I heard this same line from my investment advisor 7-8 years ago, "don't pay off your house, invest instead".  That's just bull...  My loan was at 6% back then, which was a good rate, and fortunately I ignored his advice.  Obviously, the stock market didn't provided a consistent return during that time, so paying off th...more

If you think about who benefits and who gets hurt when interest rates are very low, you'll see that debtors benefit from low rates, while creditors suffer.  And, who do we know who carries huge debts?  Our government.  I think the interest rates are low so that they govt can keep their books somewhat balanced - I don't...more

I think it's pretty obvious that the author has never cooked anything in his life, so he should not be writing this article.

The glaring problem I find with most retirement articles is that they never discuss how long you are likely to live.  I think the average life-span of a man is about 77 years, so if you retire at 65 you'll need, on average, savings to last only 12 years.  $1-$2M is a lot more than you'll need to live 12 years.    ...more

I just paid my house off at the age of 43.  I completely disagree with people who talk about 'nearly free money' with the tax deductions.  I don't think they fully understand the details.   1.  If you borrow $200K at 4% for 30 years, you will pay $143K in interest.  That's $143,000 in interest payments alone.  That...more

I'm 43 and just paid my house off 2 days ago!  It took me 8 years total, though I had a 30 year mortgage.  I paid extra on every payment, and was pretty darn frugal for the past 3 years.   The most important thing that worked to my advantage was to drive a cheap car.  People spend way too much money on new cars.  I...more

This just seems to be more of the I'm just a poor victim mentality in the US.  Nobody put a gun to your head and forced you to take a loan that you couldn't possibly repay.  People need to take responsibility for their own decisions, and stop blaming everyone else.   What would you say if the banks suddenly raised ...more

Olive Garden is a trifecta of fail.  The food tastes bad, is way overpriced for what it is, and is very unhealthy.  I got chicken marsala there once, and I could only taste salt and sugar.  No suprise, because one serving has about 1500 mg of sodium, which is an entire days supply for anyone over 40.

mauitime wrote:  In most cases, if you take the higher rate, you are being penny-wise and pound-foolish!  The advantage of a 'free' refinance is that there is absolutely no risk, and you reap the benefits of the lower rate immediately.  A prepaid refi has a built-in risk, in that if you move too soon you can easily l...more