To pay or not to pay? That is the question.
lurkerlisa
10 years ago
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10 years agolucillle
10 years agoRelated Discussions
To pay off or not to pay off mortgage - pls check my #'s?
Comments (38)Hi graywings, I started reading this thread without noting the dates the posts were written. Dave, I don't want to put you on the spot, but I am wondering how the accounts you spoke of in 2007, the 72c Guaranteed Savings accounts (equity-indexed fixed life contract, or annuity contract) have weathered over the last three years. Heh... you can "put me on the spot" in this regard *ANY* time ;~) Both the equity indexed life & annuity products have *VERY* strongly outperformed the unprotected stock index markets over the same periods of time (since 2007. In fact, going back from today to almost as far as you'd like.) Their design is that they capture & credit any annual upside (to a maximum gain,) and lock that amount permanently to your credit. On any years with a downside, your account sits tight with no losses at all (guaranteed by the insured backings of the company reserves and the state's guarantee association (each state's equivalent of a regional "FDIC" in essence.) If you put $100,000 in the S&P 500 for the last decade, you'd actually be holding a bit LESS than $100,000 today (not deducting the tax or management fees that may also be applied.) The same $100,000 in an insured indexing account would be approximately $211,768, net of everything (taxes & fees,) *OR* about an average annual tax-free rate of return of 7.06% Alternatively, those folks who decided to take their working capital OUT of growth, and put it into their real estate equity, have been double-stung; Not only have they gained nothing toward retirement, their equity values have decayed from 10-30% (depending on the area.) The clients who've been with us the last 3-5 years have been rather relieved, ecstatic, and pleasantly bored, all at the same time. Its a very nice financial reality to provide. Cheers, Dave Donhoff Leverage Planner (PS. to re-paraphrase celticmoon; When everyone else's retirement nest-egg is drowning deep underwater... its kinda nice to be riding on the back of a "duck" ;~)...See MorePay down mortgage or pay off student loans--?
Comments (10)You can get either death or disability insurance on your mortgage, or both. There's about four times the possibility of disability for an extended period that there is of death ... and, while a funeral is expensive, dead people don't eat, but disabled people do ... and may need medical/rehabilitative costs, as well. Some prefer to buy a term policy for one or both, themselves, for if the bank sets it up, they are the payee, not the person(s) purchasing the home, whle if the homeowner purchases it, they are the payee and it will be their responsibility to pay the lender. Some prefer to have coverage at a specific level throughout, rather than the decreasing value as the principal gets paid off, as usually there is little difference in premium, and as the debt is reduced through regular payment down of principal, there is some extra available to support the family in a difficult time. When paying student loan, usually one knows what portion of the payent goes for interest and which goes to pay down principal owing. But the level of mortgage payment remains level throughout, which means that in the early days of the loan, when the balance owing is high, the amount that goes to interest each year must be high, meaning that little of each payment goes to pay off principal. Many people pay little attention to the amount of principal that is paid off annually through the first few years, though many of them received a schedule showing what the ratios were at the time of each payment, throughout. They are greatly surprised when they find out how little of the principal has actually been paid, at the end of each year. They are suprised to learn that, in those early years, if they made an additional payment of an amount equal to one of the month's payment, designating it as to reduce principal only, it would reduce the balance owing by a larger amount than did all of the other 12 monthly payments. With student loans, the amount allocated to principal and to interest is more easily identifiable, I think. Good wishes. ole joyful...See MoreTo Pay or Not to Pay?
Comments (3)I agree with catlettuce. Let DH's parents fight their own battles with their son. If they want your DH to pay, they will ask him to....See MoreNew iPhone: pay in full or pay way less with 2-year contract?
Comments (36)Update. I visited both the Apple Store (to hold iPhones) and the AT&T store to discuss upfront costs and plans. The jury's still out on whether to get a 6s or 6s Plus. I was annoyed at first when I had to sign up and wait to be seen by someone in the AT&T store. I almost left in a polite huff and decided that would be foolish, so I hunkered down and waited. I'm glad I did because a very very knowledgeable young woman answered all my questions. She actually gave me way more info than I needed, but here's the deal: In my case, lascatx is wrong about them charging me monthly for the balance of the phone and not stopping until I bring it to their attention. In the past, I have opted for 2-year contracts at a lower, subsidized price. All I paid monthly was for my plan, i.e., voice, data, text. That was/is one of the benefits of locking into a contract. The salesperson told me that AT&T is one of the few carriers still doing this and soon, within a year, they will cease altogether. The option is still available to me to do this, but it would be the last time. My $70/mo total bill, which includes an unlimited data plan, is still mine to keep. I can buy the phone at the lesser amount and agree to a 2-year contract, or I can buy the phone for the full price. I'm not interested in paying over time and having it added to my monthly bill. If I decided to break my contract at any point, I will have to pony up the balance. So, really no risk at all for me to do the contract, as it's a savings of $450. She mentioned $40 here or there if I do one or the other, but at that point, I had reached my saturation point and I'm not gonna fuss over that amount. I hope this has been helpful. I have an existing plan I'd like to keep; I seem to do well with phones for two years; paying less is also nice....See MoreCEFreeman
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