washufize

My wife and I have been paying her loans for about a year now. Thankfully, I don't have any. I believe since we are using the standard repayment, we have about 9 years left.

Is it worth it to take out a home equity loan to pay back her loans, as I would likely be able to get a slightly cheaper interest rate?

We're currently getting (I think) the maximum tax credit on our tax return. Is it worth it to pay more than the minimums when this is the case? Also, if we were to refi by using a home equity loan, I assume we would give up the tax benefit?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

i have a bagless vacuum that, even after being as clean as i can get it, seems to have lost vacuum power. in the meantime, i'm using a bagged vacuum, and it does great.

is there anything i can do to get my bagless working, or should i just stick with my cheap bagged vacuum?

Nice Username btw

Thanks for answering! I believe we have really good credit, and we have itemized the past couple of years. We have been in our home for 2 years now, so with the mortgage interest, it has been worth it to itemize. I have been at my job for 5 years, so I feel very comfortable here.

Emergency savings I'd like to be a bit higher. It's only between $1k & $2k, but we're adding $200/mo to it.

We also contribute to our jobs' respective 401ks, and I have a Roth IRA (which is not as large as I'd like it to be).