During August, as the pandemic lumbers along in month five…
- We may notice our mental health and resiliency responses needing attention. Recently we discovered UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Magazine (“Science-Based Insights for a Meaningful Life”) and enjoyed this list of self-care tips. Standout suggestions are checking in on three people each day, and an online public gratitude journal.
- We finally solved the question of why some of our younger clients never received their stimulus checks. They had been filed as their parents’ dependents in 2018, and the IRS used this data to decide who to pay. Below, as we wait for the next round, we offer an article considering how most Americans have spent that money.
- This month’s Going Green Newsletter is about Transportation options and choices. While the pandemic has certainly affected our movements, transportation remains a core issue in the construction of our lifestyles and how our choices impact the environment.
- Last month we talked about the low, low mortgage rates. Since then, mortgage fees have gone up by 0.5%. These will get tacked on one time, at the beginning of your new mortgage.
Year of Wealth Going Green: Transportation
08 – Going Green – August 2020
As of September 1, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
are adding 0.5% to mortgage refinancing fees (not rates)
As we notified you via bulletin on August 13, the addition of 0.5% to refinancing fees will affect all refinances packaged September 1 or later. If your mortgage is already being processed it is grandfathered and will not be subject to the new fee. The fee is directed at lenders, but will be passed on to customers as an additional 50 basis points to new loans. The fee is not an increase in the mortgage rate but a one-time fee. If your mortgage is $100,000 it adds $500 to the cost, if it is $1 million it adds $5,000.
The change is designed to shield the two entities (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) from the increased risk brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Source:
CNBC
