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Don’t Let Your Debts Spiral Out Of Control

By Martin Sumner

Being severely in debt can be one of the most stressful situations we can find ourselves in within our everyday lives, and in recent years thousands upon thousands of us have begun to find our debts turning into a problem. Maybe your debts have simply got out of hand, with the repayments finally getting too large to handle comfortably, but a more common scenario is that a change in your financial circumstances or employment means that previously manageable debts are now no longer so easy to bear.

If you’re in this situation, you’re probably all too familiar with the gnawing fear that sits in the back of your mind, stopping you from enjoying life as you should. The sound of the telephone ringing can spark the fear, in case it’s a creditor calling to ‘discuss’ your situation, and it’s common to stop opening mail because of an anxiety about what bad news it might bring.

When things get to this level, it’s tempting to bury your head in the sand and hope the problems will go away, but this is absolutely the worst decision you could make. However bad your situation may seem, it’s only by taking control back in some way that you can begin to solve your debt problems, even though this may seem an extremely daunting prospect. The alternative of being passive will only result in your debts spiraling out of control, with bankruptcy and all that entails being an almost inevitable result.

So what can you do to start the fight back? Firstly, you need to take a good look at your situation. In your anxiety about the state of your finances, it’s very possible to get things out of perspective. For example, a missed credit card payment may seem like a big deal to you, and the letters you’ll get off the credit card company may seem intimidating, but in the larger scheme of things it’s not all that serious. A quick call to your credit issuer may lead to a resolution of the problem.

In any case, you should always contact your creditors if you’re struggling to meet your commitments. Behind the corporate impersonal letters they send out, there is usually a human being keen to help you if possible. You may be able to restructure your debt, agree a new repayment plan, have penalty charges rescinded, or one of many other options to consider. Remember, the person you’re speaking to usually won’t have any vested interest in your debt, and will treat the matter with professional detachment.

If your debt issues are more serious, then there is the option of taking out a consolidation loan. Although taking out further credit when you’re already struggling with debt isn’t necessarily a good idea, if done with care it can clear up your problems almost at a stroke. If you choose this route, then be sure to speak to a reputable company who will not lend to you if they think it’s a bad idea for your financial future.

If consolidation isn’t an option, maybe because of poor credit or lack of collateral, then there are still options available. Make an appointment to see a debt advisor, either at a debt handling company or at a charity. They will help you explore what you can do to improve matters, from a formal debt management plan to something less official such as help with a letter explaining your problems to your creditors and asking for a little leeway.

Whatever route out of debt you decide to set off on, remember that it’s only by taking charge of the situation that you can start to improve things.

Martin has been writing on debts and related topics such as IVA programs for several years.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Sumner

               

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Investing - Saving Your Retirement

By Jeffery Voudrie

Everyone would love to retire early, but they also desire to be free from the fear of running out of money. Changing your attitude toward investing and the approach you take will help you accomplish both. Read on to see how you can retire years sooner and make you money last decades longer.

Seeing retirement as a transition to a less-stressful, more enjoyable job drastically reduces the amount you have to have socked away. Even working just part-time during retirement can allow you to retire years sooner, or make your money last years longer.

Changing our view of retirement is only half of the solution. We also need to change our attitude and approach to investing for and during retirement. This by itself will have a similar impact on when you can retire or how long your money will last. Combining the two together can completely change the retirement equation.

Our life spans grow longer every year, placing greater demands on our nest egg. Moreover, as a nation we are saving less and less. In fact, recently the national savings rate was negative—collectively, we spent more then we earned.

Let’s face it—few of us save as much as we should. The demands of raising a family, saving for our kids’ education and caring for aging parents make it difficult to set aside as much as is needed. By the time our kids are independent, our retirement may only be 10-15 years away.

Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom provided by the financial services industry hasn’t made reaching our goals any easier. Conventional wisdom says that you should invest more conservatively each year you are closer to retirement. Their wisdom also says that in retirement, you should only withdraw 4% from your portfolio each year.

The conventional wisdom is wrong. Frankly, if the average person follows this advice it will be a wonder if they retire at all! If those who have been successful setting aside a healthy nest egg follow conventional wisdom it will needlessly reduce their lifestyle or impact what they leave their children or use to support charitable causes.

Traditional portfolio management views stocks as being risky and bonds as being safe. As such, you should increase the amount you have in bonds and decrease the amount you have in stocks as you get closer to retirement. The rule of thumb is that you should have roughly your age in bonds, so if you are fifty your portfolio should be 50% bonds, 30% stocks and 20% cash. That’s crazy!

Along with that view is the philosophy that you should buy an investment and hang on to it—buy and hold. Investors that lost 30-50% between 2000 and 2002 know that buy and hold can be a risky proposition. We all know that there is the potential for stocks AND bonds to lose value. This is referred to as market risk and interest rate risk. Since the industry believes that you should buy and hold, the only way to minimize the overall risk to your portfolio is by changing the allocation between stocks, bonds and cash.

It all sounds great—but by believing it you may be forgoing tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars. I don’t accept their underlying assumptions and neither should you. There are other, more effective ways to manage portfolio risk that may dramatically increase your returns.

Think about it. Interest rates the last several years have been at historic lows. That didn’t change the traditional allocations provided by the industry. They still said you should have 50% of your nest egg in bonds if you were 50 years old. The return on bonds wasn’t even enough to keep place with inflation and you were supposed to put half your money in them? Ridiculous.

It’s possible to grow your money faster with less risk. It’s possible to draw out more than 4% without the fear of running out of money. And it’s done by adjusting conventional wisdom to the realities of the markets. Next week I will share specific strategies and methods to do just that.

About the Author

Nationally-syndicated financial columnist and Certified Financial Planner® Jeffrey Voudrie provides personal, in-depth money management services and advice to select private clients throughout the USA. He’ll answer your financial question – FREE at www.guardingyourwealth.com In addition to being a nationally syndicated columnist and Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, Mr. Voudrie provides personal, private money management services to clients nationwide.

Have a financial question? Send me an email and I’ll personally respond, free of charge. Go to www.guardingyourwealth.com and click on “Ask Jeff”.

SPECIAL REPORT: Has this ‘Investment From Hell’ been recommended to you by your advisor? I hope not! This complimentary 47-page Special Report is jam-packed with solid information you need to know to protect yourself. This report could save you and your loved ones tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars. To get your copy just click here =>http://www.guardingyourwealth.com/SpecialReports/GeneralEIA.htm

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffery_Voudrie

               

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The Benefits Of Retirement Community Living

By Tom Turner

We live in a generation where people are living longer lives than in the past. We are more aware of taking care of ourselves and eating healthier and as a result, we are living longer lives. There are many older retired people today than ever before, and many are choosing to live in a retirement community. This simply means that they are choosing to live near other retired people their own age with the same type of living conditions and interests in mind. The old saying there is safety in numbers can really apply to the older set of retired people. The look after each other and do many things together. This article will talk about some of the benefits to living in a retirement community.

A retirement community can be found in many places today. There are many mobile home parks that are exclusive to a certain age group. This means that there won’t be young children around or teens to worry about. These type of places will be a quiet surrounding for retired folks who want to live a quiet lifestyle. They often have a recreational room in which they may hold social events such as bingo, bunko, or pinnacle. They may have a movie night in which everyone can join in the fun and they probably serve popcorn etc. Many of the rec. rooms have a piano for a more formal event. They may hold dancing nights in which everyone can dress up and attend. Often these type of retirement community places will have an exercise room and possibly a swimming pool, hot tub and sauna. There are many beautiful manufactured homes available these days so you can live a luxurious lifestyle around people your own age and live in a retirement community that is safe. There may even be a locked gate to enter into the premises and everyone looks after each other for safety.

There are other types of retirement community places that are similar, but they house RVs and motor homes or travel trailers. You can belong to a group and pay a certain fee for staying at these type of places. They often offer many of the same amenities as you would find in a mobile home park. You can often find recreational rooms that hold special events and games, you may find an exercise facility as well as a swimming pool and spa. One thing you may find there that you might not find at a mobile home park is a laundry room and showers. These type of retirement community facilities accommodate the needs you would have while traveling on the road. You will meet many good friends at one of these places and the chances are, you will hook up with them again in your travels.

Retirement can be a lot of fun and living in a retirement community, you can not only build great friendships, but learn many things from each other. You can learn from others mistakes and also hear about great sites to see. Along with the fun events and great time spent together in these retirement community places, you will most often feel pretty safe as well, as most everyone looks after each other.

If you need more helpful information on Retirement try visiting retirement-life-today.com, a website that specializes in providing helpful tips, advice, and retirement resources to include Retirement Community.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Turner

               

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Debt Management Primer

By: James Copper

Credit is essential these days. A person needs credit to be able to do almost everything, from buying a car to getting a utility turned on. Bad credit can be quite costly. That is why debt management is so important. Debt management is the way you acquire and handle your debt so that you can afford it.

The key to debt management is understanding your finances. You have to have a budget and you have to know what you can and can not afford. That may seem simple, but credit is actually designed to help you get what you can not afford and that is why many people end up with credit problems.

The whole idea of credit is to offer you a loan so you can buy something you would otherwise not be able to afford. You are borrowing money. The simplest way to avoid debt is to not borrow at all, but then you would not be building your credit, which, as mentioned is very important. You have to learn how to borrow responsibly.

You have to be smart about credit and debt. Part of good debt management is setting limits for yourself. Do not let your debt get out of control. You can use credit cards or get loans as long as you can afford them. Most people get some type of loan during their life. A good example is an auto loan. Most people can not afford to pay upfront for a car, so they get a loan.

For someone who is careful about their debt, they will make sure they can afford the loan. They will figure it into their expenses and if they can not afford it they will pass it up and try a different option. Someone who is not managing their debt would simply take the loan and figure out how they could afford it later. This is what leads to debt problems.

Debt management involves going through your finances. You have to list all of your expenses and you income. Your expenses should never be more than your income. If this is the case then you need to learn how to manage your debt. You may have to cut expenses, if at all possible to get them lower than your debt.

Once you understand your debt you can then manage it. Lets say your expenses per month are $1000 and your income is $1500. You would have $500 extra each month. You have some options of what you can do with that money. You could put it into a savings account where it will build interest.

You could pay extra on some of outstanding debt to help pay it off sooner or you could take on more debt. The chose is yours, but always keep in mind that you should never spend more than you make or you will fall victim to bad credit and debt.

By conducting good debt management you will find yourself enjoying a good credit rating. This will open many doors for you and allow you more financial freedom.

Article Source

James Copper writes on all areas of finance and investment. He works for Any Loans who offer debt consolidation solutions to UK residents.

               

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Retirement - 10 Things To Do Before You Downsize

By Harriet Hodgson

After they retire many people move into a smaller apartment, condominium, or town home. Simple as it sounds, downsizing takes lots of planning and time. Many retirement communities have long waiting lists and if you are thinking of downsizing you need to start now.

1. Put your name on the list. You may have to wait 10 years to get into the retirement place you have chosen, so you need to sign up now. You may also have to pay a deposit, which should be refunded if you do not move there.

2. Ask or floor plans. Having a floor plan will help you to see which furniture will fit and which will not. You may wish to get rid of large items now and replace them with smaller ones.

3. Put documents in a safe place. You do not need to keep every check you ever wrote. However, you do need to keep recent bank statements, financial transactions, and legal documents (Power of Attorney, wills, car titles, etc.). Store these documents in a safe deposit box if you have not already done so.

4. Sort your clothing. Your next place may not have as much storage space as your present one, so it is wise to sort clothing regularly. If you have not worn it in a year you probably do not need it. Donate extra clothing to charity or your church rummage sale.

5. De-clutter the kitchen. This can be so time-consuming that you may have to do it in stages. Throw out spices that are more than a year old. Give away extra appliances, dishes, silverware, pans, and storage containers.

6. Cull magazines and books. This is also time-consuming and you may have to do it in stages. Keep your beloved books and donate the rest to the public library. Nursing homes will be glad to have your extra magazines.

7. Check table and standing lamps. Over the years lamp cords may have become frayed and sockets unreliable. Decide which lamps you like most and repair them if necessary. Give the others away.

8. Clean out the garage. The garage is often a dumping place for extra stuff like clay flower pots, gardening tools, and seasonal items. Having a clean garage will make you feel better. Give extra items to your neighbors or charity.

9. Give things to your family. You will only have room for selected items in your next place. Ask your kids and grandkids to choose the heirlooms and/or furniture they want. Giving away these things now will give you pleasure and cut moving costs.

10. Keep your home market ready. The one thing you do not want to do is fall behind on home repairs. Paint walls, fill cracks, and refresh or renovate your kitchen and bathroom(s). Your market-ready house should sell quickly when the time comes. Then you can focus on making your new place a gem.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from www.amazon.com A five-star review of the book is posted on Amazon. You will find other reviews on the American Hospice Foundation Web site (”School Corner” heading) and the Health Ministries Web site.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harriet_Hodgson

               

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Saving Money on a Single Income

By: Stephanie Foster

One of the most important things you can do on a single income is control your spending and find ways to save money. Life for most families is much easier on two incomes in most cases, but there are very good reasons why sometimes families have to live on just one income.

Saving money just makes living on that one income more practical. It can help you avoid or get rid of debt, and it’s there for emergencies. It also just feels good to have solid finances.

Debt is one of the most important things to avoid on a single income. This is especially true of credit card debt, which generally comes with higher interest than other forms of debt. If you can pay your credit card debts off you can free up quite a bit of money each month.

Never pay only the minimum if you can help it. Every little bit extra helps. There are various strategies for paying off multiple cards if you have them. Generally, focusing on one and paying the minimum on the others is a good plan.

But there’s more you can do. Paying cash when possible can be an excellent habit and a great way to stick to a budget. It’s all too easy to go over your budget with a check or credit card, as the consequences are not so immediately obvious. With cash you can bring only what your budget allows, which means you cannot go overboard.

A kind of fun habit when limiting yourself to cash is to throw your loose change into a jar. Over time it really adds up, and that change can be hundreds of dollars. Yet it’s a relatively painless way to save money.

One area that can get neglected when money is tight is how you spend on events such as birthdays and holidays. These are times that it can be very easy to splurge, and they can be a major cause of credit card debt. If you plan ahead and stick to a reasonable budget you can still enjoy these times without destroying all your efforts to save.

Also think about the extras in your life. Do you need digital cable television or even regular cable? How about both a cell phone and a regular one? Cutting back on these bills can make a huge difference.

Combine these efforts with learning how to save money on grocery shopping and other necessities and you can do quite well. Life on one income can be more challenging, but with some practice it may not be as difficult as some think.

Article Source

Stephanie Foster runs Home with the Kids, where she offers tips for stay at home moms. Get more tips on living on a single income at www.homewiththekids.com/moneymatters.htm.

               

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Building Assets the Right Way

By Matt Fox

Anyone with a desire to be wealthy, rich, or comfortable needs to follow a few steps. The first step is to create a plan of attack. An attack on poverty, on risk and on conventional thinking. Then they actually need to follow through with their plan. The plans vary person to person. For instance, older people can’t take the same risks as young people. They don’t have the time to spare. Nor would it be easy for them to replace lost money. But anyone can choose an investment plan that will work for their situation.

To create wealth you clearly need assets. An asset is not only something with value, but something that will put money in your pocket on a regular or planned basis. The assets you acquire can be purchased, like a dividend bearing stock or an interest bearing bond. They can be created, like residual income producing assets such as a product, song, book or network marketing system or even an insurance agents list of clients. By creating an asset instead of purchasing an asset, you will be able to build wealth in the fastest possible way because there is no capital investment. The capital you save can be used to create more assets. That is how a person gets rich. By using assets to buy or create more assets. You can earn an income for years to come from the same asset. The more assets you can build or buy, the wealthier you become as long as you reinvest your income into more assets.

Most assets you create become the fundamental elements of a business. The finest businesses to build into assets are the ones where you don’t have to work every day. If you take the day off, your asset is still producing an income for you. Real Estate offers this characteristic in many different ways, through residential properties, industrial properties and commercial properties to name a few. Other vehicles exist as well, such as insurance products, books, videos, audio CD’s, DVD’s and electronic files. Network marketing systems can create millionaires with their downlines. Podcasts and audio casts and any website can be an asset that can throw off income straight into your pockets.

Assets such as these also have another advantage. They create income that is taxed at a lower rate than any paycheck. The income earned on a paycheck is taxed at the highest rates. Income earned through portfolio or passive income is taxed at the lowest rates. There are no social taxes removed either. Social Security or Medicare is not taken from either passive or portfolio income. Expenses are deducted first as well, lowering your overall tax basis.

If you believe that you are incapable of creating an asset of your own, then you will be incapable. If you believe you can build as many assets as you want and actually get to work on building and creating assets, then you will become rich as long as you never quit on yourself. This is not a get rich quick scheme. It takes some time, but after any asset is in your portfolio it will begin to earn money for you. When reinvested into more assets your income will grow. When your assets produce more income than your expenses, congratulations, you are wealthy.

Matt Fox is a successful investor in the stock market, real estate market and in private deals with individuals and businesses. See his column, My market time at www.bizmaker.blogspot.com to learn more about the stock market and other investment vehicles.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Fox

               

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Advertiser Appreciation: March 2007

I have been posting around the week of the 10th of each month a “THANK-YOU” post, like this one, to all the advertisers from the previous month listed as at month end. That’s a permanent link in this blog, under the category heading which I call .. “Sponsor Appreciation”. I know it’s hard out there trying to figure out where to spend your advertising dollars .. and well .. THANKS for considering the And You Retire blog.

I have compiled a new advertising page for the HART-Empire Network of sites for your perusal.

Please Support Our Sponsors From March 2007

Interviewing Interesting Bloggers

T D Hedengren’s Blog

All things MMORPG

Everything Xbox Live Arcade

Thank-You Sponsors!

               

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Mythbusters: Saving for Retirement is Hard

By Jeffrey Hauser

Not necessarily. Actually, it depends on your definition of ‘hard.’ I began a 401K and pension fund when I was hired on at my company 24 years ago. Today, I have a nice retirement. But that was just my individual case and I’m sure your circumstance is far different. So let’s focus on you, instead. Whether you’re twenty or forty, you have to make a tough decision. You have to do without something now to benefit later. In other words, you have to save money now, and that means sacrifice.

The younger you are, the less you have to give up. That’s because your savings multiplies faster over a longer term. Hence, you can put aside a small amount and watch it grow using the magic of compound interest. Assuming that you can get a 5% return on an average investment, we can run a simple chart. That return is based on most common tables that are not tied to equities or bond funds. Although most experts would agree either should generate that type of return. Even guaranteed CD’s, or certificates of deposits, backed by FDIC for safety sake, can offer similar rates. But whatever device you choose, let’s use that number.

So let’s look at one example. Suppose you are 25 years old and make $10 an hour or $400 a week or $1600 a month. After taxes that’s about $1200 monthly. I want just $150 of that, for your monthly investment. Figure that if you were to give up a Starbucks coffee costing $5 every day, there’s your $150 a month. Do that for the next 40 years and you’ve given me $72,000. But, by investing the monthly amount in a 5% returning account, the compound interest turns this into $228,900 by age 65. Not bad for someone doing without a Vente Café Mocha Latte every day. Now, as you make more with raises, job changes, etc., and you could quadruple that investment, you’ve got over $1,000,000 for retirement.

But I’ve got an even better plan. Could you squirrel away $5,000 for that first year? I know that’s a lot to ask, but hear me out. If you could manage to put aside $10,000 over two years and invest it, never putting in another dime, you won’t be able to guess what you would amass after 40 years. $50,000! But, if you could somehow get a 10% return instead, investing the same $10,000 for 40 years we would make you about $500,000! That is an example of how the interest rate affects the return. And there are ways to generate a 10% return using equities or mortgages. I suggest you talk to an investment adviser for that information.

The great advantage of this plan is you: (a) didn’t have to give up much, (b) don’t have to be an investment wizard, (c) let time and compound interest work for you, and (d) can look forward to a healthy retirement. Of course, the more you’re willing to give up now, the greater the end result. But working harder isn’t the answer: it’s saving smarter and earlier. Therefore, if you’re in your twenties and figure retirement is decades away, you’re right and that can work in your favor. So start planning now and the rest will take care of itself. Savings for retirement is hard? Myth busted!

Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master’s Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, “Pursuit of the Phoenix.” His latest book is, “Inside the Yellow Pages” which can be seen at his website, www.poweradbook.com. Currently, he is the Marketing Director for thenurseschoice.com, a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Hauser

               

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The Golden Years: Planning for Retirement

By Randy John

It is easy for an adult to ask a child what they want to do when they grow up. There are limitless possibilities available to them. When you grow older, this question should still be asked, even beyond the work force.

There are several different things that should be considered for you to fully enjoy the later years of your life. If you want to do everything right, you should begin retirement planning now. When you are planning for your retirement, you want to make sure that you have a good

understanding of what you want to do. Whether it is staying at home with the grandkids, or seeing the four corners of the earth, it can make a difference in what you decide to do now. Not only do you want to consider what you want to do, but also what you will need to do if something comes up.

For instance, if you have a health problem when you are older, you will want to make sure that it is taken care of without too many complications because you weren’t prepared. By looking at all of the angles and possibilities for old age, you can be certain to have an easier time when you get to this stage of life.

If you are closer to the age of retirement, planning can become something completely different than what you would consider at a younger age. You want to make sure that those that are close to you understand what your plans are and how they fit into them.

For example, if you are married, you want to make sure that your spouse has some of the same retirement goals that you do, allowing you to prevent misunderstandings in the future. You will want to be open to the possibilities and make sure that those around you also understand what these possibilities are. This will allow you to start on the right foot after your work days are over.

Beyond your personal retirement goals and the goals that you set with friends and family are ways to prepare for the set of years that you will have. You can best do this by understanding financial goals and knowing what you will want or need. This will vary according to what you want to do in that set of years. You should also keep in mind that the economy and value of money is different now then it will be by the time you retire.

Because of this, you may want to consider opening a retirement account, such as a 401K or a retirement plan from your employer. This will allow you to control the value amount of your money over the years towards retirement.

For those that are working towards retirement, it is never too soon to begin your retirement planning. From your personal goals, understandings with others about these goals, and logical steps to take, you can be certain to enjoy this time of your life. By beginning your retirement planning now, you can expect to live out the best of your golden age.

Get more Planning for Retirement tips and articles at www.GoldCrestRetirement.com .

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_John

               

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