By David John Marotta and Beth Anderson Nedelisky
Before reverse mortgages, pensioners wishing to tap into home equity were presented with two options: either sell the house or get a home equity loan. But since their humble beginnings in the late ’80s, reverse mortgages provided seniors with an additional tool for accessing home equity. The going […]

By Cortni Marrazzo
The process of buying a home and securing a mortgage can be very confusing if you don’t know what you are doing. That’s why it’s always important to do your homework. Obviously researching the mortgage process and the terms is very helpful, but perhaps the most important research you can do […]

By Cortni Marrazzo
When my husband and I were in the market for our first home, we were excited to take advantage of some of the first time home buyer programs we had heard so much about. After all, we were in fact first time home buyers and this would be the only time we’d […]

By David John Marotta and Justin Harris
Purchasing a car is the second biggest spending decision we face as consumers next to buying a home. Unlike real estate or an investment portfolio which appreciates, cars are rapidly depreciating assets. In addition to the car’s sticker price, operating expenses can drive the unsuspecting consumer into the […]

By David John Marotta and Beth Anderson Nedelisky
The average college student graduates with almost $20,000 in student loans. While this is a daunting sum, it is still possible to build wealth even while paying off student debt. But earning the degree and paying for the degree require two different kinds of smarts. In fact, […]

Loans and credit cards provide great consumer benefits, but as with any form of borrowed money, you’ve got to be careful about how you manage credit. Here are tips for saving money on credit products - in your basic financial affairs, when shopping for new credit, and when using loans and credit cards.
1. Pay your […]

By Teri Newton
I think almost every week I hear someone who makes over $70k a year mention their wonderful student loan interest tax deduction. It’s time to take a few minutes to educate the masses about the student loan interest. Plain and simple, if you make a good wage you will not qualify for the […]

Knowing the best course of action to take on your student loans is often a difficult maze to work your way through. That is the question from this reader:
I was looking into federal student loan consolidation on a $12,828.19 student loan (now at 7.22% - pretty high).
I was offered 7% after consolidation and it goes […]

By Teri Newton
Something has struck me as very odd over the years. I have mostly lived my life with great disdain for car dealers. As someone who was well taught how to shop for used cars from private parties, I never really considered going to the dealership for an overpriced car as an option.
My […]

Co-signing on a loan is not something to undertake lightly. The reason that people need you to co-sign is because they have some issues with their credit or otherwise there would be no need for you to do so. And even if they have the best intentions to pay, sometimes things don’t work out as […]

By Teri Newton
The state of California recently reviewed a sample of state tax returns which claimed large mortgage interest deductions and found that 75% of the tax returns had claimed excessive interest deductions. There are rules that limit how much interest you can deduct for your mortgage and other monies borrowed against your house. However, […]

Sometimes finances go beyond your own and involve the finances of good friends or family members. When the finances aren’t yours, but those close to you, how do you help those that are obviously having trouble keeping their finances under control? This was a question that was raised in the forums:
Over the Memorial holiday my […]

You probably don’t realize it, but you drive much more than you need to. You get into your car much more often than you should, but there’s a simple way that you can make sure that you only drive when you need to — by paying yourself a small fee every time you get into […]

There is yet another shady deal going around with mortgage loans these days. If you receive an offer from a lender or mortgage broker under a “Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Program” endorsed by the Federal Reserve Board, raise that red flag right away. First and foremost, the Federal Reserve does not endorse or sponsor any […]

At some point it’s likely that a friend or family member will ask you for a financial favor. When this happens, you may genuinely want to help or you may also feel pressured to do so. In either case, you need to take the time to look at the financial favor being asked and determine […]

I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more pfbloggers write something about this, so I’ll go ahead and give my observations. It was fantastic to see that the Nobel Peace Prize winner (Muhammad Yunus ) this year went to someone who truly made a difference in the lives of people. He did so through giving microloans […]

When it comes to personal finance, there is usually a great deal of discussion on the high rates of interest charged by credit card companies. What credit card companies charge, however, does not come close to what the payday loan companies charge (this is in no way to excuse credit card companies for charging outrageous […]

There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than seeing someone take a new technology and use it to their advantage to save money - especially when it is done creatively and produces painless savings. I came across a woman who has done this brilliantly using Prosper.com to lower the amount she was paying on […]

There is a new debt industry film out titled In Debt We Trust by Danny Schechter that may be worth watching. According to the movie’s website:
While many Americans may be “maxing out” on credit cards, there is a deeper story: power is shifting into fewer hands…..with frightening consequences.
In Debt We trust shows how the […]

Anyone that has student loans should consider consolidating them as soon as possible. As part of the Deficit Reduction Act passed in February by Congress, student loans will go from being variable rate to fixed beginning July 1, 2006. That means that the interest rates for Direct Loans and Stafford Loans (one of the more […]