If your long-term strategy is to reduce debt, I would encourage you to make sure savings are on track (emergency fund, retirement, college, etc.) and other debts have been paid off (credit cards, student loans, automobiles, etc.) before considering reducing your mortgage debt.
You may not need to pay for financial advice if you can commit the time and resources to fully understanding your Personal Finance picture for the long-term, have access to and knowledge of inexpensive investment options, have a passion for Personal Finance and feel confident in balancing the return and risk in your portfolio without emotion.
Step one is to take action. My hope is that you move your personal finances up the To Do list. Act with a sense of urgency – at least to know where things stand today. Let me encourage you to save NOW for retirement. You need to know your savings rate and have a plan. All the Personal Services we offer are geared toward this.
I want to showcase some of my best posts from the last year – a TOP 10 list of sorts – a mix of the most popular posts per Google Analytics plus a few others that are newer that have been well received.
I encourage you to be cognizant of interest rates and how they impact your portfolio today in terms of 1) your emergency fund cash return, 2) your fixed income/bond/CD allocation, and 3) your ability to borrow.
If you don’t care about taxes and fees, you should. Besides spending too much money and maintaining a low savings rate, I believe the amount of fees you pay for your investments and the taxes you fail to plan for are two of the most detrimental aspects to building wealth long-term.
