Mortgage

Mortgage lenders will pay higher fees to Fannie and Freddie to guarantee their loans. That pays for the extension of the payroll tax cut.

My question is, if your mortgage rate is higher than what you could expect from investing, wouldn't it make more sense to pay on the mortgage? This is almost the same as the concept of paying off the credit card with the highest rate first. What are your thoughts on this? John, Rapid City, SD

Lots of not-so-terrible news was enough to put markets in positive territory today, but not by much. It gives us a chance to take a step back and talk about something different. Bonds.

Our primary aim is to have a deposit for a house in 3 years. We have saved a reasonable sum of money but did not want it to linger in a current or savings account for 0.75%. We are deciding either investing at low risk or paying off mortgage. We have to sell our current house to buy a new house. My mortgage rate is 4.99%, so after tax rebate it is about 3.99%. Most investing opportunities are giving us about 2% at low risk and 3-5% at medium risk. After tax one would have to take another 1.25% off the return. We would like some advice. Thanks, Tom and Anne, Boston, MA

A question about mortgage refinancing.

A question about when to pay off your mortgage.

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