mortgage interest deduction

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe -- where should my cash savings go? That's the riddle many Americans are trying to figure out these days. After the necessities are taken care of, it's time to choose: mattress, stock market or mortgage? Do the math and the answer is clear.

DailyFinance has asked you, our readers, for your personal finance questions, and many of you have responded. One popular topic of those queries has been mortgages. Today, we reply to Ed, a 57-year-old with a small home equity loan. Should he pay it off faster, or invest his extra money elsewhere?

In the complicated, confusing, and confounding world of taxes, we citizens have a little-known ally within the IRS: the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson. Olson welcomes your thoughts via a suggestion box on tax reform. So far, she's received roughly 1,500 submissions, and she's still asking for more.

With proposals from both President Obama and GOP leaders to broaden the tax base, it seems likely that some cherished income tax deductions may be reduced or even eliminated, and one leading candidate for the chopping block is the deduction for mortgage interest.

In today's shaky real estate market, more and more homeowners are becoming landlords, often as an unexpected necessity. Whether you're renting out your old house, an investment property or even a single room, being the landlord means tax breaks -- and you should take every one you can.

A recent survey found that around three-quarters of home owners and two-thirds of renters said the mortgage interest deduction (MID) is important to them. Of course, the survey was conducted by the pro-homeowner National Association of Realtors.

Historically, buying a home has been advantageous for both owners and the country at large. Long considered the engine that drives the American economy, home ownership brings huge rewards to banks, mortgage companies and builders, and the building industry provides tons of jobs. Home ownership...

New-home sales leaped in June by 23.6% from May, to a 330,000 annual rate, but that was aided by a downward revision to May's 47-year-low, to a 267,000 annual rate from the previous 300,000. Inventories fell, but there, too, the news is mixed.

In just a few weeks, your opportunity to take advantage of the most recent variation on the homebuyer's credit will expire. By most accounts, this version of the credit, which cost taxpayers a whopping $1 billion per month, was a bust, doing little to actually spur the housing market. While a...