private mortgage insurance

Before you buy a home, you should obtain a pre-approval letter from the mortgage lender that states how much you’re eligible to borrow. This provides you with two important information: (1) the price range that you should be focusing on, and (2) the starting point for your monthly mortgage payments calculation. You can use an [...]

While there are many different opinions as to how much debt is too much, the two ratios below are the most widely used measures of how much debt is manageable. These ratios are also known as debt to income ratios (DTI). Many of you are reading this and other personal finance blogs in an attempt [...]

Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps is a financial plan designed to help you get your finances in order, get out of debt, and achieve financial freedom. Dave Ramsey has taught these Baby Steps to millions via radio, The Total Money Makeover, Financial Peace University, and on DaveRamsey.com. In this article, I’d like to walk you through [...]

In this  Ask the M-Network article, PJ shared information about his home and his desire to buy a house that just came on the market. Should he refinance is current home, or sell it to buy the new one? Should he buy the new home and rent out the old one? Here’s the question from [...]

In this Ask the M-Network article, Rebekah shared that she and her husband are thinking about buying a house.  However, they are also $36,000 in credit card debt and can only make minimum payments. Is now the time to buy a house? More importantly, should they buy a house? Here’s the question from Rebekah:
My husband [...]

The other day, I wrote about getting cash through reverse mortgages.  Today, I want to explore refinancing to access money locked up in your home equity. I think it’s a good idea to learn about these options in face of the economic crisis and record high unemployment rate.  You never know when your home equity [...]

Reverse mortgages are one way senior homeowners who are 62 years and older may be able to tap the home equity.  A reverse mortgage gives the homeowner money they need without having to leave the house and without having to repay the loan until the owner dies, the home is sold, or the house is [...]

The financial terms below are commonly used throughout this web site.  Clicking on a term will send you to the term page with a brief definition and a list of articles related to the term.

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401(k)
529 Plan

Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
Alternative Income
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
Annuity
Arbitrage
Asset Allocation
Asset Location

Bond
Bond Fund
Budgeting

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Capital Gains
Certificate of Deposit (CD)
Commodities
Contribution Limit
Correlation
Credit Report
Credit [...]

I think we can sum up the cause of our current economic crisis in one word — GREED.  Over the years, mortgage lenders were happy to lend money to people who couldn’t afford their mortgages.  But they did it anyway because there was nothing to lose.  These lenders were able to charge higher interest rates [...]

Last Friday, I received a question from one of my readers. He asked that I respond publicly so that others may pitch in with their opinions. However, I took it a step further and passed his question to a few blogger friends and I’ve included their answers here as well.
I am an avid reader of [...]