Weekend Roundup - Cleared to Close Edition

This past Friday we received notification that we’ve been cleared to close on our mortgage refinance. For those of you that haven’t been following along, we bought our current house a bit over a year and a half ago during a period when mortgage rates had floated up, and we wound up with a 30 year fixed rate mortgage at 6.375%, but…

A few weeks back, we locked in on a 15 year fixed rate mortgage at 4.875% with no lender’s fees. As it turns out, I missed the bottom by one day — had i waited 24 hours to lock, we could’ve gotten another 0.125%-0.25% lower. But a day after that, rates shot back up by 0.50% or so and haven’t been back in neighborhood where we locked ever since. So… I’m not complaining.

Anyway, as of Thursday, we’ll be the proud new owners of a much lower interest rate. In the mean time, here are some articles that caught my eye over the past week or so.

» How the Future U.S. President Wants to Tax You
Flexo takes a look at what the major presidential candidates have to say about taxes. Since Romney is now out of the race, it’s down to McCain vs. Clinton or Obama. Sure, there are a handful of minor candidates out there kicking around, but does anyone believe they really have a chance?

» List of Free Tax Preparation Services
Just in time for tax season, Jim put together a list of free option for tax prep. Of course, many people out there (including presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee) would tell you that this would be totally unnecessary if we adopted the so-called Fair Tax.

» Living on a Budget: Don’t Knock it Until You Try It
This is an interesting perspective from someone who has walked the walk and knows what he’s talking about. I still prefer our reverse budgeting system, but if you’ve been struggling to stay on track, check out what NCN has to say.

» 10 Facts About Social Security
You’re paying into it, so you might as well learn about it!

» Down Year Ahead? How It Can Be Good For Your Investments
SVB talks about making lemons from lemonade when it comes to investing in a down market. This is definitely worth reading given how the market has performed thus far this year.