It’s 11/11 make a wish! This week’s newsletter contains a juicy secret about debt 🤫 , a newsworthy story about the housing market 👀 and Taylor’s tool for learning from the experts 😉. Read more to get the priceless tea!
Let’s fill you in on the secret 🤫
Paying off debt isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright difficult. But once you know what you’re doing and why paying off debt becomes much more manageable. The trick is to figure out how much money you owe, set realistic goals for paying it back, and always stay on budget so you don’t run into debt again (which is often easier said than done).
Know how much you owe.
- Know how much you owe. Before you can start paying off your debt, you need to know how much it is. This can be tricky if some of your debt is in the form of credit cards and other loans that don’t come with a balance due amount on statements. If this is the case, use a debt calculator or create a budgeting app to help track down your balances.
- Pay attention to interest rates and payments. Once you know how much debt you have, it’s important to understand what kind of interest rate each payment has so that it makes sense for which debts should be paid first. For example: if one loan has an extremely high APR but only requires small monthly payments compared to another with a lower APR but requires larger payments every month—it may actually make more sense for both parties involved (you and the lender) if the smaller balance was paid off first because it would cost less overall over time!
Make a budget that works for you.
Before you can start paying off your debt, you need a detailed budget. The easiest way to do this is by using an app that makes it easy for you to track and adjust your spending. My favorite budgeting app is Mint, but there are many others out there that will also help with creating a budget.
Once you have your budget in place, the next step is tracking your spending so that you know exactly where all of your money goes each month. Once again, Mint makes this easy; just connect all of your financial accounts and the app will automatically track how much money comes in and goes out each month along with any fees or interest payments associated with each account.
This step might seem like more work than it’s worth at first glance (and believe me—it can be!) but once I got used to looking at every penny coming out of my bank account every month (I’m not exaggerating here), I began saving more money without even realizing how much I was saving until later on down the road when I looked back on my old bank statements from years past!
Decide whether to pay off debt or save money first—or pay down both at the same time.
Decide whether to pay off debt or save money first—or pay down both at the same time.
You can split your money between paying down debt and saving, or you can do one immediately and the other later.
Understand your options for credit card consolidation.
Credit card consolidation is a way to pay off debt with one monthly payment. It can be an easy way to manage your finances, but it’s not always the best option for paying down your debt. Here are some things you should consider before choosing this option:
- Credit cards offer different repayment options, such as zero percent interest for a set period of time and interest-free balance transfers. If you pay your balance in full each month, these features may help reduce the cost of carrying a balance on your credit card account. But if you don’t pay off the balance every month or make only minimum payments on time, these benefits won’t do much good for you—and they could actually hurt your credit score over time if they delay when the bank expects their money (the longer it takes them to get paid back, the lower their risk ratings).
- Interest rates on credit cards tend to be much higher than those offered by other sources like home equity lines of credit or personal loans. So while consolidating all of this debt into one place might seem like an attractive idea at first glance (after all; why borrow from two lenders when just borrowing from one will save me money?), keep in mind that doing so may end up costing more than expected in total interest charges over time—especially if other debts have lower rates than what’s currently being offered through most banks today.”
Use a balance transfer credit card to consolidate your debt and lower your interest rate.
If you’re looking to pay off debt, then a balance transfer credit card is the best way to do it. The reason is simple: balance transfer cards offer much lower interest rates than other types of credit cards.
The biggest mistake people make when it comes to paying down their debt is that they don’t take advantage of balance transfer offers and instead choose some other type of credit card. While there are many different types of cards on the market these days, none can beat the benefits offered by a balance transfer card when it comes to paying down debt quickly and easily.
A good rule of thumb is that any interest rate over 20% APR should be considered too high for your situation — especially if you want to pay down your existing balances in as little time as possible!
Consider a loan from LendingClub or another peer-to-peer lender to consolidate debt at a lower rate.
If you are looking for a way to consolidate your debt at a lower rate, consider applying for a peer-to-peer loan from LendingClub or another lender. These loans can be used for any purpose and have lower interest rates than traditional credit cards and other loans. However, in exchange for the lower interest rate, these types of lenders are typically more stringent about their approval standards compared to banks or credit unions.
Be realistic about how quickly you can pay off debt—especially if you have lots of it.
- Be realistic about how quickly you can pay off debt—especially if you have lots of it.
- It’s important to take a long-term view, as well as keep in mind that this process isn’t going to happen overnight.
- Try to reduce your monthly payments as much as possible by consolidating debts into one payment or using a balance transfer credit card.
- Though it may not be easy, it is possible for you to get out of debt and start saving money!
It’s possible to get out of debt, but it’s not easy and there’s no one right way to do it.
It’s possible to get out of debt, but it’s not easy and there’s no one right way to do it.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in $10,000 or $100,000 worth of debt. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been struggling with bills for years or have just fallen behind recently on your loan payments. You can pay off your debt – but first, you need to know what kind of situation you’re really facing:
📰 In the news
As mortgage rates continue to rise, homeowners and investors are seeing the effects. Homeowners will pay more for their mortgages, which could affect their ability to afford other things in their lives. Investors may see lower returns on their investments.
A year after the Fed moved the federal funds rate off its emergency setting, the Federal Reserve Board has raised interest rates three times, with another bump expected before the end of the year.
A year after the Fed moved the federal funds rate off its emergency setting, the Federal Reserve Board has raised interest rates three times, with another bump expected before the end of the year.
The fed funds rate is now 3.7% – 4%.
The Fed will likely raise rates again before the end of this year.
Mortgage rates change with these increases.
Mortgage rates are tied to the federal funds rate. The federal funds rate is set by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which is the group responsible for setting monetary policy in the United States.
The FOMC meets eight times a year and sets its target federal funds rate at each meeting. When it increases or decreases this target, it affects mortgage rates because it’s seen as an indication of where interest rates will go overall.
If you have a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage that currently has a 5% interest rate, your monthly payment would be $1,641 per month (5%). But if mortgage rates increase by half a percent over time—to 5.5%, for example—your monthly payment would increase as well: from $1,641 per month to $1,708 per month (an extra $57). That’s just one example; depending on your situation, how much you pay could go up even more than that!
🧰 This Week in Taylor’s Toolkit
In the past year, I have read more books than the year before. But the one thing I have noticed is that when you read a book, it is not about you reading the book. It is about trying to learn from someone who has done something very well in their field. A mentor told me he knows little to no multi-millionaires who don’t read often.
Some of my favorite books are here
*ps. the list will be updated with more recent books!
❓Ask the Advocate
“Taylor I just paid off 30k in credit card debt by moving home and living with my parents. I’m currently saving for my own house I hope to buy in 2023 or 2024. What is the best avenue to invest in since I’m living at home and have the extra cash right now? Also with the stock market and mortgage rates so high, what do you suggest for buying a home?”— Molly
Hey Molly! Huge congrats to you for paying off a significant amount of debt. That takes time and focus, and you’ve done it – I’m so proud!!!
There are a few key topics to focus on here:
- You want a house soon, or really live in your own place
- You want to start to invest investing in the stock market
Let’s focus on the housing market first. Interest rates are continuing to increase which for taking out a mortgage, is not the best use of your money. On the contrary, with the housing market slowing down, the next is a good time for cash buyers to put in a larger down payment.
These are recessionary times and layoffs are increasingly high. If I were in your position today, I would continue to save a larger portion of your paycheck into a high-yield savings account. I’d do this because I don’t believe we’ve hit the bottom of the market to make a significant investment into any individual company just yet. Another reason why I’d do this is to increase the down payment you’d be placing on your future house. No one wants to give away money they don’t have to – interest is giving away money you wouldn’t necessarily have to!
I would also take this time to maximize your Roth IRA. Since this account would be grown over multiple years, you’d essentially be doing dollar cost averaging, or DCA. This means that you’d be investing a fixed dollar amount on a regular basis, regardless of the share price. On the other hand, putting a lump sum of money into the market all at once can run the risk of buying at a peak.
I wish you the best and will be supporting you however possible!
Ask your question here!
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