I know there is a tax benefits by paying interests on mortgage.  But, what if I pay the mortgage off.  Which option I can save more money?
121403
It all depends on what interest rate you are paying on the mortgage and what return you think you can get with your investments.  If the return you think you can get on your investments is higher than the interest you pay you are better off not paying off the mortgage.  For example, say you get 10% on your investment portfolio and you pay 5% interest on the mortgage.  Why take $1,000 away from your investments and miss out on the $100 ($75-$85 after taxes) you would have gotten in return in order to save $50 ($62 after tax savings) in interest in the first year?  It works the same way for successive years afterwords.  So you need to think about what you can reasonably get by investing before you make this decision.
44659
If you keep the money it's capitol gains.  If you buy another house or put it into certain accounts that give you a break it's not capitol gains anymore.  You'll need an accountant though because lots of this depends on your income and everything else involved.
58533
Too many people confuse the tax deductability of mortgage interest with being a huge benefit that one should keep.\n\nYou are always, always, **always** better off not to pay the interest in the first place, whether it is tax deductable or not.\n\nMany people also ignore the fact that if you don't itemize, you still get the standard deduction even if you don't have a mortgage. This new standardized deduction will replace your itemized deduction making the loss of the deduction that much less noticable.\n\nSo do it, and congratulations!
655930
Insted of keeping money in Capital gain bonds or in some other tax savings bonds,   Buy some property (A house or a flat).  That will give you better return and on the other you can save capital gains.  Consult your C.A.
347973
You relative will have to qualify with the lender and pay an assumption fee. If the assumption fee, which is probably hefty, is more than the difference between today's rate and the 5.5% on a monthly payment for more than 2 years, then it might not be worth it depending on how long they plan to keep the property. Also, this relative will not be able to take the tax advantages unless the lender recognizes him as the borrower. Be aware, that selling to him on paper without the written permission of the lender will trigger a "due on sale" clause and he will have to get a new loan. Also, to protect yourself, you must make sure the lender completely removes you from all responsibility. In most cases, if the new borrower defaults, they can still go back on you, so get the removal in writing. If this relative is a first-time buyer, meaning he hasn't made a property purchase in the last 2 or 3 years, he should look into some of the first-time buyers programs that will give a reduced rate. A lot of mortgages say they are not assumable, but I think you will find that if you go to the bank, they will work with the relative.\n\nThere is another way, but it is complicated and you will want to speak with a CPA with regard to tax consequences for all parties. It is called a wrap around mortgage. I think you will still have to keep your name on the deed to the house, though, in order to not trigger the "due on sale" clause. Start with the bank and please don't try to circumvent them. It could blow up on you.  The difference between a 5.5% and todays rate is substantial, so he should try it.
647976
First off, I would definately invest as much as possible in the 401k that the employer matches, that is an automatic 100% return. As far  as the mortgage, if you are planning on living in the home longer than 2010, you should put the most possible toward the mortgage after the 401k match or consider switching to a fixed mortgage before the adjustable rate gets very high.
454622
If you send one extra payment per year, I think it takes off something like 6 or 7 years off your mortgage...good for you if you do it!
177659
Since you're getting the money w/o tax withholding.  You should also look into paying estimated taxes.  Otherwise, if you owe taxes when filing tax return, you might get charged with interest for the tax payment due.
525305
Depends on the state you are in. Check with your bank first. They might be willing to do it. Most lenders won't want to mess with that. A land/home package would be better and get you a better interest rate.
345193
Buying a house isn't even a good tax break any more.  Last year, we couldn't even claim our interest because we didn't pay enough.  There's a minimum on how much you can claim.  We bought our house because we retire in 2 years and know we want to stay here after that.  Buying a house is a risky move.  You might stay less than 3 years, as happens often.  We have many friends that bought houses, then couldn't sell them when the time came.  They ended up having to pay a mortgage until the house sold, plus rent on a house where they PCSed to.  Some have even lost money because the housing market went down where they lived.  One friend, their house stayed on the market so long, that they ended up having to rent it out.  That became a whole other headache.  They had PCSed, so they had to hire someone for upkeep and maintenance on the house, such as things breaking or whatever.  They had to make sure the rent was collected every month.  They ended up dumping the house for a major loss.\n\nBuying while you're still in and PCSing is a risky move.  There's some good, but there's alot of risk.
104045
Options:\n\nRoll the money into your mortgage (get a larger loan).  The interest rate will be lower then a 401k loan, and it's deductable.\n\nWhen you take out of a 401k, there is no penalty.  But you now don't have that money available earning interest/dividens.  \n\nIt's never recommend taking out a loan on 401k.  But if that's the very last source of money, it's better then taking a withdrawal on it.
359506
Mortgage life and disability insurance should answer your needs. I'm actually surprised that your mortgage lender wouldn't have offered it to you when you got your mortgage! They make good money on this kind of insurance, and generally there is some kind of incentive for the loans officer to encourage you to purchase it.\n\nAn option to consider is that you may be able to get life insurance on your mortgage cheaper by buying a term life insurance policy separate from your mortgage. Every time your mortgage comes up for renegotiation, you can reduce the amount of insurance that you are buying, and save yourself some money. This is different than mortgage insurance for which the premiums stay the same and are based on the original amount of the mortgage. The disadvantage is that the money is paid to your estate and doesn't automatically go against your mortgage. However, you would have assets in your estate this way to pay your mortgage and could leave instructions for that to happen with your executor or legal counsel. \n\nLife insurance obviously won't cover your mortgage in case of sickness or disability though. For this, you could consider a disability policy. This will allow you to be covered for more than just your mortgage -- it protects your income directly. In most cases, you can get a disability policy that will pay you 60% of your salary now. If you pay for it yourself, that 60% will be tax free (because you've paid for the policy with after tax dollars). In many cases, if this benefit is tax free, it will be sufficient for you to cover your regular expenses.
574530
The interest rate on the house is low.  I would not be in a rush to pay off the cheap loan that you are able to write off the interest payments on your tax return.  It sounds like you have already established a great plan.  Stick to it and your future will be solid.\nFor additional info on 529s - http://www.529s.com
142492
Yes U can. Home loan tax benefits are amount related and not housing units related. You can even avail a home loan, pay it back availing tax benefits, then can always take another home loan and avail home loan tax benfits on that too. The Income Tax Act in India does not impose any conditions in this regard.
211237
It's still your money even if it's in a retirement account, and you can pull it out as a loan (but you need to replace it or be penalized) or as a distribution, so yes you can use it for your downpayment.  It's an eligile source of liquid assets, from a lending perspective.\n\nYour retirement accounts are basically savings or investment accounts that give you a (very) slight reduction on your taxable income.  If you're buying a house, it's much more important than knocking a few thousand dollars off of your taxable income, so I wouldn't put it there, I'd just put in in a regular investment account.  Minimizing your tax liability is wise, but it's not necessarily the highest priority all of the time.\n\nYou can also change your IRA contributions amount anytime you want, or make a lump sum contribution prior to the deadline from your other investment or savings accounts in the total amount it would have been if you had contributed it paycheck by paycheck.  So you can have it, if you need it, and still have the option of taking advantage of the tax benefits.
234171
One advantage of the trust is that it shields the house from your creditors. The trust owns the house and not you. Any judgment that might be entered against you will not be a lien the house.  Same goes for your sibling.  Any judgment against them does not affect the house while it is in trust.  Another advantage is that no one will know you own a house from the public records.  If they don't know you own property, your creditors are less aggressive in going after you.  \n\nAnyone who sells their interest is subject to tax on the profits.  If it was over a year then its capital gains tax at 15%.  No tax is due until the interest has been sold.  \n\nThe only disadvantage for leaving the property in trust is that it is pretty hard to refinance the mortgage with the trust as the owner.  If you don't need to refi, leave things alone.
236244
If it was your primary residence for a couple of years, you get the first 250k profit (500k if married) for free on capital gains.  With mortgages, you can only deduct interest payments, and rolling over your property to something of higher value only works for properties that you don't live in personally.