As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I was wondering if anyone here has used Monera Financial, knows of someone who has, or has any information about them...positive or negative. DH and I are looking at a resale at the Timeshare Store, but in order to go forward would ultimately need to finance about $5-6K of the purchase at least in the short term (we would be planning to pay off early using tax refunds/work bonus). Does anyone know if they have a penalty for prepayment?
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
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Is there any chance you could get a home equity loan for the money you need? That's what we did when we bought a timeshare. It's very easy to pay those off early, making extra payments whenever you want.
When we moved to Lake County IL (Chicago Suburbs) about 10 yrs ago we looked at buying a home and had sticker shock coming from MI. For a basic 3BD, 2BA home the prices were $250-$350K, but the kicker was the property taxes in this county were so high that those alone added almost $1K/mo. Long story short, we did not buy, we decided to rent...it was more economical at $1200/mo. Glad we did since the housing bubble burst here have put so many underwater. Now the deals are a bit better although the taxes are still too high in my book but we have never really liked it here. Our dream is moving to the Tampa/Clearwater area, but we have DD15 in her 9th grade year and our other DD10 is in her 4th grade year. The soonest we see a move happening would be after DD15 graduates in 3yrs, that way the move would be before DD10 begins HS, or we may wait 8yrs until they both have graduated. This is also why buying DVC makes sense to us in preparation for our future. We likely would only go every 2.5-3yrs while still living up here in IL, but it becomes more attractive down the road. Sorry for the long answer...basically, no home equity available.
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OK, so you can't go that route.
I'm not familiar with the mortgage company you talk about so I can't be any help. Is it the company that was suggested by Timeshare Store? Did you ask if they have other companies they work with frequently? Maybe just a call to the company is in order to ask the questions about advance payments and fees and such.
Thank you, yes it was one that was recommended by the Timeshare Store. I actually did speak to them this morning and got the details, it sounds pretty seamless to me. I'll just have to give DH the details after he is home from work and go from there. I just thought it may be good to hear what others may have thought that had previously gone through the process.
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Hopefully some folks that have bought using them will come by and post this evening. There is a lot more traffic on the Boards at night after work is over, I think.
I've read many threads on financing. But so far I've never seen anyone mention a 401k loan... Which is the way I went about it... The interest rate isn't high, and it doesn't really matter because the interest and principal go directly back to me since I'm the lender and borrower... The only loss was the fees to set up the loan.
I've read many threads on financing. But so far I've never seen anyone mention a 401k loan... Which is the way I went about it... The interest rate isn't high, and it doesn't really matter because the interest and principal go directly back to me since I'm the lender and borrower... The only loss was the fees to set up the loan.
I feel compelled to comment here... Yes, the 401K loans are easy and you do get the interest payments (and principal) back into your own account. Just remember -- those interest payments are coming out of your net after-tax income in your paycheck. This means, you have already satisfied your obligations to Uncle Sam and that money should be all yours to spend as you like. However -- when those payments go into your 401K account, the interest portion is recast as pre-tax... So when you ultimately take distributions from your 401K plan at retirement, you will pay tax on that money again. This is why no financial advisor would ever recommend taking a loan from your 401K -- you would be much better off to never make the contribution in the first place, than to contribute and take a loan.
I understand that sometimes you just have no choice... Several years ago, I took out a 401K loan. That was before I realized the implications. But when you think about the double taxation that you are setting yourself up for, you will realize that are better financing options.
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"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
I feel compelled to comment here... Yes, the 401K loans are easy and you do get the interest payments (and principal) back into your own account. Just remember -- those interest payments are coming out of your net after-tax income in your paycheck. This means, you have already satisfied your obligations to Uncle Sam and that money should be all yours to spend as you like. However -- when those payments go into your 401K account, the interest portion is recast as pre-tax... So when you ultimately take distributions from your 401K plan at retirement, you will pay tax on that money again. This is why no financial advisor would ever recommend taking a loan from your 401K -- you would be much better off to never make the contribution in the first place, than to contribute and take a loan.
I understand that sometimes you just have no choice... Several years ago, I took out a 401K loan. That was before I realized the implications. But when you think about the double taxation that you are setting yourself up for, you will realize that are better financing options.
The other thing to consider is that at least with my company's 401K loans......should you leave the company (voluntarily or involuntarily), the ENTIRE balance is due immediately. That stopped me cold. Just what I'd need if I get laid off - a hefty balance coming due right away. And I don't think other lenders would be lining up to help me roll it into another loan....seeing as I'd be unemployed at the time.
The other thing to consider is that at least with my company's 401K loans......should you leave the company (voluntarily or involuntarily), the ENTIRE balance is due immediately. That stopped me cold. Just what I'd need if I get laid off - a hefty balance coming due right away. And I don't think other lenders would be lining up to help me roll it into another loan....seeing as I'd be unemployed at the time.
Another great point. And if you do not repay it all immediately (maybe you get 90 days...?), you pay a flat 10% tax on the outstanding balance, plus the entire amount is included in your income and is taxable.
__________________
"Esprits et fantômes sur vos fièrs destriers, Escortez dans la nuit la belle fiancée." -- Madame Leota in Phantom Manor, DL Paris
Another great point. And if you do not repay it all immediately (maybe you get 90 days...?), you pay a flat 10% tax on the outstanding balance, plus the entire amount is included in your income and is taxable.
Absolutely true... But it is an option. I am unable to have a home equity loan at this point, but the loan I took from the 401k is for only a few years, and it is a risk if I lose my job, however the company I work for is very solid and for the last forty years have only let a few people go due to gross incompetence. For me, the 401k loan was a good fit.
I actually do not have a 401K through work, I have a state pension through IMRF and I do not believe I can take a loan against that. But for the same reasons Brad mentioned, I would not want to touch that or our other investments. Besides, I think having the higher interest rate is just extra motivation to pay it off early and get rid of it.
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