A down payment isn’t the only expense you need to consider when buying a house— you’ll also have to budget for closing costs, which could range anywhere from 2% to 5% of your total loan amount. And with the median home sales price well over $400,000, this means you could end up shelling out over $20,000 in closing costs alone. Once you factor in the down payment, moving costs, and new furniture, home ownership can start to feel out of reach.
The good news is that there are ways to reduce closing costs.
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Bitcoin is commonly thought to be the first cryptocurrency, but there were several attempts create digital currency before Bitcoin. The first cryptocurrency was eCash, developed by the company DigiCash in 1990. The concept and company were created by cryptographer David Chaum, who in 1983 published a paper titled "Blind Signatures for Untraceable Payments." Several other attempts ultimately led up to Bitcoin's creation, but it took more than 20 years for cryptocurrency to evolve to its current state.
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When it comes to scams preying on the elderly, Chris Wilbratte, founder and partner with Echelon Financial in Austin, Texas, is all too familiar.
His assistant's 84-year-old mother was once caught in a sophisticated swindle where the criminals posed as representatives of Publishers Clearing House; their emails even had all the logos from the FDIC, IRS and Federal Reserve Bank.
"It involved multiple calls with the various 'departments' at Publishers Clearing House where they built up their credibility, framed their requests for secrecy and access to investment accounts as part of the normal course of business," Wilbratte said.
What made the con all the more believable was that his assistant's mother had actually won money years before from Publishers Clearing House.
"This seemed even more natural, right?" said Wilbratte. "She won once. Why not? Why couldn't you win twice?"
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