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Getting Personal
Getting Personal
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About the author
Christopher Farrell is economics editor of Marketplace Money, a nationally syndicated one-hour weekly personal finance show produced by American Public Media.Pages
My mom is living in a condo which we own together, however- it is her primary residence. In 1/07 we did an equity loan for $100,000 to pay for the mortgage and give her some extra money for expenses and maintenance, with the idea that it would be on the market and she would come to live with my family in Jan of 08'- unable to do that, she is now paying about 3 times the original payment, and is in bad health, so a reverzse mortgage is out of the question. My question is, should I try to refinance to fixed rate loan until we get it on the market, or continue to pay the current loan back at rate of 7.9? My credit score is 700-
Thank you- love your show!
Hi, My father recently died and we inherited enough money to purchace another house, perhaps as a rental. We were thinking of Silver City, New Mexico area. What do you think. I'm afraid of just leaving the money in a CD and watching it become worthless in this money environment. Suggestions? We are not stock market players.
We are planning to buy a house. My wife's credit is not as great as mine (760). So I would like to buy only in my name so that I can lock a better mortgage rate. What can I do so that my wife owns the house after me and has equal rights on the property ? What are my options.
Thanks.
I have been listening Market Place Money for about one month and I like it very much. I am a recent graduate student and I have the following questions:
1: As you suggested, it is good to start saving and investing early. I want to start now although it is already a little late (I have only been holding on-line savings and CD accounts.). Would you please tell me where to look to open accounts for different investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, municipal funds and even options. What are the options I have for these accounts, such as discretionary or non-discretionary? How do I know whether a specific website which allows me to open accounts is reliable? And can I open all the accounts in one place instead of holding multiple accounts from different website? Besides doing on line, what are the other methods to invest?
2: So far, my strategy in paying my credit card bill is to pay twice a month so that I do not owe any money. But I have heard that this is not an optimal way to gain good credit. And because I am not a big spender, I may end up with no credit history in this way. What would you recommend me to change in the way I manage my credit?
I have been listening Market Place Money for about one month and I like it very much. I am a recent graduate student and I have three questions:
1: As you suggested, it is good to start saving and investing early. I want to start now although it is already a little late (I have only been holding on-line savings and CD accounts.). Would you please tell me where to look to open accounts for different investment vehicles like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, municipal funds and even options. What are the options I have for these accounts, such as discretionary or non-discretionary? How do I know whether a specific website which allows me to open accounts is reliable? And can I open all the accounts in one place instead of holding multiple accounts from different website? Besides doing on line, what are the other methods to invest?
2: So far, my strategy in paying my credit card bill is to pay twice a month so that I do not owe any money. But I have heard that this is not an optimal way to gain good credit. And because I am not a big spender, I may end up with no credit history in this way. What would you recommend me to change in the way I manage my credit?
3: I just found an internship and it is highly likely that I will become a full-time employee of this company. I did not negotiate with them about the salary and did not even mention benefit yet. The human resource manage did not mention benefit either? How do I know what kind of benefits this company offers to employees? Will the type and amount of benefit be different for different levels of employees? What can I negotiate about benefits? What kinds of retirement benefits are there besides 401K?
My two children ages 21 & 22, are my mother's heirs. My son works during the summer and earns about $3,500 a year. This year my daughter will earn about $20,000. Their college is already paid for. Can my mother start an regular IRA for both of them? Is she limited to their amount of earnings or any other limitations?
thanks chris and tess , love the show
my question concerns investment firms and which one to go with. currently, im enrolled in tiaa-cref, but i read an article that i could do better investing with fidelity or t rowe. my portfolio is pretty diverse ( 67% equities, real estate 5%, guaranteed 10%, and fixed income 16%. And if thats the case, whats the best way to determine which investment firm to go with. also, im turning 60 in october, will be working until 70, but a couple of friends have suggested getting out of the market altogether and going into money markets instead. I know the market now is pretty poor, but it will turn one day ((I hope), and i figure another 10 years I should be okay.
thanks again, keep up the good work!
My girlfriend and I are planning to marry. She and I both own homes (in different states). We're looking at building a new home. We know there is a limitation on how long we have to re-invest the profits from selling our current homes. The question is, how to handle the timing in order to get maximum $ in our pocket? Do we get married first and put the money in jointly? Or should we put the money in separately and then get married?
Love the show, I have a limited tolerance for things financial (I balanced my checkbook once in 1973 I think) but I enjoy listening to your show because you give useful, common sense based advice. Great work, thanks.
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