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bode316- We took out a piggyback loan, 80-20. It has worked out well, but the 2nd is at a higher interest rate so we are trying like mad to pay it off ASAP. Looking back at our decision to purchase the house instead of waiting until we had 20% of the purchase price, I would probably wait if I...

bow-tie, Thank you for your thoughts. We did consider the pregnancy issue for one of our employees who is trying to start a family. However, in our state it was considered a pre-existing condition and he would have to be enrolled for some time before his wife became pregnant. He didn't think...

Wow! Thank you everyone for your input. You have all confirmed what I was initially thinking about AFLAC. Surprisingly there were still a number of people who have opted to participate in the plan...to each their own. To those of you who are not fans of the AFLAC products, I wish you could have...

A rep from AFLAC was in our office this past week pushing supplemental insurance. She had four plans: 1. Hospital Protection - $39.66 per month 2. Personal Recovery - $8.90 per month 3. Personal Accident - $19.80 per month 4. Personal Cancer - $33.20 per month My employer pays 100% of the HMO...

Alec- thanks for the link to fund expenses.  I'm pretty cheap when it comes to expenses, so it looks like most of the funds (over 1.0) are too expensive for me.  I am really trying to manage all of our investments as if they were under one asset allocation plan, so maybe I could use the index...

My wife is a teacher and has the option to invest in CalPers and also in Vanguard through her 403(b).  We already have her set up through Vanguard for her 403(b) but now I am wondering if we should have money going to CalPers instead.  Or should we split our contribution between the two?  We...

Wow, thank you everyone for your help in resolving my debt/savings issue. JDW and Gumby, thanks for the equations and equivalent rates.  It looks like we will continue to max out the 403b and the Roth IRAs and then whatever money is leftover will go to payoff the 2nd. Thank you again to...

Thanks for the heads up on Ramsey. He always loses me a bit when he completely takes math out of the equation and relies solely on the "mental" part of the equation. I don't mind all the green hype when it is done with respect to sound economics and science. I'm kind of a dirty hippie at heart...

Laurence- Thanks for your 2 cents. The 2nd is a fixed rate. When we went shopping for our loans everyone was shocked that we wanted fixed rate loans. In fact, a friend of mine (who has only been doing this type of work since 1999) said that I was the first person to insist on a traditional 30...

HFWR-thanks for your comments.   SteveR - I have only been on this board a few hours, but you have already made me feel more at ease, thanks. Nords- Thank you for the welcome.  Yes I think the media has convinced us that all debt is bad. That and listening to stories my grandparents tell about...

Hi Laurence, thanks for the welcome. I consult on alternative energy projects. gmt

Oops, I forgot to introduce myself before I made my first post. I am 29 and live in Northern California with my darling wife.  I am a consultant and she is a teacher (bless her heart). We have been trying to balance paying off student loans with saving for retirement as well as see as much of...

SteveR I must have been writing my response right when you were posting yours. Our 1st mortgage is ~$320k and the 2nd is ~ $80.  Yeah, its expensive to live in California. You are right, we need to have fun while we are still young and  we do.  Fortunately most of our activities are pretty...

REWahoo- Thanks for your reply and the kind welcome.   There is no employer match for our retirement accounts.   Since there is no match would you suggest that we put retirement savings on hold and start paying off the debt with the highest interest rate? I just keep looking at our net worth...

Hi all!! I am new here.  I like what I see and would appreciate any help that you guys might be able to provide. My question for the board is...which debt to pay down first?  And how should we pay down our debt?  Should we continue contributing to retirement accounts and put less towards...