Do you consider all the risks that are part of your financial decisions? Do you look before you leap? Roll the dice and let fate take care of things for you. How do you deal with risks in life?
Risk is part of all decisions, and you can paralyze yourself by worrying about risks, especially in personal finance. Still, it is imperative to consider your actions with significant financial decisions. You must be aware of the risks that are part of the decision.
Let me run through a few personal experiences with significant decisions and risks.
Example 1: Lock In or Float?
For folks buying their first home, the question always arises. Should you lock in your interest rate? Or should you go with a lower but floating interest rate? When I looked at houses for the first time, I locked in at 11%. I thought I was getting a great deal because interest rates had been at 18%. So, I locked in for five years. We made the decision because we could afford the payments at that rate. We also didn’t want any surprise increases in our budget.
In hindsight, the decision was wrong because interest rates dropped quickly. I don't view that as a bad decision, just a more conservative one.
I now live on a floating interest rate loan vehicle to withstand a sudden sharp increase.
The risk here is, can I withstand catastrophic interest rate increases?
Tomorrow: More examples...
Hmm..yes I too locked in at about 10 3/4 I believe, but that was before they went up to 18% so I was smiling. My smiles were short-lived as rates fell, as you noted, within the life of the contract. However the good thing is…you can always renegotiate (for a fee of course) but as long as you are whittlin” the monster down…its all good.
The gamble BellyCheck took was enjoyable to watch…I despise the character..he’s a cheat…whatever he gets..he deserves…I am glad Manning made him pay!
Go “Skins (yes I am a Leaf fan too…many, many years of cheering for the “rebuilders”)
Wanna make money…bet against those two teams!!