Today we have a guest post from Your Money Blueprint.There's been a bit of discussion recently on whether paying off your mortgage or investing was better -- both here at ESI Money (see Which is Better: Paying Off a Mortgage or Investing More?) as well as on Rockstar Finance (see Money Match-Up: Pay Off Debt Versus Invest and here Money Match-Up: Pay Off Mortgage Versus … [Read more...]
10 Steps to Making Money in Mobile Home Investing
I love featuring authors and bloggers who have a special expertise I think ESI Money readers would be interested hearing about.As you know, I'm an investor in real estate but my places are more traditional -- homes and small apartment buildings.Today's guest poster is an expert in mobile home investing, something I find fascinating and might have investigated a bit more … [Read more...]
Which is Better: Paying Off a Mortgage or Investing More?
Here's a topic that's likely to cause a good bit of debate.I love these sorts of questions. :)Recently I have been receiving a lot of emails around the subject of whether it's better to pay off a mortgage or keep the mortgage and invest instead.For example, here's one I recently received from a reader: One question my husband and I always wrestle with a bit is the … [Read more...]
Recent Expensive Real Estate Costs
If you've read this blog for more than five seconds, you know I'm a big fan of real estate investing.Because of my real estate investments, I have been able to retire early (though I was financially independent before I had my properties).My 14 units provide the majority of the income that allows me to spend almost $100k annually without dipping into my assets.And … [Read more...]
The Most Important Lessons We Learned from Flipping a House
Most of you know that I am a real estate investor and that the income from my properties is a large part of my retirement budget.All of my properties are buy-and-hold rentals, but I've always wanted to try my hand at flipping homes.Well today we have a guest post from a friend of mine who did just that and shares all her ups and downs along the way. And to note, … [Read more...]
Help a Reader: Pension Options
Here's another post where a reader is asking for your suggestions on how to handle a financial issue.Please read his summary and give your thoughts below...The question I have is about pension options.I have a corporate (Fortune 50 company) pension fully funded. I need to decide how I want to take payment once I do retire.Cash out upfront is $1M, payment for … [Read more...]
All About Precious Metals Investing
As you know by now, I'm a bit of a precious metal investor/collector.I list both "investor" and "collector" as I'm not really sure what I'd call myself. I buy a few coins here and there, but don't have a large part of my net worth in metals.At this point I buy mostly for my own enjoyment as well as for gifts (coins make fun and unique gifts, especially for kids, for … [Read more...]
An Investment Gone Bad
This site often seems like a brag-fest to me.Many of the posts are about how I did this well or did that well.Of course, I have had my successes and they are worth learning from.But as we've seen now and then, I've also made a lot of mistakes.Fortunately these have been limited in number and not that large. But they do happen and are just as worthwhile to learn … [Read more...]
All about Coin Collecting: Is It an Investment or a Hobby?
One of the great joys of blogging is the friends I've made over the years.I have a few who I communicate with on a regular basis and have been for many years (from when I started my former blog). Some have even written guest posts for me.One of those friends is a coin collector of sorts. I don't think he's really into it like some, but he does buy coins now and then and … [Read more...]
How Can I Get an 8% Investment Return?
In posts like The Best Way to Maximize Your Investment Return and How a Side Hustle Business Can Get You to Financial Independence in 10 Years I use 8% as a long-term return percentage when doing investment growth projections for stock index funds.Many sites will use 10% since it's around the historical long-term return of the stock market. And, of course, Dave Ramsey uses … [Read more...]
