Any guesses on what the APR and money factors Toyota will offer for the 2010 Prius?

Thanks again. I called the bank. Yes I can do it. I currently have 9 years, 3 months left on the loan. Paying off $20,000 would shorten it to 3 years, 3 months. Taking 6 years off, of payments of $400 would save me $8,800:rockon:.

Thank you again for the help.

 

The US treasury offers green bonds at about 5% apr interest. Not as much money as saving 4.75% mortgage interest because you have to pay income tax on the bond interest, but worth thinking about for diversification reasons. Don't be so quick to give up a 4.75% mortgage rate, since high inflation is in the US's future.

 

All of my home loans have been with Penfed. I tend to switch around as the wind blows ...
I have nothing but praise for them: often best rates around, and excellent customer service as a rule. I like that they are one of the first to accept documents by email. My current loan with them took about a week from application to cash available. Half that time was waiting for the poste, since the final papers had to be notarized. I *love* efficiency.

 

Wow, good savings Bob. What I have been doing with my mortgage is I took my current payment and divided it by 12. Take that amount and add it to my current payment (1200 / 12 = 100 so payment is 1300 per month). That takes about 6 years off a 30 year mortgage. After the math is done, figuring the extra 100, it will save me about 57k in interest.

 

Another cool little trick I shared with a lot of my clients (I used to be a part-time realtor) was to simply add 3% per year to their payments. Like this:

Say the loan is a 30 year with a payment of $1,000.00 per month. The first your, you make only that payment, $1,000 per month. The second year, starting with payment 13, add 3% to the payment, which is then a payment of $1,030 per month. If the next year, you add 3% to that (which is not 3% x $1,000 but instead 3% x $1,030), and a new payment of $1,060.90... the following year, with payment #25, add 3% more, paying only $1,092.73 per month.

If you do this for a total of about 15 years (the exact length could vary by a few months as it depends on the actual interest rate), a typical 30 year mortgage can be paid off to zero in only 15 years. This is a great way to save some money on interest, and pay off your home early. But it is also a great way to lose a good tax deduction, depending upon your tax situation.

At the end of the day, I would personally (and may just be me?), I would think that you are better off paying down $20k on a mortgage which is almost paid off, as oppoed to the work that you will end up going through to 'earn' close to $317 before taxes (which assumes the difference between a 5%, 5 year Cd, and a 20k Paydown on a 4.75% Fix Rate mortgage. Let's assume that you are in a 33% tax bracket, which takes 1/3 of that $317, or about $106 in taxes, leaving you with a net of approximately $211 in 'profit' for a 5 year venture of your time and money, still making payments. (Granted you will be paying payments for a while still, but it will shave time off the end of your loan.

Maybe then you can splurge for a better equiped Prius

 

Great advice EGL. It really is amazing how fast you can pay down your mortgage with a very small monthly investment. I was a loan officer for a very short time (2 years).

 

I just got pre-approlved for my 2010 Prius from my Credit Union for 5.25%. My dealership didn't want to talk rates until purchase was imminent. Does anyone have any idea what Toyota will offer for the 2010?

Thanks,

Rich

 

I will always recommend getting the lowest rate, but Toyota will not be offering 6.9% as that is higher than their currently published regular (non-incentivized) rate. My guess is the rate will be around 5.25-5.5% with top tier credit. Of course, your dealer may vary.