan yourself money from it or buy a Rental Property and then go live in it, that is considered Self Dealing.

11. I want to invest in real-estate through my SD IRA. How do I go about telling my brokerage account that I’m buying a house with my SD IRA?

This example is just to illustrate of the process there is Due Diligence you need to perform to ensure that the investment is prudent for you. It also assumes that you have the entire purchase price in cash. You first open a Self Directed IRA with a Custodian that understands what that really means.
Not all IRA’s are self Directed so that you can buy Real Estate in them. Check out the short list from above, all of those custodians are real Self Directed Custodians. After you have the account open and funded, you find the investment. In this case some Real Estate property and get it under contract. Have your agent if there is one open Escrow. Then it’s merely ending the Custodian the “Direction of investment” forms and them sending a check for the purchase price. Once Escrow closes the transaction and records the deed your IRA is now owner of the property. Your SDIRA can borrow money to fund the purchase, however the down payment required is usually 30% or more. That however is another topic for another day…

12. When can I withdraw from my SD IRA?

The same times as you can with any other IRA or 401K plan (59 1/2).

13. Is my SD IRA funded by pre-tax or post tax dollars? Do I pay a tax
when taking it out?

Depends if your IRA account is Roth or Traditional.

14. Can I have an SD IRA for my spouse if they are unemployed (contribute
twice as much)?

If you can do it with a Roth or Traditional IRA you can do it in a Self Directed IRA.

15. Is there a phase-out schedule like in the ROTH IRA that pertains to an SD IRA?

Yes, these apply to your Roth IRA whether or not it’s Self Directed.

14. What is your SD IRA invested in?

My Self Directed IRA is 100% invested in Promissory Notes secured by either Real Estate or in some cases by Mobile Homes. Some of the Notes I bought at a discount and others I lent the entire amount of the Note to the Borrower. I’m still in the cash generating mode of investment so I am investing to get cash flow going. Once I build up a nice monthly cash flow I may move to another type of asset. Certainly in the long term goals I have I want to own Real Estate.

Will clearly has a vast knowledge about the subject and I’m happy he was willing to take an interview for it – I suggest you all check out his website regularly at http://willsugg.com/irablog/ to keep up to date on the latest happenings in the SDIRA arena!

Debunking The 25 Most Outrageous Money Myths (part 4 of 4)

hank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:36:27 +0000

In continuing the series on debunking these most popular and 12+ pages being too much for one post – here is part 4 of 4 on the series Debunking The 25 Most Outrageous Money Myths. Part 1 can be found HERE. Part 2 can be found HERE. Part 3 can be found HERE.

19. Money Corrupts People

Very similar to #1 of it being “the root of all evil”. Money itself isn’t the corrupter. Think of how many good things have happened in this world with money. How many charities, art pieces, hospitals, parks, etc have been made with this “corruptive money”.Yes, there are people that will use the money in corrupt ways, but the money itself isn’t the enemy. You’re trying to walk again on the higher moral ground than those with the money.

20. My Best Investment Is My House

First off, if you paid the full amount for your house and plan to live in it for 20 years, it may be a good investment, but if you’re like the 99% of the world that can’t do that, it’s hard to justify it being a good investment when you’ll likely pay at least double that amount over the life of your 30-year loan.Additionally like all other investments, home ownership involves the risk that your investment may decrease in value. While commonly cited statistics say that housing appreciates at somewhere between the rate of inflation and 5% per year, if not more, not all housing will appreciate at this rate.In fact, it is perfectly possible for your home to lose value over the years, meaning that if you want to sell, you’ll have to take a hit. The only way you’ll avoid realizing a loss in such a situation is if you continue to own the home until you die and pass it on to your heirs.

21. I’ll Save Money When I Have Enough

When is enough enough? This can work if you set a number and stick to it. Say you’re going to start saving when you make $1500 a month, and stick to it. That could work. But I’d recommend sticking in as much as you can up to and through that amount with a percentage of your money instead of a dollar amount.Any amount of money you save, no matter how small, is enough to save. The habit of saving money is more important than the amount.

22. I’ll Never Get Rich In This Down Economy

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” SOMEONE is making money when the rest of the world is not. Money doesn’t just evaporate; it’s going somewhere. You just need to find where that is. During a recession, good sectors to put your money are in places that people have necessity: medical, food, and energy are resources that people can’t live without, even in a down economy.The key is to understand that there’s always an investment that’s good right now. When stocks go down, bonds go up. When interest rates fall, stocks go up and homes get cheap. If the economy is ‘bad’, that means it’s time to sell your bonds at a profit and buy stocks at a discount.

23. If I Carry A Balance On My Credit Card I Will Improve My Credit Rating

All your improving by doing this is the amount of money the credit card company is making off you. Your credit gets better by proving you’re a good borrower and pay it off each month.If you want to take it a step further, don’t charge more than a 35% of your card’s limit because the amount of available credit you’ve used is another component of your credit score.

24. Money Is A Big Responsibility

Well, yes it is, are you saying that you’re not responsible enough to have money? Even the most irresponsible of the wealthy can keep it flowing. It’s not about responsibility, it’s about your mindset to think you can never attain wealth and this is your excuse for it.If you think of money as a burden, it will become burdensome to you. Even if you do somehow to become wealthy with this mindset, you’ll end up letting it work you into penny-pinching with it rather than finding ways for it to maintain itself and grow to a bigger pot.Obviously, money doesn’t have to be a burden, quite the opposite. It can help you lift burdens that were created before it. if your money works for you, it can lighten your burdens. This myth is a powerful and self-fulfilling thing.

25. Renting Is Throwing Your Money Away

It is a mindset that has been captured a handful of times across the blogosphere (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and no solid reasoning has been found for it during that time. It’s got 2 sides to the coin:Do you consider the money you spend on food to be money that is “thrown away”? What about the money you spend on gas? Electricity? Toilet paper? All of these are things you’d normally buy and just throw away when you’re done with them and get no lasting value from them, right? Well, consider dumping rent money in that same category.Even if you own a home, you still have to “throw away” money on expenses like property taxes and mortgage interest (and likely more than you were throwing away in rent). In fact, for the first five years, you are basically paying all interest on your mortgage. For example, on a 30-year, $250,000 mortgage at 7% interest, your first 60 payments would total about $100,000. Of that you “throw away” about $85,000 on interest payments.

Conclusions

A lot of money myths have to do with “mindsets” and “sayings” that have been passed down over the years from your parents and your parents parents and so on. Right alongside them are the tendencies of people and their actions around money.Yes, everyone has been stung by a bad investment, a sour financial transaction, or a seedy person trying to get their hands on your money. But the key is to not let that dictate how the rest of your life is going to be when dealing with money. It is an experience that you’ve had and you’d be better of to learn from it than you would be to dwell on it. Part 1 can be found HERE. Part 2 can be found HERE. Part 3 can be found HERE.photos by: digidreamgrafix.com, ??103, Per Ola Wiberg (former ponanwi and Powi), Elfboy, mckaysavage,Ravenelle, saschapohflepp,

Money Hacks Carnival #18 — The History Of Money!

hank — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:12:29 +0000

So I did some deep undercover investigation for this weeks carnival digging back in time to bring you The History of Money! Did you know that China was the first to use paper money around the year 1000. It was made from the bar of mulberry trees. Leaves from these trees, you may recall, are feed to caterpillars to produce silk. I honestly don’t know the last time I used paper money – I stick to plastic. Without further adieu…

The Editors Picks – Series 1934 Gold Certificates Go To:

The largest denomination of currency ever printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was the $100,000 Series 1934 Gold Certificate featuring the portrait of President Wilson. These notes were printed from December 18, 1934 through January 9, 1935 and were issued by the Treasurer of the United States to Federal Reserve Banks only against an equal amount of gold bullion held by the Treasury Department. The notes were used only for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks and were not circulated among the general public.

A lot of good submissions this week, but the Series 1934 Gold Certificates go to:

Dorian Wales presents The Importance of Learning to Let Go posted at The Personal Financier. I grew up in a family that had a tough time letting go of a lot of things. Maybe it was because we were so frugal with everything, but we did and this post hit home.

Aryn presents Avoid Baggage Fees: How to Pack a Suitcase posted at Sound Money Matters. It’s a lost art, but I lived by it when I got out of school and went traveling – if you don’t know how to do this, you best stay home.

Livingalmostlarge presents Investment Mistakes a Couple Makes posted at LivingAlmostLarge. I’ve made a few mistakes on that front, and it’s a list that you don’t see often, but it is DEFINITELY worth reading.

Broke Grad Student presents 9 Simple Ways To Save Money On Gas posted at Broke Grad Student. With gas where it is now, this is always something people are interested in. The tips may “seem” small, but when we’re looking at where gas is headed, every penny counts!

Big Bills, Big Dreams

On July 14, 1969, David M. Kennedy, the 60th Secretary of the Treasury, and officials at the Federal Reserve Board announced that they would immediately stop distributing currency in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Production of these denominations stopped during World War II. Their main purpose was for bank transfer payments. With the arrival of more secure transfer technologies, however, they were no longer needed for that purpose. While these notes are legal tender and may still be found in circulation today, the Federal Reserve Banks remove them from circulation and destroy them as they are received.

Hilary Green presents When is Leasing Not For You? | Cars for Girls posted at Cars for Girls.

Ybother presents 10 Ways To Get The Best Price For Your Car posted at www.ZhouWenhan.com.

Dividends4Life presents The Will to Win posted at Dividends4Life.

jim presents Advanta Business Card for Bloggers, eBay, PPC posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

Unique Money Uses

The $2 bill has not been removed from circulation and is still a circulating denomination of United States paper currency. The Federal Reserve System does not, however, request the printing of that denomination as often as the others.

The Series 2003 $2 bill was the last printed and bears the names of former Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow and Treasurer Rosario Marin. As of April 30, 2007 there were $1,549,052,714 worth of $2 bills in circulation worldwide.

Joy Harrison presents Reduce your debt load: 9 proven techniques posted at Money Sense.

The Happy Rock presents Sometimes You Just Don’t Feel Like Saving Money posted at The Happy Rock.

FMF presents A Real-Life Example of How to Save $1,300 in Less than Two Hours by Shopping Around for Car Insurance posted at Free Money Finance.

Mark Runta presents Seeking Therapy for Debt Management posted at investing lessons.

NtJS presents Do You Trust Trans Union? posted at not the jet set.

Steve Faber presents - Top Debt Consolidation Loans – How to Get the Best Debt Consolidation Loan posted at Debt Free.

passive family income presents Creating a monthly family budget to track income and expenses. | Passive Family Income posted at Passive Family Income.

MrsMoney presents Does it Make Sense to Drive Farther to get a Lower Price on Gas? posted at The Ultimate Money Blog.

Brice Hogan presents How to Radically Save Money posted at Financialzip.com.

Saving Money Tips

On March 10, 1862 the first United States paper money was issued. The denominations were $5, $10, and $20. They became legal tender by Act of March 17, 1862.

The inclusion of “In God We Trust” on all currency was required by law in 1955. The national motto first appeared on paper money in 1957 on $1 Silver Certificates, and on all Federal Reserve Notes beginning with Series 1963.

retirehappy presents Rules on Claiming Dependents posted at My Retirement Blog.

RothIRA presents Graduation Gift Idea: Roth IRA posted at Roth IRA Explained.

DMH presents Best Gas Credit Cards posted at Daily Money Hack.

FFB presents Customer Service Done Right 1800Contacts.com posted at Free From Broke.

PT presents Credit Card Rewards – Are They Really Worth It? posted at Prime Time Money.

Joe Manausa presents Property Flipping Re-Energized? posted at Tallahassee Real Estate Blog.

Helen Anderson presents 8 Tips for Saving Money and Your Life posted at Bankaholic.

Mrs. Common Cents presents 8 Tips to reduce your medical spending posted at Our Common Cents.

J. Savings presents Save $10 bucks and wash that sexy car of yours. posted at Budgets are Sexy.

Chief Family Officer presents Lesson: Always track Amazon’s prices posted at Chief Family Officer.

Joy Harrison presents Cash-out refinance loan? is it a good choice for extra cash? posted at Money Sense.

Coupon Artist presents How Couponing Changes Your Outlook on Life posted at artofthecoupon.com.

Kaye presents Savannah Family Fun – The Intro posted at Mrs Nespy’s Frugal World.

Heather Allen presents Where There’s a Will… posted at The DebtFree Playbook Blog.

Bill D presents 13 Lucky Tips to Save on Life Insurance posted at The Wealth Hunter.

Worldly Money Influence

Reserves were formerly held only in gold, as official gold reserves. Under the Bretton Woods system, the United States pegged the dollar to gold, and allowed convertibility of dollars

to gold. This effectively made dollars appear as good as gold. In 1971, however, the U.S. abandoned the convertibility of dollars to gold, and the dollar became a fiat currency.

Since then, all major currencies have removed convertibility to gold, resulting in a general devaluation of world currencies over time. The dollar has remained the most significant reserve currency, though central banks now typically hold large amounts of multiple currencies in reserve.

Foxie presents The Latest Object of My Affection posted at Dreaming of Ferraris.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Managing All My Money Is Futile: Outsourcing My Finances posted at The Digerati Life.

Will presents Prepaid Visa Travel Cards posted at Your Finish Rich Plan – A Personal Finance Blog.

GBlogger presents Market Plummeting! Recession! Plague! posted at CAN I GET RICH ON A SALARY.

Interesting Hack (Facts) About The $100 Bill

The vignette on the back of the $100 note is Independence Hall in Philadelphia. There are three people depicted in the engraving. Two (a man and a woman) are in front of the hall close to the building; the third person is a man pictured looking toward the building. There is no record that the man and woman are embracing.

The hands of the clock are set at approximately 4:10. Although the time is not readily identifiable to the naked eye, it may be verified if examined under twenty-fold magnification. There are no records explaining why that particular time was chosen.

Lisa Spinelli presents The Dope On Stagflation posted at Greener Pastures.

Ryan Taylor presents What are the Risks of Shorting Stocks? posted at Millionaire Money Habits.

The Shark Investor presents No Buzz = No Business posted at The Shark Investor.

MoneyKing presents Real Estate Profits And Losses: Burn, baby. Burn!!!!. Scenario 39. posted at The Money Kings – RULE your money at home, at work, and at play!.

CreditAddict presents Amex Delta SkyMiles Cardholders Can Pay With Miles posted at Credit Card Addict.

nickel presents Four Financial Tips for Recent Graduates posted at fivecentnickel.com.

mbhunter presents Why are some gift cards more “expensive” at MyPoints? posted at mbhunter.

Kay Bell presents Tax help for summer camp costs posted at Don’t Mess With Taxes.

Madison presents What is Credit Card Arbitrage? posted at My Dollar Plan.

Brooke presents Six Flags and Other Theme Park Details posted at Dollar Frugal.

Ray presents Best 0% Balance Transfer Credit Cards posted at Money Blue Book: Personal Finance Blog.

Bryce presents Perot Charts posted at Save and Conquer.

Pamela Grundy presents Recession Monday: Do Vegetarians Save More Money? | Personal Finance Analyst posted at Personal Finance Analyst

Amanda Milne presents Show Me The Coupons! posted at Value For Your Life.

RC presents 7 Reasons You May Not Have Received Your Economic Stimulus Rebate Yet posted at Think Your Way to Wealth.

Kevin Fleming presents Netflix 30 Days Free Coupon – Satellite TV Guru posted at Satellite TV Guru.

Thanks to everyone for participating! Keep an eye out next week over at SoundMoneyMatters as the carnival heads that way!

How Do You Help Families Get in the Habit of Saving?

hank — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:01:23 +0000

This is a guest post by Sam Renick – Sam is dedicated to teaching financial literacy and other empowering life skills and habits in a strategic manner (ie. both entertaining and educational) to youths of all ages, with a focus on young children and their families.

For the last 8 years, I have had the tremendous fortune of traveling throughout the United States, as well as parts of Europe and Asia promoting financial education to students and families at schools, book fairs, community events, seminars, conferences, trade shows, boys and girls clubs, YMCAs, YWCAs, parent meetings, banks, and credit unions. (See Video)

It all started…

…the late 90′s after having hundreds of financial clients share with me that they regretted either not having started to save or having had someone talk to them about the importance of saving at a young age. That, combined with my passions for saving and reading, inspired me to write a book for children about making saving a habit. (See Article)

Initially, I asked myself a simple question: If there was only one thing I could share with a person about money that they could immediately act on to make a difference in their lives, what would it be? I decided the most important message I could share was, “Pay yourself first!”
The next challenges were translating the message for kids, creating simple but meaningful sayings they and their parents could repeat, and developing a delivery mechanism everyone would enjoy. (Visit Website)

With the help of others…

…we formed a company called “It’s a Habit!” and invented a children’s character named “Sammy Rabbit” to deliver such messages as: saving is a great habit; from every dollar, save a dime; and save one out of ten, again, again, and again!

We placed the messages in books titled “It’s a Habit, Sammy Rabbit!” and “Will Sammy Ride the World’s First Space Coaster?” Later we developed songs such as “Get in the Habit,” “Debt Stinks,” “Rainy Day,” “Don’t Spend More Then You Make,” etc. to supplement the books and have another medium to deliver and reinforce the messages introduced in our first two books. (Visit Web Store)

Soon thereafter…

…we began producing live interactive presentations and skits that featured a costumed Sammy Rabbit and myself to emphasize saving, reading, writing, smart choice making and higher education. Currently, we are working on the next phases of development and distribution hoping to make an even larger impact!

So, what are some of the keys and lessons we’ve learned to teaching kids about money?

Here a few tips

Walk the talk – part 1. I do not know if anything is more honest or powerful than leading by example. If you are already doing a good job, keep it up!! If not, read a good book on the subject to start improving your own understanding of personal finance. I recommend “The Way to Wealth,” by Benjamin Franklin and “Raising Money Smart Kids,” by Janet Bodnar.

Walk the talk – part 2. If I could only give a person one piece of advice regarding money, it would be: “pay yourself first.” So, if you are not saving or investing, start now! If you are in credit card debt, start systematically paying it off. Commit yourself to living a debt free life. This will set an excellent example for kids to follow. The web is filled with resources and discussion groups that can help, including MSN Money, CNN Money and Yahoo.

Talk regularly with kids about money. Studies routinely cite lack of communication between parents and children as a common obstacle to raising money literate kids. Take advantage of natural opportunities to involve kids in money related discussions while shopping, budgeting, making lists, recycling, and paying bills. The more responsibility you can appropriately give them for activities, the better. Also be sure to initiate dialogue about dreams, goals, home ownership, investments, etc.

Start early with books and music. Expose children to books and music about money early and often. Naturally, I recommend our books and music. For older kids, I love Chad Foster’s “Financial Literacy for Teens” and David Bach’s “The Automatic Millionaire.”

Instill the habit. Get your child a transparent piggy bank. Better yet, create your own family savings bank. Our family did this when we were kids, using a Sparkletts bottle. We all loved it, and it really promoted discussion about how to use the money once the bottle was full. When the bank is full, take your children to the bank or credit union, start an account and deposit the savings. Review their statements with them regularly.

Affirmations. Provide kids with fun slogans to repeat. Here are a few of Sammy’s favorites: Saving is a great habit! Saving makes me strong! Change adds up! From every dollar, save a dime! Debt Stinks! I am sure you have some of your favorites. Post the slogans around the house or paint them onto your family savings jar.

Allowance. Give your child an opportunity to manage money. Be consistent and supportive. Allow kids to make their own decisions and mistakes within reason. For tips on allowances, check out David McCurrach’s “Allowance Magic.” It is an excellent read.

And Just Remember…

…when working with kids the more participatory and interactive the activity the better. Kids are incredible! Their minds are like sponges. It never ceases to amaze me how they are able to understand seemingly difficult concepts when properly communicated to them. Never, ever, speak down to them!

About Sam X Renick
Sam X Renick is an award winning author, songwriter, trainer, social entrepreneur, and co-creator of the children’s character ‘Sammy, the get in the habit rabbit.’ He is also the founder of The It’s a Habit! Company, Inc., a socially conscious publishing and education company dedicated to helping children and families develop good habits, especially saving money. You can learn more about Sammy, Sam, It’s a Habit! and their mission at www.itsahabit.com

A Deeper Look at Late Payments and FICO Scores by Barry Paperno

hank — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:01:26 +0000

While anyone can tell you that late payments will hurt a credit score, what most people don’t know is that there are subtleties in just how the FICO scoring formula treats one late payment from another. For example, some typical questions about late payments are…

Why would someone with a 90 day late have a better score than someone who’s never paid later than 30 days?

Does it matter if a payment goes 60 days late rather than 30 days – assuming it was from a year ago?

Does the score care how many late accounts I have or just that I was late at all?

How could someone with ten collections have a better score than someone with no late accounts at all?

While most credit advice (rightfully) recommends paying on time, it takes a deeper look in to the workings of the FICO formula to be able to answer some of the less obvious questions about the effect of late payments on FICO scores.

The FICO score is a predictor, not a report card. First, it’s always important to remember when analyzing the FICO scoring formula that the score is a “predictor” of future credit performance. It’s not there to reward or punish, but rather to predict the likelihood that someone will pay their bills as agreed over the next few years – based solely on the information in a credit report.

That is, just because you have a lot of accounts with late payments you’re not necessarily going to score lower than someone who has fewer late accounts. Or, having only missed one payment isn’t necessarily going to result in a higher score than if you had missed a number of payments. Remember, the score isn’t always intuitive – but it’s always predictive.

When looking at late payments, the FICO scoring formula looks at the information on a credit report in 3 ways (according to importance):

Recency – How recent was the most recent late payment?
Severity – How severe was the worst late payment?
Frequency – How many accounts with late payments have there been?

Recency

Recency is by far the most important thing to remember and it makes a lot of sense when you think about predicting future payment performance. A recent late payment – even one as minor as a 30 day late – not only indicates there might be a financial problem, but that the problem may not yet be over. It could be too early to tell – even if the account is now current — that the recent payment difficulty is far enough into the past that there is no further need for concern.

The question that comes up right about now in this discussion is usually: How recent is recent? Well, as with many aspects of FICO scoring, it varies. That is, while there is no specific number of months or years defining “recent” — the best way to think of recency is that the less time since the late payment occurred, the worse it is for your score. Or, to put it more positively, the older the better when it comes to late payments.

The idea here is that, all other things considered, someone with a late payment last month is a higher risk than someone whose last late payment was five years ago. Or, that someone with a late payment from a year ago is less risky than someone who’s most recent late payment was from two years ago. Or, that someone with a late payment from a year ago is less risky than someone who’s most recent late payment was from two years ago.

Severity

While recency is most important to the formula when looking at late payments, next is severity. This means that while a 30 day late can occur simply due to a monthly payment being overlooked, a 90 day late — or worse – is more likely to indicate a serious financial problem, and is predictive of a higher level of risk, than say a 30 or 60 day late.

Recency still carries more weight than severity, however, as a 30 day late from last month could hurt your score more than the 90 day late (or worse) from a couple of years ago.

Frequency

Now that it’s clear that recency is the most important risk predictor when looking at late payments and that severity is right behind it, we now need to bring frequency into the picture. By frequency I mean the number of accounts that have fallen behind in payments.

The reasoning here is that the more accounts that have been paid late, the greater the scope of the problem and the greater the overall future risk.

Recap

The FICO score is a predictor that looks far beneath the surface in assessing creditworthiness. You’re always advised to make timely payments, but if you have some lates on your report, you’ll get a better understanding of how they’re affecting your FICO score by asking yourself these questions:

1. How recent was the most recent late payment? (Recency)
2. How severe was the worst late payment? (Severity)
3. How many accounts with late payments have there been? (Frequency)

And, as for how you can have a low score without ever having been late, remember, there’s more to FICO scoring than late payments!

Barry Paperno serves as Product Support Manager for Fair Isaac Corporation, where he has helped lenders and consumers gain a better understanding of FICO credit scoring since 1995. Currently, he administers the FICO Forums online community at myFICO.com and regularly contributes to Fair Isaac’s consumer education and advocacy initiatives.Prior to joining Fair Isaac, Barry served as Operations Manager for Experian, where he headed their San Francisco Bay Area Consumer Assistance office. Barry holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay.

All photos by Hank!

A Book Review: High School Money by Don Silver – And Some Tips And Tricks With Your Money

hank — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:01:44 +0000

It’s geared towards the younger crowd, but I’d have to say that I would have benefited from it when I was growing up. There are even a few tidbits that I took from the book that I enjoyed and certainly agreed with the book as a whole (including SenseToSave’s review)…

The book covers a lot of topics that would really hit home for someone in their teenage years. I didn’t have much financial education myself growing up and would have liked to have something like this.

The Right Time To Start Giving To Others

How you look at charities at this time of your life may affect your view of them for a lifetime. You need to answer this questions now: “When should I begin giving to charity?”

If our answer is “Once I’m wealthy enough to have leftover money after all my needs are taken care of,” you may never give to charity. Too often as income grows, so do expenses. Unless a conscious effort is made to carve out money for charity, you will never be “wealthy enough” to begin your charitable giving.”

Good nugget of wisdom when you think about it. It’s true that the more you earn the more you spend. I can speak from experience. My income has gone up significantly in the past 10 years and I can vouch for that statement!

Family 401k Plan

If you are working and saving some of your money, you may want to have a “family 401k plan” where your parents act like an employer in matching some of your savings. For example, your parents might agree that for every $100 saved by you, they’ll ad 20% or $20.

A handy way to teach kids to save money certainly, but I think you’re giving them too liberal of a view of return on your money at 20%. Sign me up for that if you’re offering it!

Five Questions To Ask When Choosing A Savings Account

1. What interest rate is paid, how is it compounded and what is the APY?

2. Is there a penalty for making eaerly withdrawals? How much is it?

3. Is there a charge for too many withdrawals?

4. Where are the bank branches located?

5. Do you have any special deals now.

Keep an eye out for both MMA and Savings accounts. They’re both going to give you a decent return on your money; probably a little more last year at this time, but still worth looking into finding the best deal.

Three Key Questions To Ask Before You Buy Life Insurance

1. Why do I need this insurance?

2. What is the most this policy will cost me and for how many years under sa worst-case scenario?

3. How much will I lose if I decide to cancel the policy early?

I could have used this when I was SOLD my Life Insurance policy. Furthermore, probably would help people considering annuities.

A Tidbit To Paying Off Your House Faster

One way to shorten your loan payback is ot take out a 15=year loan at the beginning instead o f a30-year loan. With a 15-year loan, the monhtly payments are higher, but the interest rate is lower. The payments are higher – but not twice as high – even though you are paying off the loan twice as fast.

This is because they base your payments off of the loan and interest rate. If you have a $100,000 loan out at 6% for 15 years, you’re paying more up front but overall you’re paying less your monthly payments will be much steeper, but on the flipside of the point, they’re going to be much higher too $2531.58 for a 15 year loan at 6% vs $599,55 for a 30 year loan at 6%.

It makes sense in the long run, but can cost you a few bucks up front. I prefer to stretch out the loan and let the extra $ I have now work for me.

A Trivia Question That Caught My Eye

What was the earliest paper money and what was it made from?

China was the first to use paper money anround the year 1000. it was made from the bar of mulberry trees. Leaves from these trees, you may recall, are feed to caterpillars to produce silk. Marco Polo later wrote about this unique form of money.

Conclusion

A good book if you’re starting to figure out how money works. It won’t solve all your problems, but it may help you prevent some of them if you start understanding what it teaches earlier in life. Might be a good book for enticing kids to saving with their summer jobs coming up. Looks like it is selling for 30% off from Adams-Hall publishing if you’re interested.

A Day Of Readers Requests – Including Will Several New Car Loan Inquiries Hurt Your Credit Score? And Why Do You Not Disclosure Your Identity?

hank — Thu, 08 May 2008 08:03:09 +0000

I haven’t done readers requests in a while because I haven’t had one good one that I think would take up an entire post. HOWEVER, I’ve had several small requests that I can wrap into one post. Inquisitive, interesting, intriguing and some even unusual…

So I’ll start with the more normal requests and questions that just take a one-liner to answer starting with:

I’m shopping for a new car and have applied to several lenders. Will these inquiries lower my score?

- Ben from Nebraska

Hey Ben, thanks for the questions and it is a pretty basic one. According to Fair Isaac, multiple inquiries to automobile or mortgage lenders within a short period of time (usually 30 days) generally count as a single inquiry.

Thus, a little shopping for the best interest rate should not hurt your credit score.

When I say “generally”, there are some random rules I’ve been told that will affect this. If you haven’t made any dramatic changes to your credit in the past few years though, you should be alright!

Is there a “good” time to get into the stock market?

I’m extremely new to investing, and even newer to the real world. I won’t ask WHERE to start, because I know that is tough, but how about WHEN do I start?
- David from Edmonton

Howdy David – thanks for stopping by! This one is pretty easy to answer as well. Since you didn’t give hard details as to what “stock market” is defined as, let’s just start at something small. Let’s invest it in a CD that pays 5%. Say for the sake of numbers you have $1000.

If you let that $1000 sit in your bank account gaining 0.17%, I can assure you that in 1 year, the 5% will be worth more. The point being, the sooner the better.

Secondly, depending on your age, and you sound pretty new to it, so you’d probably be in it for the next 40 years. If you’re jumping into a mutual fund or 2 keep in mind that the stock market has gained on average over last 40 years around 10% per year.

That’s more in some years and less in some, but averages out to 10%. In my opinion, and it IS mine, the sooner the better to get it in if you have it.

Do you have a favorite WordPress widget that you can’t live without?

- Lisa from Lexington

Hey Lisa. Yes, I couldn’t live with Akismet. Right now it looks like it has saved me from about 4,000 spam messages.

Why do you not disclose who you are on the site?

…and why don’t you show real pictures of yourself?
- Vasili from New York

Hey Vasili – thanks for the email! I like to keep myself secret for the same reasons Flexo from ConsumerismCommentary does.

He explains his reasoning HERE. But for the most part, I really just like the feeling of quasi-anonymity it gives me.

I enjoy having a second personality online that people aren’t aware of.

Besides, people are coming to my blog to read about personal finance, not delve into my background. If you don’t think my info is worth reading, feel free not to!

What’s your favorite type of pizza?

…I’m doing a random study of how investors eat and if it influences their investing strategies.
- Jennifer from U of Ohio

Hey Jennifer, that’s actually a new one; but heck, might prove “fruitful”. I’m actually a big fan of Hawaiian pizza. And yourself? How about the rest of the readers?

Photos by: a.afleck, SugarInk

“Demystifying” The Subprime Mortgage Crisis And Other Questions; An Interview With Dan Crittenden

hank — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:07:13 +0000

Dan Crittenden is an experienced and top producing Mortgage Banker/ Mortgage Broker specializing in real estate financing and home mortgage loans throughout the State of Washington and the United States.

Mr. Crittenden has been referred to me from a very reliable source and is here today to have a brief chat and answer a few of the questions people are having about the subprime crisis, the Washington mortgage outlook, as well as share some pertinent info of his own about the housing concern in general across the US.

His website: dan-loanman.com has some very good information in regards to home ownership acceleration, improving your credit rating, renting vs. buying, and shopping around for a loan amongst others. Take a look at his site for more info!

Hank: Hello Mr. Crittenden – Welcome to MyInvestingBlog.com and thanks for your time today! I understand that this is the first time you’ve interviewed on a blog, are you nervous? Have you heard bad things about us in the blogging realm?

Dan: Hi Hank, thanks for including me in your fun and informative site. I am excited to help clear up a lot of misconceptions about the mortgage industry problems, the mortgage outlook and any other items that may come up.

The media has, through it’s own desire to sell “ News “, and usually that has to be negative news, has sculpted, in some ways, the Mortgage mess and housing woes we are seeing today; i.e…you tell somebody enough times a piece of info, true or not, and at some point they may start believing it.

Before I get into more detail on that statement, let me answer your first question. No, I am not nervous at all. It is very rewarding to help people understand the facts instead of hype. I have not had any experience, nor have I heard much about blogging, but it seems to be a cool idea. I’ll answer the next questions and maybe the detail from above will come out. If not I’ll address what I said at the end.

Hank: Just to set the stage a little more – what exactly do you do for a home buyer? How do you make your $ from a sale?

Dan: I fully step into my clients shoes to help them construct the best strategy possible to weave their new mortgage into their short term and long term financial planning goals. I am a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist.

There is info on my web page that goes into more detail as to what this certification means, but in short, through the last 22 years of helping people with their financing needs and the training I have obtained through people like Barry Habib and the Mortgage Market Guide along with the CMPS institute in Michigan.

I have been able to fine tune the skills to help people pick the right mortgage product to maximize the amount of money they will have to reach their financial goals – like College funding, Retirement, Wedding costs for their kids, etc…

Hank: There has clearly been a slowdown in housing purchases over the past year due to the subprime crisis. Maybe we should start with the most obvious question, What exactly IS the “subprime crisis” we’re in? What defines it? How does it affect mortgage lenders?

Dan: Let’s address what you first have stated. The housing slowdown is not a result of the subprime crisis, it is the other way around. What? You say? For about 1 ½ years, the Media has been screaming “ Housing Bubble “ ( answering my first statement here ) when there has not been a housing bubble until it became a self fulfilling prophesy about the second quarter of 2007.

At some point housing prices had to stop jumping like the chicken. A gradual slowdown would have been nice, and probably would have happened if the media pundits had not been creating worry, then panic with investors. Had it been more gradual, people who had bought homes to fix up and sell – and there were tons of them, so much so we even got to watch them on Reality TV – would have had time to notice the turn in home values and be able to sell what they had before they were under water ( most of these flippers bought with nothing down ).

Not all could have avoided being under water, but a lot could have. So, as soon as defaults started happening due to people walking on mortgages that they could not pay, because for a variety of reasons they got into mortgages they should never have been allowed into, Mortgage Backed Securities or Mortgage Bonds investors.

Lots were foreign investors hungry for our 6% to 18% tasty returns that they could not get anywhere else – who were getting monthly reports on how large pools of stated income, poor credit, low down loans were performing, started getting poor reports.

The investors then downgraded the credit ratings on these pools, literally overnight raising the rates they were expecting for these pools, and thus shutting down the ability of Banks/Mortgage companies to sell the pools of loans they had given to consumers, thus having to shelf millions of dollars of loans they really needed to sell in order to recoup the money they had lent from their lines of credit, etc.

That is why companies like American Home Mortgage, ABC and a host of others had to literally shut their doors over night. They did not have the massive capital needed to still be able to function without the infusion needed to repay what money they loaned out to borrowers off the banks lines of credit.

Most lenders have to sell their loans right after closing, a sale that the borrower many times does not know about because most banks retain the rights to collect the payments, but the loan itself has been sold. Very few retain the loan, using their own funds to lend to the borrower and not being paid back in full until the borrower sells the home or refinances. As you can see, this is a very involved process.

Hank: Do you think this is something we could have avoided?

Dan: We could not have avoided the mess because human nature drives people to succeed. And where there is money to be made, lots of it, people will do what they need to do, and some not so legal, to get to it.

When home values across the nation started going up, it took on a life of it’s own as home buyers were anxious to get in before they were priced out of buying – pretty understandable. Problem is, along with people who just wanted a home, were people who saw the golden lamb.

Tons of people found ways to buy, fix up and sell for big bucks, further driving up prices. And since lenders saw all types of loans performing, with very few going bad ( since people could sell the home and make some money if they could not make the payment, etc… ) and investors were pushing for better and better returns on the large pools of loans ( Mortgage Backed Securities ), lenders were only too happy to make it easier and easier for buyers to buy homes – thus Stated Income, low down, poor credit loans became easier and easier to get.

Throw into the mix some false/fraudulent info on the loan applications, some appraisals being overvalued, etc… and with the lenders not looking too close to the borrower info, their were loans that were destined to go bad – all it took was for values to start dropping. Bingo.

Hank: Has the crisis affected how you do business day to day? How so?

Dan: Sure, the lending industry is tightening back up, to the way we used to do loans 7-8 years ago. 0 down is almost gone – except for VA, credit standards have tightened immensely, secondary market investors are nervous about buying anything other then Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac conforming fixed rates.

Jumbo and ARM rates have jumped with most lenders to where it has put a real damper on choices the borrower has.The one thing that is very sad is that there are lots of good borrowers out there, who may not have strong credit or much money for a down payment, who deserve to get into a home.

Because of loose lending guidelines for the reasons mentioned above, these potential buyers are going to have a very had time getting into a home.

Hank: I’ve seen that the housing market has slumped in most of the US, but California and parts of Washington are still keeping with the bubble. How does that work?

Dan: Jobs baby. Wherever you have strong jobs growth, you usually have strong housing markets. There is an exception to every rule. But usually you don’t have a bad housing market when you have a strong jobs market/strong local economy. Add supply and demand, people moving in for the jobs, and you get stability in housing.

Take Seattle.

Yes, we have had a correction to values. We were overvalued due to multiple offers, etc..which at some point had to correct. But we have seen very little price reduction. Our sales are down, but only because tons of buyers are sitting the fence waiting, not wanting to be the last man in before the values drop again.

Realty is, we should be sitting in a feeding frenzy right now as prices have dropped about as much as they are going to before the dam breaks sending buyers in every direction. 40,000 net new people to the area, Microsoft hiring like there is no tomorrow, etc…and people have to have a place to live.

Hank: So rates seem to be falling again in a buyers favor right now; how are rates right now? Are they going to go lower? How much?

Dan: I have a very cloudy crystal ball sitting on my desk. No fooling. A client of mine gave it to me and it fits perfectly with that kind of prediction. And to fully explain what makes rates move and why would take a lot of typing.

Let’s just say that right now we have a tug of war going on between rising inflation caused by food and energy and a weakening economy caused by 19 Fed increases prior to about a year ago, the Housing slump and the Mortgage fallout/unemployed – latest is Washington Mutual Bank literally shutting down their Home Loan Centers and Wholesale Lending – Broker lending department.

The only place you can get a home loan with Wa Mu now is the one person sitting in the Bank branch who can take your loan application. And because of the level of pay, the best loan officers will probably seek employment elsewhere.

Rates are great. Get out there and buy and refinance. A 30 year fixed today was about 5.625%, APR of 5.75% for loan amounts at or below $417,000. I also have one Jumbo lender who has 6.25% up to a loan of $600,000, APR of 6.375%.

Also, one lender has some very low 3,5,7 year ARMs. Let me also say, beware of lenders who say they have some low rate and then say the APR is .25% to .50% or higher then the interest rate. That just means they are going to make you pay lots of points. There is no free lunch folks. Just some lenders who want you to think there is.

Hank: I like that rates are going down, what is a general rule of thumb in regards to when I should refinance? When will it save me money?

Dan: If you are going from a 30 year to a new 30 year, you should refi when the new rate is about 1% lower, then the pay back time is usually about 3 years. We really have to run each case separately to see what is best for the client.

It, again, really depends what financial planning goals they are trying to meet. My web site has some great info on how best to meet some of those goals and would be happy to discuss anyone’s mortgage/financial planning strategies with them.

Hank: To get more specific, take my house I have a 100% loan on my house at 10 and 15 year ARMs. 80% of it is at 6.325% for 10 years and 20% is at 8.020% for 15 years. Should I consider refinancing? Should I wait longer?

Dan: You probably won’t find anyone at this point who can do a refinance for you above 95% loan to the value of your home. And if your home would appraise for enough to consolidate both loans, wrap in costs and not exceed 95% of the value, you would find loans available with PMI.

Your credit score, income vs debt, and other factors will determine “approve-ability”, but looking at your current rates, if you can meet the guidelines you could save some money, enough to make it worthwhile.

Hank: At what point would you say a person should generally start looking at refinancing when they are using an ARM? Is there any benefit to refinancing a good fixed rate? At what amount?

Dan: Each case and what the client is trying to accomplish will determine when it would be good to refinance. Some ARMs are great for helping people build retirement savings. One type of loan is best at building home equity. Each product has a feature that can be used to maximize the ability to reach financial goals.

Hank: I’ve heard that you can get better deals around the country now if you’re buying property when the market is doing poorly. Are better rates given in different parts of the US? Where is the hot spot to buy right now?

Dan: Hard to say. Some areas are not good to buy in no matter how low the home values or perceived values are. Some areas have strong housing markets and might be the better places to buy.

You have to look at each area by itself. Ask yourself how long you want to keep this Real Estate asset, then look at the current and possible future economic/jobs prospects for that area. If you see an upcoming strong local economy, strong jobs, high housing demands, high quality of living, etc…like Spokane, Washington, then buy like mad.

I use Spokane because it is a prime example of an area of the country that is slowly being discovered. Great town to raise kids, close to wonderful activities, great downtown life, great schools, one of the friendliest places in the U.S, low crime, etc.. And a place where a teacher and police officer can buy a 3000 sq ft home and afford it.

Hank: What type of loans are you giving the most of these days?

Dan: Fixed rates, Jumbo fixed and ARMs with two portfolio lenders who have been unaffected by the industries liquidity crisis are the most popular, with the Home Ownership Accelerator picking up steam.

Hank: I don’t want to take up too much of your time and I appreciate you stopping by, do you have any last minute tips for readers on anything mortgage related these days?

Dan: Before you choose a lender, make sure they can answer the questions on my “ Shopping “ link on my web site. I have been addressing these questions in this blog.

If they don’t know this info I have explained, then run for the hills. Because they don’t have the foggiest idea how to help meld a mortgage into your financial planning.

Thanks Hank, glad to help!

Photos by: EricCastro, ByYour, DryIcons,clspeace, walkinggeek, Alexandra Lerman, LostInTexas