(Forbes) When it comes to your money, there are four simple tricks you can do to ‘make’ more.
Here’s what you need to know - and how to profit.
4 Ways To Make Money
Here are four ways to “make” more money this year:
1. Pay Off Debt
Use your savings to pay off debt. If you’re a saver, now is not a great time. Interest rates have been falling this year, which you’ll earn less interest income this year. Find alternative uses for your cash. In a low interest rate environment, use your cash to build an emergency fund, pay off credit cards or pay off student loans. You’ll “earn” a much higher financial return on your money by paying off debt than leaving your money in a savings account.
2. Refinance Your Mortgage
If you are a homeowner and have a mortgage, now is an opportune time to refinance your mortgage. The Fed doesn’t set mortgage rates nor does a rate cut directly impact mortgage rates. However, mortgage rates already have been declining, and the average 30-year fixed mortgage is less than 4%. If you’re a prospective homeowner, a relatively low mortgage rate is only one consideration to purchase a home. The economy, housing market, job market and your economic situation are some other factors to evaluate before buying a home.
3. Consolidate Credit Card Debt
Americans owe more than $1 trillion of credit card debt. Credit card interest rates are often higher than the interest rates of student loans, auto debt and mortgage debt combined. If you have credit card debt, and want to lower your interest rate, consider a personal loan to pay off credit card debt. You can consolidate your credit card debt with a fixed-rate personal loan, which is also known as a credit card consolidation loan. Depending on your credit profile, personal loan rates today start as low as 5.99%. You can use this payoff credit card calculator to calculate how much you can save when you pay off credit card debt with a personal loan.
4. Refinance Student Loans
The latest student loan debt statistics show that 45 million Americans collectively owe $1.6 trillion of student loan debt. Student loan refinancing just got absurdly cheap, with student loan refinancing rates now as low as 1.90%.
This free student loan refinancing calculator shows you how much money you can save when you refinance student loans.
For example, let's assume you have $80,000 of student loans at a 7% interest rate and 10-year repayment term. If you refinance student loans with a 3.0% interest rate and 10-year repayment term, you would lower your monthly payment by $156 and save $18,766 in total payments. If you are a doctor, dentist or pharmacist with a large student loan balance, your savings may be even higher.
