Financial, "No-ledge"! I'm, "cyferin", here, Jethro style!

I'm offering financial advice, from a guy who doesn't know, "Jack" about economics, and let's his broker tell him what to do when it comes to the portfolio that lets me do shit like buy a, $43K, "toy", and take my wife and kids to, Boston just to see, Jimmy Buffett and the, Red Sox at, Fenway Park. So take this with a grain of salt. But it worked for me. And it's all about planning ahead. So stay with me. This story takes a while.

Four years ago, I bought an Audi A6 for $53K. It was my retirement gift to myself. And my broker told me that if the Credit Union was offering me the money for their car (the whole thing, for five years, with NO down payment) at 5%, and my money, in stocks, and money market stuff, etc. was earning, 6%, I should take the Credit Union deal, and leave MY money in the account to earn more than I was paying out. Makes sense when your broker tells you this. So I did. I could have paid for the car, but I was coming out ahead, by NOT paying for the car, and paying off a loan. Sounds crazy, but tastes great, trust me.

When I got the pay off on the Audi down to about $14k, I just wrote a check and paid it off. Just before Christmas last year.

Bought the, Camaro about a month and a half ago. Have no other bills but a equity line for building the garage out back, or as, Deb calls it, "The Cigar Room" (guilty as charged) and monthly bills everyone else has for power and water and gas, etc. And, Gus Paulos got me a lone, from MY Credit Union at 4.5%. Awesome! Good rate.

Then, about 3 weeks ago, Mountain America Credit Union, starts advertising car loans, "as low as 3.99%"! Really?

So today, I stopped in at, McDonalds at 5887 South State Street (I know the address, because I worked there in high school) to get myself an unsweetened Ice Tea after having my knee punched full of steroids for a torn meniscus, for $1. It's awesome. And I was right by my Credit Union, and decided to go in and ask some questions.

I told my friend, Sharon, who I've dealt with before, and she's awesome. Always very helpful, and does her job like no one I've ever dealt with, that I had some questions. She knows I ask tough questions, so I think she was nervous. But she did well.

I asked her, "Why, when I bought a car a month ago, and I'm a good customer, for 25 years now, and have a credit rating WAY over 800, I can't get a lower rate?" And to my surprise, she said, "I think we can do that. Let me look." And got on her computer.

To make a long story short, ten minutes later, I had a car loan for over $43K, for five years, at 3.45%. And she couldn't change the length of the loan or the monthly payment, which I didn't give a shit about. She could change the RATE, and over the course of this loan, it will save me, OVER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS! How awesome is that?

So, the moral of the story is, pay attention to your loan's, any loans, and the rate they are offering you, and when it goes down by at least, one point on your mortgage, or even less on a car loan, re-negotiate!

Years ago, I, "Locked In" on a mortgage rate and a few days later it went down. I called the mortgage company and told the nice lady, that I wanted the new rate. She said, "You can't do that. You will lose your, $500 you paid to lock in." I told her I didn't give a rat's ass about the $500. The new rate would save me over, $40K on the 30 year life of the loan, and she could keep the $500 and have a nice day. I was going to another mortgage company. A half hour later, she called me back, and said they could make an, "exception" for me. Damn right you WILL, not, "could"!

So, the moral of this story is, don't take what they are giving you! Stand up, and demand a better deal. It will save you money in the long run, and that's how you get rich enough to retire early. That and having a rich father, and being an only child, and having the father be a jerk about taking care of himself, and I can't give you ANY advice on THAT! If I did? It might be illegal.

But still, watch out for your penny's, and the dollars will take care of themselves. If you can refinance your mortgage, and it's at a rate more than a total point less than you currently have? It's worth the fees to do it. And now is the time! If it's not more than a point? Don't do it. You should just stay where you are.

I've had to learn some shit since I inherited some money, and retired. I'm just trying to share. No extra charge.