SoFi Blog

What do you call it when someone buys a house and is responsibly paying off their mortgage every month? You could call it “adulting.” But what if there was a way to be even more responsible and pay less? Or what if there was a way to take advantage of all that value in your new home? That would truly be adulting. Well it’s possible there could be a way—through a mortgage refinance.

When you refinance your mortgage, you’re essentially paying off your existing loan and taking out a new loan at new terms. Generally, there are two types of refinances – No Cash Out Refinance: to get a lower interest rate or a different repayment period, or Cash Out Refinance: to take advantage of the equity in their home. If you refinance with a lower interest rate or term, it could save you thousands.

For example, using an online amortization calculator, if you pay on a $300,000 mortgage loan at a 5% fixed interest rate over 30 years, you’ll end up paying $279,767. With a 4% interest rate, you’d pay only $215,608 in total interest over the life of the loan.

Bad habits are hard to break, but good habits might be even harder to develop. And that’s especially true when it comes to personal finances. Growing your financial confidence takes time, like learning to care for a whole garden, not just a window succulent. But if you can develop good money habits now, you might thank yourself later.

For money-saving habits to take hold, you can work to develop good practices with your finances early on, and remain as consistent as possible in order to help avoid not-so-hot money habits down the road.

Establishing small, healthy habits now is a smart way to get your money organized. If you are able to incorporate at least some of these tips, you may be able to gain more confidence in your financial life.

Being an adult is a state of mind. It doesn’t matter whether you know how to roast a chicken or how many towels to buy, as long as you know where to go to find the answers. (Hint: the internet is always a great place to start.)

Ready to join the ranks of competent, bill-paying adults but not sure how to do it? Part of adulting is learning as you go along, so congrats on taking the first steps in taking care of your own business. One place to start—your career. What’s more adult than holding down a job and positively thriving while doing it?

According to a Deloitte study, the average American with a full-time job spent just over nine hours a day at work or on work-related activities. When you consider a person’s career, that’s a lot of time spent at the office, so you might as well enjoy it.

In addition to spending the bulk of your waking hours at work, it’s also likely your main source of money and can have all kinds of other implications for your lifestyle now and in the future. So, taking the time to find a rewarding career can pay off in the long run.

Master’s degrees are more popular—and maybe more necessary—than ever. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the number of people with a master’s has doubled since 2000 and, on average, a person with an advanced degree earned 3.7 times as much as a high school dropout.

Of course, whether you get a good return on your education and if it results in higher earnings depends on a lot of things: the type of program, the field of study, job prospects. Graduate school is a big time commitment and can be costly, so you want to weigh all the pros and cons. That’s also partially why online graduate degrees have become more popular.

If you’re wondering, ‘Can I get a master’s degree online?’ The answer is: yes, you can. Over 50% of master’s students got their degree either entirely online, also known as distance learning, or partially online.

Online classes can be an effective way to advance your education on your own schedule—and maybe save yourself some money. Graduate-level classes are no different.

It seems like only yesterday we were welcoming a new year. For many investors, the first half of 2019 has been a welcome sight after a bumpy 2018. And despite some pundits trying to discount the rally or arguing the next recession is near, markets are reaching all-time highs. June was a busy month, so sit back and catch up on some highlights.