LIVING OFF DIVIDENDS & PASSIVE INCOME

I spoke to a friend yesterday who was smart enough to get a pharmacy degree that pays awfully well. However, she’s racked up a ton of student loans and it seems like she’ll be paying them for quite a while.[Not because she doesn't make enough, but because buying a new luxury car and travelling to exotic locations takes preference!]. I was lucky enough not to have any student loans. I graduated with about $3500 in credit card debt and that was it. My parents paid for some of it and Northern Telecomm paid for the rest. As usual I was deemed the financial expert to ask about consolidation and funnily enough I knew more about it than my friend did.

• You can only consolidate your loans once, and thats it
• If interest rates are going down, wait to consolidate
• They calculate the weighted average of all the loans and add a margin on to it
• You can consolidate at any bank or credit union and the terms are usually all the same, regardless of where you go
• Many lenders will lower the interest rate after you’ve made on-time payments for 3 or 4 years, so it helps to be regular
• As they say, “A penny saved is a penny earned!”.

What does this have to do with making money??? Until you get out of consumer/student debt, you’re not in a good position to build wealth. So thats the first step in making money!

• Mortgage Meltdown: The Worst Is Yet To Come! Check out this 12 minute video from 60 Minutes. There's another wave of mortgage defaults on the way, this time from Alt-A & Option-Arm (also called Negative-Amortization or Neg-Am) loans. As opposed to the subprime loans which were worth almost $1 Trillion, these two groups make up nearly $1.5 Trillion. ......
• How I Started Investing In Real Estate src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> In September 2000 i caught the flu and while I was probably well enough to go to work, I decided to take a week off and relax. I spent a whole week sitting in Barnes and Nobles reading all sorts of business and investing books. That week I......
• Blogging For Money {Sponsored Post} I've been talking about people who blog for money. Well I've been making some money off advertising at the bottom of my blog. Well I've been paid to post this article on Responsibility In Pay Day Loans. What do you guys think of people who monetize their blogs in this......

• Friday inspiration: Getting current on student loans, paying down debt, and changing priorities This is part of a series of interviews with people who are either working to improve their financial situation or who have already reached their goals. This week’s interview is with Jennifer, who had fallen behind on her financial commitments and was beset by late fees. She has since gotten......
• 1 Year and Credit Card Debt Free! Pop the Champagne! It's time to celebrate!!! A little while back I posted about the fact that I have not used credit cards for 1 year! That trend is still going, but now it's time to celebrate an even bigger accomplishment. Being Credit Card Debt Free!!!!  Yesterday my husband went......
• Recession's Silver Lining: Consumer Debt On The Decline Credit Karma recently released its U.S. Credit Score Climate Report reflecting data for July 2009. It revealed a few interesting trends, the most interesting being the continued decline of consumer debt for those currently holding a credit card. This means that, overall, Americans are paying off more than we are......

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