Common Budget Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

May17th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by admin

If you’re constantly worrying about where all your money is going, you never seem to have enough of that wonderful green stuff or you just don’t seem to be able to put any into savings, it’s probably time that you put together a budget and started using it. More than likely you have heard about budgets and budgeting before but might not have done anything about setting one up because you thought it would be too difficult.

Frankly, setting up a simple budget is well within the abilities of the average person (and we certainly have written enough blog articles about how to do it) so if you’re keen on setting up your very first budget go back and take a look at some of the excellent articles we’ve written that will show you how. Today’s blog article is about avoiding common mistakes that people make either when making or when using their budget. So, if you’re keen on avoiding these common mistakes please keep reading and will show you how. Enjoy.

Budgeting

Five Ways You Didn’t Know Banks Could Help You

May13th
2013 1 Comment Written by admin

When it comes to banking, most people are aware of the basic services on offer. Current accounts, savings accounts and credit cards are familiar to us all, and most of us use at least one on a daily basis.

However banks offer plenty of other services that you may not know about and these services could help you in a variety of ways.

Banking

What are Cash Balance Plans?

May13th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by admin

One of the most trusted and relied upon types of retirement plans is the 401(k), a plan offered by many businesses to their employees and, indeed, a retirement plan that people have been using for a long time years to fund their ‘golden years’ because of its low risk and high yield. That being said, there’s a pension plan that has been growing in popularity since the early 1980s that is slowly but surely overtaking the traditional 401(k) as a retirement plan option due to the fact that it’s easy to take from one job to the next, is a bit simpler as far as how it works and is a better option for someone who has gotten a late start on their retirement savings plan.

This plan is called a Cash Balance Plan or CB and it’s a hybrid pension plan that has been getting a lot of interest since about 2000. In fact, in the year 2000 there were approximately 1,300 CB plans and they held about $426 million in assets. That number had quintupled by 2010 when there were 7600 plans with a total value hovering just around $800 billion. The question that any retirement investor must ask then is why has the number of people participating in a number of CB plans grown so much in the last 10 years?

Saving

How to Avoid Financial Scams

May9th
2013 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Con-men have been around for thousands of years, separating unknowing or foolish people from their money for as long as people have been using it. Today however these conmen, scammers and sc*mbags have a much more potent weapon that they are using to separate honest, hard-working people from their hard earned dollars; the Internet.

Now, many of you reading this may be thinking to yourself “there is no way that I would ever fall for an Internet scam”. You may believe that only older people and idiots fall for them but, frankly, some of the scams online today are so slick that even the most savvy internet surfer can be taken for a bad ride. With that in mind, here are 5 Internet scams that you need to be aware of so that you don’t find yourself on the losing end of one of them with a surprised look on your face and a zero dollar amount in your bank account. Enjoy.

Personal Finance

Low Cost Startup Tips for Savvy Entrepreneurs

May5th
2013 Written by admin

Let’s face it, if you’re an entrepreneur and you’re just getting started with your very first company you probably don’t have a ton of money to burn. That’s okay though because frankly it puts you in the same company as quite a few different multimillionaires who started companies on a shoestring and pinched pennies for quite a while before the big bucks started rolling in. This blog is based on a lot of the things that they did and will help guide you to do the same during your vital startup period. So if you’re ready, grab a pen and paper (or whatever newfangled device you care to use) take some notes and let’s get started.

Rick Cesari, founder of Cesari Direct in Seattle, Washington, was big on using his credit card points to buy gifts for his best performing employees. Today he still uses one card, an Alaska Airlines Visa Signature card, and charges around $200,000 on it every year, heaping the rewards on his top employees.

Investing

Financial Tips for the Single Parent

May1st
2013 Written by admin

Many of the blogs that we write here on our site are aimed at families and the financial situations that go with having them. The fact is however that, for many people in the United States, their family unit consists of only one parent. If that describes your family and financial situation then you’re in luck because this blog is specifically for you. (Frankly where surprised you found time to read this as busy as you must be.) Simply put, keeping your finances in order as a single parent is even more important for you and your children because you don’t have a spouse, and their income, to fall back on if you lose your job or have a sudden decrease in income. With that in mind we’ve put together a smattering of excellent financial tips for you to use. We hope that it offers some valuable advice. Enjoy

More than likely the majority of your money is going towards housing, food, clothing and of course gasoline. One of the best ways to make sure that you aren’t overspending on any of these is to closely monitor and scrutinize your spending over a 1 to 3 month period. If you do this diligently you will get a lot of valuable information about where your money is going and where you can possibly cut back on spending and increase your savings.

Budgeting, Reduce Debt, Saving, Spending

5 Benefits of Income Protection Insurance

Apr30th
2013 Written by admin

Working to earn money and having a regular form of employment is essential for the vast majority of us. The lucky ones among us will have a job we thoroughly enjoy. The rest of us probably just view employment as way to pay the bills, put food on the table and have some extra money to spend on luxuries.

Unfortunately, we never know what might happen in the future and an unforeseen event could prevent us from working. Even though there are ways to claim money from psychological conditions such as depression or a physical head injury, we can also safeguard against such events by taking out income protection insurance.

Insurance

An Education is the First Step

Apr26th
2013 Written by admin

I’ve said it time and time again, the best investment you can make is in yourself! People will debate all day long about the benefits of a 401k, IRA, mutual funds, or dividend stocks. But I say forget all of that for you, focus on the biggest and best investment of all, your education! I know the naysayers will bring up those 5 people in the history of the world who becamse billionaires after dropping out of college, but that is akin to winning the lottery and I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen. I spent the better part of a decade earning my bachelor’s degree, and then MBA. I will admit it was difficult and grueling at times, but well worth it in the end. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am now without all that time and effort.

Where I do agree with the naysayers is in the cost of your education. Too often people think that any degree at any price is worth its weight in gold. If that were true we wouldn’t have the ever increasing bubble of student loans that we do in this country. Last I heard it had outpaced every other form of consumer debt out there, which is no small feat. It’s really quite simple, for example, there are great jobs to be had in IT. An information security program is worth every penny and is well known for a good return on your investment. On the other hand, liberal arts is a fine degree, but you don’t need to spend $200,000 on a 4-year degree that will earn your $40,000 a year for the rest of your life. Considering interest, the time value of money, and inflation, you may not swim out of that debt in your lifetime.

Investing

5 Financial Blunders you Should Avoid at all Costs

Apr25th
2013 Written by admin

No matter who you are, what you do or how intelligent you are about money and finances almost all of us will make at least a couple of financial blunders in our lives. Most of these mistakes are simply due to lack of knowledge and experience but some of them, indeed the worst of them, are usually those that seem harmless at first glance. While we aren’t saying that the 5 financial blunders that we focus on below are the only ones that can be made they are probably the worst and thus should be avoided like the plague. And on that interesting note let’s get started. Enjoy.

About 65% of Americans that were born during the ‘baby boomer’ years will receive an inheritance from a family member who has passed on. The median amount is $64,000.00 which is no small chunk of change. The mistake? Spending it all immediately on things that you might think are important or might think you need but actually don’t.

Budgeting, Reduce Debt, Saving

Retirement Saving Tips for Married Couples

Apr21st
2013 Written by admin

It is well known among financial experts that married couples who pool their retirement savings and coordinate their retirement plans will generally end up with a bigger retirement nest egg when the time comes to enjoy their ‘golden years’. That being said, there are many interesting vehicles for retirement that must be researched and decided on to find the best for you and your spouse. As you might have guessed, we put together a blog article chock full of retirement savings tips for married couples so that you will have a few ideas and some excellent information to use when planning. Enjoy.

If you have a smile on your face whenever you envision spending your retirement years happily with your spouse then you should take time today to sit down and talk about which retirement options will benefit you the best. Below are a number of questions that you should ask yourself and, if you don’t have the answers, find them. READ MORE »