With home prices at an all-time high and interest rates surging, does it make sense to withdraw money from your retirement savings to buy your next house? According to a new survey by the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) in collaboration with the Transamerica Institute, it appears many people are already exercising this... Continue Reading →

When applying for any new line of credit, especially a major one like a mortgage or auto loan, the lender needs some reassurance that you’ll be able to make your payments. In addition to checking your credit score, another metric that they’ll be interested in is something called your debt-to-income ratio. This figure is simply... Continue Reading →

If you were one of the millions of Americans hoping that as much as $20,000 of your federal student loan debt would soon be forgiven, then I have bad news. On June 30th, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court officially struck down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program in a 6-3 decision ruling. Why? They stated... Continue Reading →

Since March 2020, federal student loan borrowers have not had to make a single payment or had interest charged against their outstanding balance. However, three years and nine extensions later, it has officially been signed into law that borrowers will officially have to begin making payments again starting 60 days after June 30, 2023 (at... Continue Reading →

If you're considering moving, refinancing your mortgage, or attempting to cash in on the dramatic rise in home prices that's occurred over the past few years, then you may want to pump the breaks. Prospective home shoppers are finding that the overall cost of buying property is substantially more money than it was before the... Continue Reading →

Most people know that if you don’t pay off your credit cards each month you’ll be charged interest. However, for one reason or another, so many of us allow this debt to accumulate anyways. According to research by Go Banking Rates, more than half (53 percent) of Americans carry a revolving balance on their credit... Continue Reading →

While millions of federal student loan borrowers are eagerly awaiting to see if the supreme court allows President Biden to fulfill his promise of forgiving as much as $20,000 in debt per student, the Department of Education has silently released the details of a new student loan repayment plan - one that could be just... Continue Reading →

2022 has been a whirlwind year for interest rates. The year started off with the federal funds rate (i.e., the interest rate range set by the U.S. Federal Reserve) between 0.25% to 0.50%. However, after multiple unprecedented rate hikes - escalating at one of the fastest paces in 40 years - the new federal funds... Continue Reading →

With interest rates on the rise as a result of efforts by the U.S. Federal Reserve to curb inflation, consumers in the market for a new mortgage have seen APRs essentially double over the course of 2022. At the end of October, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.94%. That's up 3.85 percentage points from... Continue Reading →

With inflation stubbornly hovering at a rate of 8 percent throughout most of 2022, its general effect on the economy has been less than desirable - rising interest rates, drops in the stock market, and higher prices all around for consumers.  But could there be some sliver of good to come from inflation? At least... Continue Reading →