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	<title>Damascus Gate &#187; Personal Finance</title>
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	<link>http://damascusgate.com</link>
	<description>My thoughts on the Middle East and other things</description>
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		<title>Non-conforming loans</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/non-conforming-loans.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/non-conforming-loans.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:36:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank of america]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chase bank]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit unions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[non-conforming loans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=233</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you have tried and failed to get a loan from one of the big banks (Bank of America, Chase, etc) don&#8217;t despair, you still may be able to get what is called a non-conforming loan from a local bank or credit union.
A non-conforming loan is a loan where the borrower does not meet the [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Should I pay off my student loans?</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/should-i-pay-off-my-student-loans.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/should-i-pay-off-my-student-loans.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:59:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit cards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debt-to-income ratio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interest rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student loans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is a tough question that  I&#8217;ve been pondering ever since I graduated from undergrad in 2000.  On the one hand, student loans give you the best interest rates by far.  My student interest rates were only 3.5% and I was pretty sure I could do better than that with other investments elsewhere so I [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Beat inflation by investing in real estate</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/beat-inflation-by-investing-in-real-estate.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/beat-inflation-by-investing-in-real-estate.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:41:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bank loans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inflation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leverage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Real Estate]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=197</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the often forgotten benefits of investing in real estate is that it&#8217;s fairly easy to borrow money for the investment.  No bank will lend you money to buy stocks or gold but banks will lend you money to buy real estate.   Why?  Because real estate is a tangible asset that is generally considered [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Money market funds make banks rich</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/money-market-funds-make-banks-rich.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/money-market-funds-make-banks-rich.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:01:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bailout]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inflation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interest rates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[money market funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TIPS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Treasury Inflation Protected Securities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=199</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If anyone still has some degree of faith in the United States banking system, you should consider reconsidering after the various bailout packages of the past several months.  It&#8217;s no secret that these bailouts are going to increase the rate of inflation considerable.  In 2007, the inflation rate was 2.85%, in 2008 it was 3.85%.  [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Governmental influence and the Roth IRA</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/governmental-influence-and-the-roth-ira.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/governmental-influence-and-the-roth-ira.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:01:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bonds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CDs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fair Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mutual funds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roth IRA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stocks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I mentioned before, the government uses the federal tax system to influence our behavior as citizens and residents of the United States.  If you look at any tax break, tax credit, or tax write-off you will see that they are designed to direct you toward a certain type of behavior.  Incidentally, I think this [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Dividend paying stocks for passive income</title>
		<link>http://damascusgate.com/dividend-paying-stocks-for-passive-income.htm</link>
		<comments>http://damascusgate.com/dividend-paying-stocks-for-passive-income.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:36:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dividend paying stocks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[passive income]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://damascusgate.com/?p=191</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am going to start a section of this blog dedicated to personal finance which is another hobby of mine.  Part of it will deal with developing passive income, that is, income that doesn&#8217;t get reported on a 1040.  The key to passive income is purchasing things that pay you to own them.  One of [...]]]></description>
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