I read this article in the NY Times yesterday, and I have to say I come down pretty strongly on the need to keep housing down payments high. The arguments made by Professor Roberto G. Quercia clearly demonstrate that data supports the…
Sunk Costs Are Irrelevant
Irreverent Personal Finance
Category: Loans
Anything loan related
Why is the Thirty-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgage Still so Expensive?
I know. I know. Everyone says that the thirty year, fixed rate mortgage is sitting at historic lows, and I agree that is true. Heck I re-financed last year just like many of you. I just think that based on…
Income-Based Student Loan Payment
How would you like it if your student loan payments came directly out of your paychecks? Does it sound scary? Does it sound convenient? A little of both? Probably. It’s called Income-Based Student Loan Payment. Well, that’s what’s being proposed by Wisconsin…
Peer to Peer Lending Through Lending Club
A note from Slug: This is another guest post from Noreen. This week she's written a nice review of Lending Club. I personally have no experience with Lending Club, but I spent several years bidding on loans at their rival…
No Cost Mortgage Refinance Diary
I last refinanced my mortgage in July 2010. Back then I was trying to reduce my rate from 5% AND get out of escrow. I was extremely successful and garnered a nice 4.375% 30 year fixed mortgage. I thought I…
Big Banks Declaring War on the Poor
The New York Times Buck's Blog is reporting that some big banks are starting to offer payday-like loans. After reading the article, I was scrolling the comments and saw that Cindy from Baltimore wrote: There is no support for…
Borrowing on Prosper
I've written a lot about my experience as a lender on Prosper. Since I first started, Prosper has made huge improvements in their interface and their ability to properly vet potential borrowers. Default rates have dropped and current investors in…
Escape from Prosper
I joined Prosper.com (a sponsor of this site) in May, 2006. This was about a week before I became a parent and about the same time Osama was moving into his new home. I say this because I would love to…
MicroVentures Review
As most of my readers know, I have a strong interest in peer to peer lending. I was an active lender on Prosper for a couple of years before realizing the wide difference between Prosper’s actual default rates versus what…
Quick Update FAIL
Today Pfizer (PFE) was below 20 so I tried to pick up 100 shares at 19.50. Prosper has been anything but prosperous lately as 2 of my new loans (a D and an HR) have gone late. Idiot dummy ***bangs…
