Best Bank Rates and Deals

It’s that time again, where we take a gander at two mortgage products to determine which may better suit certain situations.

While it’s impossible to universally choose one over the other, we can certainly pick out some of the benefits and drawbacks of each.

So let’s look at the “30 year fixed vs. 15 year fixed.”

30-Year Fixed More Popular

The 30-year fixed mortgage is the most common loan program available today. Why?

Well, most mortgages are based on a 30-year amortization, meaning they take 30 full years to pay off, and the 30-year fixed never adjusts for that entire duration, making it one of the most simple and straightforward programs out there.

In short, it’s safe and easy to wrap your head around, and thus very popular.

But there must be some drawbacks, right? Of course there are.

Mortgage Rates on 30-Year Fixed Higher

You pay a premium for a 30-year fixed vs. a 15-year f

Full article…

One of the most important things you can do for your finances is to plug leaks in your budget. Your monthly budget might have a surprising number of leaks in it. If you want to more effectively save money, you need to identify the areas where your income is leaking from your budget. Here are some things to think about as you identify money leaks:

Where is Your Money Going?

The first thing to do is know where your money is going. Track your spending for a month or two. Personal finance software, or a web application, can help make this process easier. You can easily get reports of where your money is spent.

In order for this to be effective, you will need to record what you spent your money on when you get back from the store. Look over your receipts and categorize your spending. I like to break a category, “snacks,” out of my food spending so that I can see what foods are necessities (“groceries”), and how much I’m spending on junk food. You can d

Full article…

When home prices shot up during the housing boom, many homeowners took out adjustable-rate mortgages.

They did so because there was the promise of refinancing in a few years, or flipping the property, or simply to qualify (darn that pesky debt-to-income ratio).

Sadly, these seemingly more affordable mortgage payments eventually skyrocketed (especially for those who opted for option arms), while home equity slipped away at a steady clip.

So just how popular were ARMs during the boom, and how popular are they are today, post mortgage crisis?

Well, using data from mortgage financier Freddie Mac, we can answer that question.

The company compiles ARM data monthly, using the dollar volume of conventional mortgage originations within the 1-unit Freddie Mac conforming loan limit.

While it’s not every loan origination, it should paint a pretty clear picture as to how the popularity of ARMs surged, and then fell dramatically.

The chart below illustrates the use of ARMs from 2003 – 2011.

The ARM-share peaked at 36 percent in October 2004, and hit its low point of two percent in January 2009.

It will likely climb higher over the next decade, though it’s unclear if these loan products will ever grab the massive share they enjoyed during the boom.

Check out some adjustable-rate mortgage advantages (there are some you know).

Read more: Fixed Mortgage vs ARM

(photo: Elvert Barnes)

Valley National Bank is headquartered in New Jersey and has branches in and around the New York and other neighboring states. They offer a wide range of products to its customers and also make it convenient for them to access these products through online banking.

Valley National Bank online banking helps customers to access their account 24 hours day, seven days a week from the comfort of their homes. There is no need to travel to the nearest branch and this can be a blessing especially when the weather gets bad. Known as VbankWorks, the Valley National Bank electronic banking system uses the latest technology such as SSL encryption and a dual verification systems to protect the personal information of customers. Using this system, customers can view the balances and transactions in all their accounts such as checking, savings, CDs and even loans that are borrowed from this bank. The recent transactions can be viewed online or the monthly statements can be downloaded on the computer for easier access.

Full article…

Gas prices are hovering at $4 per gallon. If you must drive your car, a gas credit card is one way to cut costs at the pump.

The cost of fueling up the tank is causing widespread financial distress for millions of Americans who are facing $4 gas prices when filling up the tank.

Some are adapting by using less costly measures such as carpooling or taking public transportation. Those willing to suck it up are cutting back in their discretionary spending to offset the higher costs of fueling up.

Savvy consumers can reduce the net fuel cost by using a credit card that pays cash back on gasoline purchases. Since drivers are generally sensitive to small gas price fluctuations, even a small percentage of cash back will result in substantial savings – especially if the current gas prices remain in the same range.

Here are some gas credit cards to consider:

TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express allows cardmembers to get 3% cash back on the first $3,000 spent on gasoline purchases (1% thereafter). T

Full article…

During the first quarter, only 25 percent of those who refinanced took cash out, according to the latest quarterly survey from mortgage financier Freddie Mac.

The company noted that the average cash-out refinance share over the past 25 years was a staggering 62 percent.

Clearly times have changed.

Nowadays, most homeowners are happy just to get the chance to refinance to a lower mortgage rate, and thus a lower mortgage payment, thanks to tighter underwriting guidelines and issues like negative equity.

In fact, 75 percent of homeowners who refinanced their first mortgages either kept roughly the same loan amount or lowered their principal balance by paying-in additional money at the closing table (cash-in refinance).

Broken down, 54 percent maintained the same loan amount, the highest share since 1985, when Freddie began keeping records on such trends, while 21 percent of refinancing homeowners reduced their principal balance.

Average Refinance Lowered Mortgage Rate 1.2%

The median interest rate reduction on the popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was about 1.2 percentage points, or a savings of roughly 20 percent in interest costs.

Over the first year of the refinance loan, such borrowers will save more than $1,800 in interest payments on a $200,000 loan.

Wondering why fewer borrowers cashed-out?

Well, the median appreciation of the collateral property was a negative six percent over the median prior loan life of five years.

And that’s actually pretty good compared to the Freddie Mac House Price Index, which showed a 21 percent decline in its U.S. s

Full article…

When you google ‘interview tips’ almost instantly — 0.17 seconds to be exact — 96,200,000 results show up. As of April, there are a total of 13.7 million unemployed Americans, meaning there are millions reading the same interview tips you just googled. So where does that leave you?

Millions of Americans are on the job hunt, and with college graduation around the corner, there will be millions more joining the efforts.

I decided to get in the head of  someone who actually conducts the interview: The HR Manager. I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Polina Panich, the Human Resources Manager at Cummins Inc.—a manufacturing company that designs equipment ranging from power systems to gasoline engines. With a staff of 1,500, Polina has conducted her share of interviews, and she know what works and what doesn’t.

Here are some insights and tips to gain a competitive edge during the interview process. According to Panich being a strong interviewee is a pretty simple as long as you follow some basic rules:

Polina says this is a crucial part of the job search process, “Select where you want to work by evaluating the core values of the company. You want to fit i

Full article…