Find Help for College Student Loans

If you are a baby boomer with kids in high school or college, student loans may be in your family’s future. You don’t want college costs to interfere with your retirement saving. There are some programs that will help your kids get rid of those student loans without sacrificing their financial futures. Read more

Shielding Retirement Assets from Creditors

Our retirement assets are down but should not be forgotten. Depleted or not, there are plenty of folks out there who would like to have them. That includes creditors. So what kind of protection is available for retirement accounts from the claims of creditors? Read more

Paying the Debts of Family Members

“Am I obligated to pay the debts of my spouse, child or other family member?”  I see or hear someone ask this question often.   Baby boomers confront this more and more with elderly parents who may die owing medical bills or money on credit cards or car loans.  Parents may wonder if a child’s debt can become their own.  I have investigated and have some thoughts on these issues.  In many cases, the answer to the question depends on the nature of the obligation or debt. Read more

How to Pay-Off a Mortgage

This is a chronological summary of the practical steps we recently followed to pay-off the mortgage on our vacation home.  Hopefully you will have the opportunuty to reach this milestone in your financial plan.  If so, perhaps what we did will help you through the process when the time comes.
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Aging in Place vs. Your Mortgage

Mrs. GoTo and I recently paid off the mortgage on our vacation home.  (If you are interested I described the practical steps we followed to complete the mortgage payoff.)  

In this post I want to mention something else about other baby boomer trends that are related.
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Use a Credit Card to Boost Retirement Savings

Mr. GoTo is not a fan of credit cards in general for two reasons.  First, way too many consumers abuse their cards and get themselves over their head in debt.  Second, card issuers have not treated consumers well, either in not adequately explaining the costs and risks associated with the card or in not cooperating with card holders who get themselves in trouble. Read more

Debt Reduction is more Important than Your Credit Score

If you are a baby boomer with a pile of consumer debt, you are not alone.  Many economists and members of the younger generations are blaming us for the dramatic rise in the use of consumer credit.  We baby boomers are also accused of inflating then collapsing the housing bubble. Read more

Striving for a Mortgage-Free Life

If you read much in the area of personal finance you will frequently come across heated debates about the merits of living in a paid-for house as compared to having a mortgage.  Some folks will argue that mortgage money is cheap and that taking into account the tax benefits, it makes more sense to keep the mortgage and use the extra cash to invest.  I get that.  Other folks point to the emotional benefits of being debt-free and actually owning your home free and clear of any mortgage obligations.  I get that too. Read more

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