Good Financial Reads: Debt Management

Three Reasons why Pre-Paying Your Mortgage is Getting More Popular

by Craig Joncas, Penobscot Financial Advisors

One option for those with mortgages and home equity loans is to pay those down more aggressively. Shortening a mortgage can result in big savings in the overall interest cost over the life of a loan. The challenge, from a planning standpoint, is to accurately project interest cost savings (easy) and compare it with extra investment returns gained if cash is invested (not as easy).

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Snowballs, Avalanches and Psychology

by Craig Joncas, Penobscot Financial Advisors

This one will leave the quant guys and gals scratching their heads:

Jeff and Kathy are both in the same exact situation. They both have two credit cards where they carry the exact same balances:

Jeff and Kathy have the same minimum required payment. And, both of them have budgeted in to pay $250 / month more than the minimum.

The only difference: Jeff decides to attack the higher balance ($15,000) card with the additional $250 per month. His logic is simple: this card has a higher interest rate, so paying the extra money to that card will get him out of debt sooner.

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Pay Off Student Debt Faster

by Nathan Schorsch, Head to Toe Financial Planning

Student loans have become so prevalent among younger generations that they have become the first or second question I get when talking about financial planning. Whether you graduate with 300k or 50k in student loans, nobody wants to have that debt hanging over their heads as they start their careers. While student loans can get complicated quickly, there are definitely ways to hasten your exit from their reach.

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How to Efficiently Manage Debt Strategy Guide

by Lucas Casarez, Level Up Financial Planning

Got Debt? If you are like most Americans or a majority of my clients, you do. Debt, in general, doesn’t have to be a bad thing, though those who use it without a plan tend to find themselves using it improperly. We’ll review the power of properly using debt, the downsides of debt, why being debt free isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and how to manage debt efficiently.

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