March 22nd, 2010 
Vikash
If everything you knew about money was wrong, wouldn’t you want to find out today? Most of what our parents and grandparents taught us about money, investing, mortgages, and financial security is wrong. They taught us to go to school get a job, work for the same company for thirty years, collect a pension, make a big down payment, pay off the house as soon as possible and the list goes on. The truth is that the rules of money have changed. While this advice worked 30 years ago, it does not work today.
97% of Americans are currently retiring with incomes below poverty levels. It is time to stop functioning on outdated financial information. Only 5% of US homeowners will ever pay off their homes. You have a 95% chance of failure when it comes to paying off your home. That is why you need to manage your home and your mortgage differently if you ever want to become financially independent.
Lets take for example two different people who each buy a $200,000 home. Each Earns $70,000 a year and has $40,000 in savings. Person 1 believes in the traditional way of paying off the mortgage as soon as possible. He is very committed to this so he gets a 15 year mortgage at 6.38% APR and puts all $40,000 of his savings down as a 20% down payment, leaving him zero dollars to invest. He has a monthly payment of $1,383. He has a tax rate of 32% so his net after tax cost per month is $1,227. He is so committed to the fallacy of paying down the mortgage that he sends the mortgage company an extra $100 a month in order to reduce the principle faster.
Person 2 on the other hand, knows that the rules of how to be successful with money have changed, chooses a 30 year interest only loan at 7.42% APR. He puts just 5% down ($10,000) and invests the remaining $30,000 in a safe money making side account with an 8% rate of return. His monthly payment is $1,175 100% of which is tax deductible, so his net after tax cost/month is only $799. He also, just like person one, wants to accelerate his path to financial freedom so he sends an extra $100/month to his investments, plus the $428/month he has saved by having the lower payment.
So who made the right choice? After 5 years person 1 has saved $14,216 in taxes but has nothing in savings or investments for a rainy day. Person 2 has saved $22,557 in taxes and now has savings/investments of $83,513.
Now what if they both lose their jobs at the same time? Even though person 1 has $74,320 in home equity he cant get any of it out on a loan because he has no job. He can’t make his payments and if he isn’t able to sell his home within three month (most likely it would have to sell at a steep discount to sell that quickly) the bank forecloses and he losses his home and his equity. Person 2 on the other hand, has $83,513 in savings. This is enough for him to make his mortgage payment for 5.9 Years!
It is obvious to see through this example how important it is to start investing now, that having equity in the home is not the best way to plan for retirement, and that the traditional way of doing things is not the best way of doing things. Protect yourself by keeping your home equity save through separating it and placing it in a place where it will grow, give you greater safety and peace of mind, and build greater wealth than you could have ever thought possible.
For more information on these wealth building strategies visit http://www.groundinstone.com
Chad C. Childress is a unique and experienced Real Estate and Wealth Creation expert. When he was only 24 years old he founded his own Mortgage Planning Practice, Stone Ground Consulting, LLC. He has founded and owns multiple Real Estate, and wealth creation companies. He is a visionary in the Real Estate industry, with his ultimate purpose being the financial independence of EVERY ONE of his clients. Chad has spoken for and trained at numerous Real Estate Investment groups and hundreds of Real Estate Brokerages. His broad experience in the Real Estate and Financial industries have helped him to become one of the top Real Estate trainers in the Western United States. This is no secret, as Chad has been inducted into the MONTCLAIR WHO’S WHO IN REAL ESTATE for 2007. Chad is the publisher of “Real Estate Agent Magazine,” Founder of “Real Estate Agent University,” Publisher of “Strategic Homeowner Magazine,” and is currently writing his first book entitled: “Money Magnet: Retire Right, Retire Right Now.” He has helped hundreds of people to achieve Financial independence
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