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With the coming of the new rules since January, 2010, everyone of us who has an IRA account will now be able to convert it into a Roth IRA. This has created an opportunity for all of us to have a tax-free growth of our retirement investment dollars. However, you should remember that while you convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, it will be considered as a taxable event. Thus you'll owe taxes on the money that you convert excepting the nondeductible contributions made to the traditional IRA account.

In the year 2010, you will be getting an opportunity to save a tax free retirement income if you convert your individual retirement account into a Roth IRA. Apart from this, the IRS is allowing the taxpayers a time period of 3 years to pay taxes due on a conversion. Apart from this, even the higher-income taxpayers will be able to set up Roth IRAs which was not allowed earlier.

Here are the 7 things that you should keep in mind while you convert your individual retirement account into a Roth IRA:

With the introduction of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA) on April 5th, new rules and guidelines have come up for the lenders. This new program is an extension of the HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program) and will in turn help the borrowers further in safeguarding their property against foreclosures.

Let's take a look at some of the specifics of the HAFA program:

You may seek mortgage refinance to pay off an existing mortgage loan. A refinance means new loan terms and conditions, which if is suitable for you, may prove quite beneficial.

Here are the top 3 benefits for which you may seek mortgage refinance:

Due to the recession, a large number of people have lost their job whereas some had to go through a pay cut. As a result, they are facing severe problems in paying off our debts - be it the mortgage or the unsecured debts. If the creditors do not receive the payments on time, they can charge off the debts. Credit card debts, medical bills, second mortgage, etc. can be charged off by the creditor/lender.

People had a lot of expectation from the Home Affordable Mortgage Modification program (HAMP) as introduced by the Obama Government. This program was considered to be an excellent initiative aimed at helping the borrowers residing at some of the the worst-hit states. But is the program a success in reality? Most of the experts do not agree. Check out the 4 reasons why Home Affordable Modification failed:

In the recent times, the Obama government as well as the private lenders have started considering principal reduction programs for homeowners who are underwater. However, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a new advisory to taxpayers who would get such assistance from the lenders.  Let's check out how the principal reduction on underwater mortgages will affect the taxpayers:

Of late, there has been a discussion in the MortgageFit forums, where a poster has asked queries regarding qualifying for a home loan. The poster is willing to buy a home for $667,000 with a down payment of 50%. She has a credit score of 620 and an income of $92k per year. Her husband is out of work, but he is about to have a job of $100k next month. His credit score is 700. The poster paid off all her credit cards as well as a delinquent account (medical collections).

A borrower needs to pay mortgage insurance premium (MIP), if he buys home with an FHA mortgage and puts down less than 20% of the purchase price. But is it possible to avoid paying MIP, even though you’re making less than 20% down payment?

Well, one of the posters in MortgageFit forums has a similar query. He intends to make a down payment of 3.5%-5% on an FHA loan to buy a home for $320,000. But he says the house is appraised by the lender at $410,000. He asks:

Can he remove the MIP since there’s enough equity in the home?

Recently, there has been a discussion in the forums where a poster in Arizona has sought suggestions from the community members regarding deficiency from foreclosure and taxes to be paid on it. Given below is the situation described by him in the forum: