Where Oh Where Does My Money Go?
Have you wondered why âgetting aheadâ seems so much harder for us than it did for our parentâs generation?
Is it because things simply cost so much more?â¦or maybe itâs because they were much better at making wise decisions with their money.
Or maybe, just maybe itâs because we are dying a slow financial death as interest slowly eats away at any additional money that was âear markedâ to save or invest.
Could it be that we are being bombarded with huge marketing campaigns that convince us to use our credit cards to buy far more than we need, and then refinance our homes to pay off that debt?
Thank goodness that many of us have 401kâs and pension plans in our workplace, because for many itâs the only money that is being saved at all, but since we canât really get to those dollars until we are 59 ½, you have to wonder whether weâll run out of money long before we ever have access.
If you look at what has happened to the average mortgage, the picture begins to reveal itself. Back in 1972 the median home price was under $30,000. So you can imagine how much the average mortgage was. But for the purpose of our analysis letâs say you financed $30,000 for 30 years. Even with higher interest rates the total interest paid on that 30 year loan was around $45,000.
Fast forward to 2007. The median home price is 211,000. If you financed the entire amount at 6.5% interest for 30 years, you would pay $269,117.00 in JUST INTEREST!
Now do you see where our money is going? Then if you add the fact that many of us our using our homes like giant ATM machines and sucking the equity out to pay off credit card debt, the picture looks even worse. Every time you get caught up in the refinance game, you are back to the starting line with a brand new mortgage where you are paying mainly interest for 21 years! Did you now that if you refinance in the first 5 years of that mortgage that you could be paying an effective interest rate over 100%?
So what can we do? We simply donât have the cash to go out and buy our homes outright, we need to have a mortgage. The answer lies in getting that mortgage paid off as quickly as possible.
In Australia the One Account accomplishes this very nicely, and on average they are paying $100,000 less in interest than we do here in the U.S. Their mortgages simply look like our checking accounts, so they deposit their paychecks into their âOneâ account, and take advantage of the float on their money. We all know that there is almost always some money that sits in your checking account for a few days at least until you need to pay it out on an expense. In Australia that âmoney floatâ is working against the interest on your mortgage.
Here in the States the banking laws donât permit us to utilize the âOne Accountâ concept. But companies are now stepping forward with versions that will work here to accomplish the same goal.
NBC News in Las Vegas recently aired a report on a Valet working at a Strip Casino. By using one of these products
He will pay off his home in under 5 years, and save over $300,000 in interest! There is the money he needs to begin to turn the corner and put his money to work for his future.
If you would like to view this report, itâs available at http://www.ownin5.com.
Itâs time that we all begin to do our homework and take a good look at what is happening as the financial landscape slowly changes.
What worked in our parents generation, may simply no longer make sense for us. We need new awareness, and as we realize where the leaks are in our financial pipes, the repairs can begin.
We need to realize that a ânew lower paymentâ may not be the answer, and that the wonderful refinance option with âno closing feesâ, may cost us more than we could ever imagine.
We need to open our minds to new ways, and thoroughly investigate all of our options. Our futures depend on it!
John Thompson
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/where-oh-where-does-my-money-go-157689.html

February 28th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Where does the Fed get the money that it loans to banks through the discount window?
Does the Fed just print the money? Also, when it was infusing money into the system by buying some kind of securities or bonds, where was that money coming from? Can someone explain the recent actions of the Fed. Thank you!
March 1st, 2009 at 3:32 am
Maybe the Fed is making all those big bucks taking surveys online or stuffing envelopes….
The Federal government has only one source of money — TAXES. They just shuffle from one pot to the other.
References :
March 1st, 2009 at 3:34 am
from you
References :
March 1st, 2009 at 3:36 am
1) Japan, Germany, China, England, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, India and Mexico.
2) No.
3) See Answer 1
4) The Economy is growing very slowly and it could stop in a few months. Inflation is growing very fast and it could be higher than Mexico's and Canada's in a few months. If the Dow Jones industrial Average goes from 14,000 to 12,000 then everybody will sell and the stock market would crash.
If you need a more detailed answer then you can email me.
References :
March 1st, 2009 at 3:38 am
The Fed just creates the money (doesn't necessarily "print", as the amount of cash (bills & coins) in circulation is a different question). See this article in Wikipedia for a detailed example of how new money is created in the U.S.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation#An_example_of_the_creation_of_new_money_in_the_USA
References :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation#An_example_of_the_creation_of_new_money_in_the_USA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System#Control_of_the_money_supply
March 1st, 2009 at 3:40 am
i had to laugh about the stuffing envelops maybe that is why the army has so few troops to send over seas because they are hidden away on some base stuffing envelops — beside taxes the govt borrows money from me and you — if you look at a saving bond is is issued by the govt and is part of the govt debt!!!
References :
March 1st, 2009 at 3:42 am
The U.S. Bureau of Engraving prints money. Come to Washington, DC, and you can see them do it.
But I think you're talking bigger picture. The government gets money from all sorts of revenues, for example from taxes.
But it also borrows money. You lend the government money when you buy a savings bond; the government promises to pay you back when the bond matures. The government also issues bonds to (borrows from) foreign countries to make ends meet.
References :