I agree ...to a point....I can deduct mortgage interest...Credit Card Interest I can't. There are term loans where most of the inteerst has already been paid ...I am sure there are business items out there as well.... One other thought ...depending on the person, and T, I am with you 100% on the paying of the highest interest stuff first, for ME, but some need to see that gain (or loss) of killing that small one first ... then the next one...and so on. So whatever works ...people need to just get debt free and feel what breathing feels like
Yep the deductions are exactly why so many people are refinancing their house right now when it was paid in full. Almost free money (parents locked in at 2.85%) to use to pay off other debt and invest elsewhere (earning 10-20% instead)... Takes some financial freedom in the first place to achieve that though. I have been lucky to have a few good friends who are financial advisors and more importantly, parents who opened up their books to me at a very early age to teach me about the basics of saving/investing/debt/etc. I've always been extremely good with numbers so it helped to learn these other principles of how the numbers translate to the real world. That is the biggest shortcoming of our current education system IMO. Students get out with degrees and diplomas and don't know any common real world things like applying for a car loan, obtaining a mortgage, the differences in savings plans for retirement, etc. Our society would be way more level headed if this were bundled into a required course for everyone to take...
