Listen Money Matters - Free Your Inner Financial Badass. All The Stuff You Should Know About Personal Finance.

You ask, and we answer! Today we answer five listener questions about refinancing a loan, cashing out a retirement account early, how often to pay student loans, HSAs, and getting a first mortgage. This format has become so popular that it’s now a regular feature on LMM.  We answer questions sent in by listeners. 1.  Why is refinancing a loan so important?  If you can refinance, it will lower your interest rate, thereby lowering your monthly payment and interest payments.  Refinancing works the same no matter the type of loan, student, mortgage, car, etc. 2.  If I invest in the Retirement Target fund 2055 will I invite penalties if I need to cash out early?  Can I pocket dividends or so I have to reinvest them?   You won’t get a penalty for cashing out early on that fund. It’s okay pocket the dividends; you just have to set your account to send them to you rather than to reinvest them. 3.  Is there a benefit to paying 25% of my student loan payment a week rather than 100% once a month?   Check the term