The Tax Deadline is Today!

Ok fellow Americans today is the day we all must file our taxes. So what should you do if you can not complete your returns by today’s deadline? You can always file for an automatic extension. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=156073,00.html

What if you are submitting your completed returns today? First off, good job, but remember if you are getting any money back you need to use this money to Crush Your Debt!

See my post from a couple weeks ago. http://www.havegoodcredit.com/blog/tax-time.htm

“Treasury prices sold off Thursday, pushing the 10-year yield above 5% for the first time in nearly four years, after unexpectedly strong retail sales and consumer-sentiment data advanced a case for the Federal Reserve to keep lifting rates”

This is an all time high since 2002. What does this mean to you? Well if you have an ARM then its time to re-finance and get yourself into a fixed rate mortgage. This increase in 10 year bond will force the rates of ARM’s to increase which means your monthly payment will go up. For some it will hurt there budgets some and for others this will be the difference between making your mortgage payment and not.

The good news is if you are a bond investor you can look forward to a more higher return on your investment.

Mortgage rates are going up!

Rates on 30 year mortgage are going up. The rates are at the highest level in 2 ½ years. The financial markets are now very worried about inflation.

Rising mortgage rates have begun too cool the red hot housing market.

If you owe debt in any form things are going to get rough. This is the time to really start to attach your debt and get yourself in a financially secure spot.

Teens struggle with money

“On average, high school seniors answered correctly only 52.4 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday.”

This should be no surprise to anyone. However it should alarm everyone. Kids in high school have more classes about art, physical education, and home economics then they do about real financial economics.

Many school curriculums have roots base in the 1940’s. Times have changed and educating teenagers on finances in needs reform. Education on debt should be a high priority. Let’s not let our kids fall in to the same credit pit falls we have faced in the last 20 years with the ballooning credit card debt.

We also need to address the old myth of save your money. With the average savings account paying less than 1% interest, it can’t keep pace with inflation. Kids need a real education on the new economics of our time.

The study also breaks down along racial and social economic lines.

For instance, 12th-graders from families with incomes greater than $80,000 a year scored an average of 55.6 percent, while students from families at the lowest rung — less than $20,000 a year — had a score of 48.5 percent.

By race, white students scored an average of 55 percent. Blacks and Hispanics scored 44.7 percent and 46.8 percent respectively. Asians scored an average 49.4 percent.