Month: January 2012

Accelerating Your Mortgage Payments

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People are constantly looking at refinancing a mortgage.  This might be an attractive option if you plan on paying a mortgage for 15+ years.  The problem is for people that are under 10 years away from paying off their mortgage.  For the latter case it might not always be worth it.  You need to do your due diligence.

With 5 year arms below 3% it is very tempting to think about refinancing.  Just remember re-financing also can involve a lot of fees.  This is why it is usually only worth it in the long run because it is only with time that those fees are saved through a lower payment.

There is however an easy way to accelerate payments and reduce interest.  The best way to reduce your home mortgage quickly is to participate in a 26 Payment Plan. Usually these plans are free and offered by all mortgage companies. In this plan instead of paying your mortgage once a month you will pay half the amount every 2 weeks. Since you are paying every 2 weeks you will end up making 1 extra monthly payment per year or 26 payments (13 monthly payments) per year.   By paying every 2 weeks interest does not build up all month long since you are paying more frequently.

I know that paying 1 extra payment per year can be difficult but the upside is that it will generally take 7.5 years off a 30 year fixed mortgage. If you use a mortgage calculator you will see that it will save you 10,000s of dollars.

Re-Visiting My Rules for Investments

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It is worth going back to your rules of investing from time to time.  This is what keeps us grounded and disciplined so that we do not start following the latest trend.   Remember that slow and steady wins the race.  Warren Buffet once said ” I am greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.”  The take away message is that oftentimes we are swayed by panic.  For example, in 2008 GE one of the Worlds greatest companies was trading just below $6.  I purchased some but I wish I had purchased more as the company is now pushing $20 a share.

So are some rules:

  • I am an investor–I do not trade my investments frequently.
  • I am also a saver–I routinely invest each month using my savings.
  • I know every asset has risk and I consider the risk before buying.    I accept the risk by owning a diversity of assets.
  • I have an investment plan and plan for allocation.
  • I invest regular amounts each month in both falling and rising markets.
  • I spread out my investments among stocks and bonds.
  • My share of bonds equals my age.
  • I rebalance once a quarter.
  • I know that stocks are risky in the short run but not so risky in the long run.
  • I force myself to sell high and buy low.  Patience is the key here.
  • I put at least 20 percent in international assets.
  • I stick to my plan and try not to check my stock balances every day (this one is not easy).

How to Find the More Perfect Hotel Room

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I have discovered a website that I love called Room 77.  What Room77 does is allow you to see what kind of hotel room you are going to get and the view from that room.  So you type in the city and name of the hotel where you are staying and it will show you the view from that specific room.  Because we all know that not all hotel rooms are created equal.  Who wants to look at a Wall when you could look at a park.  What I have done is write down the rooms I like before arriving.  This way prior to the Front Desk employee giving me the key I can suggest the rooms I would prefer.  Usually they will assume I have been to the hotel before and will provide better service anyways.

I Love This Cognac

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I found Tesseron Cognac a couple of years ago and I am a huge fan.  Unlike many other brands this is still a family run company started in 1885.  The Cognac is made in Châteauneuf-sur-Charente, France.  They have many different variations that they sell. Personally, I like the Lot 76 the best.  It is also one of their least expensive.  The bottle will set you back about $80.  What makes this Cognac distinct is the caramel sweet undertone.

Tesseron Lot N° 76 “X.O Tradition” is an exceptional blend of reserve stocks of Grande Champagne Cognac, matured to perfection in old casks. Lot N° 76 immediately establishes its quality on the nose which exhibits a wealth of caramelised peaches, almond and candied fruit aromas. This carries through magnificently on to the palate, with rich, delicate flavours of nuts and dried fruits. A rare range of tasteful sensations.

A Perfect Pizza: 2 Amy’s in Washington DC

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A picture is worth a thousand words so let me know what you think?  2 Amy’s located at (3715 Macomb Street Northwest  Washington D.C., DC 20016 Tel (202) 885-5700) has the best pizza in Washington DC and maybe in the USA.  They are one of the only Pizza places with D.O.C. (See Below).  This is a fantastic and delicious place.  They also have a great variety of beer.  Simply Delicious!!!!!

What is DOC?  In 1998 the Italian government formally recognized Neapolitan pizza as a traditional food worthy of preservation and granted it D.O.C (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) status, which specifies the legally permitted ingredients and methods of preparation necessary to produce authentic Neapolitan Pizza. Only soft-grain flour, fresh yeast, water, and sea salt may be used for the dough, and only Italian plum tomatoes, mozzarella di bufala, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh basil or dried oregano may be used for the toppings.

Quickly create new Sticky notes on a Mac

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There are 2 ways of making a Sticky Note on your Mac.  The first way of creating a new note as easy as highlighting the text and/or images you want to jot down and pressing a keyboard shortcut. That shortcut? Command-Shift-Y.  Your new note will near-instantly appear on your screen, containing the text you just had selected.

If keyboard shortcuts aren’t your preference, there is a second approach, too. You still start by highlighting whatever it is you’d like to save in Sticky form. In this method, however, you simply drag your selection onto the Stickies icon in your Dock. Once again, your newly-created note will leap to the front of your screen, reflecting the entirety of your selection.

Dominique Ansel: An Outstanding Bakery in Soho

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I recently visited Dominque Ansel, a bakery in Soho.  I love this Bakery.  It is very relaxing and just exudes a great energy.  The kind of place you would love to hang out in.  It is very casual with Coffee served in paper cups.  But the coffee is fantastic and the bakery is amazing.  All the products are baked on-site which is rare these days.  I loved their Croissant, Cannele, and Madeleine.  I definitely love this place and highly recommend it.  They are located at: 189 Spring Street (between Sullivan and Thompson) New York, NY 10012.

Sightglass Coffee in San Francisco

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I have been ordering Coffee from Blue Bottle Coffee for the past 2 years.  They provide an excellent aromatic coffee, freshly roasted within 24 hours of shipping.  However, I recently discovered Sightglass Coffeethat is also located in San Francisco.  They have an excellent customer service team.  I ordered the Ethiopia, Gedeo, YCFCU Single Origin Espresso. The aroma of the fresh coffee was amazing when we received the package.  The coffee was very flavorful and well balanced.  Will definitely be ordering again.

TASTE NOTES

Ethiopia’s Yirga Cheffe region is known for producing coffees with refined fruit-like brightness and delicate floral aromatics. The Gedeo lives up to it’s namesake, offering kaffir lime and jasmine floral aromatics. These floral attributes show in the cup beside flavors of watermelon, bergamot, and crisp cucumber.

DETAILS

This is a washed processed coffee from the Yirga Cheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union. YCFCU farmer members tend to small plots of land at high altitudes ranging from 1700-2200 meters above sea level. These small plots are in Ethiopia’s Yirga Cheffe region, specically the Gedeo zone, an area known for producing coffees with refined fruit-like brightness and delicate floral aromatics. The Gedeo opens with kaffir lime and jasmine aromatics, leading to flavors of watermelon, bergamot, and crisp cucumber.

Mileage Manager

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I have been using Mileage Manager for the past year.  I find it to be a very convenient and inexpensive way to manage my airline, hotel, credit card and car rental miles in 1 place.  It is very simple to use.  You simply add the user name and password for each frequent flyer program you belong to.  It then gives you a summary of all your frequent flyer programs as well as the points needed to get to the next status level.  They also alert you of mileage bonuses.

Crosby Street Hotel in Soho (NY)

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We just came back from spending a few days at the Crosby Street Hotel in Soho.

The hotel is simply fabulous. The Staff could not be more friendly. The Rooms are so nicely decorated.

The location is fantastic–right next Balthazar Bakery.  If you are looking for a hotel with a super friendly staff, well located, well priced for New York, and excellent restaurant I could not recommend this hotel more strongly.