Archive for the ‘Financial Planning’ Category

Winning the Game to Financial Freedom

October 28th, 2009 by drproactive | Comments Off | Filed in Financial Planning

According to the statistics shared by Mike Peterson, co-founder of The American Credit Foundation and author of “Reality Millionaire: Proven Tips to Retire Rich,” most Americans are losing the money-making game. Take 100 people at age 20 and fast forward them to retirement. Only five percent of them will be financially okay. That’s not even ‘great’ or ‘independent’, just okay. (more…)

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Financial Security in an Unstable Economy

October 20th, 2009 by drproactive | No Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

Few families pass on actual knowledge about wealth building to their children. Negative feelings of poverty and scarcity can last for generations.

Accountant and financial advisor, Dr. Joseph Simini says, “Most people are illiterate about finance. Finance isn’t all that tough. If you want to become financially independent, you can’t depend on someone else to do that for you. You have to do it yourself with knowledge.” (more…)

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Use a Bad Credit Credit Card to Repair Your Credit

October 18th, 2009 by DoItLikeThat | 2 Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

When your credit is bad, card issuers don’t want to give you a credit card. When you can’t get credit, it’s hard to rebuild that all-important credit history. It’s a catch-22 – you need a way to show that you can pay your bills, and unless you show that you can pay your bills, no one is going to trust you. It’s a shameful situation, but bad credit isn’t something to be ashamed of; it’s something to be fixed. If you’ve had trouble with credit in the past and want to repair your history, bad credit credit cards are one of the tools that can help you put your things back on the road to recovery. It can help you rebuild your payment history upon which much of your credit rating is based.

So what is a bad credit credit card?
There are many reasons that you might have bad credit. If you’ve had trouble paying off accounts before, the record of your late and missed payments ends up on your credit record. When you apply for finance, the card issuers check your credit record to see if you’re the type of person who typically pays bills (as well as finding out many other things, like if you have enough income, and where you live). When you have bad credit card issuers are understandably wary of granting you further credit. At the same time, there’s money to be made in extending you finance, and these companies aren’t well known for shying away from an opportunity to make money. It presents them with a dilemma, and the solution to that dilemma put less emphasis on the risk with high interest rates on the repayments which offsets the risks of lending money to people who don’t have excellent credit.

How do bad credit cards help you repair your credit?
Generally, when people look for a credit card, they’re looking for low interest rates. Most applicants wouldn’t even think about taking a card with an APR above 12-15%. In fact, the best offers, usually reserved for those folks who’ve never missed or been late with a payment, sport APRs in the single digits these days. Most people would consider options with APRs above 17% to be bad credit cards. When you’ve been in debt and are trying to recover your good credit, though, issuers aren’t going to offer you their best rates. Most won’t offer you cards at all. When no one will let you borrow money, it’s a little difficult to prove that you can pay it back, yes? When you’re in that situation the solution is bad credit credit cards. Despite higher interest rates averaging 39% if you borrow a little each month, but pay it off completely each month you’ll re-establish yourself as a reliable borrower and your credit rating will improve.

Of course, the key to using cards as tools that get your credit back on track is in the way that you use them. These are the basic rules to repair your credit:

1.Only charge what you can afford to repay within a month.
2.Pay off the entire account each month.
3.Pay the account as soon as it comes in each month so your payments are never late.
4.Be sure that your payments are being reported to the credit reporting agencies.

Needless to say, some bad credit cards are better than others. Before you apply, take the time to compare rates and fees and choose the option that is the best for your needs.

Jon Francis has been involved with finance for many years! With an in-depth knowledge of bad credit credit cards and helps others get the best from credit cards. Visit www.airaid.co.uk for more information.

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The Purpose-Driven Retirement

October 17th, 2009 by jtrauth | No Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

What is so hard about retirement? This sounds like a made up question. Many people feel retirement is no big deal; you just stop working! But, let us ask the question another way: what is a good retirement? After all, we pretty much know what a good education is and have some ideas about a good career, but what are the qualities which make a “good” retirement? If you believe the ads from financial service companies, you probably think that money is the answer. And certainly money is important. But there is a lot more to it than that. (more…)

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Five New Years Resolutions For Your Retirement

October 15th, 2009 by jtrauth | 1 Comment | Filed in Financial Planning

The beginning of a new year is the traditional time to gaze into that proverbial crystal ball and make your New Years resolutions. And hey, this time you are really going to keep them, right? No question about that. And in 2008, you really will stop your ten-year spending spree. Good for you! If the US economy collapses as a result, there’s always Aunt Gertrude in Germany who will take you in. (more…)

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Loan For Your Business

October 13th, 2009 by biggso | No Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

If you are looking to get started in the small business world, chances are you will need some outside start up capital. Few, if any, small business owners got their start up money out of their own pocket. Fortunately, there are a plethora of available avenues for you to secure some funds to get your small business off the ground. Of course, to get these loans you will have to show a business plan indicating you know what you are doing and have a good chance of turning a profit within a recognizable time frame.

Neither banks nor the small business association nor outside investors are looking to simply give their money away. They will want to see a verifiable return on their investment. Of course, no business is a sure thing but you will want to make it seem like yours is. If you have a smart business plan, some collateral to put up and a business degree, getting a loan should be possible. Here are some of the available outlets for procuring that all important capital.

First of all, if you are looking to buy into a franchise, you will want to look in a different area than you would if you were starting your business from scratch. There are franchise financing plans and these are often times provided by the franchise company itself. For instance, if you want to open up a McDonalds, you will want to research the company to see if they offer plans for paying off your franchise loan.

These plans are often cheaper, better and easier to procure than loans from an outside source. If the franchise company you are buying into has no such program, see if your local lending institutions offer special loan programs for those looking to start a
franchise. If franchising is not your thing, you will want to look at the available loans to start up small businesses. One of the first places you will want to look is the small business association or SBA.

This government program is specifically set up to help young entrepreneurs such as yourself. They offer several different categories of loan programs and you will want to look at each of them and see what meets your requirements. These programs do require a certain amount of collateral, though sometimes the small business itself can be counted toward this. The small business association does not actually provide the money itself but will rather recommend you to good lending institutions through which you can secure
financing.

Another good place to start for a small business loan is your local bank, meaning the one you do business with. Banks are more apt to offer loans to qualified customers with whom they already have an account in good standing. They will not have to do a lot of credit checking, as they already have most of your financial information at their fingertips. Often, the financing and interest rates through your own bank will be better than you can find at other institutions.

Finally, avail yourself of venture capitalists and angel investors. These people or foundations are in the business of investing. More than any of the other options, however they will be keenly interested in how your business can make them money. If you have a good business plan, seek out these investors for some capital to start your company.

Obinna Heche. Los Angeles – California

Delivering the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home successfully..
http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365/

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Proactive Use of IRA Secrets Can Keep You Retired

October 12th, 2009 by drproactive | No Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

It is sad that many Americans are not financially able to retire when they want to. Most of those who can afford retirement have to do so with a cut in their spending habits.

Whether or not your parents took the time to teach you how to make money and take care of money, it is your responsibility and your right to learn everything you can about it.

Considering how hard most citizens work for money most of their lives, you would think that they would want to learn more about it. Yet, somehow the knowledge of the rich is still considered mysterious, only for those born to wealth, or those who are greedy.

Most Americans are aware of only a fraction of the power IRAs hold. That includes most people who have IRAs. Ask many financial advisers how to set up a checking account for your IRA and they’ll think you’re joking or uneducated.

While many financial institutions use the term self-directed when describing IRA investment choices, they actually mean the ability to choose between a few investment categories such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds – the ones they’re in business to promote.

What about other investment opportunities such as real estate, funding mortgages, and buying tax certificates?

Taking advantage of these opportunities is simple when you know a.) it is possible, and b.) choose the right custodian who can give you actual control of your retirement assets.

With checkbook control of these assets (run through a business entity), you can take advantage of a hot opportunity in the real estate market, then seamlessly move your money back into more traditional securities, stocks and mutual funds when the real estate peaks.

The IRS allows you to use leverage together with your retirement money, which can increase your returns significantly by enabling you attract larger deals.

Obviously choosing the right custodian for your retirement funds is extremely important so here are a few summarized tips.

Look for a custodian who:
a.) understands that a self-directed fund means you have a checkbook with access to those funds.
b.) understands and can explain a multi-faceted portfolio
c.) Does not restrict your use of leverage money.

Be proactive with your retirement account. Lots of people want your money even more than you do but you are the one who worked for it.

Don’t wait until you retire to learn how to take care of your money. That is when it should already be taking care of you.

Dr. Proactive enjoyed learning from Richard Parker, Financial Advisor, during an interview on The Inside Success Show.. Richard makes financial sense easy to understand. Listen to his interview at InsideSuccessRadio.com

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Learn To Write For Government Grants

October 10th, 2009 by seantan | No Comments | Filed in Financial Planning

We all know how important grant writing is in getting considered for this kind of financial aid. There are several government and private organizations that are willing to provide grants to people and companies, but they will not consider those applicants whose proposals are shoddy or written in an inexperienced manner. Their impression will be sullied right then and there, because the grant providers will feel that an applicant who makes a poor proposal will not have much talent to carry on the business either. And, as they say, the first impression is the last impression. That is why grant applicants need to make their proposals very strong.

This was a problem until a few years ago, when many well-meaning businesses did not manage to get the US government grants they hoped for because their proposals were not considered good enough. However, today there are a lot of resources available that can teach you how to write for grants in a professional manner. Many people are using such resources nowadays to draft their grant proposals, and, seriously speaking, it is these proposals that are winning the much sought after United States government grants.

This is what resources like the software available at unclesamsmoney software have to offer for prospective US government grants applicants:

? There are several important strategies that grant applicants must know. Some of these are like providing a proper goal about what their business is set out to do, the means they will employ and the procedures they will adopt to achieve these goals, making an estimate about the kind of money the project will require, etc.

? US government grants software always has a help section to help people know about the right way of completing a grant application proposal.

? The tools will also provide prospective applicants with good examples on some proposals that have managed to really get US government grants. This serves as a guideline for making winning grant proposals.

? Nothing works better than a professionally worded proposal. Among other things, it creates the impression that the applicant has actually taken the time and effort to apprise themselves of the grant related language. That reflects excellently on the diligence of the applicant. However, it is not easy to lay hands on such grant related terminology.

? They also provide you with several grant resources and important contacts that will help you see the actual grant money coming into your account at the end. They also have some training activities to help you understand the whole procedure better.

Sean is quite impressed with the infrastructure provided by UncleSamsMoney.com for prospective grant applicants. Read more about what he has to say on the subject of grants at the following link:-
http://www.unclesamsmoneyreview.com

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