Sep 02

With all the press about people not saving enough for retirement, or much else for that matter (the median household net worth is $91,304, including home equity) I’ve been thinking more about how people prioritize their spending. Debt taken on for college tuition has always been thought of as “good” debt. I’ll pass on that judgment and just call it a sometimes necessary evil. But for whom, the student or the parent? Should parents pick up the tab? There are studies out there for nearly everything, I wonder if any study has been done on whether students do better for the fact that they had their schooling paid for, therefore not needing to work while going to school, or if they did better having their own money at stake.

We have been fortunate, by having a child later in life, we were able to start saving from the day she was born and will be able to handle those bills by the time she’s in college. Others might be tempted to tap their equity lines or take early retirement account withdrawals to put their kids through college. I’d suggest not doing this if it puts your own retirement at risk, you don’t get a second chance to save.

Joe

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Aug 29

This week we start with a post by Roshawn Watson, My Big, Fat Trashy Home: The Fall of the McMansion. In this article, Shawn does a great job explaining the origins of these homes and how they cost you far after the purchase is over. The article hit home [...] Continue Reading…

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Aug 28

Even with the 30 year fixed rate mortgage dropping to 4.42% average, sellers are still struggling to move their houses, and new home sales have fallen to new lows.

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Aug 27

It seems this is not such a simple question. What do you prefer, a stock that grows, long term, doubling in price every 7 years or so (this is an average 10% annual return) or one that grows more slowly, say at 5% per year, but offers a 5% [...] Continue Reading…

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Aug 25

As we’ve seen, the estate tax expiration had an impact of the families of a number of people who passed this year. But this was a one year deal, next year if congress doesn’t fix this, the tax comes back to levels not seen in nearly a decade.

That’s not [...] Continue Reading…

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Aug 23

Effective yesterday, the CARD (Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure) ACT’s next phase went into effect. From the Federal Reserve, here is a summary of the changes you should know about:

Reasonable penalty fees
Let’s say you are late making your minimum payment.

Today: Your late payment fee may be as [...] Continue Reading…

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