Not many people can pay cash for a house these days. According to Zillow, the median home sale price in the United States ending October 2018 was $225,900. You are going to need a piggy bank the size of a house for that.
For most people, buying a home means taking out a mortgage. The two most common mortgage terms are 15-year and 30-year fixed rate mortgages. This brings us to the question of which should one go with that makes the most financial sense.
Writing a check payable to cash might seem like a good idea. It’s simple enough. You write out a check as you would normally except instead of a person or company in the “Pay to the order of” line, you simply write “Cash”. Then you write in the amount, sign your name on the front, endorse the back, head to the bank, and give it to the teller. A minute later you will be walking out of the bank with a pocket full of bills.
Sounds great, right? But even though you can write a check for cash, here are many reasons why you shouldn’t.
Before you run hop online and start applying for a balance transfer credit card, know that banks and credit card companies aren’t offering these cards because they want to give you free money. They are really hoping you’d mess up so they can reap the financial rewards.
Be smart about balance transfers and avoid these 10 common mistakes.
Are you sinking further into credit card debt and trying to keep your head above water? High-interest credit cards and personal loans can make getting ahead of your debt situation seem almost impossible.
A balance transfer could be the lifeline that you need to improve your finances. But transferring a balance can also turn that lifeline into an anchor that could get you into more trouble. Before you think about doing a credit card balance transfer, here is what you need to know.
Your water heater is one of the most neglected appliances in your home. It sits hidden away in the basement, attic, or closet somewhere where no one pays a single second of attention to it as long as there is hot water when you turn on the faucet. That is until one day when it springs a leak and it turns into a major event.
Most water heaters are made of steel with glass or porcelain-lined tanks. When you combine water with metal, it will form rust. To protect your water heater from corrosion, a long metal rod called a sacrificial anode rod is used. The idea is the anode rod corrodes first, sacrificing itself to protect the steel tank. By replacing your anode rod, you can significantly extend the life of your water heater and also save a bunch of money.
It has been said that there are two things certain in life: death and taxes. The first thing I can’t help you with. But for the second, I can with a type of retirement account called a Roth IRA. With this particular type of account, your account’s balance that you see is what you get. Uncle Sam doesn’t get a cent of it.
In addition to the tax advantages, here are six other reasons why you should have a Roth IRA.
So you or someone you know is thinking of buying a hybrid car. Before you spend the money for the new wheels, make you sure you are doing it for the right reason.
Say you are buying a hybrid to save the environment and the polar bears. Or do it because you can zip down the HOV lane while the rest of the plebeians sit in traffic sucking in exhaust fumes. Or maybe so you can give the middle finger to Big Oil.
But don’t buy a hybrid car because it’s going to save you money.
We’ve all been there. You buy a new electronic product and it comes with a warranty, whether it is one year, three years, or five or more years. It works great and you are happy. Then the day after the warranty ends, the product breaks and you are plumb out of luck. You now have to go buy a new one and repeat the whole cycle again. That’s just how the cookie crumbles. Nothing lasts forever… unless you buy something with a lifetime warranty.
If deciding between two products, it might make sense to buy the one with a lifetime warranty if the price and quality is similar. When the product eventually dies or breaks, you can send it back in for a repair, replacement, or maybe even a refund.
Remember last year when the Equifax data breach exposed the personal information of almost 148 million Americans? Thanks to that hack, Congress passed a new federal law in May to help prevent identity theft. Starting today September 21, 2018, that new legislation goes into effect and you’ll now be able to freeze your credit report for free at all three of the major credit reporting agencies.
Read about the new changes and how you can freeze your credit today.
When I say “will”, I’m not talking about Will Smith even though he has protected Earth from being destroyed by aliens multiple times. I’m talking about the kind of will that protects our assets.
Estate planning and wills are one topic not many of us think about in personal finance. After all, no one expects to suddenly pass away if we are young and perfectly healthy. We’ve got tons of other things on our minds such as paying off student loans or saving money. But everyone should think about getting a will made.