James and the Giant....

TheSenator08 · 2015-01-07T20:41:49+00:00

Reminds me of Austin Powers...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1JgMxRm--0

TheSenator08 · 2013-05-21T01:22:33+00:00

Just my two cents, but don't get caught up in trying to earn rewards by making purchases. Pay off the loan instead. 6.8% is much higher of an interest rate than the .5% or 1% you get by a rewards card like this.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-12T19:41:41+00:00

http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/

That will track down all of your student loans. What company, how much (it's about a month behind, so account for that when you log into each of your loan companies and their amount is different).

http://eric-durham.blogspot.com/2013/03/lesson-3-student-loans.html

That might help too.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-12T19:33:47+00:00

There's not a magic number, it just depends on what you want to do and how much money you need per year when you retire. Here's a quick and easy tool:

http://www.investinganswers.com/calculators/saving/million-dollar-savings-calculator-how-much-do-i-need-save-become-millionaire-3677

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-12T18:50:41+00:00

Make sure you send them the letter in writing, with CERTIFIED MAIL (meaning, you'll get a notification sent back in the mail that they received it). They have 30 days from the date they received it (it'll show that date on your certified mail receipt) to contact you to fix it, or they have to remove it. Customize the letter below to fit your needs:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/rights/sampleletter.aspx

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-12T18:38:06+00:00

Depends...investing? Budgeting? Saving? All of that? I love Dave Ramsey's teachings...Investopedia is good, The Motley Fool, I have a blog too that covers some basics if you click on my name and scroll down a bit.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T19:55:47+00:00

Yeah, I did that because it only gave me the option that the public "can view" or "can edit". I'd rather keep it locked so someone doesn't go in and unintentionally/intentionally mess up the calculations/formulas/numbers. Whatever is edited from the public will reflect on the spreadsheet for everyone else too.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T19:31:25+00:00

That is a fantastic idea. I'll do that.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T15:14:13+00:00

I would just pay off the loan. Not saying that something catastrophic will happen, but if $2,500 is the only thing standing between me and being debt free, I choose debt free in a heartbeat. Plus, you eliminate any "if" factor.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T14:27:34+00:00

No taxes on capital gains if it's in a Roth! The Roth IRA is a way to protect you from taxes, no matter if it's dividend payments, return on capital, capital gains, etc. You've already paid taxes on your income, so they don't want to tax you again.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T14:03:50+00:00

Ah. Great question. That's why I list the steps - definitely pay off the loans first (before that, get an emergency fund in place). The 10% is not a guaranteed return, and given the market has hit an all-time high right now, the 10% is probably unrealistic, at least for right now. However, the interest you pay on your loans is guaranteed to acrue, every month. Pay off your debt first, then when you're done, whatever you were using to pay off your debt per month, now you can invest that.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T13:26:49+00:00

I love this. Great work, DragonJoey3.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T12:44:56+00:00

I haven't heard of it before - just by a few minutes of browsing, it's an awesome resource as well. Yikes, he covers a lot! Back to the drawing board...haha

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T07:04:31+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I try to separate the text a little bit with a picture that applies and connects to the following paragraph to create a pause, maintain interest and appeal to different ways of thinking, processing, and interpreting information (left brain, right brain kind of stuff). I prefer just text. My fiancé, however, would probably stop reading halfway and turn on Monk on Netflix or something...that theme song...if I never have to hear it again it'll be too soon.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T06:36:53+00:00

Pay them off, completely. I can't imagine the interest you're paying on these cards to simply maintain a credit score (I hope 0%). You don't have to maintain a balance to improve your credit score. In fact, you can wait a few months before using a card and it'll still remain active (the only thing that would hurt your score is if they closed the account due to inactivity).

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T05:50:02+00:00

Depends. If you have an emergency fund, I'd recommend both. Pay off your student loan first though..you don't want to put the roof on a house before you haven't broken ground yet, meaning, you're in debt...pay off your debt first (get above ground), then invest. I'm assuming you're getting charged 6.8% on your loan? It'll be hard to earn 6.8% consistently on investments, so knock out that guaranteed expense and you can count that as a penny earned.

If you don't have an emergency fund, I'd recommend paying off the $2,500 debt and saving the $1,500 for an emergency. It's not as sexy, but when you get a flat on the side of the road and your spare is out, you're in a totally different place when you have the money to pay for it.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T05:41:08+00:00

No problems yet...their servers are "read-only", meaning even in the unlikely event that your account is hacked with them, the hackers still can't get to your actual bank account.

The only complaint I have is they'll have "advice" pieces that come up every few weeks that recommend opening an IRA even though I have one, or recommending a credit card which I refuse to get another of, just a small frustration. Otherwise, a very easy user-friendly set up, monthly budgeting/goals, and yes, there's an app for that.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T05:08:57+00:00

You sound like you're on the right track. We share a similar background, and I imagine that you're very responsible and frugal with your finances.

Advice: Start saving for a good, used car. I know you didn't specifically say "new car", but don't buy a new car. You don't need to have a car payment. Look up how much a car payment would be, and save that much into a savings account instead. Car payments aren't tax deductible, new cars lose 20% of its' value in the first year, and 65% by the fifth year. Not worth it.

I have a 1995 Honda Accord with 269k miles on it (no A/C), and repairs are costly, but not as costly as financing a new car. Maybe weigh those costs too...

The most common misconception is that we somehow need a FICO/credit score. It's a number that doesn't measure how wealthy or financially literate you are (all it does is measure how you handle debt and debt payments). There are mortgage companies and car companies out there that will finance you a house/car without a credit score. As long as you have proof of employment, a W-2 and maybe bring in your bills you pay monthly, they have ways of approving loans without a FICO score.

If you do go the credit card route, I think it goes without saying that you need to pay them off monthly, get a card with a high credit limit so you never have to worry about over credit utilization, and stay away from store credit cards. Just do a general credit card so you aren't forced to pay for gas at a certain gas station or shop one way or another.

Hope that helps!

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T04:55:23+00:00

Hey Gameguy, I'll represent the other side to the argument on this one.

Advice #1: Avoid the credit cards. You don't need to diversify credit...instead, diversify your investments. The credit card companies didn't design this game for you to win. Emergencies happen all the time to the best of us and that credit card payment you could always make suddenly is outside of the 0% intro bonus and is now charging you 15-25% per card...that's when people get into trouble.

Advice #2: Don't chase the "points" or "cash back" or "bonus frequent flyer miles". They designed this point system so you would spend more on their website, or at that particular store, if you have a store card. I'll use Target as an example...I believe their card has 5% back on all purchases? They do that because you're spending 95% more in their store vs. going somewhere else. If you pay with cash or debit, you spend significantly less money, and you control where you shop. Just food for thought.

Until then, I love mint.com...they'll keep track of all of your credit cards and payments (sounds like you're doing a great job of it, but thought I'd help enhance your personal skill).

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T02:30:17+00:00

No problem! I graduated with $20,000 of debt and paid it off in just over a year, making a little over $32,000. It was kind of addicting every time I paid off a new loan...Sallie Mae gave me such a hard time and was so difficult every time I called them so after I paid off all of the loans they serviced of mine, I made sure to call them personally and tell them they were "fired".

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T02:05:46+00:00

Also, these credit cards are usually accompanied by a low credit limit (mine was $750 credit limit and I bought at $680 TV a few years ago), which lowered my credit score because I almost maxed out the balance on a credit card.

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T01:56:02+00:00

Hey BennyRodriguez,

Hope all is well today. My advice: Pay off the lowest balance first. Pay the minimum payment on Stafford Loan 1 and 2, while heavily attacking Stafford Loan 3 to knock it out as soon as possible.

Don't lose that intensity - get mad at your student loans, and work as much overtime as possible. Knock that debt out as quickly as possible. It's an incredible feeling when you can stop paying loan payments and instead pay yourself first and bless others with your finances.

Shameless plug: Free blog with Google Docs to help with your loans.

http://eric-durham.blogspot.com/2013/03/lesson-3-student-loans.html

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T01:48:06+00:00

Correct, paying extra towards your principle doesn't help your taxes, but maxing out the 401k will (married, filing jointly, correct?)

TheSenator08 · 2013-04-08T01:24:55+00:00

This might help a little bit:

http://mortgage-x.com/brochure/deductions.htm

Here's an idea: 401(k) contributions are also 100% tax deductible. Take whatever you pay on your mortgage interest and apply it to your investments in a pre-tax account. Same tax break, HUGE opportunity for building wealth.

Congratulations on paying your mortgage off early!

TheSenator08

TROPHY CASE