Category: Personal Finance

How to best make a prepayment on your mortgage

One very important point I never hear discussed is what the lender does with the extra loan payments borrowers make. If you pay extra on your mortgage before it’s due, does the lender require that the next payment be paid on schedule or can you skip monthly payments corresponding to how much extra you’ve paid? It would seem that many payoff amounts calculated at some point in the future by the lender might go back to the original recorded security deed and original amortization schedule with the extra payments overlooked.

5 Steps for Tracking Your Monthly Expenses

But while thinking about your monthly financial picture is a great start, it isn’t enough to actually wrangle your expenses. The next move is tracking your spending on a regular basis so you can get an accurate picture of where your money is going and where you’d like it to go instead.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: 3 Things to Know

Steven Mnuchin, who was confirmed Monday night as the nation’s new secretary of the Treasury, is looking for major reforms in housing and other areas under the Trump administration. The hedge fund manager is a former executive and partner at Goldman Sachs , where he spent 17 years before founding Dune Capital Management.

3 Ways You Can Lose Your Social Security Benefits

Tens of millions of Americans rely on their Social Security benefits, and many are in a position in which they can’t really afford to lose their monthly checks. Yet there are a few situations in which the Social Security Administration can and will take away benefits for certain recipients.

Momentum investing explained

Portfolio manager and researcher Dr. Wesley Gray is at it again, looking for ways to build that proverbial better mousetrap. , which he co-wrote with Tobias Carlisle, and found it to be “solid piece of research that combines the successful value investing framework of Benjamin Graham and That these gentlemen have managed to publish two well researched and highly-analytical books in back-to-back years is a feat in and of itself.

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Financial literacy and money management are important life skills. Unfortunately, most people never study this in school, leaving many young adults ill-prepared to deal with their finances as they enter the work world, often in their early twenties.

The Smart Way to Get Your Credit Information

In this installment of Industry Focus: Financials , Motley Fool analyst Gaby Lapera talks with Dan Caplinger, The Fool’s director of investment planning, about the basics of getting credit information. From basic reports to proprietary scores, Gaby and Dan guide you through where you can get the information you need to make smart credit decisions.

3 Tax Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make

With tax season rapidly approaching, many of us are starting to gather our paperwork and work on hammering out our returns. But in reality, tax planning is something you should focus on year-round, and not just during the first few months of the year.

Here’s How Much the Average Senior Gets From Social Security Each Year

Though there are numerous possible channels of income available to senior citizens once they retire, Social Security can arguably be described as the most vital. According to data from the Social Security Administration , 61% of all seniors currently receiving benefits, as well as 71% of unmarried elderly beneficiaries, count on their Social Security benefits to comprise at least half of their monthly income.

30-Year vs. 15-Year Mortgage: Which Should I Pick?

The industry standard mortgage product in the United States is the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which is used by more than 85% of homebuyers. However, the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage has been gaining traction, as it can be a smart way to save thousands in interest charges over the term of your loan.

10 Frequently Asked IRA Questions

Individual retirement arrangements, or IRAs, are actively used by only about one-fifth of Americans. While many people have valid reasons for not using an IRA, like having a 401 at work, one of the most common reasons given for not contributing to an IRA is a lack of knowledge about this type of account.

Sears Says to Cut $1B in Costs, Shares Surge

Beleaguered retailer Sears Holdings Corp said on Friday it would cut costs by $1 billion and reduce debt and pension obligations by at least $1.5 billion this year, sending its shares soaring as much as 40 percent. The company also said it had sold five Sears full-line stores and two Auto Centers for $72.5 million in January, and had engaged Eastdil Secured to raise at least $1 billion from the sale of its real estate.

What Would a Repeal of Dodd-Frank Mean to Consumers?

With the political atmosphere unsettled at best, much of the current talk centers on unraveling the Dodd-Frank Act. But what would such a move mean to you? With the political atmosphere unsettled at best, much of the current talk out of Washington, D.C. centers on unraveling the Dodd-Frank Act .

How to Refinance a VA Loan

The benefits of a mortgage that’s backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs continue beyond the day your loan closes. You can lower your rate, tap into your home’s equity or even bring your conventional loan into the VA program by refinancing .

Retirement Planning? Couples, Mind the Age Gap

As you approach retirement together, that age gap becomes a factor in decisions about when you retire and when you take Social Security, and in planning how much money you need to save and how it should be invested. Especially if the younger partner is a woman, an age difference can mean you need your money to last longer.

Retirement Account Managers Required to Put Clients First

Retirement account managers can be required to put their clients’ interest first, a Texas federal judge ruled in a second case upholding Obama administration rules. Thwarting an industry-backed effort to block the requirement, the ruling follows an earlier decision by a judge in Washington that all financial advisers handling retirement accounts must meet a fiduciary standard.

7 Stocks Trending Up With Unusual Volume

Professional traders running mutual funds and hedge funds don’t just look at a stock’s price moves, they track big changes in volume activity . Often when above-average volume moves into an equity, it precedes a large spike in volatility.