Looking to refinance my house.....interest only good deal?
Well, stop and take a look at what you are doing here. You'll probably spend $3-5K at least on the refinancing costs, most likely being added to your balance. It could be much higher. And from that day on, until you sell, your balance will remain at the same level. How much are you really saving? $200? $500? Will you change your spending habits or simply find new ways to burn the money? Please remember, much of what you are saving by taking the interest only loan is what you are actually NOT saving by paying down the mortgage balance every month. It's no different than putting that money in the bank. Second, you lose most of that benefit by increasing your loan amount to cover the closing costs. Is there other debts being consolidated? Could you achieve most or all of the monthly savings by simply getting a lower rate home equity loan? At least with that, you pay little to no closing costs, keep paying principal on your mortgage, and will probably be able to save close to the same amount monthly. A truly ethical loan officer should be able to clearly show you the true cost of this refinance over the next 5 years. In the end, I doubt it would be your best solution. Are you even dropping in interest rate? If not, you are just losing money on this right out of the gate.
Before we get stuck on foreign keys and what not, let’s think about what we have. First up, the easy thing, a test. What is a test. It’s a list of questions. So now we have two things, a test and a question. Questions are also going to have answers. Now we have three things, a test, a question and an answer. In terms of these three things, is there another that differentiates them? Yeah, the test taker, a person. Now there are four things that we’re going to relate together, a person who is taking a test that consists of a list of questions and their answers to those questions.Now, can we start to define tables? Yeah, probably. Person, for sure. Test. Question. Those three are certain. Answers? Well, maybe. Are the questions open ended (like this question you’re asking) or is the question multiple choice? Or, are there different kinds of questions? Oooh, a question type table may be needed. Then, depending on the question type, we may have to limit the answers to yes/no or multiple choice or open ended…As you can see, this all gets complicated quick, so there isn’t a single right answer. It depends on exactly what you’re trying to do. To create the simplest possible test taking database, I’d have a person table. I’d have a questions table. Then, I’d create a tests table that labels a test. Then, I’d create a testquestions table that connects one test to a set of questions. Finally, I’d create a personanswers table that connects the person to the testquestions table and provides a space for the answers to a set of questions for a particular test. There are still tons of things we haven’t talked about though, can someone take the test more than once? Do we need to record their grade on each answer and for the test over all or can we calculate that based on the answers?Primary key on person. Primary key on test. Primary key on questions. Compound primary key on testquestions that consists of the two foreign keys to the other two tables (possible alternate key generated from sequence). Primary key on personanswers table that consists of testquestions & person (although that only allows a given person to take a test once) with foreign key constraints to the person table and the testquestions table.What’s my grade on tonight’s homework?Asked to Answer.
Paying off student loans?
in my opinion, keep your money for now - invest in low risk stocks or 401K. don't fall for anything w/high risk for now - bad timing. this is info from one of the links below. "Government loans are almost always the most flexible debt, and offer a number of deferments or forbearance options while you pay off those private loans. And intuitively you've realized that paying off those higher interest rates first, makes the most sense (not to mention saves the most cents too). Talk to your government loan lender to determine if your financial situation qualifies for a deferment or forbearance, if making both government and private loan payments simultaneously is creating a hardship for you. If you're unable to make that option work, then you can always seek to spread out the payments through consolidation, thus lowering the required monthly payments on both your government and private educational loans." http://learn.equifax.com/credit/student-loan-payoff-calculator http://www.youngmoney.com/financial_aid/student_loans/118
Paying down a loan- Comparison of two strategies?
The reason this method causes you to lose 7 years on your mortgage is by paying every two weeks, you effectively pay 13 payments a year. (Keep in mind that paying every two weeks is not the same as paying twice a month - there will be at least two months in the year where you make 3 of these half payments). So, over the course of 23 years, the extra payment a year will effectively be 2 years worth of payments. So, the true savings is really only about five years, which is because the interest cost is lower because you paid the loan off faster. Whether or not this is a good strategy depends on what else you might do with your money. Home mortgage rates are extremely cheap right now, and may qualify for an income tax deduction. If you are carrying any debt on credit cards or car loans, you might be better off paying those off first and paying down the house faster later. Also, if you are not putting the maximum amount you can into a ROTH IRA or other retirement investment, that may be a better place to put your money. Once you put money into the walls of a house by paying down your mortgage faster, it is expensive and time consuming to get back out. A financial planner named Ric Edelman has some good writing about the cons of prepaying a mortgage (www.ricedelman.com). But, there is some significant peace of mind so some people believe in paying off the mortgage as fast as you can. To answer which method is better for your personal situation and your interest rate, check bankrate.com and look at their loan amortization calculator, at this site: http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/mort... Keep in mind this calculator will not give you a comparison of which way to use your money is a better way, and doesn't include the income tax benefit consideration, but will help you see the impact of different payment strategies on your loan.
Account type for buying index fund; Retirement vs Saving vs college account?
Do not open retirement accounts or 529's unless you have a full 6 to 8 months worth of living expenses in a savings or a CD. That is the main rule. I'm not a fan of 529 plans. After much extensive research I have found that you are better off paying down any debt first. Such as high interest credit cards or car loans. If you have any of these, put that $3,000 into that debt. After that a ROTH or a tax-deductible IRA is the best way to go. Don't forget to at least put the company match into your 401K plan at work. There will be loans available for school - no loans available for retirement. Did you know that the FAFSA (college financial aid) does not look at debt? They will look at 529 plans and taxable accounts to see how much you can afford. I read in a book that the best way to get financial aid is to have all your debt paid off, including your home before sending your kid to college. Plus, if you are not good at investing, paying off a home is an easy way to save on interest. Some people consider paying off a home part of their retirement planning. You never know if investments will gain 20% or lose 20%. Why not sleep well at night and just pay off loans instead - seems easier to me.
Will paying off my car loan help my credit score?
No, if you have a loan and you just pay it off in full, your not going to build your credit. The way to build your credit over time is to have an outstanding balance and to keep paying the bill every month and on time. This shows on your credit that your one who pays your bills month after month and on time and this will improve your credit. If you just buy everything cash, there is no way to show that your responsible and pay everything on time. This is why it is good for younger people who want to build credit to get a small loan say for $500 and pay it off month after month for say 6 months. Also, if you have any credit cards that you have been using for a long time, keep those paid off, but keep the card, as a credit card that has been open for say 10 years will look good on your credit report. Use it once every so often, and then pay it off in full.
To understand fully how this system works, you have to know that interest rate is calculated based on your outstanding loan balance and not on your monthly prepayment.The aim of making prepayments on your monthly principals is to, first of all, reduce the loan balance before next month’s interest rate is calculated.A 30 years’ mortgage for $40,000 with 5% interest would translate to an interest of $37,302.31 without any additional payments. But with an added payment of $100, the total interest to be repaid will be reduced to $17,078.06 and most importantly to 15 years instead of the original 30.In the first month, the total sum paid - $214- goes to the principal plus the interest account while $100 goes to the additional payment. This means that after the deduction of the $50- the main monthly payment- the-additional $100 will be deducted again from the loan balance of $39,050 remaining $38,050 to be used for calculating the interest unlike the $39,050 that would have been used without any additional prepayment of the principal.Though the difference may seem small but with repeat prepayment every month, a substantial amount would be saved in the payment of interest.With this additional monthly principal repayment, the principal on which the interest rate is to be calculated will be reducing at a much higher rate than if there is no additional prepayment on the principal.In the first month of the mortgage, with the additional payment of $100, the total of $314.73 will be the total sum of the mortgage. $214.73 would be the standard monthly payment while the extra payment of $100 will be deducted first from the loan balance before the interest rate is calculated in the following month. As a result of this, the interest will be reducing even though this doesn’t change the principal amount.Taking a look at the schedule prepared below, you will realize that the time to be used for the total payment of the mortgage would be reduced to 15 years.However, borrowers who want to pursue this option need to know that it will come with additional financial commitments every year. Therefore, before committing to additional payments on your principal, ensure you have analyzed all other necessary commitments.