For some time now, Wells Fargo has offered a mortgage acceleration through the use of a home equity account. They package the two as a means of managing finances and paying off a mortgage faster.
This process is referred to as an offset account and involves the use of a home equity line to reduce the amount of interest paid on a mortgage.
According to Wells Fargo, their software lets you:
Work with your growing asset without reapplying. As principal payments decrease the mortgage loan, qualified customers may become eligible for quarterly increases in their home equity line of credit. Rising market values may also be reflected in annual increases.
Access funds in many convenient ways. Request a home equity access card or use the convenience checks you’ll automatically receive. You can also go online, visit any local Wells Fargo Bank branch, or speak to our dedicated account representatives.
Set guidelines that suit your needs and your comfort level. You can choose to decline — or limit the amount of — any increase to your line of credit.
Plan for life events and make informed financial choices. It’s easy with a simplified monthly statement that combines your first mortgage and home equity account information.
Factor potential benefits into your financial plan. Unlike other types of credit or some installment loans, the interest you pay on your home equity line of credit may be tax-deductible.
Convert all or part of your line of credit’s outstanding balance to a fixed-rate, fixed-term advance. You can choose to convert to a fixed-rate, fixed-term advance anytime during the draw period. Depending on the amount you convert, you can have repayment options that may fit your monthly budget and further your financial goals.
Some sites warn that while Wells Fargo is one of the few banks to offer this product, that one may end up with a poor loan rate on their HELOC and may be better off finding a lender with the lowest rate.
This is where Money Desktop can be useful. The Money Desktop software allows a user to use a line of credit as a means of paying off their mortgage early. It’s also significantly cheaper than the thousands one may end up spending in fees to Wells Fargo.
Most financial management programs focus only on the past, allowing users to see the mistakes that were made but failing to provide insight on the current situation. MoneyDesktop helps users identify their immediate financial needs and prepare for the future.
In addition to the budgeting features traditionally included in financial planning software, MoneyDesktop offers new ways for the everyday user to take advantage of saving strategies. Their collection of expert tools helps users manage their financial future by running interest-comparison scenarios, evaluating the impact of potential purchases, or applying one of many debt management techniques.
MoneyDesktop is also the only personal financial management program to offer:
* Debt prioritization. Users save on interest and get out of debt sooner by sorting their bills by greatest priority.
* Mortgage acceleration. The included mortgage acceleration suite, sold elsewhere for $3,500 or more, helps homeowners pay off their home loans in half or even a third of the time.
* Money-saving incentives. Discounts on utilities and shopping deals let users save even more.
“There are a lot of financial planning programs out there,” said MoneyDesktop President Seth Risenmay. “But, we wanted to create something different. MoneyDesktop not only helps clients see where their money is going, it helps them make smart financial decisions.”
Many Americans do not carry health insurance, far more do not carry any sort of vision care. Those facing employment issues or pressing optical issues they cannot afford often do not realize that there are options out there for the uninsured.
Vision USA is a free program offered in the United States to those with qualifying incomes that provides optical care to those that qualify.
While requirements vary in every state, generally in order to receive free services, you must:
Have a job or live in a household where there is one working member
Have no vision insurance (this may include Medicare/Medicaid)
Have income below an established level based on household size
Not have had an eye exam within two years
Health care programs such as the above combined with discount prescriptions can help avoid getting into hopeless debt when medical emergencies occur.
Many tech employers have made the news in recent years for offering unbelievable perks to their employees such as free massages. In contrast, some employers have instituted ridiculous requirements on their workers that can leave them owing their employer money at the end of a work day.
State laws generally serve to protect employees, but many employers get by instituting unfair policies or illegally disregarding labor rules. Reporting an employer’s violation may lead to them being penalized, but will almost always result in the whistleblower being fired.
Waiter/Waitress at a Diner – In many states, restaurants such as Denny’s pay their servers as little as $2.13 an hour with the expectation that tips (which are taxed!) will make up for the low wages. Tips can be abysmally absent in a slow economy or during the night shift, leaving one’s wages well below minimum wage. While most restaurants are required to pay a tip differential, servers rarely see it.
Newspaper Journalist – Often requiring a great deal of time, stress, and travel, a journalist enjoys very little job security in today’s newspapers. With high numbers of layoffs, a journalist must often dedicate more than 40 hours a week to handle the increased work load. Those starting in the field can expect to make less than $35,000 a year during their first five years, and few last longer than that.
Gas Station Attendant – Most gas station attendants are required to pay for drive-offs, so when gas prices are high, a thief can cost you your day’s wages. In addition, most customer treat you poorly, particularly when gas prices are up. Sadly, the attendants don’t even get a discount on filling up their own cars.
Cab Driver – With gas prices up and more people avoiding unnecessary expenses, cab drivers are increasingly finding themselves losing money as they drive around looking for fares. Even with customers, trips tend to be shorter and tips are shrinking. Consistently rated as one of the worst jobs, driving a cab can actually be a money losing occupation after expenses.
Nursing – Taking care of the infirm is both stressful and messy. The relatively low wages in relation to the amount of schooling required leaves many nurses wondering why they chose their careers.
School Teacher - Tenure can make it difficult to fire a teacher, but it hasn’t stopped New York City from sitting hundreds of teachers in rooms with nothing to do. Every day. For years. Often resulting as a punishment for upsetting administration, a teacher can be left with the unfulfilling assignment of sitting unproductively with no one to teach.
What do CEOs, professional sports athletes, and high ranking government officials have in common? They all expect incredible salaries. These positions are extremely scarce rather than simply overpaid.
If everyone could play basketball well enough to make the NBA, the salaries would quickly drop from being 100 times that of a public school teacher to a more reasonable amount.
But, not every high paying position is limited to the mega-talented. Some jobs let anyone earn a six figure income without having advanced education or outstanding ability.
Want to be happily overpaid? Here are five high-income occupations pretty much anyone can do:
Wedding Photographers – Charging between $2,000 and $6,000 per wedding, wedding photographers are incredibly overpaid. Total work for each wedding is generally just a sit-down consultation combined with a single day spent following the happy couple. While equipment costs and film development must be covered, thanks to digital technology such costs have been heavily reduced. Unfortunately for the consumer, photographers do not offer any reduction in price for missed photos, amateur shots, or other mediocre work product.
Motivational Speakers – While former political office holders such as Rudy Giuliani easily command 6 figures per speech, there are thousands of ‘gurus’ across the United States turning a significant profit on very little work. For-profit seminars often charge attendees up to $100 per hour to listen to speakers with little if any actual experience. Often, posting an ad in the newspaper combined with some local signage and flyers is enough to convince several dozen people to come to a ‘free seminar’. These meetings are then used to pressure the attendees into spending several thousand dollars to attend the seminars where the ‘real’ secrets to success will be shared.
Timeshare Sales Associate – Anyone willing to work in these high pressure sales environments can earn more than $100,000 with 20 hour work weeks and no education. The downside is that most if not all of the money earned is tied to commissions. A sales associate earns between $1,000 and $5,000 per sale, with a steady stream of 1-3 potential clients committing to listen to your sales approach every day. Still, with average salaries in excess of $40,000, selling timeshares makes more money than being a teacher
Real Estate Agent – Anyone willing to dedicate 200 hours to attending real estate school, and pony up roughly $1,000 in licensing fees can become a real estate agent. With commissions of 3% per sale, the small amount of work required in selling just two $300,000 homes will earn an agent more than a year working full time on a minimum wage job.
Longshoremen – No education is required for the unionized job of handling shipping cargo. With wages in excess of $100,000 per year, this job pays far more than one could expect performing construction or any other manual labor.
photo credit: TheTruthAbout
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