weissblog

I was reading AllThingsFinancial and saw a link to Wealth Junkie. While looking around there, I spotted a box on the side saying how wealthy the author/webmaster was compared to the rest of the world. I clicked the link and took a look around only to discover:

And, while that’s pretty interesting, I still like the formula mentioned in the book The Millionaire Next Door. I’ve got a perl calculator around here somewhere based on that formula. It makes it easier to determine if you’re wealthy or not. I’ll try and dig that out this evening and post it.

EDIT: I found the calculator based on The Millionaire Next Door. To play with it click here to open it in a popup window, or click here to just go there.

I recently received a email from my Ask an Expert link on MortgageKnowledgebase.com asking me to explain line 801 – Loan Origination Fee found on the Good Faith Estimate (GFE). This line sometimes worries folks and I understand that people want a good deal on their mortgage, but people also want to make a decent living as loan originators as well. Anyway, I thought I’d post my explanation online and see if I can’t drum up some feedback from others.

Line 801 – Loan Origination Fee on your GFE is fee charged by the mortgage company for doing your loan. The fee is usually a percentage of the loan amount but may be a flat fee in some cases. The amount varies widely though depending on the loan type, credit score, and state where the property is located. For example, in Arkansas (where I live) the fee is usually around 3% on bad credit loans and 1% on FHA loans. In Mississippi though, a bad credit loan may cost 6% or more. The primary difference between the markets is state law, as Arkansas limits the amount that can be charged for a loan, and line 801 is usually the first place cuts are made.

This number is also where your loan officer / loan originator receives his/her pay (as a percentage). Most loan originators make somewhere between 35% and 70% of the figure on line 801. As a result it may be difficult to get that amount lowered as no one likes to give away their paycheck. Also, some mortgage brokers will not allow any of their loan originators to drop below a preset amount.

In one of my recent multi-topic posts I mentioned that my wife and I had purchased some patches to help lose fat. Well, we just finished off our first 30 day supply of them and the results are in. Without changing my diet or exercising I still managed to lose a total of 4 inches off my gut, a half an inch off my chest, and 3 inches off my thighs. All in all I must say that I am extremely pleased with the results and as we start our second month I’m going to try and eat a bit less and see if I can take the time to exercise a little bit. If anyone is interested in purchasing some of these patches, head over to the company’s website or contact me.

I’ve recently received an email from a couple different people calling for a boycott of certain gas stations based on the Department of Energy’s listing of who buys oil from the Middle East. I remember seeing a similar email back in the late 90’s so I figured I’d check to see how relevant the information was.

While digging around on the DOE website, I’ve found several interesting things. One page entitled Primer on Gasoline Sources and Markets offers a FAQ of sorts on why boycotting individual stations wouldn’t really help. On another page there’s a report compiled by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations entitled GAS PRICES: HOW ARE THEY REALLY SET? which was a really interesting read.

But, if you want to save yourself some reading and just find out what you can do to stop sending money to the Middle East, the following quote sums it up quite well:

The second way consumers impact the market is by reducing gasoline consumption. If enough people reduce driving or switch to more energy-efficient vehicles, gasoline demand would decline and prices would be dampened.

Carpool, anyone?

Oh, and if you still want to know where each company gets it oil, just go here and download the Excel file for whatever month or year you’re interested in. Good luck though, it’s not exactly light reading.