Please read this whole article in one sitting. I don’t want a flood of emails from agents that think I have gone over to the dark side.
I have removed the links to Nay-Sayers for a reason. I am not afraid that you may be swayed by them, but we need you all to realize that these so called “experts” will not be swayed by you. By visiting these sites you help them out by upping their search engine rankings, and they plan on this by making your blood boil with banter and illogical emotional barf. We all need to focus on our mission and not let ourselves be swayed by theirs.
This is a very impressive list of so called “experts”.
How dare I question their advice!??
Easy, here I go..
1) Jack M. Guttentag, Professor of Finance Emeritus and former Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (one of the Worlds Best Graduate Finance programs). Earlier he was Chief of the Domestic Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on the senior staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Jack is also a Yahoo Finance Contributing Author.
Professor Guttentag states, “Based on everything I know, I have considerable confidence in my main conclusion, which is that the bulk of the reduction in interest payments comes from the borrower’s savings rather than from the program mechanism. … Neither the MMA nor any of its siblings provide the means for separating the contribution of the program to interest saving from the contribution made by the income the borrower allocates to principal reduction. The reason they don’t is that they want to pretend that it is the program that generates the benefit.”
2) Don Taylor, Ph.D., CFA, CFP, holds a Doctorate Degree in Finance and is an associate professor of finance at The American College, and writes the “Ask Dr. Don” column for Bankrate. He says the following, about even automatic type mortgage accelerators:
They are “Not for the financially indisciplined. If any homeowner, real estate professional, lawyer, or accountant is interested in more detailed information and truly analyzing these equity accelerator programs… below are some links and information that should shed a lot of light on this particular topic.
… Of course, all borrowers already have that money available with a conventional mortgage, too — and without the cost of refinancing. A borrower would simply need the financial discipline to use all that money as an additional principal payment. …Interest savings are still available the old-fashioned way by making additional principal payments on a conventional fixed-rate mortgage.”
(maybe he should learn to spell undisciplined?)
3) Holden Lewis of Bankrate.com, agreeing with Dr. Don, also warns “Don’t pay ANY Money to a third party to help you set up a [equity accelerator] mortgage payment,” in Paying for biweekly mortgage program makes no sense.
4) Greg McBride, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com, in the Miami Herald “McBride added that homeowners could better put their money to use in a Roth IRA or education funds, instead of funneling money into a mortgage accelerator.” Reff (Miami Herald 5/21/2007 Quick-pay mortgage system isn’t for all):
5) Ben Stein (economist, writer, and funny guy) graduated from Columbia University with honors in economics. He graduated from Yale Law School as valedictorian of his class. He has worked as a poverty lawyer in New Haven and Washington, D.C., a trial lawyer at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., a university and law professor at American University in Washington, D.C., at the University of California, and at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. At Pepperdine, Mr Stein has taught about securities law and ethical issues since 1986. Ben has written and published sixteen books, and nine nonfiction books about finance and ethical and social issue in finance…. plus most folks have probably seen him on TV.
In “When Paying Off Doesn’t Pay”, Mr. Stein writes “First, no one ever spent a sleepless night because she had millions in the bank and stocks but didn’t have her home paid off. On the other hand, if you pay off your mortgage and deprive yourself of liquidity, you could be in for some miserable times.
As I see it, if money is even the slightest bit tight, hold onto it and pay off the mortgage month by month. There’s nothing magically good about having a paid-off mortgage, but there’s something seriously bad about Not having ready liquid assets even if your home is paid for. …”
6) Carolyn Bond, CEO at the Consumer Action Law Centre in Melbourne, Australia. Anon-profit, funded by the Legal Aid Commission and the Government Consumers Affairs Office (Consumer Affairs Victoria):
In “Mortgage Accelerator Under Fire; Australian Securities and Investments Commission taking action against mortgage brokers” Carolyn Bond says,
“Consumer organizations such as ours, and our national financial services regulator - Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) - concluded years ago that there were no savings to be made, and that promoters were engaged in unlawful conduct. Examples and charts showing massive savings have all been shown to include significant increases in payments being made to the mortgage.”
As a follow-up Carolyn also points out: “I’ve seen it argued that these plans have a psychological impact; that borrowers are less likely to spend money if they know it’s coming out of their mortgage. We’ve seen that it can work in the opposite way. Some borrowers can’t stick to the plan, or don’t see the promised benefits, they then feel as if they have failed, or they realize they’ve got into something that is a con – and they feel they have much less financial control than they had originally.”
7) And … (short and sweet)… Steve Sushner, a Real Estate, Estate Planning, and Housing Attorney writes, “I reviewed this product for the first time last week. Frankly I am disgusted by it. It does NOT save any money, it merely moves debt from one location to another and in fact will cost most clients more money than it will save them (even if there was no $3500 fee and even if we forget the tax implications). The debt on the ALOC is almost entirely ignored. Additionally the program fails drastically when you realize that most people are paid twice a month, not once and in arrears. Substantial savings is realized on this program by these two false presumptions.
I so dislike this program (and find it grossly unethical- I’m sure the class action lawsuit is around the corner)….”
8 ) There are also many examples of other independent 3rd parties all over the internet, who have similar opinions and have been posting, blogging, etc… to help inform the public about the true facts behind these equity accelerators, and exposing the deceptive claims of magical savings without spending income or changing lifestyle.
9) Robert Grauer, Ph.D., University of Miami: 2007-05-27 The Miami Herald:
“I was shocked to read the Money Merge Account article [in the Miami Herald]. I am not opposed to prepaying a mortgage, I’m only opposed to paying $3,500 for the privilege of doing so.
The identical savings used in the example could be achieved by paying an extra $582 each month [from someone’s discretionary income].
Is that simple fact worth $3,500?
Why would anyone purchase a program when there are multiple online mortgage calculators for free that tell you the same thing?”
10) Manuella Adrian: The Miami Herald:
“I must take exception with the Money Merge Account. The strategy and services it offers — doing certain financial calculations for the borrower for a sign-up fee of $3,500 — provides scant savings and may bring more financial difficulties in the future if borrowers are unsophisticated or undisciplined.
The borrower is much better off using the $3,500 for the MMA sign-up fee to make a one-time extra payment to the mortgage principal.
Borrowers can calculate their own potential cost savings from extra payments to principal by using free Internet based mortgage calculators.”
11) IF you still don’t understand why Nationally syndicated Consumer Advocate Clark Howard thinks merge accounts “stink like rotting fish” then check out the discussions on his website and listen to his archived broadcasts at clarkhoward.com
12) Federal Trade Commission Information about debt consolidation and credit counseling.
Be wary of credit counseling organizations that:
* charge high up-front or monthly fees for enrolling in credit counseling or a DMP.
* pressure you to make “voluntary contributions,” another name for fees.
* won’t send you free information about the services they provide without requiring you to provide personal financial information, such as credit card account numbers, and balances.
* try to enroll you in a DMP without spending time reviewing your financial situation.
* offer to enroll you in a DMP without teaching you budgeting and money management skills.
* demand that you make payments into a DMP before your creditors have accepted you into the program.
NOW… for the actual truth:
In the late 1960’s an unknown account in the San Francisco California area introduced the first IRA.
All the experts lined up to call him a fraud and his idea a scam. Almost forty years later you can’t find one.
It shouldn’t be too shocking that the so called experts are yelling, kicking and screaming yet again. I was recently emailed this link to a website that had the above opinions of twelve “high profile experts” about the Money Merge Account.
It is very interesting to me that in reading through each and every one of the testimonials how they all are making assumptions about the UFirst product. They all are using their knowledge to predict the future for their clients based on the past ten to fifteen years. What they refuse to see is that the Real Estate wave is at its crest. Homeowners have listened to these “experts” for far to long. These “experts” still expect to be paid for their out dated information.
Beware of an ‘expert’ who professes to know all there is to know about his profession. I would rather one that was willing to study and learn and to not make assumptions. Their client’s are the ones that will be hurt in the end.
Watch the evening news. You will hear story after story of foreclosures and bankruptcies. Listen to the Home Owners that are interviewed. Who were they listening to that got them into the mess that they are in now?
One of your experts, from Florida, fails to tell the whole story. Florida is in a state of financial emergency. Thousands of home owners who believed in the advice by these so call experts got into option arm loans with little or no money down. If they built up any equity they quickly refinanced to pull all of it out to invest using their mortgage as their “greatest asset”.
These are the same people being interviewed on the evening news.
Know the bubble has burst, the wave has crested, and now homeowners with interest only payments, or Neg-Am payments are in for the shock of their lives. When the low introductory interest rate jumps it will swallow all or most of their discretionary income. Now, even if their credit hasn’t been knocked down by late payments they still can’t refinance because the reappraisals are coming in 20% to 30% lower that just one year ago.
In Florida, home of the lead “expert” that put this list together, people are abandoning their homes at an alarming rate. They got into these homes with no money down and have been paying nothing to principle. Now a home that they have no interest in, that originally appraised for $500,000. now appraises for $375,000. Does that sound like your greatest asset?
Here is Jubilee’s response to each of the 12 experts:
#1 The Money Merge Account with a HELOC helps pay down your mortgage, of course with your money. We don’t profess that this is fairy dust.
You still have access to your money through your HELOC. Without the HELOC it would be dangerous to send in a lump sum to your first mortgage, because once it is sent, you cannot get it back in case of an emergency.
No refinancing is required.
#2 As for the financially undisciplined–I hope you all have been through the client software training. If not do so ASAP. And as for being better for the client, being better served by just sending in the payment to the first mortgage–the experts don’t agree with each other. Without the HELOC the money cannot be accessed once sent in.
#3 I agree with–but we are not a Bi-weekly plan, so this expert is not referring to the Money Merge Account, are they This should point out clearly that due diligence has not been done concerning us, or that simple point would have been understood. It seems to me–assumptions were made.
#4 I wonder if he felt the same way forty years ago. Either way we can show the analysis both ways and the client can make that decision. I do believe that the client is smart enough to do so.
#5 HELOC again. Assumptions are being made yet again.
#6 As of yet no State Attorney General offices have contacted UFirst for running any ‘scam’. I am not sure what charts and graphs were shown in Australia. We are an improvement on the concepts used in Australia and are much more secure using a 2nd position HELOC.
#7 This guy is all over the place I suggest he attend a presentation.
#8 Last time I checked Mother Teresa nor her predecessor have a website to save the common home owner from the evil Money Merge Program. I do see plenty of others that have their own agenda’s and services to peddle, however.
#9 I am not sure which example he is referring to, but how is he going to access his equity without a HELOC?
#10 “Unsophisticated.” Does this word bother any of you?
I was chastised in person by a “Expert” Financial Planner who let his opinion of that word slip, and I quote: “ You know that the average home owner is too STUPID to have access to the equity in there own home.”
…and any tool offered for free is worth every cent.8)
#11 I have to admit that I like Clark Howard and I am not sure what he said so I will not comment on what he did or didn’t say, I hope that he didn’t assume anything without weighing all of the facts. However, we went to the Clark site as our opponent suggested and could not find information referring to us anywhere.
#12 I fully agree. We are not a DMP, so where’s the problem?
In a lot of the rebuttals I left out the most important Cog in the equation. The Money Merge Account program software. This is the tracking tool. It is the tool that all the others leave out. We all have tools that help us in all aspects of our lives. Can you do what the Money Merge Account does on your own? Yes, to a degree, but the software developed by United First Financial is working for you 24 hours a day 365 days a year calculating the fastest way to Zero. Our average client is finding over $150,000.00 in savings, and paying off their mortgages 20 years early.
Is that worth $3500? I know it is, and more importantly so do my clients!
Let me leave you with one other thought. These so called professionals know this industry is built upon your developed habits and conditioning. It is focused on ‘habit’…and aspect none of the so called ‘experts’ address at any time. The habits which are proven by the national trends, and is blatantly apparent by the lending industry. The fact is, our mortgages are created around that very set of habits.
This program helps people break those habits, by educating them and giving them first hand training in the affect their financial decisions have on their mortgages. If people would simply do this on their own, why haven’t they? The opportunity has always been there! Even these experts point that out. It’s because people won’t make those extra payments–and that’s where these experts make their money–from you.
They know full well their income comes from you staying in that cycle created by the industry. That is, unless they got with the REAL program, which is what we offer! FREEDOM!!
What scares and angers the “experts” who refuse to try the program, regardless of the guarantee, is that IF we are right (God forbid), they would have to admit they were wrong.
Ouch. Large birds don’t want to loose their perch.
I will not drag anyone into the lifeboat kicking and screaming. Nor will I quietly be burned at the stake, by the Nay Sayers, for knowing how to swim.
The Jubilee Project
UFirst Executive Branch Managers #827180
owners@thejubileeproject.com
1-801-701-6650 (Main)
1-801-208-9492 (Cells)
Join Jubilee NOW!
P.S. No where in the Bible does it tell us to mortgage our home to the gills and speculate on the Real Estate or stock market. If this last line offends any of you. Maybe you deserve your mortgage.
One of the best ways that I discovered to illustrate part of how interest cancellation occurs was by looking at our Home Equity Line of Credit(HELOC) statement for June 2007 which reflected our first months activity using the Money Merge Account system. (see attached June HELOC Statement)