Tag Archives: saving

Home Loans · June 22, 2016

Step 4: Closing the Deal: Scour your all-in Mortgage Costs

It takes a hefty wad of money to get a mortgage. It’s typical for all the fees associated with securing a mortgage—called Closing Costs-to add up to 2% or more of the loan. That’s a stiff $4,000 or so on…

Read Now ›

Emergency Funds, Home Loans, Saving · June 15, 2016

Step 3: Get to the Point: When It Pays to Buy Down Your Mortgage

Lenders like to give home borrowers choices when it comes to their mortgage rate. You’ll always be presented with a standard rate: what you qualify for based on how the lender sizes up your financial profile (credit score, income, debts…

Read Now ›

Home Loans, Investing · June 8, 2016

Suze’s Mortgage Tip #2: Know the Down Side of Making a Small Low Down Payment.

My absolute best advice is to strive to make a 20% down payment when you buy a home. I know that can be a lot of money. But hear me out. What you need to understand is that a small…

Read Now ›

Home Loans · June 1, 2016

Suze’s Mortgage Tip #1: Shop Around

It amazes me that so many homebuyers who spent weeks, if not months, hunting around for the best home, don’t shop around as diligently for the best mortgage.

Read Now ›

Budgeting · May 25, 2016

Why I Don’t Like Weddings

Weddings bring out the worst in our bad-money habits. I have known too many couples that have gone into credit card debt to pay for a wedding. Love doesn’t mean paying 15% interest-or more!-for a special day. And I have…

Read Now ›

Retirement, Saving · May 11, 2016

That $30,000 Wedding Really Costs You $130,000 Or More.

The average cost of a wedding is now more than $30,000. As I have explained in How to Budget for a Wedding, spending even $3,000 on a wedding is a bad move if you have credit card debt, have yet…

Read Now ›

Debt, Insurance, Long Term Care, Retirement · April 27, 2016

Are You Fluent in the Language of Wealth?

I spend a lot of time helping people work out a plan for overcoming a financial challenge. Quite often the bulk of my work is in getting them into the right frame of mind. Financial problems are so stressful it…

Read Now ›

Home Loans, Investing, Saving · April 20, 2016

Turn a Child/Grandchild’s Summer Job into a Retirement Windfall.

If you have a child or grandchild who is going to get paid for work this summer, I want you to consider a way to gift them a valuable retirement stake.

Read Now ›

Credit Cards, Saving, Student Loans · April 13, 2016

Credit Card Industry Set to Rake in an Extra $30 Billion. How to Avoid Paying Your Part.

If you have unpaid credit card balances, your situation could soon progress from very expensive to ridiculously expensive.

Read Now ›