Have you wondered how much money a bank or a mortgage broker makes when you do a mortgage refinance with them? By law, a mortgage broker must disclose their compensation but you often don’t see it until you get the final closing statement (“HUD-1”). In a post last year, Mortgage Broker vs Mortgage Lender, I […]
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Credit Card Rental Car Insurance Coverage Gaps
I said I have a weak point for sob stories because I keep getting drawn to them. Someone on Twitter led me to this story on CreditCards.com: Don’t automatically refuse extra rental car insurance coverage Kim rented a car from Alamo. She paid with her Discover card. Kim damaged the rental car when she backed […]
Vanguard New S&P ETF Ticker Symbols
With some fanfare, Vanguard launched nine new ETFs based on S&P indexes last week. When I first looked at the ticker symbols, I see a mess. All nine funds use a combination of V, I, O, and G. They are VOO, VOOV, VOOG, IVOO, IVOV, IVOG, VIOO, VIOV, and VIOG. After staring at them for […]
Mortgage Refinance: When to Lock?
I showed this chart in my previous post about comparing the total closing cost from different lenders. In addition to the cost difference across lenders, it also shows the total closing costs go up and down quite significantly from one day to another. Even with the least expensive lender, choosing when you lock your rate […]
Mortgage Refinance: Tradeoff Between Rate and Closing Cost
Say you chose a lender for your mortgage refinance. You still have to decide whether you should go for a lower rate with a higher closing cost or a higher rate but with no or minimal closing cost. You can also buy down the rate by paying points. Making the perfect decision requires a crystal […]
Mortgage Refinance: Which Lender?
As I mentioned last week, I’m doing a mortgage refinance with a lender I haven’t used before: First Internet Bank of Indiana ("First IB"). My previous two refi’s were done through National Mortgage Alliance (NMA). NMA did the jobs well both times. My last one finished in 2 weeks from application to closing. So why […]
Mortgage Refinance: Is Your Lender Legit?
How to research whether the bank, credit union, mortgage company, or mortgage broker is legit.
FT vs WSJ: Which is Better?
My Wall Street Journal subscription expired in July, but they are still sending me the paper. Maybe they wish I would renew, but I already started a subscription to Financial Times. Having both papers at the same time gives me an opportunity to put them side by side for a comparison. Both Financial Times (FT) […]
Hopping On Another Refi Train
I thought the last train for mortgage refinance left in March but the trains keep coming. Rates have gone lower and lower. I’m doing another refinance to lower my rate to 3.75% for a 15-year fixed rate loan. This time, instead of going to my twice favorite National Mortgage Alliance (NMA), I’m using a different […]
You Should Still Beware of A Bond Bubble
As interest rates go down and down, people have raised warnings for a possible bond bubble. Vanguard, being a major provider of bond mutual funds, has published several white papers and articles trying assure investors they should stick to bond funds and not worry about a bond bubble. Unfortunately the arguments put forward by Vanguard […]