Use the new Federal Housing Tax Credit as an investment seed? Is there anything fundamentally wrong with this idea?: Take the new Federal Housing Tax Credit and dump the $7500 into a Roth IRA. Repay the 'credit' at the normal rate (~$500/year for ~15 years I think). This seems like a no brainer to me, but I am not very financially savvy. Its essentially a no-interest loan, so it I would think that investing no-interest money is a win-win, but then again, I'm dense enough that I once thought I had a system to beat a casino's video roulette machine. (long story short, I emphatically did not)

Seeking guidance with financial planning (loans, down payment, more) I've searched through the questions already asked but didn't see anything quite like this. My situation: 1. I am graduating with a very large student loan debt (more than 50k, less than 100k). 2. I have excellent credit. 3. I have no other debt or loans. 4. I have some retirement savings. 5. I don't expect to have a huge salary. 6. I am considering going back for another degree in a year or two--probably one that would result in a significantly higher salary I'm going to move home for a year or two. I am considering using my cost savings to pay off a large portion of my loans. This appeals to me, except for a few reasons:

Is it possible to refinance through the bank that holds your mortgage? Is it desirable? Is it easier? I bought a house in August with a Bank of America no fee mortgage at 7%. I'm wondering if a) it makes sense to refinance now, even just a few months in, and b), whether I should approach the mortgage holder first and see what they can do. It seems to make sense that they'd want to keep the business rather than letting it go to another company, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something, since the web seems to have little info on doing so. Other salient facts: 30 year, fixed rate, 10% down.

Pay off my house, or put it in the stock market? I have the opportunity, via a "windfall of cash" to have enough money to buy my house. I owe about 40% of the current value of the house. With this windfall, I could pay it off, and have some cash left over. The other option is that I put the money into the market, where it will (hopefully) get more interest. The payments aren't a stretch for me now. However, I'll also be unemployed via this windfall, and if I were to pay off my house, I'd have no payments other than ongoing utilities. That would put me in a position to either 1) last a while, or 2) take some risks and go for a big pop at at startup.

Pay off my house, or put it in the stock market? I have the opportunity, via a "windfall of cash" to have enough money to buy my house. I owe about 40% of the current value of the house. With this windfall, I could pay it off, and have some cash left over. The other option is that I put the money into the market, where it will (hopefully) get more interest. The payments aren't a stretch for me now. However, I'll also be unemployed via this windfall, and if I were to pay off my house, I'd have no payments other than ongoing utilities. That would put me in a position to either 1) last a while, or 2) take some risks and go for a big pop at at startup.