It struck me recently that one of the reasons I’ve achieved some of my personal finance goals is that I’ve followed old-fashioned advice. These are the top three nuggets that come to mined. Stay Out of Debt. This particular pearl has served me well. I’ve had credit cards in my wallet for more than 25 […]
Try as I might, I still haven’t figured out a way to get everything that I want. There are always tough choices to be made about money. I honestly believe that tough choices are the foundation of the non-financial side of personal finance. While the Single Ones among us do not have to fight with […]
When it comes to money, it never hurts to ask for what you want. Case in point – the mortgage on my rental property comes up for renewal this spring. For the first time ever, my bank sent me my renewal instructions 6 months before the renewal date. Usually, I get my renewal letter 3 […]
I’ve been a big fan of Garth Turner, who blogs over at Greater Fool, for a few years now. He’s a big proponent of creating cash flows for retirement. Towards that end, he has written many, many persuasive posts about why people should sell their homes, invest the equity, and live off the investment income. […]
The older I get, the more I think about the ideas that have guided my life’s decisions up to this point. I ruminate on whether some of the ideas that I’ve held dear for a long time are still good enough to follow, or whether they’ve led me to a place that I’d rather not […]
Looking back, I’m certain that I made a money mistake when I chose to pay off my mortgage instead of focusing on investing. At the time, I was in my 30s and my mortgage was less than $100,000. I had bought my first home when I was 28 years old. I had a 25-year amortization […]
I’m sharing the following bit of wisdom respecting the mortgage cash account. I don’t think this is a particularly good option for mortgage-holders, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. The Mortgage Cash Account My bank holds the mortgage on my rental property. I make bi-weekly payments on my rental property because I want […]
Recently, people near and dear to my heart bought a new home. I was more than thrilled for them since their new place is lovely and will be a perfect nest for their growing family. And as they disclosed their numbers to me, I started to think about the impact that the rising mortgage rates […]
One of the easiest ways to cut down the amortization of a mortgage is by making bi-weekly payments. A bi-weekly payment is one where, every two weeks, your mortgage lender makes a withdrawal from your bank account for the purpose of paying your mortgage. If you’re paid on a bi-weekly schedule, then there’s absolutely […]
If you have a mortgage, then you should have some kind of insurance in place to pay it off just in case you die while the mortgage is outstanding. My suggestion*** is that you get a life insurance policy that is sufficient to cover the full amount of your outstanding mortgage. This way, the life […]