The most popular approaches to debt elimination are: paying off the largest debt first, paying off the smallest debt first, paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first, and loan consolidation. In my book “Personal Finance Simply Understood” I walk through a detailed analysis of these approaches using various loan and debt amounts, and […]
Category Archives: Debt
Buying a home is a major event in our lives, and the excitement can easily overshadow the long-term financial commitment we’re about to make. This is especially true when we’ve found a home that we love. The property taxes, maintenance, and mortgage obligation that we’re committing to, often take a backseat to the excitement of […]
There are several debt reduction approaches that have proven successful for many people. We can concentrate or focus on paying the smallest debt, the largest debt, or the debt with the highest interest rate. Or we can use debt consolidation and simplify the situation with a single bill each month. To compare the methods, let’s assume […]
A popular good debt topic is a mortgage, with a focus on the tax deduction associated with mortgage interest. There are many good reasons to buy a house, but being able to deduct mortgage interest shouldn’t be high on the list. We have to remember that mortgage interest for tax purposes is a deduction not a subtraction, and that […]
Since credit allows us to stretch out the cost of an item with payments over a period of time, this makes purchases on credit seem more affordable. Maybe I can’t afford $650.00 today, but I think that I can afford $65.00 a month for ten months, and so I buy the item using credit. I […]
The most popular approaches to debt elimination are: paying off the largest debt first, paying off the smallest debt first, paying off the debt with the highest interest rate first, and loan consolidation. In my book “Personal Finance Simply Understood” I walk through a detailed analysis of these approaches using various loan and debt amounts, and […]
What is personal economic value and why is it important? Our personal economic value is our earnings potential or what can we expect to earn between now and when we plan to stop working. As an example, if I currently earn $44,000 each year, I’m 32 years old, and I plan to retire at age […]
Will you be splurging a little or a little too much for the Holidays? Do you plan to set a spending limit this year, and if so, how confident are you that won’t spend above it? In the coming weeks, the news will be filled with statistics about whether holiday spending is up or down […]
We’re often surprised by our credit card statements, and not just because of how much we’re charging. The balance amount always seems to be a number that we wouldn’t have guessed, and some purchases that we expect to see aren’t on the statement, and some that we don’t expect to see are listed. This is […]
Buying a home is a major event in our lives, and the excitement can easily overshadow the long-term financial commitment we’re about to make. We tend to view a mortgage much like a car loan and focus on the monthly payment, while overlooking the cost of the loan or total amount of interest that will […]
Personal Finance Simply Understood 