Washington County Weekend Post

GMTODAY.COM SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2022 • WASHINGTON COUNTY POST • 3A If you would like to take part in this listing, call (262) 306-5008 for more details. 272396046 Jackson Still Waters United Methodist Church 3617 Scenic Rd., www.stillwaterschurch.com; 262-677-1311; Contemporary Worship Sun Worship: 9 & 10:30am Sat. Worship: 5:00pm (Labor Day - Memorial Day) Staffed Nursery at all services for birth-3 yrs Sunday School - all services 3yrs-5 th gr Kewaskum Kewaskum House of Prayer 100 Clinton St. • 262-626-8337 • Pastor Joseph Brath • Worship Sun.10am and 6pm • Thurs. 7pm Monthly Creation-Evolution Meeting (2nd Mon.) 6:30pm Quest Youth Group, Warm Friendly Atmosphere Visitors Welcome! www.kehop.com Mequon Alliance Bible Church Sunday Worship Services are in-person & online: 9 & 10:45 AM; Kingdom Kidz (infant-5th gr) & Student Ministries (6th-12th) during both services. Brian Dainsberg, Lead Pastor, 13939 N. Cedarburg Rd, Mequon. 262-375-2400. Find us on FB, Instagram, Twitter, & YouTube. For more information: www.myabc.church Neosho Faith Bible Alliance Church W2477 Lehman Rd (on Highway 60) 920-625-3538, www.faithbiblealliance.com Sunday Worship at 10:00am (in-person & online) Discover Land-Sundays & Sunday School 9:00am Ignition Youth: Sundays 4:00pm (grade 7-12) Discovery Land-Mondays 6:00pm (grade 4K-8) West Bend Calvary Church 1110 E Decorah Rd • 262.338.1171 Sunday Worship 10:00am Kids Church & Nursery Available www.calvarywb.org Community Church 2005 S. Main St., 262-338-0725 Sunday 8:30am & 10am; Nursery at both services Children's Ministry K-6th grade 10am Live-stream at 8:30am on our website: www.westbendchurch.org Eagle's Wings Nazarene Fellowship 609 Sandy Acre Drive, 262-334-7124; Pastor Glenn Butts; Sunday School 9:30am; Sunday Worship 10:45am; Ladies Bible Study Mondays 9:00am; Bible Study/Prayer Mtg Wednesdays 6:30pm www.wbnaz.com Fifth Avenue United Methodist 323 South 5th Ave, 262-334-2059, faumc.org Pastor Clarissa Martinelli A Welcoming Christian Community; Sunday Worship 9:30am Good Shepherd Lutheran (WELS) 777 Indiana Ave., West Bend, 262-334-7881 Saturday 5pm; Sunday 8am & 10:30am Sunday School & Bible Study 9:15am Christian Elementary School, Pre-K thru 8th Grade Little Lambs Child Care Center www.goodshepherdwels.org St. Andrew Lutheran Church (LCMS) & Early Childhood Campus 7750 State Rd. 144 North, 262-335-4200 Worship Sunday 9am Sunday Bible Study 7:45am www.standrew-westbend.org St. Paul's & St. Peter's Lutheran (WELS) St. Paul's - Hwy. Z & German Village Rd. Thurs. 6:30pm; Sunday 9:30am St. Peter's - Beaver Dam & Town Line Rd Sunday 8am, Pastor John Cook, 231-290-3311 *Important!* Due to the COVID-19 Virus, please check with your church for changes or cancellations. The benefits of maintain- ing good credit include look- ing more reliable in the eyes of prospective employers and securing lower mort- gage interest rates when buying a home. Those re- wards can benefit anyone, but they're especially entic- ing to young people. But what about seniors? Do indi- viduals stand to benefit sig- nificantly from maintaining good credit into their golden years? According to the credit reporting agency Experian, senior citizens tend to have the best credit scores of any consumer demographic. That could be a byproduct of years of financial discipline, and there are many benefits to maintaining that disci- pline into retirement. • Home buying and bor- rowing: Buying a home is often considered a big finan- cial step forward for young people, but that doesn't mean aging men and women are completely out of the real estate market. In its 2020 "State of the Nation's Hous- ing" report, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Har- vard University reported that the share of homeown- ers age 65 and over with housing debt doubled to 42 percent between 1989 and 2019. In addition, 27 percent of homeowners age 80 and over were carrying mort- gage debt in 2019. Maintain- ing strong credit after retire- ment can help homeowners who still have mortgage debt get better terms if they choose to refinance their mortgages. Even seniors who have paid off their mortgages can benefit from maintaining good credit if they decide to downsize to a smaller home but cannot afford to simply buy the new home outright. • Rewards: Retirement is often associated with travel, recreation and leisure. Such pursuits can be more afford- able when seniors utilize rewards-based credit cards that help them finance vaca- tions, weekend getaways and other expenses associated with traveling. Seniors who maintain strong credit rat- ings into their golden years may have more access to the best travel-based rewards cards than those whose cred- it scores dip in retirement. • Unforeseen expenses: No one knows what's around the corner, but savvy seniors recognize the importance of planning for the unknown. The COVID-19 pandemic seemingly came out of nowhere, and among its many ripple effects was the sudden job loss experienced by seniors. The JCHS report found that 21 percent of homeowners age 65 and over had reported loss of employ- ment income related to the pandemic. Unforeseen medi- cal expenses also can com- promise seniors' financial freedom. Maintaining a strong credit rating into older adulthood can help seniors navigate such finan- cial uncertainty more smoothly. Such a strategy can help seniors secure low- interest loans or credit cards that can help them pay down sudden, unforeseen expenses without getting into signifi- cant debt. Why it pays for seniors to maintain good credit Monthly mortgage pay- ments are the biggest single expense for many homeown- ers. So it's understandable why plenty of homeowners would love to trim those costs. A host of factors deter- mine how much homeown- ers pay for their mortgages each month. The cost of the home, the amount of the ini- tial down payment and prop- erty taxes, which are often folded into monthly pay- ments, will factor heavily into the cost of home owner- ship. While homeowners may feel as though there's little wiggle room to cut the costs of their mortgages, there are several ways to do just that and potentially trim years from the life of a home loan. • Make bi-weekly pay- ments. Making bi-weekly instead of once-a-month pay- ments can save homeowners substantial amounts of money. A year's worth of once-a-month payments equates to 12 payments per year. But homeowners who pay on a bi-weekly basis will make 26 half payments, or 13 full payments, per year. That extra annual payment can be applied directly to the princi- pal, dramatically reducing how much homeowners pay in interest over the life of their loans. • Stop paying PMI. Home- owners whose initial down payments are less than 20 percent of the sale price will have to pay private mortgage insurance, or PMI. But once the balances on such mort- gages falls below 80 percent, homeowners can cancel such insurance. Homeowners may also be able to stop pay- ing PMI by having their homes reappraised. • Refinance the loan. Refi- nancing a loan also can save homeowners substantial amounts of money each month. Homeowners are typ- ically eligible for lower inter- est rates when refinancing their loans, meaning they will pay less in interest each month. However, refinancing is not free, so homeowners should first check the going home interest rates and examine their credit scores to see if the interest rate they're likely to get upon refinancing will save them money. The cost of refinanc- ing might be more than homeowners can save. • Request a tax reassess- ment. Real estate values increase and decrease, and homeowners who feel their homes have decreased in value can request that their homes be reassessed. Home- owners whose homes are assessed at a value lower than the current value can expect to pay less each month in taxes. Homeowners hoping to cut mortgage costs have various options at their disposal. Simple ways to cut mortgage costs

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