| Actually, it's easy to do as long as you have an | | | | mortgage, it's disheartening to realize you'll end up |
| income. Our goal is to increase our future retirement | | | | paying nearly twice as much in interest as the original |
| funds to recover stock market losses. Since 90+% of | | | | purchase price of the home. |
| us are in the same boat it's not too earth shattering. | | | | In our own situation it was about how our adult children |
| Only a few trillion dollars have gone down the drain this | | | | with home mortgages could be debt free in 10 years |
| year. No need for sour grapes, just the facts. | | | | rather than the usual 30 years offered by our friendly |
| Now, how do we fix the problem? Lots of hype | | | | bankers. Our son heard about MMA through friends, |
| seems to be floating across the media waves but | | | | listened to their rave reviews, and absolutely ran to |
| few are attention grabbers to us. We've looked high | | | | catch the train to Washington to learn firsthand details |
| and low without much luck until we discovered a | | | | of the Ufirst Financial software. |
| program referred to as Money Merge on your | | | | In simplest terms, the MMA [Money Merge Account] |
| computer. On the surface, it can appear overwhelming | | | | guides homeowners in reducing the principal balance of |
| with too much detail but we decided to listen and learn. | | | | their mortgage, which in turn reduces the interest that |
| Nothing has everything but this program comes close | | | | accrues on the total loan balance. You'll hear terms like |
| in my book. | | | | HELOC, ALOC and others as well as using your credit |
| Challenges begin with the 30 year home owner | | | | card, etc. First step for all home owners is a free |
| mortgage. Most of us begin signing up with our friendly | | | | analysis using their own income, expenses, and |
| banker at 20, 25 years old so we're looking at 50 or | | | | remainder to confirm the systems value for them |
| 55 before we can even think about being debt free. | | | | personally. |
| Some folks begin at 50 with 30 years of payments | | | | Initially, the Ufirst owners introduced the MMA system |
| until they're over 80 years old, long after the usual | | | | in Salt Lake City, Utah with 400 home owners |
| retirement age at 65 or 70. Not a good thing! | | | | volunteering to test the MMA system. What |
| However, along with the excitement of owning our | | | | happened? 30 year mortgages were being paid off in |
| new home was the sudden realization that we had a | | | | 1/3 to 1/2 [in 10 to 12 years] Vs the original 30 years |
| thirty year mortgage to payoff. A debt as huge as a | | | | amortization schedule offered by their friendly bankers. |
| home mortgage is overwhelming to most young | | | | All these years we've been funding retirement |
| couples facing other debts too. Even though the | | | | accounts and BIG salaries for bankers instead of |
| majority of young couples in America have a home | | | | ourselves before MMA arrived. |