 Free Financial Advice »
Information, tools and opinions on personal finance topics.
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 Young Money Magazine »
Articles, surveys and information about money management for young adults.
Fortune - Why Johnny can't save for retirement
- Brain research is revealing how human urges and impulses can overrule logical thought when it comes to making decisions about saving vs. buying now.
(March 08, 2005)
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 Dinkytown Financial Calculators »
Mortgage, auto, loan, investment, retirement, and tax calculators.
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 Pre-K Finance »
Activities and resources, parent-and-child tested, meant to give ideas for teaching how money works and what it can do, for talking about how your family uses money, and for modeling good money management.
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 Money Magazine: 50 Smartest Things To Do With Your Money »
List of actions to take which almost certainly will lead to decreased spending or increased income.
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 Epinions: Personal Finance »
Consumer-generated reviews.
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 Steve Rosen at the Kansas City Star - Kids and Money Column »
Kids and Money Column
- Regular articles covering topics usually directly related to raising kids or teaching them how to responsibly handle money.
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 Finance Advocate »
Information about consumer finance, mortgages, insurance, autos and credit repair.
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 Working Woman's Guide To Financial Security »
A series of financial planning guides for women.
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 Financial Recovery Counseling Institute »
Helps clients transform their relationship with money and credit.
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 NPR : Financial Planning for Retirement »
Many Americans find it difficult to save for retirement. For helpful tips on how to save for the golden years, Renee Montagne speaks with Jonathan Clements, financial columnist for The Wall Street Journal. [4:52 streaming audio broadcast]
(March 01, 2005)
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 Steve Rhode »
Nationally recognized money guide who assists people in eliminating financial obstacles.
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 ChoiceNerd.com »
Personal finance tips and warnings for consumers.
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 Hugh's Financial Calculators »
Large collection of tools for evaluating mortgage rates, retirement options, tax policies, the lifetime effects of daily personal expenditures, savings and investment options, and other personal finance topics.
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 Practical Money Skills for Life - Financial Literacy Program »
Financial Literacy Program
- Offered by Visa. Offers financial literacy lessons, resources, games and calculators.
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 Choose to Save »
A site completely devoted to financial education. Articles and calculators for thinking about many money-related situations.
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 SpendOnLife.com »
Offers consumers comparison shopping on long distance, credit reports, insurance, loans and debt counseling.
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 The Wealth Academy »
Help for the Business of Your Life includes free downloadable newspaper articles on mortgage strategies, debt management, wealth creation, tax savvy strategies, and estate planning. Archived copyrighted content posted by mortgage and financial experts for free distribution.
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 National Endowment for Financial Education »
Foundation dedicated to the mission of helping all Americans acquire the information and gain the skills necessary to take control of their personal finances. Offers grants and fellowships. Includes lesson material to augment their high school educational program.
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 WalletPop »
Learn about money management, ask and answer questions and read opinions from the blog.
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 SavingAdvice.com »
Articles, tips, quizzes, weekly newsletter and daily saving challenge.
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 AOL Coaches - Money »
Money
- Offers expert money and financial advice and tips.
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 The Dave Ramsey Show »
Host of a nationally syndicated radio program discussing personal finance topics. Strongly emphasizes reducing, avoiding, and eliminating debt.
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 How to Manage Money »
Advice on how to manage money from a Biblical perspective.
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 InfoChoice »
Provides comparisons and consumer information for a variety of financial products and services in Australia.
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 Financial Freedom Seminars »
Offers principles on becoming an astute money manager from budgeting to investing.
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 Tomorrow's Money »
Financial articles with advice on how anyone, especially young adults, can and should save and invest wisely for the future.
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 National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) »
A nationwide network that promotes economic literacy with students and their teachers.
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Make sure that your original mortgage does not have a pre-payment penalty or early payoff penalty of any kind. Sometimes people will get into their mortgage with the mortgage having a pre-payment penalty and they will not even know about it. Pre-payment penalties usually range from 6 months to 3 years with a penalty for an early payoff. The penalty is usually about the amount of 6 months worth of your mortgage loan interest, but this varies. You would have to be able to have some significant payment and interest savings on your refinance loan to justify refinancing a mortgage loan with a pre-payment penalty.
Changing the term of your mortgage can help in several ways. First, if you were to refinance your current mortgage from 30 years to 15 years, you will accelerate the rate at which you pay towards principle each month meaning your house will be paid off quicker. Also, you will save an unbelievable amount of money in terms of interest because you would likely be taking 10 to 15 years off the life of your loan. Second, you can also refinance a 15 year mortgage to a 30 year mortgage. It seems like it might not make sense to do this, but if you have an immediate need to free up monthly cash-flow and you don't want to take out a home equity loan, this can work out to your benefit. When you take a 15 year loan and refinance it to 30 years you will have the same balance only the payments can be hundreds of dollars less than the 15 year loan. The only draw back to this is you will pay more in interest over the live of the loan.