finance
Over the next five years, I will be holding a teaching job for a public elementary school. The average starting salary for a teacher today is $25,700 (www.themint.org/teachers/budgeting). I started my research by viewing homes in the House Hunters Real Estate Magazine. Here I found a great town house with a sale price of $115,000. I found this place to be at the perfect location, as it is close to where I will be working. I contacted Fidelity National Title Insurance Agency, and they were very helpful in walking me through the steps of buying a house. In order to buy the house I picked out, I need to complete a contract with my real estate professional, make an offer, and meet with my loan officer, with whom I can take out a loan. The mortgage that I chose to pay was fixed. This means that I will pay the same amount every month, and the interest rate will not change. I found this easier for my lifestyle, so I will be completely positive just how much money I am going to need to save every month. I took the $25,700 salary that I would receive in a year, and calculated that my monthly income will be $2,141.67. Obviously, I will have to pay taxes to the IRS, so I took my yearly income and multiplied that number by 15% (Gary Allen, President, Fidelity National Title Insurance Agency, Flagstaff branch).