As I understand things, people with variable-rate mortgages should be very worried about their minimum mortgage payments increasing. They are facing trigger rates on their mortgages. These rates force people to make higher minimum mortgage payments. A variable rate mortgage (VRM) payment covers interest and principal. However, when the mortgage rates increase on VRMs, the […]
There is no way around it. You should always be saving money – some way, some how. Life is expensive, and it only gets more so. Name one essential thing in your life that has gotten cheaper over the years. Food? Nope. Rent or housing costs? No! Gasoline? Not a chance. Utilities? Not a bit. […]
I’ve enough life experience to know that life gets in the way of the best laid plans. And since this is a personal finance blog, I’m going to try and expound on this idea as it impacts your money decisions. It’s easy to tell people to invest consistently. Showing others how to set up automatic […]
As I’ve mentioned a time or two, I’ve made many mistakes with my money. One of my biggest money mistakes involved how I went about finding my community. When I first started to learn about financial independence, early retirement and investing, I made two mistakes based on arrogance. First, I mistakenly assumed that everyone was […]
One of things that I’ve always understood about investing is that money works harder than people are able to. Money never gets tired, sick, distracted, or unmotivated. It literally works around the clock once it has been invested. People can’t do that. People need food, rejuvenation, sleep and time with loved ones. Those items are […]
One of the ways to ensure that you meet your goals is to review your progress along the way. Doing so involves taking stock and making tweaks as necessary. No journey is perfect for all people in all circumstances. That’s simply not possible. As a matter of fact, there is no such thing as a […]
There’s a distinction between your income and your salary. They are not the same thing, although you’ll routinely hear the words used interchangeably. I’m going to spend a few minutes telling you why I think they are different animals. Your salary is based on what your employer pays you. I’m only aware of 2 ways […]
The boring middle… I’ve come across this phrase several times in the past two years while perusing various personal finance sites. It refers to the period of time between setting a long-term goal, such as financial independence or retirement, and achieving that goal. From my own experience, it’s an apt term to describe the slog. […]
Welcome back! How are you doing? What’s been troubling you financially? Maybe it’s time to take a breath? It’s been kind of a crazy time for the past few months, hasn’t it? All the headlines and media platforms are screaming about inflation and debt and financial turmoil. No fun for anyone, right? They’ve amped up […]
There’s a subset of FIRE adherents who religiously follow the BRRRR method that has been made famous by the good folks at Bigger Pockets. BRRRR is an acronym which stands for Buy Renovate Rent Refinance Repeat. Essentially, an investor buys a property, renovates it, and puts a renter in it. Renovations increase the value of […]