Should You Buy a Home or Keep Renting? How To Decide in 7 Steps
It’s a big question with no easy answer: Should you keep renting, or is it time to think about buying a home? One of the major benefits of being a homeowner is building equity with each mortgage payment, instead of putting money into your landlord’s pocket. But that doesn’t mean buying is always the best…
Read MoreU.S. News: Social Security Retirement Age Hits 66 and 10 Months in 2021
While a retiree can begin claiming his or her Social Security benefits at age 62, payments at that age will be reduced for anyone seeking them before full retirement age. As of January 1, for many Americans full retirement age does not begin until someone reaches age 66, but also not right at the birthday,…
Read More4 Crucial Questions To Ask Your Partner Before Buying a House Together
If you’re hoping to buy a house with your significant other, it can be easy to get caught up in the fun stuff, like deciding the style of home you’d love (Victorian, midcentury modern, Cape Cod?) and finding the perfect neighborhood (downtown or middle of the woods?). Still, don’t be fooled: The home-buying process is…
Read MoreDeciding if a Reverse Mortgage Makes Sense for You
A reverse mortgage, specifically a federal government-sponsored Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), has a lot of moving parts that may make the product concept intimidating for some people. For those who are looking for alternative ways to try and create more cash flow in retirement, there are clear benefits as well as some inherent complexities…
Read MoreOwn a Rental Property? Why Filing Your Taxes This Year Rules
My husband and I recently purchased our first rental property. Over the past few months, we’ve repaired and renovated the 1930s-era home, and are starting to look for tenants. And it turns out, our timing couldn’t be better: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made several changes for rental property owners that portend a more…
Read MoreHome Prices Are Falling in These Cities—While They’re Rising Just About Everywhere Else
Everyone by now has some familiarity with America’s daunting pandemic-era real estate math: Take an all-consuming demand for new homes and bigger spaces, add in low mortgage rates and historically paltry inventory levels, and it all equals home prices that are skyrocketing to unheard of heights. And it seems to be happening just about everywhere.…
Read MoreUSA Today: Reverse Mortgage Could Help Retirees Avoid Exhausting Funds
The judicious use of a reverse mortgage has the potential to aid those at or near retirement in avoiding exhausting their financial resources while on a fixed income, something that is likely of particular interest to those who are concerned of outliving their resources well after they’ve retired from a career. This is according to…
Read More5 Sweet Tax Deductions When Selling a Home: Did You Take Them All?
You may be wondering if there are tax deductions when selling a home. And the answer is: You bet! Sure, you may remember way back to 2018 and its new tax code—aka the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—changed some rules for homeowners. But rest assured that if you sold your home in 2020 (or are…
Read MoreWhat People Over 50, Short on Retirement Savings Should Do to Prepare
If someone is over the age of 50 with less than $100,000 in retirement savings to his or her name, then there are a few key things that person should be doing to make sure that retirement will not be a burden when it comes in the next 10-15 years. These include determining a realistic…
Read MoreDid You Skip Mortgage Payments Last Year? Here’s What That Means for Your Taxes
Amid the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans opted to pause their monthly mortgage payments. That choice could have implications for their taxes this year — and in years to come. In March, as COVID-19 began to wreak havoc on the job market and caused millions of Americans to lose their…
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