Category: Mortgages

15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgages (Part 2): Which is Better for You?

Quick! Which would you rather have: a 30-year mortgage at 4% or a 15-year mortgage at 3.25%? I thought I knew the answer — the 15, right? — until I recently spent a good deal of time what-if’ing the numbers. And what I found surprised me.

San Francisco Realty Realities Bite or Nourish, Depending on Which Side You’re On

I am fortunate to live in Noe Valley, San Francisco, California, USA, North America, Earth. I am doubly fortunate to have bought a house in En-Vee Ess-Eff See-Eh in 1996 (though admittedly the downside of this time scaling is that it puts me well into the second half — final […]

Top 10 Financial Decisions that Most People Take a Powder On — and Shouldn’t

According to The Free Dictionary, to take a powder means, “To leave a place suddenly, especially in order to avoid an unpleasant situation, as in, He saw the police coming and took a powder.” Lots of folks take lots of powders on lots of financial decisions. Doing so is never as effective […]

15-Year vs. 30-Year Mortgages (Part 1): Fun with Pix and Historic Data

A few days ago I wrote about the difference between tax-deferred retirement accounts and tax-paid retirement accounts, and commented about how the difference between the two is akin to a choice between instant gratification (for TDAs) and delayed gratification (for TPAs). So how about taking that same framework to mortgages? […]

On Shelter Comings and Goings, and Refinancings: The Certainty of Uncertainty

One week off from writing, and I felt at a loss for a topic, until listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio this morning and then . . . I listened to Dave answer an emailed question along the lines of, “Dave, I can re-fi my mortgage, which is at 5.125%, […]

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