Personal Finance Tips and Financial Advice

Covering common personal finance decisions including taking out your first home mortgage loan, refinancing that mortgage, the value of home improvement, pursuing a flexible spending account for dependent care of health expenses, or getting peer to peer lending.

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A ductless air conditioner - why not install one now and save some money!

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Ductless Air Conditioners: Comprehensive Guide Ductless Air Conditioners are increasing in popularity and use for a variety of reasons. In fact, ductless air c(...)

Sometimes one of the best personal finance decisions you can make is upgrading your home through home improvement projects that improve the look, comfort or functionality of your home.  Taken a step further, look to do home improvement projects in the off-season, allowing you to save more because manufacturers want to sell excess inventory and installers want the work. 

For example, look to install ductless air conditioning now before the spring and summer rush.

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We aim to provide you with information and advice about refinancing a home, everything from the timing of locking a rate and choosing a bank or broker, through understanding the title and appraisal process

http://www.shouldirefinancemyhome.com

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When should you refinance your home?  Often the answer is quite simple and depends on your current rate and the rates that are available.  But when there is not a major difference, or when you need cash out, or when the terms would change significantly the decision might not be so clear.  I have written a page that describes when to refinance your home when things are not as simple as generating savings through a lower interest rate: http://www.shouldirefinancemyhome.com/when-to-refinance/

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Our comprehensive and independent guide to the ductless mini split heat pump can help you choose the most effective and efficient system for your home.

Instead of upgrading your whole home heating or cooling system, how about just installing a ductless mini split system to cover those areas that your current system does not reach, or just to give your current central air conditioning or heating system a boost.  It may be more cost-effective than getting a brand new system.

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When to Refinance | Should I Refinance My Home

Know when to refinance your home mortgage in order to get a lower interest rate, better terms, or money for important projects.

The last post links to information and advice about the types of home mortgage refinance loans you can choose from, but this link will take you to information about when to refinance.  Sometimes it is simple: You refinance your home loan when you can get a lower rate and lower tour payments.  But at other times you may want to consider whether you want to extend your payments out for more years, or perhaps get a shorter term home loan.  You may also need to compare other terms and consider different mortgage products.  We want to help you not only answer the question “Should I refinance my home”, but also the very related question “When should I refinance my home?”

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The types of home mortgage are covered here, including many that you can pursue when it is time to refinance.

Knowing when to refinance your home loan requires you to know the types of home mortgage loans available.  I list some you may know and some you may have never heard of here.

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I just updated my website to solely focus on one question readers might have: “Should I refinance my mortgage?”.  The advice is independent, unbiased, and kept current.  My goal is to help people not only decide when to refinance, but also how to refinance and what kind of home loan to pursue.  I also give advice about finding the best home mortgage rates and getting the lowest rate you can.

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Does your home not have duct work, or is your current system, duct work or not, inefficient and in need of an upgrade?  Perhaps ductless heat and air could be a solution for you, whether to augment a current system or replace it: http://www.ductless.net/ductless-heat-air/

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Ductless mini split air conditioners allow you to individually control the cooling in specific zones of you home, potentially saving you money and energy.  As far as financial decision go regarding your home improvement possibilitioes, this choice can provide more efficient cooling than window boxes, and a less expensive way to get central air conditioning than adding to or upgrading duct work. 

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You may not be thinking of installing a renewable energy system at your home or business, but did you know that you can find peer to peer lending opportunities that allow you to help others who are?  Peer to peer lending, often seen as a subset of crowdfunding, can be used for many purposes, and many investors find that helping a homeowner or business owner install renewable energy system can be a good way to go - the loan may be less risky and the outcomes meaningful.  More about peer to peer loans: http://www.peertopeerlendingreview.com

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For a very few people, a flexible spending account is not a great idea.  If you have very high or low income, for example, you may find that an FSA does very little (low income in particular) or may even have a negative effect (higher income in particular).  The best suggestion is to either talk to a tax adviser, or if you don't use one re-run last year's taxes as if you made a different choice as far as an FSA.

Of course there may be different effects for different types of flexible spending account - you may find that a health reimbursement account works, but a dependent care account does not.  For most any and all FSAs do work, but it's still worth looking into.   

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As winter approaches don't overlook the potential of Ductless Heat Pumps.  These products offer energy-efficient and comfortable forced air heating to homes without ducts.They can also be used for homes with ducts if there are rooms or areas that are not getting effectively heated.

We provide a comprehensive buyer's guide to ductless.

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An often overlooked way to show any potential home buyer that you really cared about having the most up to date energy systems installed, and also to show a history of money savings on home energy bills, is to install renewable energy systems.  Whether rooftop wind turbines, solar panels, or geothermal energy, you can have success in increasing your home's value with renewable energy sources.

Providing comprehensive independent information about renewable energy systems such as solar panels, geothermal, and rooftop wind turbines

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The biggest factor in when to refinance is what the mortgage rates are at the time, but that does not mean you should ignore the possibility that you could get more favorable terms or some other perk that would make you choose a slightly higher rate.  For example, a shorter or longer term may benefit you, or a cash out refinance that allows you to do something like home improvements more cheaply, or perhaps a less common product like an assumable mortgage may be for you.  Still, usually the rate is the most important factor, but make sure you are not in a group who should be looking at other factors just as carefully!

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FSA Eligible expenses overview

FSA Eligible expenses overview

If there is one area that is most important to study and know about when you are thinking about your FSA, no matter whether you have a health spending account or a dependent care account, it is what the flexible spending account eligible expenses are.  Flexible spending account eligible expenses are, quite simply, those expenses that you are allowed to get reimbursement for through your FSA. …

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Overview of the types of FSA

Overview of the types of FSA

For many people whether or not to take on a flexible spending account is not the real question; Instead which flexible spending account to choose is what they need to determine.  Most workplaces that offer one type of flex spending account offer several, so if they offer a dependent care account they likely also offer a health spending account as well.  And as companies offer a more and more…

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