Posted: November 20th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Economy | Tags: Debt, Financing, Mortgage Rates, Refinancing | 3 Comments »
“Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage loans fell for the third consecutive week to the lowest since the week ending May 21, while 15-year fixed rates were the lowest since our records began in 1991,” said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a news release.
Rates for 30 year fixed-rate mortgages fell to their lowest levels since May, according to a Freddie Mac report.
The average rate for a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage is now 4.83% (as of Nov. 19) which is a drop for last week’s already low 4.91%. To put this in perspective, the average a year ago was 6.04%.
The rate for 15 year fixed-rate mortgages also dropped. A year ago the average rate was 5.73%, and just last week it was 4.36%. As of Nov. 19, the average has fallen to 4.32%.
All of this has led to a major increase of mortgage refinancing:
more than 95% of prime borrowers who originally had an ARM selected a conventional fixed-rate mortgage in the third quarter of this year
This is good news, it means many who made the mistake of getting an ARM have realized how dangerous they are and have gotten out. It also means less ARMs to default when the rate would have reset.
Source
Related Posts:
Posted: November 19th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Saving | Tags: 529 savings plan, Best, college savings | No Comments »
This list is from Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition.
Best 529 for low fees.
Kiplinger’s pick: Illinois’ Bright Start College Savings program. It’s no surprise that this plan is run by Vanguard, since they are known for their rock bottom fees.
Best 529 plan for fund selection.
Kiplinger’s pick for 529 plan with the best fund selection goes to the College Savings Plan of Nebraska. This 529 offers 20 funds to choose from. It’s unclear from the article however whether this fund has the most funds to choose from, or the best funds to choose from.
Best 529 plan sold by a broker.
If buying shared in your 529 college savings plan is important to you, then Kiplinger recommends Virginia’s CollegeAmerica plan, which offers 22 funds from American Funds.
Best 529 for maximizing your savings.
If you live in a state that offers a tax deduction on your 529 contributions, then you should start by investigating the 529 plan offered by your state of residence. If the plan is a truly rotten one, then you may still be better off using a different state’s plan, but it may be difficult to make up for the tax break depending on your personal tax situation.
Related Posts:
Posted: November 17th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Credit | Tags: Best, Credit Cards, Tips | No Comments »
This list is from Kiplinger’s personal finance magazine “Best Of” edition. I have my doubts on a couple of them, and one in particular is a simply irresponsible recommendation.
American Express Blue Cash.
1% cash back on everyday purchases like groceries, gas and drugstore purchases. 0.5% cash back on everything else.Once your spend over $6,500 for the year, you get 5% cash back on everyday items and 1.25% on everything else.
My thoughts. This is obviously a winner if you spend more than $6,500 a year, which isn’t hard to do if you pay for groceries, gas, cable etc every month. Otherwise, I like the Citibank dividend card – 5% cash back at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations & utilities for 6 months; 2% thereafter.
Best credit card for automatic savings.
Kiplinger’s pick in this category is the Discover Motiva.
The Motiva card offers an incentive to card holders who carry a balance. If you pay on time for 6 months in a row, you get a credit of one month’s interest. The card carries no annual fee, and offers 1% cash back on purchases over $3,000.
My thoughts. This has to be one of the worst ideas of the credit card industry in a long time. How can they say this promotes “automatic saving”? This card is built around one thing and one thing only: keeping the card holder in debt. Shame on Kiplinger for recommending this card. I only hope the kick back from discover is worth the blight on the Kiplinger name.
Best credit card for travel.
U.S. Bank FlexPerks Travel rewards Visa Signature. You get 1 point for every dollar spent, and double points for gas, grocery and airline ticket purchases. If you charge over $18,000 in a year you earn enough points for a ticket.
My thoughts. I don’t travel, so I can’t comment on what the best travel card out there is.
Best credit card for a gas break.
BP Visa. This card gets you 10% off BP gas purchases, 4% off travel and dining, and 2% off everything else for the first 60 days. After that, the rebates drop to 5%, 2% and 1%, respectively.
My thoughts. This seems like a pretty good deal if your primary concern is getting some cash back on your gas purchases. I’ve seen similar cards for Mobil, but you pay a premium for Mobil gas and so you probably aren’t getting that far ahead on those purchases, but BP seems to be fairly competitive in their prices at the pump, so this looks good.
Related Posts:
Posted: November 14th, 2009 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Credit | Tags: Credit Cards, Opinion | 1 Comment »
Let me apologize up front for the brevity of this post… the flu has got me down, and I just don’t have it in me to be prolific.
But alas, I just came across a post by Len Penzo titled, No, I’m Not Cutting Up My Credit Cards! (Maybe You Shouldn’t Either.), that I had to share. This post is a very well thought out and reasoned rebuttal to a post by a fellow blogger, Matt Jabs.
Matt wrote a post titled, Credit Card Rewards – Rethink Your Returns, that was an equally well reasoned post on why people should not use credit cards. Ever.
Penzo’s post is a terrific defense of credit card use – responsible credit card use.
Regardless of which camp you find yourself in (I’m in the Penzo camp), these are thoughtful arguments in the ongoing discussion of the proper role of credit in our lives. The also just so happen to be far better written than anything I can muster these days. 
Related Posts:
What others are saying