Galileo Galilei
In 1632, astronomer Galileo Galilei was ordered to appear before the Holy Office in Rome to defend his work, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. His work compared the Copernican system, which theorized that the Earth circled the Sun, with the Ptolemaic system, the mainstream belief that the Earth was the center of the Universe. In 1633, Galileo stood trial for his dissenting beliefs and advocacy of Copernicanism.
Galileo did not stand trial because he had created the theory that the Earth circled the Sun; instead, Galileo faced condemnation because he had celestial evidence to support this theory. Galileo had proven, with the use of a telescope, that Jupiter’s four moons orbited that planet. He used this scientific observation to argue in favor of Nicholas Copernicus’s theory that the Earth circled the Sun, a theory which had been dismissed six decades earlier. Scientists and religious authorities had fiercely rejected Copernicanism, as a result of its conflict with contemporary religious beliefs and scripture, which upheld that the Earth was at the center of the Universe. (more…)

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A. To calculate the maximum monthly payments you can apply to your mortgage is really quite simple. You can use up to 32% of your monthly income for mortgage payments, and an additional 10% for other debts. Thus you can have a maximum of 42% of your monthly income used for debt payments before you no longer qualify for a mortgage.

ex. If you make a combined $10000 in your household, $3200 can be applied to mortgage payments and an additional $1000 can be used for other debt payments. if you have $2000 in other debt payments then you would be able to apply $2200 to your monthly mortgage payment, as long as your total debt payments with your mortgage do not exceed 42% of your monthly income.

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While many people believe that it is better to pay your mortgage down as quickly as possible, it really isn’t always the best strategy.

Making this decision depends on your individual situation and should not be taken likely. First of all, every other piece of debt you have should be paid off first unless it is at a lower rate than your mortgage. There is no point in having clear title on your house if you have $10000 in credit card debt at 19% interest.

If you are the type of person who is good at saving money for the future, you may even want to use your mortgage as leverage to increase your savings. If you can consistently make 12% interest on your investments and are only paying 6% on your mortgage there is obviously an advantage to making the monthly payments rather than abolishing them. Of course you have to be willing to make the payments and have the ability to carry the debt load.

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A. From yesterdays article the question came, why would a bank want to offer green mortgages? Well the simple answer, its just good business. If the environment succeeds so does everyone in the world. Duh.

The slightly more complex answer is that any time a bank can get a client to do renovations it is in the banks best interest. It ups the resale value of the property and increases the value of the banks security.

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Banks are likely going to start doing their part to help the planet. In a Financial Post article this week, a consumer tells about his experience with the green mortgage. It included everything from a $10 000 line of credit to be used for doing anything that would make the house more energy efficient to a blue tub full of energy efficient coupons (isn’t that a waste of paper?). TD Bank is saying they will look at this option closely (of course the company known for the green couch would), it could be something you could see in the very near future.

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