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Wiser Wealth Management Blog
Debt & Credit

How does your car payment compare?

Taking out a car loan is the way most Americans can afford to purchase a car.  The current average loan size of a new car loan is $32,187 and the average for a used car is $20,137.  Average amounts for all auto loans have risen steadily over the last ten years to a record breaking $23,438 in December of 2018.  This equates to the average monthly payment for a new car in Q1 2019 of $554.  This is more than half the average US mortgage

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Casey Smith November 12, 2019
Financial advisor advice
Fiduciary

Are you getting good financial advice?

You go to a financial advisor looking for advice. What you hear might sound good, but how do you know the advice is genuine and not focused toward selling products with higher fee incentives? An advisor with a sell focus versus advisory focus will generally suggest products like annuities, mutual funds and managed accounts. These products have little focus on in-depth planning and long-term benefits for you as the client. When it comes to good financial advice, there are many ways to spot an advisor

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Casey Smith October 14, 2019
wealth
Fiduciary

Wealth management isn’t just for the wealthy

With over nineteen years in the wealth management industry, I have noticed that most of the clients I help do not consider themselves wealthy, yet their net worth is above the average in the US. This makes me think that people do not consider using a financial advisor because they do not consider themselves wealthy. The word wealth has many definitions related to abundance and riches, but the origin of the word translates as well-being and prosperity. We define wealth management as making the most

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Casey Smith September 18, 2019

The Great “Debt-ate”

Mortgage vs. Debt payoff: The Great DEBTate My goal is to save about $60k for a down payment on a condo in FLL. I also have about the same amount, $60k, left to pay on my student loan. I’ve been going back and forth with which goal I should attack first. On one hand, I want to make the purchase in Florida before home prices rise too much higher, and before interest rates rise too much higher as well. Moving to Florida will also save me

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wadmin April 14, 2016
Debt & Credit

Retirement without a Mortgage

If your house was paid for, would you take out a loan to invest it in the stock market? Amazingly many people reading this would actually pause to think about it. The answer should be no.

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Casey Smith September 5, 2013
Debt & Credit

The Burden of Debt

If interest rates are too high such as to make your minimum payments too onerous to allow much wiggle room, do not be shy about calling the debt provider to ask for a reduction in the rate. They don’t have to honor your request, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

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Casey Smith January 15, 2012
Research & Economic Commentary

The Debt Problem in Bond ETFs

This article was written for www.etfmarketpro.com International bond ETFs are an asset we can no longer ignore, but as some industry experts have brought up in the past, bond ETF construction has many inherent flaws.

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Casey Smith November 17, 2009

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