Don't Fall for $3,500 Financial Software
$3,500 software fee? What the...
Patricia Mertz Esswein at Kiplinger's reports that United First Financial is selling the Money Merge Account system, $3,500 software that analyzes your financial data and then tells you when to pay extra on your mortgage and the amount you should prepay.
The Money Merge Account system also requires an equity line of credit, and claims create a "formula in which the money in your line of credit account generates an interest cancellation on your primary mortgage".
The article in Kiplinger's also points out that United First Financial is a multilevel marketer, so a sales pitch for you to make some software sales could be included in that $3,500. Of course, you could use a second job to pay for the software, right?
It does not take extremely expensive software to tell you that regularly prepaying on your mortgage save thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars in interest. You are better off using $3,500 to pay down your mortgage instead of buying software that Kiplinger's is pretty sure you will forget about using just as so many households have exercise equipment gathering dust.
Comments
$3,500 software?! I don’t even think my professional tax software costs that much. Ouch! I would think that running a debt payoff calculation would be pretty simple. I’m pretty sure there’s a Web calculator somewhere. Like this one on CNN. The idea being to pay off higher interest debt faster, and then keep paying things off. Way back when I owned a house, I took a different approach. I just paid an extra $100 a month on the mortgage. It wasn’t much, but it put a little more towards the principal instead of interest. The best debt strategy is the one that works, the one that you’ll actually maintain over the long haul. Just my two cents.
The Kiplinger article is a great example of today’s “journalism”…. a story with absolutely no research behind it.
It needs to be pointed out that this is really an EDITORIAL (opinion) NOT journalism. Journalism entails RESEARCH.
Where are the interviews with any of the 100,000 plus clients happily using this program to reduce their mortgage by as much as 2/3rds?
Where is the “side by side” comparison with alternative methods (most of which people don’t stick with) to see which approach has the best chance of working LONG TERM. 95% of United First Financials clients are logging in monthly… they are on track and sticking with it!
Where is the “test drive” of the program? The interview with the CEO, or any of the financial planners and mortgage professionals representing this program?
The woman writing this story has NO financial background herself, and has not even SEEN this program, so I am not surprised she does not understand it. However it is laughable that she thinks her “bi-weekly” program is the same thing… OR that putting money in a “reserve fund” (translation: low interest savings account), is preferable to paying off a mortgage at 5%, 6% or 7%.
Sadly for Pat… her words will come back to haunt her as more and more large companies, financial and accounting firms, all with more credibility than she, bring this program on board.
I happen to know that one of Kiplinger’s most popular sources for “expert quotes” and one of their advertisers, is in the process of bringing this program into their company.
Hopefully homeowners will do their OWN research… many UFIRST agents have access to DEMO software so you can see how this really works and if you feel that spending $3500 for a tool that can save you hundreds of thousands is worth it.
My last client is paying off over 1.3 million in debt, and saving over a million in interest…. and they are doing it in just a little over 5 years…. with the same cash flow they have today… no change in lifestyle or spending habits.
This program works… and once people actually do the RESEARCH and do the math… they can make their own decision… fully informed.
Is it for everyone? No. I turned down 2 clients in the last 2 weeks. However for many, many people this is a program that works, that is easy to stick to, that will get you debt free and that will change your life.
And a debt payoff calculation, while it would get most of the savings (if your client stuck with it) is not the same thing. Once you understand the concept of stagnant money, interest cancellation and floating the banks money, you will understand why.
I had a bank manager call this a “sweep account for homeowners.” While that is NOT technically accurate at all… in SPIRIT it is. What our software does is act as a “financial GPS” … telling you where to sweep your money so that it is used most efficiently… showing you the fastest way to ZERO debt paying the least amount of interest.
People have ALWAYS been able to pay off their mortgage faster… only about 4% do.
95% of United First Financial clients ARE.
That is some math you can hang your hat on.
My friend did this and I thought it was a scam also but she was able to pay off her mortgage and all of her other debt in 5 years. This program doesn’t work for everyone but you get a free analysis and you will know up front if it is worth it or not. After I learned how it helped her I tried to do it, but it was only going to pay off my mortgage a few years early so it wasn’t worth it to me to spend the money, but it has helped some people. It’s worth it to take a look and see.
The comment by “Sue” above is Sue Copening, probably the longest-winded of the UFF agents. Sue posts a lot of words, and a few numbers. Those numbers aren’t proven, and she shows no calculations, but she pulls them out anyway.
One of the numbers she pulled out above is “100,000 plus clients happily using this program”. An LA Times article from April 9, 2008 states, “United First Financial says it has about 10,000 customers nationwide.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus9apr09,1,2399585.column?page=2
Sue posted on April 30th. In 3 weeks, we can safely assume UFF did not increase their user base by a factor of 10.
As for Lacey above, her friend was not on the UFF system. UFF started up in 2006, so her friend could not have been using the UFF system for 5 years. Perhaps she used a system from Australia, where this HELOC system has been around for a few more years, but the Australian Securities and Investments Commission shut them down.
http://www.butterhomes.com/blog/index.php/mortgage-accelerator-under-fire-australian-securities-and-investments-commission-taking-action-against-mortgage-brokers
There are good threads at Scam.com and Fatwallet.com, detailing the smoke-and-mirrors behind the MMA scam:
http://scam.com/showthread.php?t=23250
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/finance/741118/?start=0
When you read the threads, it’s easy to see that the people in favour of the MMA, are also selling the MMA. Some new posters show up every few days and profess to be curious about the MMA, but quickly turn into “converts”. These are, of course, UFF agents. Sue is among them.
So yes, do your research on the MMA, but don’t stop at the UFF website.
How do you beat the MMA when paying off your mortgage? Simple. At the end of the month after the bills are paid, take everything in your checking account above a minimum float, and apply it to the mortgage as an extra payment. This is far easier than logging into the MMA site and entering your info. If you are confident, set this up as an automatic payment with the bank, and it’s even easier.
If you want a safety net, take out a HELOC, but don’t use it unless you need to. Just realize that the easy access to money that a HELOC gives you is a dangerous thing. It’s not free money.
To recap:
Month end balance - float = prepayment
Less risk than the MMA, easier than the MMA, and more effective than the MMA. And you don’t owe me a dime.
It’s obvious that the person making the comments has never been introduced to the program.
You are right that anyone can pay extra money and pay down the mortgage faster. However, pay your mortgage in a third of the time WITHOUT INVESTING EXTRA MONEY is the key. If you can do that on your own then all the more power to you. If you are able to do what an algorithm can do that’s great.
I love reading articles like this; some call it journalism, others editorialism, I call it “fluff”. Fluff is when people write articles only to be published with no real benefit to the readers. I don’t believe Sue has the credentials to make an scientific, let alone a truly educated decision, to pay the money or not. I have also read the Kiplinger article that she references and I don’t believe he did the necessary research either. I am not an agent nor am I a user. I was only made aware of the program 2 days ago and have read many articles and blogs, watched videos and even talked to an agent, a customer service rep and a manager at the company. I believe it’s a legitimate company offering a real service. I don’t believe that EVERYONE would be better served saving the $3,500 and using it to pay down their mortgage. Some people need help and guidance and the $3,500 is the price of admission.
SUE, why don’t you due your readers the due diligence of getting a free evaluation of your finances done by an agent in your area and report back your findings. Perhaps you might be more open-minded and will have done some real research!
“STOP FLUFF ARTICLES”
I’m always suspicious of people who rave about MLM schemes - interestingly enough, they always seem to be members of the scheme themselves. I mean, why else would people like Bill and “Sue” be so quick to leap all over the author of this post? (I’m willing to bet that when Bill said “Sue” he meant “Shelley”.) What do you have to gain by attacking someone for their opinion. Personally the fact that this “software” requires payment of $3500 AND an equity line of credit screams SCAM to me. I don’t need to do research to trust my gut. If I’m wrong, I don’t hurt anyone but the MLM agents who won’t get their cut of my $3500.
I was introduced to this program 2 days ago. I didn’t do the analysis at the time for a variety of reasons, so I didn’t actually see the sw program in action.
ONE thing really bothers me… There isn’t a demo of the sw on any website. Not even screenshots of what the sw offers. For $3500, I want to see the product.
I’ll throw one more thing out. SECURITY. This company would have a database filled with an individual’s extensive financial and personal information.
Ruth: You have made some great observations. Thank you for taking a moment to share your insightful ideas with others.
Bill Treaf: I assume that when you referred to Sue, you actually meant me: Shelley, the person who wrote the blog post that started this discussion. I am not sure why you feel so strongly about my opinion if you have no affiliation with United First Financial, but I respect your opinion as well as every person who responds to my blog post, whether they agree with me or not.
Shelley
All over the Internet I am amazed to find these blogs posted saying the Money Merge Account is not worth it, that we’re just selling software, that this is a MLM, etc.
Actually, United First Financial is a direct selling company. You do NOT have to buy the product to sell it or sell it to buy. You also don’t have to recruite anyone and surely you don’t get paid unless they produce. That being said, I also love reading the comments out there. On this blog William says in his comment that his professional tax software doesn’t even cost that much? He’s probably right, his probably costs more, seeing as he more than likely buys it every year. This is a one time fee and works on multiple properties, comes with lifetime customer support, coaching and training, and a limited money back guarantee.
Also, with the Money Merge Account Program you have the potential to put you on track to be debt free (high debt is the #1 issue in this country right now) in a fraction of the time and save you hundreds of thousands in future interest charges.
I also love the critics out there who say you can do this yourself. To them I say, “If you could, you’d already be doing it!” Bottom line is we don’t change our own oil in our cars, we pay someone to do that. Most of us don’t do our own taxes either. We just simply don’t have the time or patience. Same with planning our financial futures. How many baby boomers out there are retiring early? Not many. In fact, some 67% of baby boomers plan on working at least part time during their retirement for extra income according to bankrate.com, “Boomers retiring not so rich”. Why? Inadequate savings for retirement, high debt loads, and mortgages that many of them won’t pay off until they are in their 70’s & 80’s. Bottom line, whether people know it or not, they need this. America needs this. I’ll pay $3500 all day long if it means it will help me pay off my debt faster, pay less interest, eliminate my mortgage, and help me to better plan my financial future. In closing, you no longer need a line of credit for the program to operate, it will work with simply your checking, savings, and credit cards. Also, the Money Merge Account Express Program is available for those without a mortgage for help with paying off student loans, credit cards, etc. and it is about $1800. Bottom line, do your own research and decide for yourself. And at least do yourself the service of talking with an agent and getting an anaylsis. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Read the topic “Don’t Fall for $3,500 Financial Software”
There is free software,Yes free!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.yourbonus.org/
Since you can get it free, all the others are scam to me.