Could there be a better way to fund a Roth IRA account?  There is a better solution and most Americans would never even think of it.

“If you have enough equity in your home, you can take out a home equity loan or refinance your existing mortgage to separate your equity and start it working for you now,” says Robert D. Ashby, President of Solid Rock Mortgage Corporation.  The solution does require a new mortgage or refinance, however, it will not cost anymore than the monthly requirement to fund an IRA account.

Think this is impossible?  Let’s take a closer look.  Take a married couple that has the money to max out IRA contributions annually.  Currently, the limitation for a couple is $8,000, which equates to $666.67 each month.  The solution is to take out the largest mortgage without exceeding a $666.67 monthly payment.

How is it possible?

In a recent issues of the Wall Street Journal, there was an article about the latest mortgage fraud issues surrounding the "save your home from foreclosure" scams.  According to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure data service, more than one million borrowers have gone into foreclosure so far in 2006.  This represents a 27% increase from the same period a year ago.

So with the number of foreclosures on the rise, the number of foreclosure scams have risen also.  Foreclosure fraud typical is where acompany comes in to save the borrower's home from foreclosure by buying the home and then leasing it back to the borrower for a period of 1 or 2 years, allowing the borrower to rebuild their credit and buy the home back.  This process in and of itself is not fraud, however there are many companies doing this that never intend to sell the home back to the borrower and many do not even allow the borrower to stay in the home after the sale is completed.  In most of these cases, the borrower loses most, if not alll, of their equity while being evicted from their home. 

Another type of scam to watch for comes in the form of a "foreclosure consultant".  These types of scams result from a company charging an upfront fee to supposed negotiate with the borrower's lender to postpone or avoid foreclosure.  The reality here is that many of these do not negotiate at all, and most that negotiate are doing the same negotiations you could do yourself.  If you are facing foreclosure, contact your lender and try to negotiate yourself first.  In many cases where job loss or other sudden financial crisis occurs, lenders will work with you at least for a few months.