Debunking the FAFSA Myth

Written by Keith Tuomi


Withrepparttar plethora of big-business entities jockeying forrepparttar 112357 money of students onrepparttar 112358 path to becoming well-to-do responsible consumers with a house, car, and 1.5 children, it's often missed thatrepparttar 112359 US Government isrepparttar 112360 first place to start when planning student finances.

Scholarships, traineeships, fellowships, loans: Uncle Sam is nothing if not prolific inrepparttar 112361 diversity of programs available. For most students,repparttar 112362 acroynm FAFSA is their first encounter withrepparttar 112363 cold hard seriousness of bureaucratic forms, most commonly dealt with beforerepparttar 112364 dreaded and stereotypically cryptic IRS forms such asrepparttar 112365 1040.

The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is a free form and free service provided byrepparttar 112366 Department of Education. If you do not fill it in you will not be eligible for federal (government-backed) student loans. However, you will still be eligible for private, or alternative student loans.

Almost every school sets its own deadline for whenrepparttar 112367 different forms of financial aid are due. Some may be as early asrepparttar 112368 second week of January and some have no deadlines at all. It is strongly recommended to check with your own school's financial aid office to find out exactly when your deadlines may fall. In order to meet a "Transaction Receipt Date" deadline for your college, it is recommended to submit to us at least 2 weeks prior torepparttar 112369 published deadline to insure submission.

There are a myriad of large, well-oiled companies that will gladly take your money and 'process' your FAFSA application on your behalf. The fees for this service typically range from $50 to $100. You could also go with a private accountant, howeverrepparttar 112370 'personal touch' will of course usually cost you more.

Wait! Do you really want to start your experience with Government forms as one of resignation that no, you are really not bright or organized enough to be able to fill it in yourself? Learning to 'do it yourself' withrepparttar 112371 Government can be not only a satisfying but potentially educational experience that will teach yourepparttar 112372 skills that many self-made millionares taught themselves: relying on an accountant or anonymous firm does nothing except save you some time, and in fact with big-ticket money decisions who is to say that your 'assistants' are not putting their interests before yours?

Total Cost Of Credit vs Monthly Payments

Written by David Wilding


I read a press releaserepparttar other day which points torepparttar 112356 fact we need to be very careful with our finances. The subject ofrepparttar 112357 release was home mortgages. A company was announcingrepparttar 112358 availability of 40 year mortgages for its customers. The stated purpose was to lowerrepparttar 112359 monthly payments to make buying a home more affordable.

Whenever I hearrepparttar 112360 phrase “more affordable”, I put my hand on my wallet becauserepparttar 112361 attempt to empty it will begin any moment. Almost never is that phrase used in relation torepparttar 112362 total cost of financing. It is always used in reference torepparttar 112363 size ofrepparttar 112364 monthly payment, as in this example.

Let’s see what it really means. I didrepparttar 112365 math. A mortgage for a $100,000 home at 6% for 30 years would have a monthly payment of about $600 for principal and interest. You would pay about $216,000 overrepparttar 112366 life ofrepparttar 112367 loan of which $116,000 would be interest..

A mortgage on that same home for 40 years would be at 6.25%, with a monthly payment of $565. The payments overrepparttar 112368 life of repparttar 112369 loan would total about $271,200 and $171,200 ofrepparttar 112370 total would be interest.

The forty year mortgage has a higher interest rate (usually between.25 and .50 percent) becauserepparttar 112371 lender has his money at risk for a longer time (Lenders are well aware that time is money. You should be as aware).

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