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Mortgage Free For Life

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By amzako

I recently saw an infomercial on TV for the book Mortage Free For Life: Secrets Banks and Lenders Don't Want You To Know! by Richard Weathington and Beth Ley, Ph.D. I'm think about buying a new house soon, so I've decided to buy the book and see if it has any helpful information. I'll continue to post my reviews of the book here for you to read.

If you've read the book Mortgage Free For Life (or even if you haven't) and you have an opinion, please leave a comment below or vote in my survey.

For more information check out MortgageFreeForLife.com

Thanks!


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lk  says:
2 years ago

some useful information on mortgage,but the paydown concept HELOC is a nicely vailed way of using your own money from your own paycheck to paydown your mortgage. the secret is add more money to your monthly mortgage bill.

Alex  says:
2 years ago

Just ordered the book too (last night after the infomercial). Just came across this hub. They claim in the infomerical that without "changing your lifestyle" or paying more that you could pay your mortgage off in 7 to 10 years??

Lisa  says:
2 years ago

We actually do use a HELOC as leverage against our mortgage, and it is going to allow us to have ALL of our debt paid off in less than half the term of a traditional 30 yr mortgage. Now I know nothing about this book, but that concept really works. I actually have a software program that helps me track the progress of the paydown! It is awesome!

Jim  says:
2 years ago

What software program are you using?

Jim Langley  says:
2 years ago

The lady in the infomercial has some smokin hot legs

Jim F  says:
17 months ago

Has anyone had any more feedback on this program?

Jim C  says:
17 months ago

Does Jill with the smoking legs have a web site?

James D  says:
17 months ago

Recently read the book. Motivated by the John Commuta commercials which seem to get at same idea. Wanted to know how this could possibly work. It seems to be an extraordinary approach to converting debt into wealth. Watch out for those who suggest the opposite such as those trying to sell the idea of maintaining high debt and letting someone invest the extra. Personally, I want to be mortgage free. I am trying to locate the software mentioned in the book.

jamer8  says:
17 months ago

I wonder how much the software costs that he's talking about in the book.

They said you get a trial of the software.

Teatro  says:
17 months ago

Lisa, can you share the software you are using?

Glenda   says:
17 months ago

I found a Ownership Accelerator at the website attached to this message.

Click on Calculator and it starts up.

Interesting idea.

BOBO  says:
17 months ago

IS THIS BOOK GOOD FOR CANADA

Richard  says:
16 months ago

Just saw the infomercial but haven't read the book. The concept is imported from Australia. I believe Manulife has a similar product called Manulife One in Canada.

Sassy  says:
16 months ago

Funny, $3500 is exactly what the fee is for a scam someone was pushing on me. Then I have to go find people to sign up. Somehow, they say making payments at a certain time against a HELOC/credit card will "slash" interest & you pay off your debt years earlier. Anyone tried this program?

JazLive profile image

JazLive  says:
16 months ago

Simply adding more to monthly payments, drastically reduces scheduled payments. One extra house payment annually knocks off at least a year from the end of your schedled term payments.

My Three Cents  says:
16 months ago

Thank you, my two cents. I listened the website you gave. It makes lots of sense. I'll be to listen to it again; to make sure. There are many ways to get debt fee. Sceptics are normally broke. But, if you really pay attention, things could turn around.

Shelby  says:
16 months ago

Voodoo, you have no idea what you are talking about. I know people who are using a similar product only it has been upgraded so you do not have to use a HELOC. (home equity line of credit) Many banks are freezing equity lines so this may not be the answer. I am a mortgage consultant who sends my clients to a company that is ahead of what the lenders are doing. Also every person's situation, needs and wants are not the same, so all of these things need to be taken into consideration when making choices. Feel free to email me if you would like more info on another option

big Oh  says:
16 months ago

What about theories by people like Ric Edelman who say you build more weath by not paying off the mortgage early and take all extra money and investing it instead?

Patty  says:
16 months ago

Excel has a program that will show you how to do this.

Tina  says:
15 months ago

How quickly your mortgage is paid off depends on how the payments are applied by the bank who holds the mortgage. Most mortgages are NOT simple interest. In a simple interest mortgage you are only charged for the number of days since your last payment which adds up to a lot of savings. In most mortgages, the interest is precalculated regardless. Please consider that your bank may not apply the payment according to the software calculation throwing the timeline and savings out the window. Also consider your home can be foreclosed if your HELOC payments get out of control and you are not able to make them.

Been There - Done that...  says:
15 months ago

Anyone who charges you a fee for a complicated computer program is a scammer! The fact is that using s HELOC as a regular checking account, and paying a few thousand 'in advance' off your mortgage balance DOES WORK! - It DOES save you thousands in interest. It DOES take years off your mortgage. You don't need to know any more than that! Go to your bank. Open a 'qualified' HELOC (One that permits you to use it as a regular checking account). Pay maybe $3,000 from it off your mortgage. Deposit your paychecks into the HELOC (and continue to use it instead of your current checking account) until the balance comes down to a few hundred dollars. Then make another mortgage payment. etc. etc. It's that simple. It will save thousand it will cut your mortgage term in half (or better). What else do you need to know?

Bill  says:
14 months ago

Pam C.; Call your credit card co. and protest the charges. Scam co.'s never defend their actions and you'll have the charges reversed in a month or so.

Tommy  says:
14 months ago

I just finished reading all the comments above. This concept is NOT a scam. I've read the entire book and it makes perfect sense. Sure everyone knows that making extra payments on your primary mortgage will pay down your mortgage faster. But how would you get the money back out if you needed it for an emergency? You only have 2 options: 1. sell your house 2. refinance (which costs around 2 points in fees) -- so a $100,000 refinance will cost you $2000 or more in fees --is it really worth $2000? The LEAP system bypasses this! The software is 5 payments of $59.99 after the 30 day trial so I'm not sure why some people are puzzled by the charges. When you call to order the book, they explain exactly what the fees are after the 30 day trial. Beats paying $3,500!!! I also received a letter with my order explaining the details of the fees for the software. If they were trying to scam me, I don't think they would've included that letter from Mr. Weathington telling me of the fee for the software. $300 is well worth the price of the software! If someone can provide one for free, definitely count me in! There's a 30 day money back guarantee so if anyone wants to order, I highly recommend the book. It gives you other tips on getting rid of debt and goes into detail about the leap program. I also love the tip towards end of book about raising your credit score!! This by itself was worth my 30 bucks! I wish people would be more educated about a topic before posting such messages. I wish I would've known about this system 5 years ago. I'd have my house paid off by now!!! Oh, and anyone who tells you NOT to pay off your house and hold the money for investments...don't walk, but RUN away as fast as you can! Anyone telling you debt is good has been brainwashed by the banks and financial system to be a debt slave for life. Read the book to open your eyes and see the truth about this fallacy. Again, I highly recommend this book to anyone who gives a darn about their own personal financial health. Any skeptic will miss out.

Showagent  says:
14 months ago

I'm a mortgage originator and I started a debt/mortgage accel. program 6 mo. ago and it's been amazing. I decided not to use a heloc and I'm still due for payoff of one property in 2 years. I have several other properties in the system and payoff for all is less than 7 years.

I'm so amazed I have to share this program with my old clients who are going to pay over $700K for a $150k house. I wish I knew this before...I would be sitting pretty now! Now, I'm saving hundreds of thousands in interest, I'll have my residence and rental properties paid off before I'm 50 and my daughter will graduate from grad. school student loan free! Not bad for a single mom.

3K is nothing to spend on the program that saves this much real $$$. Besides the payment is wrapped in the program so you never feel it. It's a no brainer...but all you who love the banks and your buddies on wall street, they thank you for your monthly interest payment and the $700 billion bail-out. Who's scamming who?

nancydodds1 profile image

nancydodds1  says:
14 months ago

Its very useful information about mortgage free life. Recently i posted an hub on mortgage calculator may be this will be helpful to you http://hubpages.com/hub/MortgageCalculator

steve  says:
14 months ago

paying extra money toward your mortgage principal at whatever interval you want is a good thng and will save you a ton of money (especially the earlier in the life of your mortgage that you do it)...this is not new...most loans have no prepayment penalty...make sure yours doesnt...there was a book that is probably 20 years old called the bankers secret that explains the basics...you dont need to have software to make extra payments because you will be paying your regular payments plus whatever extra you want and the bank will have to take care of the calculations...you can have it checked by a program or person down the road...this program seems to take these basics a step further but firat look at the basics...the concept is clearly explained in lower level accounting texts and any accountant can explain it to you...

nancydodds1 profile image

nancydodds1  says:
13 months ago

Its very nice information about mortgage. You can get some more information about mortgage calculator from my hub. Check it out may be useful to you .

BJ  says:
13 months ago

Just making ONE..., ONE extra yearly payment will reduce a fixed 30 year loan down to 21 years, u do the #s.

cfp  says:
13 months ago

Wow, just read these comments top to bottom. Have to agree with Procustes that anyone advocating paying $ for this system is a shill and has $ incentive to write what they do. The exception being "Are you guys nuts". Holy crap, possibly the most non-sensical (not a word) plan of attack I've ever heard. Of course, you have cash advance fees, maybe only 1-2%. Maybe you pay that off with a balance transfer from a 0% credit card (which almost certainly will have a 3% charge). What happens when that 0% advance is up, and you've dumped that cash into your mortgage and can't get it back out? Oh...now you pay 10, 15, 20%+ on your formerly 0% card, only compounded by the number of times you've followed this moronic, unsustainable plan. Wow.

As far as the actual proposed plan by this brilliantly informative infomercial. Where to begin? Sure, direct more money to principal, pay down your mortgage faster. Somebody made the point, if you want that money back you have to pay to refi or sell. If you use a HELOC to do this, just swapping debt. Using a HELOC as a checking acct could accelerate the process, until your bank revalues your home and shuts off your LOC, and you have access to no more $$. Last thing. Mortgages are cheap debt, and you get a significant discount (at least on residence) b/c of the tax break. If you are disciplined enough to save and invest the difference, over time, you WILL be better off. Even with the total cl*%$terf00k we've got going on today, stocks will be a better investment.

Tommy_C  says:
13 months ago

By the way, there are companies selling the software for $1000, $3500...don't walk away, RUN THE OTHER WAY!!! Go to www.mortgagefreeforlife.com

You'll save a bundle. Their software works just as well as the more expensive versions! That $3500 company is charging a high price because they're a multi-level company and they need to pay out commissions to all their layers of affiliate marketers. www.leapequity.com I think this is the same comany's site as www.mortgagefreeforlife.com

They have a double your money back guarantee on their software!

EVEN MORE CONFUSED NOW  says:
13 months ago

I read every post on this page and to my GREAT DISMAY found myself NO better off than I was before I found this site. There is so much conflicting information and so many (well intentioned and scam intentioned viewers posting comments here) that I found all the information worse than useless!! And to boot I now have a migrane! LOVELY!! I did write down some of the calculator sites and will try to once again navigate myself blindly through the labyrinth of BS & Legalease and just pray for LUCK.

be smart  says:
13 months ago

i rather send extra every month instead of investing in the stock market

retired math instructor  says:
13 months ago

At the beginning of a mortgage, most of the monthly payment is for interest. Any additional principal payments during the early years will greatly reduce the time to mortgage freedom. I got a 30 year loan so that the amount I had to pay was less than it would be for a 20 or 15 year loan.

All I had to do is decide how much more I wanted to send in each month. I indicated on the payment that the extra money was to go to my principal. On my next mortgage bill was listed my remaining loan amount, what I paid in interest and principal the prior month and what next month's payment in interest and principal would be. My required monthly payment was fixed. There was no need for any other loans, books, fees or programs. At any time I could increase or decrease the extra principal payment. Near the end of the loan, I was paying so little interest each month that I stopped sending in an extra amount.

--Living in California debt free for years.

kevin  says:
12 months ago

By just making a bi-weekly mortgage payment instead of a monthly payment will do the same thing, with out complicating your finances. If your monthly payment is 800.00 per month, send the bank 400.00 every two weeks, you will pay off your mortgage sooner, and save on interest. 12 x 800 = 9600, vs. 26 x 400 = 10400, that’s 800 more towards the principal and your payments remain the same.

Anthony  says:
12 months ago

The concept does work. I have been utilizing the concept for 16 months. Started with an interest only loan of 285K. Today my balance is 208K. I looked into the bi-weekly approach, it will accelerate your mortgage by 7 years (30 down to 23).

Truth Man  says:
12 months ago

The woman with the smoking hot legs is a liberal skunk who does a radio show in Chicago...she has been on Fox News and usually gets ripped apart by anyone with a brain. She can't make any money on her radio show so she moonlights ripping off folks on TV. Typical scumbag liberal.

vijay  says:
12 months ago

Okay, has anyone gotten a rotten loan where you are not allowed to make principal only payments? What then?

PHK Corporation  says:
11 months ago

Tips (Common sense) to use when buying and financing a house:

1. Get pre-approved (not pre-qualified) from your bank (they know you more)

2. Identify your confort zone for purchase price and monthly payments and do not exceed.

3. Typically your bank will tell you that you can qualify for more and give you a letter to that affect. Well, ask your bank for a second letter showing that your approved at the amount of your comfort level (which is less). Take a 15 year mortgage and do not even look at a 30 year mortgage--not even saying that you will double up on a 30 yr mortgage. The 15 yr mortgage gives you the discipline to pay your mortgage. [I took a 15 year mortgage at 7% and the difference between a comprable 30yr was $80 but my equity build went from $20 per month to $200 per month on a 15 yr. So my first payment of $800 ($200 wen towards equity)

4. Now start looking for your property and when the realtor asks if you have been preapproved show them your second letter of approval at your comfort zone and not the first. Do not mention the first. The realtor wants to put you in the maximum affordable house that you can so they can receive the highest commission. If they only see the letter of you comfort zone, they will only show homes in that area.

5. If the realtor is livign living up to your expectations, leave them an go find someone and DO NOT GIVE THEM AN EXCLUSIVE OR DO NOT PAY ANY UP FRONT FEES.

6. Have check list when lokoing at properties and look for things wrong and make a note of them as you will bring them up when you are preparing your bid and negotiating the price. DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH THE FIRST HOUSE UNLESS THE SELLER WANTS TO GIVE IT YO YOU FOR FREE WITHOUT ANY COSTS!

7. Ask for Seller's Concessions minimum $2000 but as much as you can get. Try to get 5% to 10% of the price in sellers concessions. Any amount helps at closing as it is less out of your pocket.

8. After you offer is accepted, get to know the seller before closing. Your realtor will resist this. So go around them, nothing wrong with that, if the seller is local and/or lives in the house. You are accomplishing two things: 1) you want to know the history of the house and 2) you want to give the seller a good iimpressions of you. [I learned much about my house and the seller even gave me a key to house before the closing--months before the closing---and gave cash back at closing without asking for it at closing]

9. Follow up up on everybody's duty including to ensure the title (do your own search), verify taxes have been paid, that a CO has been ordered. [I did this I found that there was a code violation and able to get the problem corrected before closing to the problem that I was allowed to move into the house without and initial CO will the contractor was correcting the violation]

10. Now you are a hownowner, learn to do your own home repairs and yard work. That is part of the American Dream is to work on your house. [One associate told me that your weekends go from going out to spending time on the house, the same with your vacations.]

ADDTNL: Because I put down 3% I had to take MIP insurance. This is not bad. My approach is to pay off that mortgage ASAP and make the monthly payment before it is due. Also, mortgage interest is added at the end of the month and your payment is for the previous month. So any amount extra that you pay this month on your mortgage beyond the scheduled payment is applied to the principal fully. After 2 years I get a letter from my bank that my equity is now 20% and they are dropping the MIP premiumm which was scheduled for 10 years. My payment went down by $35 per month

I bought this house in 1997 for $70,700 and in 2004 had to sell due to divorce for $195,000. This is the only good aspect from the divorce. Tookmy share and bought low income property for investment and a smaller home for myself and own them all free and clear. I do not work any more but have more income than I did when I did work where I was just recently was approved for a $95,000 mortgage for a house in Philly..

If any one can find the algorithm or calculation used for this software, I will write a clone version and release it as freeware.

AskNancyG  says:
11 months ago

I'm a bit confused regarding the HELOC, in this market most of us owe more than value; so HELOC is not really an option; then what ???

Larry B  says:
11 months ago

Unless your are a Sr. Banking Exec, the chances today of getting a HELOC are slim to none. This program was originated by Harj Gill, of whom I am friends with. In simplicity, if you pay more than your scheduled mortgage payment, put in writing (keep a copy) that the extra monies are to be applied to principle. And I suggest, the highest interest rate you have are credit cards, pay as much principal as you can, you'll see a realistic principal reduction in 4-6 mos and a higher FICO. ("I have fought FNMA, FHLMC on FICO scoring") HUD ("FHA") has agreed with me.

MargaretO  says:
11 months ago

PHK - Some of your advice is great. However, I would advise most people to get a 30 year or longer term loan and pay it off as if it were a 15 year loan.

If, in these uncertain economic times, you lose your job, it's easier to be able to pay the lower payment required of a 30+ year loan than come up with the monthly payment of a 15 year loan.

So, purchase and borrow only what you can afford as if you are going to pay it off in 15 but finance it at the longer term as a safety net in case an emergency arises.

You just never know when some unforseen emergency might arise that lowers the amount you can afford to pay in a month or maybe for the next many months. A disability can decrease your monthly income at least 30%. That alone can make or break someone's ability to continue paying on a 15 year term mortgage.

EddieA  says:
11 months ago

I would recommend to everyone to watch the Suze Orman show. She has talked about taking a 15 year loan over a 30 year. The problem today is that people have been buying homes way outside of there affordable price range.

She reccomends you have a minimum 6 month savings. If you can not keep that much in your savings you can't afford the home. You should never rely on future earning increases to determine the amount of house you can afford. 15 year loans usually take that into account.

My wife and I actually bought a home that we could afford to make 2 monthly payments. We did this because we saw friends get in over there head and were refinancing every 3 years durring the boom to support there life style. During that time we payed more in rent then there mortgage was so we decided to buy our own home.

Our original mortgage was at 7% intrest in 2001 30 year loan. We refinanced in 2003 to a 15 year 4.5% intrest rate. I totaled the payments for the 30 year the subtracted the total from the 15 year and noticed that we would $200,000. I was glad to pay the $9000 in closing costs to save me $200,000. I will allow you to do the figures for what my return on invest will be over the next 15 years. The original mortgage was for $153,000. This will in the future allow me to buy a new home as my family grows.

I would reccommend to everyone to look into finance management courses in your local area. There is a wealth of information out there to help the consumer.

Take this from someone who in 2001 had a credit score of 590 to 780 today.

DaveN  says:
11 months ago

Just watched the infommercial for "Mortgage-Free for Life...." so decided to do some research. at the very begining of the TV program one of the speakers - can't remember which cos I was transfixed on Jill's smokin hot legs.....- said this program was widely used in Australia and the UK. Can't speak about Australia but I can for the UK (I'm a Brit), and I can honestly say that I have never heard of this sort of system before. Only difference in UK is that 'Interest Only' loans are more readily available, the reason is that in the UK you can only take an interest only loan if you have what is called an 'Endowment Policy' tied to the loan. Basically you make two seperate payments, the first pays only the interest on the loan, the second payment is made to a life insurance policy that remains in force for the term of the mortgage, the amount you pay into this policy is calculated so that at the end of the mortgage term the policy 'should' pay out an amount equal to or greater than the principal amount of the mortgage. So you pay off the principal from the Endowment Policy, and hopefully, have a nice lump sum to do whatever you want with.

Personally I have found over the last few years (ok it took a while to sink in), that the ONLY way to manage your finances is to be in control of them, that means being fully aware of everything you owe, knowing when every payment you make is due and being as disciplined as you possibly can be.

I use a simple excel spreadsheet - 1st column dates, 2nd column deposits, 3rd column withdrawals, 4th column balance(formula which adds balance from the previous row and the deposit from current row then subtracts the withdrawal from the current row), 5th column description. I started by plugging in the starting balance in my current account, then every payday for 6 months, then every bill for 6 months. Right away I can see how much money I have available for other living expenses each month (simply check the balance figur at the end of each month (if this doesn't increase each month then you are in trouble and need to reduce monthly bills). Usually once or twice a week I check my bank account and plug in any other expenditure (ATM withdrawals, debit card purchases etc) - just insert a line into the spreadsheet or you can start with an 'empty' line for each week and fill in the amount there. After using this spreadsheet for just a couple of months it was amazing how much better I began to feel about my future. It's amazing how your health actually improves when you are in control of your finances. OK, the first couple of times I saw a minus figure in the balance column it worried me, but because I knew in advance that I was heading for a negative balance I was able to adjust my other payments to stop it from happening - result no late fees or over draft fees for over 5 years, that alone was worth the time it took to setup the spreadsheet and discipline myself to use it.

What's this got to do with paying off my mortgage early? Well, because I know exactly how much 'extra money' I have at anytime now or in the near future I can pay extra towards the principle on my mortgage without it affecting my lifestyle. The discipline I got used to in using this also mean't that when it came time for me to buy my first home here a little under a year ago I knew how much mortgage payment I could afford. No matter what my mortgage broker suggested, I was able to bring him back down to what I could afford, not what he "could get me approved for". Being in control and making sure my mortgage broker knew I was in control mean't my mortgage payment is within $5 of the amount I first worked out I could afford. Couple this with choosing a realtor I trusted and who was willing to listen to what I wanted - instant equity (I was prepared to go for a house that needed some TLC) ended with me walking away from closing with $20k+ equity and a check for $105.00 to pay for a celebratory dinner!

The bottom line is this, whatever you do, don't hand over control of your money to someone else, doesn't matter who it is, they don't work for free, and whatever they are making from you is money you can't afford to pay, no matter your circumstances.

AH64 Sparkchaser  says:
11 months ago

Well I am really simple. I do not understand HELOC... From what I understand you finance the equity in your home at some interest rate. Then use the money to pay on the mortgage or other bills. Someone said use the HELOC till depleted then go on. You still have to repay the money you got from the HELOC loan and the interest on the loan?? Right? So where is the free money in the HELOC? Unless the interest rate on the HELOC is lower but if it is you could refinance the mortgage. I have never heard anyone advise thet you use long term loans (mortgage) to pay off short term dept (credit cards ect) except the very same folks that brought you the mortgage mess. Yes the interest is lower but for many more years.

jmike  says:
11 months ago

Right-on Sparkchaser. I am a PhD financial economist with nearly 40 years experience in the housing and mortgage finance areas and can assure you that this "system" has no redeeming features over just making additional payments to principle. A HELOC is actually another mortgage, with a credit line and at a variable interest rate. Borrowing from the HELOC to pay down principle on the first mortgage is just moving the mortgage debt to a different mortgage, not reducing total mortgage debt. When interest rates drop the HELOC may actually have a rate below that on the first trust, but on average the HELOC's interest rate will probably be higher. Additionally you are increasing your risk by heaping more of the mortgage debt on the HELOC. When interest rates rise so do the payments on the HELOC. And the required HELOC payments are usually interest only. This means, for example, that if you have a HELOC at the prime rate and that rate doubles, so does your HELOC payment (and not a penny of that is going toward principal). Another risk with HELOC debt are that the loan may be frozen and repayments of principle required if the mortgaged property's value drops significantly. Also, the borrowing period is often fixed at 10 years or less, at which point no further funds will be advanced and the outstanding principle must be repaid according to the loans requirements. Additionally lenders have significantly toughened the qualification standards for HELOCs and increased interest rates and up-front charges. There's definitely no free-lunch with this "system" and those trying to use it may get a nasty suprise when interest rates increase. If one wants to payoff a mortgage early the clear winner is to make extra payments to principle (tell your lender to apply the extra to principle and be sure he does) and - when mortgage rates drop enough - refinance and apply your interest savings to further principle payments.

DIY reduce your mortgage  says:
10 months ago

Ok Charles Givens told us about this 20 years ago. They give you the answer in the infomercial. Step one ask your lender for yur amaortaization table or download a free amortization gnereator for excel. plug in your numbers. You will see that at the beginning of your loan something 80% of your payment goes toward interest. So that means only 20% is reducing your principle. If you look at your amortaziation table, simple send the bank the amont of the next monthn's principle and you will double the rate that you reduce your debt. So if your monthly payment is $1,000, then $800 is going to interest and only $200 is going to principle. So if you just send in a extra $200 and tell them to "please apply to the principle" then you reduce your principle by another $200. Do this every month and you reduce you pay schedule in half. The key is to set it up to happen automatically. So the software that they sell i probably an amorterization generator and a payment scheduler. You cand find these on the net for free. Now you have the answer go reduce your debt. If you don't believe me ask your bank. They will tell you, if you ask. If you bank at a credit union, they will often set it up for you.

now what?  says:
10 months ago

I have used the methods above and they definately work, without buying any sort of program. I was making more than my minimum payments on time and had execellent credit. BUT THEN, I went from $130K per yr base salary to $50K per year. After losing my job (the company shut down), I maxed out my credit cards, then started falling behind on my payments. I purchased my house a couple of years ago and now it is not worth what I paid for it, so any type of new or restructured loan is out of the question. I don't have the money to pay the admin fees! Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm sinking fast here!

KP  says:
10 months ago

DO NOT ORDEANYTHING FROM THIS " BUSINESS " They do not

honor return policies and LIE to keep your funds in thier pockets

Barbershop  says:
10 months ago

to "now what?": I may have a life raft for you. Would you like to talk over some ideas?

what up  says:
10 months ago

barbershop what are your ideas?

Ex Realtor now investor  says:
10 months ago

To "now what". With any luck you have a mortgage with a federally backed financial institution. If so, there are a couple of programs they have established to try to halt the rate of forclosures. If you ARE currently delinquent on payments you may qualify for an adjustment of your loan terms to restructure interest rates, payment amounts, and possibly even the principle balance. Even if not behind on payments, your mortgage company may offer you simular restructure options due to HARDSHIP. Start with your mortgage company, then check on HUD and INDYMAC websites for your options. The lender's would rather compromise than get another propery on their books. BE persistant, it should payoff.

simone hardy  says:
10 months ago

If these programs are so easy to do then why is the average american in the financial trouble they are in? For all intents and purposes this same program was but in the book, The Banker's Secret, in 1985 and still Americans are still in debt and being controlled by the banks when this same strategy was around then. Why aren't people using it? Because they don't understand or know of it's existence. And for our ignorance if someone charges you $3500 -- that's the price you pay for not having done or even bothered to learn about 20 years ago.

Dave  says:
10 months ago

I purchased the book last summer. I have been using the principles in the book and have paid down $13k so far. I now project I will pay down $25k by mid summer. I am not a shil. I am not using the soft ware. Just following some of the suggestions. Did not change how we spend out of pocket except to actually spend more on. We eat out more, more presents for the grand kids, etc. Yet we still are paying down our debt at a rate of about 25k per year.

It works

curious  says:
10 months ago

Everybody talks about the get out of debt lie..Why is it such a secret and why cant you share your information with others who can't afford to purchase the book or the software? We never want to help others with any information. the rich get richer while the poor get poorer..tell those less fourtnate how to get ahead and what how you will get richer by sharing information you will be so blessed.

Debt Master  says:
10 months ago

First there is no real magic pill ( just like all those "diet" pills out there) to pay off a mortgage quicker, than paying off the principle. Second if you really want this "coffee table" book, why not go to amozon.com/books and buy a used one for 3 bucks. happy reading....................

Jennifer  says:
10 months ago

I suggest reading the Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. He gives a lot of great info. Another Great book is called Money Types...I can't remember the author. This was a great read and gives examples of budget spreadsheets. It also explains more of the "psychology of money". Hope these books help.

CB  says:
10 months ago

Simple interest compared to compounded interest! Thats what this comes down to. Simple interest loans (ie.HELOC) allow you to pay the interest in the year its actually due. As opposed to compounded interest loans (ie. 30 year fixed mortgage) you pay all the interest front side of the loan. The first few years of a fixed loan your interest payment is higher the the amount going to the principal balance! So if you pay the same payment on a simple interest loan (of similar rate) you will be paying more to the principal than you would on the componded interest product.

Here is the problem. Profitability for the bank! The banks dont make FIXED rate, SIMPLE interest, open ended loans! The bank borrows money on an adjustable scale. If you buy a fixed rate loan the bank must gaurantee that rate, even though the money they gave you was borrowed on an adjustable scale! Banks CAN loose money on fixed rate loans!! The dollar is worth a different amount every day to the bank. Thats the reason rates to consumers, even fixed, change daily!

If your willing, and can find a bank still offering them, the Home Equity loan is a simple interest loan. However it's an adjustable rate loan! That means even if you switch to the simple interest product and pay the same amount your paying now, the amount going to the pricipal balance will vary depending on the curent rate! The reason we dont all have helocs is because we are all so afaid of owning an adjustable rate product in a market with the lowest rates in our lifetimes! Fear will always hold you back from acheaving great things in life. My dad always said "There is NO reward without risk!" In this case you will need to overcome your fear of the unknown adjustable rate. If you cant do that, who cares what you paid for the program!

I also believe that paying off a house is a bit silly! Equity is useless once its in the home! Except for collateral for another loan! Why would I tie up $200k or more of my money in a home? Its going up in value weather I tie up the money in the house or not! That just isnt a good investment for a poor man like myself! May as well put under the matress! Next question, is the interest I give the bank worth the equity I gain? No, it never will be in Texas, but I got to live somewhere and some equity is better then none. And who knows, maybe I will get lucky and pay it off someday!

The funny thing is that none of these programs say you MUST have equity and good credit to make it all work...

another idea...  says:
10 months ago

Another tip to add to the pile....

We write off the intrest payed to the mortgage in our taxes each and then apply the money we get back towards the principle. Another $3,000 this year! This plus the bi-monthly payments has really made it fun to watch the total come down online. No software, just a desire to see a difference in our total.

shannon  says:
10 months ago

Does it work for car payments too?? Duh

Duh  says:
9 months ago

What is reverse compounding as stated in the infomercial?

BIFF  says:
9 months ago

The chick in the infomercial has very sexy legs...

Focus & determination  says:
9 months ago

I don't currently own a home but am looking into it. In late 2005 I recieved a pre-approved auto loan with a rediculousely high int rate, not having a car & needing one & because I had a low credit score I decided to use the loan. I didn't use the full amt, I used 20K out of 35K. I found online loan calculaters and punched in the #'s until I came up with a monthly payment I could afford & spent that amount. I paid every two weeks and the 4 week total was more than my payment amount, I also sent extra cash when available. I took a full year off of my loan and now own my car. All it took was deciding to do it and sticking to it. And also not falling into the temptation of not sending payments when I noticed about half way through the loan I was about 3 months ahead on payments and they said no payment was due. I guess this would apply to a house but on a much larger scale. Just be disciplined and spend within in your means and try to plan for any eventuality.

Dan  says:
9 months ago

I don't have a morgage. I paid off my morgage several years ago. This is an interesting concept though. And I will admit.....Jill has a fantastic body and it was her and those legs that had me watching the infomercial all the way through. Who is she....does anyone know?

Vic  says:
9 months ago

I have a question, this program also mentions about doing the same thing with a car loan, does anybody know anything about that...thanks

graham  says:
9 months ago

I dont know if this program works or not. But folks, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are millions of ways to get out of debt sooner. I do know that If you stay in your mortgage for 30 years you'd pay for your house three times over. The quicker you get out the better. If you invest in the stock market via ira that is a big gamble. I know people that have lost 100s of thousands unless you go into fixed. You can do that through a money market. Back to the mortgages. I looked at my amort schedule. It broken down interest, principal, ending balance, loan to value. By sending the next principal payment each month, I will get out of a fifteen year mortgage in 7.5 years. My Original loan was for 63k and i pulled out 40k. With a monthly payment of 850. I send 850 plus the next principal payment which is 400. My total payment for 7.5 is will be roughly 112500. The banks only make 12500. If i was in a 30 year fixed at 599 per month the bank makes 115,000.

Marie  says:
9 months ago

I have been in an ARM for almost 4 years now and can't seem to get out ! Does anyone know if extra payments work for ARM's.?

jojo  says:
9 months ago

michael (a few posts above me)...an amen to that brother! we just love to enjoy the little extra things in life (starbucks, etc) that we dig ourselves into a hole over it. nothing wrong with treating yourself once in a while, but let's admit we treat ourselves everyday and think it's what we deserve. but we need to do ourselves a bigger favor and pay our homes and other debt off quickly and be debt-free, which is what everyone deserves. i'm glad to have found this site after thinking of purchasing this book, because more over what i've found are honest folks warning others and helping each other not get fooled. i think we've been fooled enough by the greedy cronies who got us in our current economic situation.

Jill  says:
9 months ago

Hi Everyone this is Jill fron the show. I know I have sexy legs. Please buy more books so we can keep taking up airtime on TV!!

mikeL  says:
9 months ago

I've been usinng a HELOC for a few months to pay of a car. Rate for used car was 6.75%, adjustable heloc rate is 4.5%, a savings of 2.25%. Plus the HELOC is tax deductable, so subtract another percent or two based on your tax rate. The principle here is to put your whole paycheck into the HELOC and write your checks for your monthly bills out of this HELOC account. This keeps the principle at a lower average rate. This plans works if you are disciplined enough to stick to a budget.

Here's an example:

Car loan @ $25,000@ 6.75% is about $140 a month in interest.

Using HELOC with $25,000 @ 4.5% is about $88 a month in interest not to mention the tax savings.

Say you put in a bi-monthly $2,500 paycheck into the HELOC account when you are payed. This reduces the balance on the HELOC to $22,500 instead of the original $25,000. $22,500 @ 4.5% is about $79 a month in interest. You didn't pay interest on the extra $2,500. Next month the principle will be even lower, meaning that you are paying even less that next month in interest. You are paying almost half of the interest costs by using a HELOC as opposed to a regular car loan, $140 versus $79. You save more than $1,000of interest in the first year and again if you add the tax deduction of a HELOC, even more than that. The idea of reverse compounding is just like the opposite version of the rule of 72. The more paid to principle, the less the interest paid by compounding and the less principle you owe.

A couple of things about this. The HELOC rate isn't fixed. If rates jump, which they likely will with our devaluation of the dollar, you might end up paying more, with a higher interest rate, than you would with a fixed rate loan. That is why doing something like this with a shorter term loan makes more sense to me than a mortgage.

This will not let you pay off your mortgage in 7 years. Even if you paid no interest and your full mortgage payment went towards principle you would still need 12 years to pay if off. Only by increasing your payments can you accomplish this. Using this system can however reduce the amount of money payed towards interest without increasing your payments.

The opposite scam is those that say mortgage yourself to the hilt and use this money to invest. The mortgage brokers that feed you this line are wrong. They suppose a return of 9% on the money you saved with the lower mortgage. A 9% return isn't impossible to do, but as you see from the current market could be -50%. The kicker is that the profit you make from any investment will be taxed. So you need to take say a 30% capital gains reduction on the income produced by this investment. Granted there are ways around this, but are limited.

Like has been said before in this thread banks will not pay out more to borrow your money then they can make by lending it. You are guaranteed a return on your money invested into your mortgage at the rate of your loan. An average mortgage rate of 6% is way better than any current CD or savings rate. Until this changes I believe getting a guaranteed rate @ 6% is a great investment. Remember that this also will negatively compound, so that if you pay off a $1,000 of principle you will not only "earn" 6%, so $60 on that $1,000, but $1,060 at 6% on the next payment. Just like when your CD resets, if you invest it all back you will earn even more interest on the original $1,000.

Mouley  says:
8 months ago

Seriously are you guys for real? I am a mortgage advisor in the UK, and from what i can accertain, a HELOC is further borrowing against your property, or equity release as some call it. It's true that the interest rate on a secured loan such as a mortgage or a HELOC will be less than unsecured loans. This is nothing new.

What you need to ensure, is that you aren't repaying the debt over a longer term, if you are, you will be payng less on a monthly basis, but ultimately more in total. If you maintain your current monthly outgoings on the new interest rate, of course you'll pay off the debt sooner. But surely this is just common sense. In the same way that if you overpay on your mortgage, you will ultimately save.

What is interesting, is the speed at which you will pay off a mortgage just by increasing your monthly payment by a relatively small amount such as $100. Obviously depending on term and your monthly payment, the number of years knocked off will vary in each case.

A very easy way to pay off your mortgage earlier without increasing your real outgoings is to increase your monthly payments in line with inflation, ie your monthly payment is $500, inflation for the year just gone is 3% therefore your monthly payment for the next year is $515 the year after it is around $531. If you continue to do this you will take a good number of years off the mortgage without it affecting your real outgoings.

Jerry G.  says:
8 months ago

My original loan amount was $43,137.00. 30 year loan. My monthly payment is $395.31. I pay an aditional $104.69 or a total of $500.00. My loan will be payed off in 15 years. If I pay it off at 395.31 a month I will pay $142,311.60 If I pay it off at $500.00 a month. I will pay $90,000.00 That's a saveings of $52,311.60. Of course if I pay more, it will pay off even sooner. I'm sure the amount off your mortgages are higher than mine, but the same principal applies. Now you can send me the money you would have paid for that book.

Econ PhD  says:
8 months ago

The HELOC loan reduction plan, in which you use the HELOC account as your checking account, deposit your pay checks into it and pay your expenses out of it, is a methos that CPAs have been suggesting to their clients for years, Nothing new under the sun.

Yes, it works, and a few of the saner posters above me mentioned why: 1. By depositing your paychecks into the HELOC account you reduce the interest paid. 2. - and that's the biggie: You borrow on a simple interest rate loan to pay down a compound-rate loan.

Incidentally, you don't need any software to make it work. Just decide on the monthly amount taken from your HELOC to reduce your 1st mortgage principal, & make sure that your pay checks are deposited immediately into the HELOC account. From that point on you'll be watching in amazement as you see the mortgage balance disappear while your standard of living remains the same.

GeorgeW6  says:
8 months ago

I read many comments and believe the people who are, as Econ PhD, above says "saner" have the right answers. The infomercial never says that they will recommend paying extra into the mortgage. Most of us know about the adding money to pay down the principle faster, anyway.  

Like most infomercials the S&H is in the small print, and in this ad the cost of the "free" disc is too.

"Jill's" legs are great and well presented and hopefully not too enhanced by the video cameras. She is a plus for the infomercial.

As far as I can tell from the comments, we are being advised to take out a home equity loan, route our paychecks into the loan account, and pay the mortgage from that loan. I never thought of a home equity loan being used this way. Maybe that is why, I, a very over educated Ph.D. now with more debt than assets. 

Nevertheless, I am wary of any system that has you borrowing on your home to pay off another loan on the same property. Anyone contemplating this should have a good handle on how disciplined they are with their money. I am a good example of one who tried the home equity borrowing for other debts.

    My original mortgage began 25 years ago at $135,000. The monthly payment was every penny and more that my wife and I could afford. Times never did get better and I refinanced many times, usually to lower the interest rate, and almost always extending the length of the mortgage back up to 30 years.

Only once did I refinance for lower interest and a 15 year term, but that mortgage only lasted for a few years until the next refinancing.

Refinancing has taken me from a lowest principle of about $100,000 up to $368,000 tomorrow.  The latest mortgage is for 30 years fixed 4.5% interest, that probably equals 4.9%. That will lower the monthly payments by $500 an amount that will recover closing costs in 14 months. I hope to use the extra $500 a month to pay my credit card debt.

I tell you this because my poor judgement, plus some unbelievably bad luck leaves me with a 30 year mortgage, $2200 payments on a home worth maybe $450,000 in todays market. I also still owe $30,000 in credit card debts, despite using more than one refinance to take money out of the home equity to pay off my home equity loans or credit card loans. 

All of this happening well into my retirement years.

I believe that I am typical of many Americans now who still owe relatively large amounts after a lifetime of work (me for about 60 years!)  We just got carried away (like our government) with easy credit and over-the-top borrowing and spending.

I just hope my pension holds up and savings will pay off the credit card. I doubt if I would stand up to working anymore, even if I could get a job.

I would have liked to move now to a warmer climate near my only child where housing costs are much lower, but do not know if I can do this now. I will hope for better luck in 2010.

Don't worry about $30,  $300, or $3000 to help you get out of debt, if you are positive the source is good and will work for you, it could be money well spent. However, at least start with free advice. Use your public library or free (or next to free) public classes. Also, ask as many people as possible to give you their thoughts on saving, investing, spending.

I am a poor example, but given the circumstances, I did OK until, thinking the battle was over and won, when the great stock market gains over the past ten years, along with easy credit and low interest rates ended.  Only luck kept me from losing even more of my retirement savings and enough were wiped out to finish my retirement travel hobby, that's for sure.

Best of luck to all, especially to the younger folks who can profit from the mistakes of others and from good, honest people's advice too.

Suzy  says:
8 months ago

How can you tell anything about how this woman`s legs look when she`s wearing dark hose and her legs are all knotted around each other? Anyones legs can look good if you hide all the flaws behind dark hose and sit just right.

Jill Brown Fan  says:
8 months ago

The "Lady With the Smokin Hot Legs" is Jill Brown. (Her dark hose are sexy, Suzy!) She is an infomercial producer / consultant / hostess, Evidently not above hiking her skirt up to make a few bucks. http://www.jillbrownproductions.com/prod/index.php

Jill Brown Fan  says:
8 months ago

http://www.jillbrownfitness.com/fitness/home.php

suzy  says:
8 months ago

Jill brown fan....Wish I had a supporter like you!Thanx for the fitness video .I`m always looking for ways to flatten my abs.Don`t know if I can do`em but I`ll try`em!

Z  says:
8 months ago

Watched the infomercial (insomnia). i am from Australia and personally know the system well but i cant seem to find a bank here in the US who has the system I know of. Usually its a 20/80 ratio owned/bank, your pay goes into your mortgage account which also becomes your personal acc with cc access for exspenses.having your pay go onto your mortgage pays your balance down so you have less interest only to pay and more towards your principle. you pay your exps w/ your cc and before the interest free period is up (ie 28, 31 or 55 day cycle) you pay your cc off to a $0 balance. With this system you do not need an emergency savings plan, its your mortgage/personal/ cc acc. For some people who do not budget or those who "kinda budget" this is not for them.... You MUST watch your budget daily, have a clear visual plan not just an idea of where you are because you will be wrong and very wrong at that. Personally in australia we were very motivated on this system and enjoyed watching our mortgage dwindle. We also noticed our lifestyle didnt suffer infact it improved because we were so careful with our money we were able to afford vacations more frequently (with out splurging of course). It works, I know it does, its just a matter or finding it here in the US.

Z  says:
8 months ago

I just read a few of the other posts. In OZ if you needed your line of credit for emergencies there was no buy down or penalty as it was a "revolving line of credit" it worked in the sence you have access to the maximum 80% of your home value at all times provided you hadnt already maxed out. My parents had a $200,000 revolving line of credit for nearly 15 yrs (till Dad passed away), Mum sold the farm, bought a house and still has a $40,000 revolving line of credit for a just in case situation. She is 100% debt free untill she uses any money for travelling ect and pays it off little by little. She may not need to use any of the money for long periods of time but it is always there for her. Its great as she will never have to apply for another loan for the rest of her life.

Anyway like I said. i dont know of any bank who does that here. Shame for those like me we would greatly benefit and be responsible with our money even if we lost our jobs or faced an illness. But on a stock std fixed mortgage we have to have an emergency savings plan, we own out right both vehicles we have $0 cc debt even though we do have cc's. We budget tighter and we still get bunched in the same category as all the other lower to middle income households who have debt to the eye balls and bought a house bigger than the Jones just to keep up appearances. I personally dont care about the Jones infact I wish I could flip them off. secretly I do as our debt to income ratio is a meager 18% when I know some of you spend more than you earn.... Tisk Tisk.... Its not hard to live comfortable on $40,000 and no. we dont look broke we live in a good neighbourhood and our kids attend an exemplary public school.

Craig  says:
8 months ago

www.thinkbeyondyourmortgage.com

Craig  says:
8 months ago

I was a loan officer in a bank, a mortgage loan processor for credit unions and understand the concept of "closed end mortgages". Mortgage lenders many times will not administer your additional payment to the principal, unless you specifically designate the payment to go to principal. Additionally, they may not post bi-weekly payments to the mortgage, the software they have will not post until a full mortgage payment has accrued. If you apply your paycheck to the revolving HELOC created by these firms, the interest you pay for the month will be greatly reduced. Multiply that my months and the savings could be "extremely significant". I have yet to proceed with this product, my spouse lost her job 16 months ago and I feel we would have difficulty in getting approved. As soon as I feel comfortable to do so, I will.

Frank   says:
8 months ago

The only way one pays his or her mortgage off faster, is to pay on the principal amount prior to the due dates on the monthly payment slips. This book or the knowledge it contains will not accomplish this. Their is no magic bullet folks! Please explain to all of us, this MAGICAL HELOC program/method, so we can all understand how digging deeper into debt helps you out of debt quicker. You sound like the people running our the US treasury department. Paying off the principal balance quicker than the amortization schedule, is the only way to reduce the total amount of interest you will lose to the banksters, if you stick to their payment schedule.

Frank  says:
8 months ago

If you have a home worth $125K and take out a HELOC for $100K (80% LTV). Payoff the first mortgage with the HELOC proceeds. A current closed end loan will be $514.14 per month at GMAC's rate of 4.625% and 30 year amortization. Interest paid in the 1st month $385.42 and principal of $128.72. Month 2 would yield $129.22 in principal with the rest of the $514.14 to interest. With the HELOC loan @ $100 (80% LTV) rate of 9.24% with Bank of America auto deduct from account. Interest paid during the 1st month of $770 if the $100K is still out. Applying each paycheck to the principal balance weekly (assume $500) the interest for the month would be less. An amortization schedule for the $100K loan shows a payoff in 5 years and 4 months with those assumptions. Each time you need additional monies to buy other items, you use a credit card, pay the card off each cycle before charges accrue by accessing the HELOC. That does increase the balance again and extend the loan, but you have just reduced your principal by $2000 in the first month. You could pay down on the closed end loan by placing the $2000 per month on the loan, however you would not be able to access it and pay off the credit card.

Craig  says:
8 months ago

Sorry, this comment was created by me and NOT FRANK!!!!

If you have a home worth $125K and take out a HELOC for $100K (80% LTV). Payoff the first mortgage with the HELOC proceeds. A current closed end loan will be $514.14 per month at GMAC's rate of 4.625% and 30 year amortization. Interest paid in the 1st month $385.42 and principal of $128.72. Month 2 would yield $129.22 in principal with the rest of the $514.14 to interest. With the HELOC loan @ $100 (80% LTV) rate of 9.24% with Bank of America auto deduct from account. Interest paid during the 1st month of $770 if the $100K is still out. Applying each paycheck to the principal balance weekly (assume $500) the interest for the month would be less. An amortization schedule for the $100K loan shows a payoff in 5 years and 4 months with those assumptions. Each time you need additional monies to buy other items, you use a credit card, pay the card off each cycle before charges accrue by accessing the HELOC. That does increase the balance again and extend the loan, but you have just reduced your principal by $2000 in the first month. You could pay down on the closed end loan by placing the $2000 per month on the loan, however you would not be able to access it and pay off the credit card.

Olivehurst, ca  says:
8 months ago

If you took that $300.00 and put that to your mortgage every year you would take roughly 2 years off your loan.

Chris  says:
8 months ago

Yes, as listed above in comments, this program is correct and a scam as well. The idea of using an other loan (HELOC or whatever) to utilize while (live on) after you have paid off the next Mort. payment in advance, does give you the benefit of the lower term since ectra payment is made and then only use the Heloc money as you need it (in other words take it all out at the beginning of the montha nad re-pay with earnings o9ver the month). So this will save some net interest and cost no more. BUT the savings are based on the amount that you have paid in advance, which is very small. For a 250,000 30 year mortgate at 6.5%, you would save the interest on $1587 for the 30. This results in a net gain of 387 over the lenght of the loan (less than 1 payment removed). That assumes you get paid all in the middle of the month and then pay back the HELOC). So anything elso that subtracts from the loan balance is really jsut more money you have paid to the loan. With a complicated enough program, you may miss the fact that you are actually just paying more towards your loan. You see the net savings of what you would have paid over 30 years and irt looks impressive (maybe 100,000's of thousands). Of course if you looked at the compounded amount you would have gotten by investing that at the same rate it would be identical. It is true that 6.5% may not be possible to get with perfect saftey, so in that case it does make sense to "invest it there". Of course once paid to principle it can't be switched to anoter investment so is a long term proposition (not counting a HELOC of course, but the rate could go up there at sojme point).

So, the bottom line, is that this is a correct idea with no utility. Other than showing you the power of compounding and confusing you into thinking you can do something better with them that you could not have done on your own.

That is why I say this is a correct program, but for practical purposes it is a scam (since it definately misleads you in the program to come).

Please excuse typoe, as I do not have the ambition to proofread or spellcheck :)

RNL  says:
7 months ago

Thank God for the freedom we have in this country to have all these different opinions. Just thought I'd throw in my "2 cents".  First, I just saw the infomercial this morning.  Interesting.  I'd say do your due diligence and research what you're buying.  9 months ago my wife and I bought the $3500 money merge product a few of you have referred to.  We absolutely love it!  It's doing exactly what the agent and company said it would do.  At first I thought it was expensive, but it's paid for itself already.  And the customer service of the company has been the absolute best.  If we have questions, they are there to help us.  As you can tell, we're happy customers.   We have been married over twenty years, and had tried a variety of methods to get out of debt...from refinancing, debt consolidation, extra mortgage payments and debt roll downs.  We always ended up back in the same boat.  Why?...it's all about discipline...which we (as most Americans) don't have.  Our program has done a great job keeping us on track and showing us where our money is going and we can see the results of our actions.  Bottomline...we're doing our part to get out of debt. Just find something that works for you and go for it!  Good luck becoming "debt free"!   

Pete Kacensky  says:
7 months ago

I posted the message below back in Sept. 2008, but it was removed recently and the email requests have stopped. I've sent the free excel files I mention to over 550 people. The offer is still open - just send me an emial and I will reply.

Making extra payments to principal is very easy to track. You don't need to buy a $40 book asking you to buy expensive software to do it. The amortization equation used to compute one's monthly payments for a given loan amount, interest rate and duration is well known and easy to derive if you know a little math. I made an excel spreadsheet that can track the extra principal payments, and another to show how your mortgage balance is reduced by additional payments to principal. You just input your mortgage information. I'd be glad to send it to anyone interested for free. These programs are rip-offs. Educate yourself, there's no reason to pay a lot of money to track it. A simple excel spreadsheet will do the trick. Email me for a copy. I'm an expert in cash flow analysis and the mathematics of finance, and hate to see people pay dearly for something of minimal value that should be free.peterkacensky@comcast.net

Sheree  says:
6 months ago

I have the book Mortgage Free for Life. I have read it and because I am so slow it took me about a week for it to click that the money would be paid back into the HELOC with the "extra" money that we don't spend at the end of the month. I totally get how this program could help me but am a bit scared at the same time. I am hoping to see this work and applied for a HELOC today. Hopefully I have enough equity in this housing slump to qualify!

Here is my question....what HELOC do I take the bank up on? They offer 1 yr fixed at 5.5%, 36 month fixed at 6.5% and 5 yr fixed for 7.5%. The first two go up to prime plus a half after the fixed rate (which right now is 5.5 but could change with the market). With all of them they are open for 10 years and they allow 90% of the value of the home (with a $10K minumum). They also require 40%DTI.

We qualify based on their credentials so long as the house is worth enough! I have been crunching some numbers and hopefully someone can tell me if I am looking at this right...

We owe $124,000 on our house at a 5.8% interest rate. Am I right that this equals $7,192 a month in interest? So this same loan will have $6,960 a month interest if I were to lump $4,000 from a HELOC....a savings of $232 a month. If I put all of our money into the HELOC and there ends up with a balance showing of say.....$2,000 on the HELOC at 5.5% I will pay $110 a month on that loan.....so am I right to say that I would save a total of $122 in interest a month? If so....is this a good program for me? Are there other savings that I am not considering? Am I missing something? Another question is the whole credit card situation...I don't have one! Can this program work effectively if I can't pay everything at one time? Or do I need to have a cc in order to make this work for me?

I know.....tons of questions...Thanks!

Sheree

tim  says:
6 months ago

for us dummies, all these abbreviations are hard .. what is DTI?

i wish people could be clear - make it IDIOT

tim  says:
6 months ago

make it IDIOT-proof for us please.. i admit i'm an idiot, and need the help

JustMe  says:
6 months ago

A 124,000 at 5.8% mortgage has a 599.33 monthly interest amount. (124,000 x .058) / 12 months = 599.3333

Though I waiver on whether this program really works or not, I'm sure that it probably doesn't really save you the kind of money it claims. Working in banks for the past 20 years, I assure that there is no secret way of paying off your debt. Either you pay the basic amount and pay for the full term, or you send in more and pay it off faster.

andy  says:
5 months ago

DTI = Debt To Income

justkp  says:
5 months ago

I have done TARDUS AMERICA, which is the same concept. Cost 3,500 of the program. Paid off a $273,000 home in Hawaii purchased 2003, paid off 2005. Sold it in 1 week for 535,000 in 2006. The market has dramatically changed here and houses aren't selling for inflated costs like they were. Bought a 2nd home in 2005, paid it off in 2 years because I had extra income to throw toward it. Cost of the home was $675,000.

Since 2007, I am living in Hawaii without a house payment.

Ericka  says:
5 months ago

I agree with justkp. If you make your regular payments on time, and send in extra you do pay off your loans quicker. My husband and i have done it with car loans and credit cards, etc. Remember people are out to make money any way they can. Try this with a small loan and you will see, and apply same principle to any loan. It is not rocket science. The world will keep you in debt, if your not careful. GOD BLESS!!!!!!!

Scott  says:
4 months ago

There is a free mortgage free for life calcualtor on this site: http://www.mortgagefreedomforlife.com

glass railing  says:
4 months ago

I've just added one extra payment a year and in 6 years I've dropped years off my overall amortization...

Bill Finn Oviedo  says:
3 months ago

The folks who sent me the book called me and tried to get me to sign up for training for $3,000 without being able to provide me any concrete information ... no written warrantee ... and no contracts to sing. They wanted to do everything over the phone. Sounds like a scam to me. The books were not worth the money, either.

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