I think everyone wants to have some sort of financial freedom. Some want to stop living paycheck to paycheck. Some want to have some money left over after paying their bills so they can treat themselves. Some want to save up their money for a home, for their children’s college education, for a new business, and more. When the money just isn’t there to do what they wish they could with it, it can get depressing, overwhelming and downright scary. It can seem like it will never end, and they will never have any money left over at the end of the month for anything. All of their money seems to be spent on all of their bills and nothing else. There is a way out – there always is. You can consolidate bills, lower your monthly payments and look forward to a brighter and healthier financial future.

Consolidate Bills –

Consolidating your bills can mean that you might have that extra money left over at the end of the month to save, invest and/or treat yourself to whatever it is you want to.

What is a Debt Consolidation Loan?

A debt consolidation loan will take all of your debts, including credit card debts, store credit card debts, school loan debts, car loan debts, and more and compile them all into one, simple monthly payment. Often times, the monthly payment you will end up paying after you get a debt consolidation loan will be lower than your original monthly payment. You will no longer have to pay three or more different companies. When you choose a debt consolidation loan, your bills will be consolidated into one monthly payment. You will only have one company to pay. Save your checks, stamps and other expenses of paying several bills a month and consolidate bills.

The Benefits When You Consolidate Bills –

You can get out from under that stack of overwhelming bills you have and see a brighter financial future for yourself and your family. You should be able to spend at least some of the money you earn on what you want to, not what you have to. Consolidate bills and get that stress lifted off of your shoulders.

Thomas Erikson is co-founder of your-debt-consolidation-loan.com your-debt-consolidation-loan.com which provides debt consolidation information and solutions. Find out how you can quickly and easily get your finances under control when you

Many individuals are experiencing difficulties meeting their financial obligations from month to month and the monthly payments are overwhelming and creating unnecessary stress and frustration. However, it is imperative that you find a way to meet your monthly obligations in order to maintain a positive credit rating and eliminate problems with credit collectors and losing your good credit standing. Of course, when you find yourself in this situation you have several options from managing your debt yourself to debt consolidation loans or debt consolidation services. However, before you take the route of applying for a loan or debt consolidation help there are a few things you should do.

First and foremost you need to sit down with your bills, your monthly income, and a calculator. Run the numbers and see how much money you have coming in and how much money is going out. If your bills outweigh your income then you may need outside help. However, you are most likely in the same boat as most and have enough income to meet your obligations but are spending money in places you don’t realize which causes financial hardship. For example, if you earn $2500 per month after taxes and your rent or mortgage is $800, your car $350, power $120, credit cards $200, groceries $300 and gasoline $200 then you are spending $1970 each month. Of course, you may have other expenses that need to be included like childcare, cable TV and Internet, and the like or you may have less expenses. The point is to sit down and evaluate exactly how much money you have coming in and going out and to pinpoint exactly where money is being spent.

If you buy a flavored coffee every day on your way to work then you are basically spending an extra $100 per month on coffee that could easily be redirected to your monthly bills. Or, perhaps you like to eat out for every meal. Stop this and you will save significantly as well. Always make a list of things you need when you go to the grocery store and clip coupons. This will likely save you $50-$100 per month as well. Another tip is to save on electricity bills by keeping the thermostat at a conservative temperature. If it is too hot then open some windows, if it is too cold then put an extra comforter on the bed.

As far as gas expenditures go you can always car pool and save a lot of money by doing this. If your mortgage/rent or car payment is too expensive and you can’t seem to make the payments then consider refinancing, or downgrading to a smaller home or less expensive car. All of these options will help you save a significant amount of money in a hurry as well as help you eliminate your debt by meeting your monthly obligations. However, if you find yourself with your monthly bills significantly outweighing your monthly income then there are options. You may consider a consolidation loan or else you might prefer to use the services of debt consolidation services or credit counselors.

A debt consolidation loan will help you because you can receive the loan and immediately pay off all of your monthly obligations. Of course, you will still have to make a monthly payment for the debt consolidation loan although it should be considerably lower than the sum of all of the other debts you were paying. The major benefit of this option is you decrease your stress and anxiety of feeling gobbled up by debt by taking care of all of your obligations and leaving only one monthly payment. However, the drawbacks are that you must have good credit to qualify for one of these loans; you may risk losing your home if you cannot pay your monthly mortgage, and you may become overextended again because you have a false sense of security that your debt is taken care of. Before choosing this option be sure you are fully educated on the benefits and drawbacks and any risks you may experience because of it.

Another option available to you when you cannot meet your monthly obligations includes using debt consolidation services or else credit counseling services. These services have considerable benefits because they allow you to immediately reduce your monthly payments which results in some serious financial relief for you. Also, these services frequently are able to obtain lower interest rates and fees associated with your credit accounts as well, which is realized in a smaller amount of debt you are required to pay. The drawback to debt consolidation services is only about 33% of people actually qualify for these services. Another drawback is you are not able to use your credit while you are working with a debt consolidation agency and your credit rating may be negatively impacted as well.

When faced with a credit situation where you are completely over your head and feel as if you have nowhere to turn then you should consider a debt consolidation loan or debt consolidation services. You may or may not qualify for these services, but if you do it is a great way to help you pay off your debts immediately and realize relief while restructuring your debt and disciplining yourself to pay it off. Of course, these options should only be considered once you have evaluated your true financial standing by evaluating your income and monthly bills. Most likely you will be able to manage your bills on your own with some good old fashioned discipline and budgeting and simply cutting back and avoiding those consumer items that are simply unnecessary. You should not live beyond your means and definitely should not seek a debt consolidation loan or use debt consolidation services to help you do so.

Help and advice on how to get out of debt. Cut your expenses or look at a debt consolidation service. For more information visit getcreditconsolidation.com getcreditconsolidation.com

Previously I talked about the history of Credit reports and the FICO scoring system.

I would like to mention at this point that the FICO scoring system and credit reports in general give absolutely no weight to income. They don’t know your income and it isn’t considered in the evaluation of your credit score.

Now I’d like to talk about the components of the scoring system(s) and the impact of your activities on your scores.

Listed below are the 5 components, and their weights, that contribute to your FICO score:

A) 35% Payment History

B) 30% Balances

C) 15% Credit History

D) 10% Type of Credit

E) 10% Inquiries

There are three factors that go into evaluation of each of the components:

Recency – When did it happen?

Severity – Just how bad is it?

Frequency – How many, how often?

A. Payment History ….35%

Recency:

Were you late making any payments in the last 6 months? This has
the largest negative impact to your scores.

Have you had any late payments between 7 and 23 months? These payments will have a moderately negative impact to your score.

Have you had any late payments beyond 24 months? These have the smallest negative impact to your score.

Severity:

Just how many 90 day late payments are there? Mortgage lenders are most sensitive to late mortgage payments. They may forgive late installment loan payments, if the severity is low and the recency is over a year old. But, show them a 60 day late mortgage payment in the last year and many, if not all, will not even consider you for a loan.

Frequency:

People with 90 day late payments typically have a lot of 30 and 60 day late payments as well, across the board. If they can get a loan, it will be at the worst possible rates.

Don’t forget, the whole purpose of the FICO scoring system is to predict the likelihood that you will have a 90 day late payment within the next two years. If you have a 90 day payment in the last 0 to 24 months, and a bunch of 30 and 60 day late payments, then it is a foregone conclusion that you will have another 90 day late payment. Hence, you will have a very low FICO score.

What to do?

For example, you had a 30 day late payment 5 months ago. You are considering running your credit report. If it is possible, wait another 30 days and let the 30 day late payment age beyond 6 months. Your credit report will look much better and your score will improve. Your better score may make the difference between getting the loan you want and not getting the loan you want. It may, very well, make as much as a quarter point difference in the mortgage rate you get and save you a lot of cash over the life of the loan.

Always make a payment on your debt and NEVER be late. If you are in financial trouble then try to negotiate your payment with your lender. Be proactive with them.

If you are forgetful then make sure you don’t have to remember. There are a host of automated payment options available to each of us. Billpayer and Checkfree are two internet available services…use them. Most banks with internet services offer some sort of automated payment services. There is no reason to be late because you ‘forgot’.

Next week I’ll talk about B) 30% Balances….

Donald Brown is a Mortgage Loan officer and advises clients on managing their credit as well as brokering home loans. You can visit him at his Web site:

kathdonloans.com kathdonloans.com

It is extremely difficult to set goals for your financial future if you do not have a clear idea about your present financial situation. Unfortunately, most people live under the illusion that they truly understand their current financial status. Most people sit down once or twice a month to look at the outstanding bills and instead of looking at the entire amount payable they often look at the minimum amount payable to get by for that month. They pay the minimum amount and are happy that some amount is left over from their income that they can afford to splurge with. This results in the debt continuing to rise but most people are oblivious to this.

To get out of a situation that might lead to a debt trap, it is important to take an inventory of your personal home finances. The first step is to make a list of your expenses during the past year. Examine your checkbook, credit card statements and any other receipts that you may find. If you primarily use cash to make purchases, this might be a bit difficult, unless you have preserved all your receipts.

Categorize your past year spending into essential fixed expenses, essential variable expenses and discretionary expenses.

Essential fixed expenses are payments that you must make each month and the amount you pay per month is locked in. Examples of these payments include mortgage payments, car loan payments or rent. The other kind of essential expenses include your monthly spend on groceries, gas and your energy bills. These are variable because the amount you pay depends on your consumption level. Discretionary expenses are expenses that are not essential. Examples include spending money on purchasing new clothes, entertainment and vacations.

Seriously evaluate your spending patterns over the past year. Do you really need to splurge this year on new clothes and an exotic vacation? Can you walk or bike to work or the grocery store? Can you be more careful with energy conservation? Be honest with yourself and you’ll be able to spot areas where expenses can be cut down.

Take a look at your credit card outstanding amount and make an effort to quickly pay off the entire amount instead of just the minimal amount. Credit card interest rates are among the highest and paying off the outstanding can save you a lot in terms of interest costs.

Taking a little time to plan your purchases and expenditures can help you keep your expenses in control and your cash flow clear, allowing you to handle your personal home finances better and building better savings.

i-HomeFinance.com Home Finance provides detailed information on Home Finance, Personal Home Finances, Mobile Home Finances, Manufactured Home Finance and more. Home Finance is affiliated with i-carfinance.com Online Car Finance.

The alarming rise in credit card debt is causing sleepless nights of a good number of people in USA. Why do we fall into credit card debt trap? Over-borrowing, slack financial discipline, late repayment and not keeping track of credit reports might come as the most important reasons to the average mind. But, do we know the most important factors? This article takes a look at the three biggest factors that drive a person towards credit card debt.

1. Too Many Credit Cards
Many believe having too many credit cards in the wallet is an essential sign of prosperity. Some think, the larger the number of credit cards the more money is at their disposal. But, both of these facts are clearly false, and having too many credit cards is the number one factor that drives a person towards credit card debt. The hard fact to remember is that every single penny used from credit card has to be repaid and that too with interest. So, too many credit cards translates into too many credit card debts. With the repayment dates varying with the credit cards the repayment of credit card debt becomes messier and difficult to keep track of. Eventually, credit card debt consolidation comes into picture which consolidates the various debts into one. To avoid credit card debt the first thing to keep in mind is to have only those credit cards which are absolutely essential.

2. Taking Cash Advances
The second most important factor that leads to credit card debt is taking cash advance from credit cards. Credit cards are there to make payment for goods and services and should not be used as debit cards. The simple reason that should stop a person from taking cash advances is that credit card companies charge heavy interest rates on cash advances and there is a penalty also to be paid. The high interest rates makes the repayment scenario more tougher. Simply speaking the cash advance using a credit card must be avoided at all costs because it is a very high interest debt. If it is totally unavoidable, try to repay the cash advance with the very next monthly installment. This will save a lot of money on interest rates and help avoid falling into credit card debt trap.

3. Repaying the minimum
People think that by repaying the monthly minimum they are doing their part towards paying the credit-card-gallery.com/credit_card_debt.html credit card debt. But, this is simply not the case. By paying only the monthly minimum the credit card debt starts accumulating at a rapid rate. And coupled with high APR this amount can throw a person into debt trap. Those who pay only the monthly minimum land up paying 3-10 times the money they borrowed. The credit card debt can be avoided if the entire amount due is paid with the next billing cycle. This will help establish a good credit history too.

Though there are other factors, like apr, annual fees, balance transfers etc. which should not be overlooked while taking a credit card but keeping a track of these three important factors will help a person stay away from credit card debt.

Duran Mueller an expert author and credit card consultant, provides great credit-card-gallery.com/American_Express.html American express credit card tips. Read more credit card articles at his credit-card-gallery.com credit card website.

The first quarter of 2006 is over. Now is a good time to reflect on stock prices and the opportunities they present.

Bargains are scarce. Equities are expensive. In recent weeks, I’ve heard several fund managers say valuations are still attractive. I don’t agree. Generally speaking, valuations are unattractive. Returns on equity are higher than historical levels. A market-wide return on equity of 15% is unsustainable. Price-to-earnings ratios may not fully reflect how expensive stocks are. Price-to-book ratios are more alarming.

There are two additional concerns. Most discussions of the relative attractiveness of equities focus on the S&P 500 and forward earnings. The S&P 500 is not the most representative index. It may not be the best index to consider when looking at market-wide valuations.

Forward earnings are (necessarily) estimates. Where current returns on equity are unsustainable, projected earnings that use similar returns on equity may overstate the earnings power of equities in general. This can occur even where the estimates appear reasonable given current earnings. If you start with unsustainable base earnings, you are likely to overestimate future earnings even if you truly believe you are assuming very modest earnings growth.

Assets in general are pricey. Value investors have few places to turn if they continue to insist upon a true margin of safety.

Bonds are unattractive. Long-term inflation risks make U.S. treasury, corporate, and municipal bonds a fool’s bet. There is little to gain and much to lose. The know-nothing investor who buys a top-quality bond today and holds it for decades may very well find his purchasing power diminished.

There may be some select opportunities in foreign equities. But, these are difficult to evaluate. Foreign government obligations are also difficult to evaluate, but that isn’t much of a problem for value investors, because most foreign government debt is priced to perfection. You’ll have to be willing to take a lot of uncompensated risks if you want to own such bonds.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. There may be a few bonds out there that are attractive. There certainly are a few attractive stocks out there. But, even those stocks that look very attractive relative to their peers don’t look nearly as attractive when compared to past bargains.

Value investors face a difficult choice. They can assume stock prices will return to historical levels, and hold cash until the correction comes. Or, they can accept the reality they currently face.

There is no logical reason stock prices must necessarily return to historical levels. During the twentieth century, real after-tax returns in diversified groups of common stocks were very high relative to other investment opportunities. There have been various reasons given for why this occurred. Many have said these returns were possible, because of the higher risks involved in holding equities. Over the long-term, risks were somewhat higher than today’s investors seem to remember, but they were hardly severe enough to justify the kind of performance spreads that existed during much of the twentieth century.

True, if you bought at inopportune times, it was possible to remain in a fairly deep hole for a fairly long time. But, if you gave no real consideration to the timing of your purchases or the prospects of the underlying enterprises, you did better than many bondholders who chose their investments with the utmost care.

This is a disconcerting problem. It may be that most investors are overly sensitive to the risk of an immediate “paper” loss in nominal terms, and therefore overlook the much greater risk of a gradual loss of purchasing power. Issuing fixed dollar obligations may be the best bet for any business or government that seeks to swindle investors.

For the sake of the common stockholders, I hope many of the best businesses continue to issue such obligations when money is cheap. Corporate debt gets a bad name, because it tends to be overused by those who don’t need it and shouldn’t want it (and, of course, by those businesses that do need it but won’t survive even if they get it). The businesses that would benefit the most from the use of debt usually appear to have more cash than they could ever need. But, it’s best to think ahead. For truly high quality businesses, the cost of capital will fluctuate far more wildly than the likely returns on capital.

If, during the last hundred years, stocks really were far cheaper than they should have been, is there any reason to believe stock prices will return to past levels? The past is often a pretty good predictor of the future – but, not always. It’s difficult to say whether, over the next few decades, valuations will, on average, be higher or lower than they are today. However, it isn’t all that difficult to say whether, at some point over the next few decades, valuations will be higher or lower than they are today. The answer to that question is almost certainly yes. They will be higher and they will be lower. Maybe for a few years or a few months. Maybe for a full decade. I don’t know.

What I do know is that value investors will have opportunities to make investments with a true margin of safety. But, should they wait?

That’s the most difficult question. Today, I am not finding opportunities that look particularly attractive when compared to the best opportunities of past years. But, I am still able to find a few (in fact, a very few) situations where the expected annual rate of return is greater than 15%.

That will be more than enough to beat the market. It will also likely be enough to provide a material increase in after-tax purchasing power. That’s not guaranteed, but it hardly seems holding cash would offer the better odds in this regard.

So, is an expected annual rate of return of 15% good enough? Is it reasonable to bet on the good opportunity that is currently available instead of waiting for the great opportunity that may yet become available?

I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Copyright 2006 Geoff Gannon

Geoff Gannon writes a daily value investing blog and produces a twice weekly (half hour) value investing podcast at:
gannononinvesting.com gannononinvesting.com

An unsecured personal loan will be your ultimate choice if you need an all-purpose loan available without collateral. An unsecured personal loan is a loan for which you do not require pledging a property. So, you can take it without running any risk on your home. Again, it is a personal loan, so you can use it for any personal purpose.

There is hardly any major personal need for which you cannot use an unsecured personal loan. The only purpose for which you should not use this loan is to bear your day-to-day expenditure. However, the best use you can make of this loan is to consolidate your debts with it. You will be provided enough cash through this loan to pay off your outstanding debts. Thus, you can consolidate your various debts into one loan and make them easily manageable. And you can do all these things without putting your property at stake.

You may have credit card or store card dues along with some unpaid loans. Generally, credit card or store cards carry high interest. By consolidating these dues into one loan, you can lower your rate of interest and make the monthly repayment smaller. So, you can save some money on each installment. At the same time, you can pass up the hassle of dealing with more than one lender.

However, it may not very easy to get approval for an unsecured personal loan. Again, being unsecured this loan may also carry high interest rate. The absence of security for the loans-bazaar.co.uk/loans_help.html”target=_blank>loan increases the risk of the lender. So, in order to get the loan easily and with low rate you have to search for a favourable lender on the Internet.

About The Author :The author is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration and is currently assisting Loans-Bazaar as a finance specialist.

For more information please visit: loans-bazaar.co.uk loans-bazaar.co.uk

Tenants throughout the UK consider that it is difficult for them to seek a loan as compared to a homeowner. But, this is a wrong perception which they have in their mind set.

Tenants can easily avail tenant loans to fulfil their needs. Whether you want to buy a car or would like to go for a holiday trip, tenant loans are always there to help you in your tough time.

The good thing with an unsecured loan is that, the borrowers don’t have to put their property as collateral. This helps them in avoiding the threat of repossession of their property.

There are various private lenders across the UK, who can offer you a loan amount according to their equity present in your home.

An unsecured loan entails a higher risk as compared to a secured loan, so the interest rates are higher with this loan type. But, due to the fierce competition among the private lenders across the UK, loans can be availed at competitive interest rates.

There are specific lenders who also offer

Ask the wealthiest of Americans what their secrets are to financial success, and they will most likely say that one of them is stock trading.

The 1980’s were particularly helpful to big-time stock investors – those who could afford to invest thousands upon thousands of dollars were able to double, even triple their incomes. Luckily, for the smaller investor, this is not the case anymore – the stock market has become more open to even to those with limited funds. Almost all companies now offer 401k accounts that enable all employees own a portion of the company. And thanks to the Internet, the market is even more open now. Online stock trading is enabling millions of Americans to make money in the stock market, even with minimal investments, without leaving their homes or offices.

Beginnings of Online Stock Trading

The 1990s saw the start of online stock trading when day traders ran up Internet stocks. These people made online trading so popular that nowadays, virtually anyone can trade stocks online.

Getting Started

To get started, you need to choose an online stock trading company, pay the membership fee (which can range from about $5 to about $20), and set up an account either for IRAs, money market funds, mutual funds, or trading of regular stocks.

Once you have set up an account, you can begin trading and managing your funds. Most online stock trading companies provide you with tools so that you can access the market in real time, quickly examine trends, and trade instantaneously.

Succeeding in Online Trading

Remember to regularly view your portfolio online. You have to make full use of the online trading company’s research facilities in order to maintain and grow your investments. Download the relevant financial reports that come for free with your membership. It is also wise to study the histories and performance evaluations of all stocks you want to trade.

e-OnlineStockTrading.com Online Stock Trading provides detailed information on Online Stock Trading, Online Stock Trading Companies, Free Online Stock Trading, Online Stock Trading Games and more. Online Stock Trading is affiliated with e-OnlineFuturesTrading.com Futures Trading Online Analysis.

Have you heard about a “stretch IRA” and wondered if it was some special kind of IRA? Well, it isn’t. In the simplest terms, a stretch IRA is an IRA that has a beneficiary designation that provides for the possibility of maintaining the tax deferred status of the IRA after the death of the IRA owner. You might be thinking, “I wish I had a stretch IRA. I only named my spouse as my primary beneficiary and my kids as my successor or contingent beneficiary.” Well, guess what? You have a stretch IRA. After your death, your spouse and/or your children could continue to defer income taxes for many years after your death, as long as they are prudent and only take the annual minimum required distributions mandated by law.

While the “stretch” concept applies to some retirement plans, many heirs of 401k owners could be in for a rude awakening if their parents fail to plan properly.

With proper planning you can put in place the mechanisms to stretch taxable distributions from an inherited IRA and certain retirement plans for decades, sometimes as long as 80 years after the original owner dies. If, however, the employer’s retirement plan document stipulates the wrong provisions, the stretch may be replaced by a screaming income tax disaster. The heirs could be in for a tax nightmare if Dad never transferred his retirement plan into an IRA.

Many investors fail to realize that the specific plan rules that govern their individual 401k or other retirement plan take precedence over the IRS distribution rules for inherited IRAs or retirement plans.

The distribution rules that come into play at the death of the retirement plan owner are usually found in a plan document that few employees or advisors ever read. Many, if not most plan documents say that in the event of death, a non-spouse beneficiary must receive (and pay tax on) the entire balance of the retirement plan the year after the death of the retirement plan owner. These retirement plans don’t allow a non-spouse beneficiary to stretch distributions. For example, if there is a $1 million balance, the non-spouse heir or heirs will have to pay income taxes on $1 million. Then, the remaining balance, roughly $650,000 ($1 million minus the $350,000 immediate income tax hit) would be outside of the tax-deferred protection of an inherited IRA.

Had the 401k participants taken that money and transferred it into an IRA before he died, the non-spouse beneficiary would have been able to stretch the distributions based on his or her life expectancy. Failing to make the IRA transfer will result in an unnecessary massive income tax burden for the non-spouse beneficiary.

Top IRA expert and author of retiresecure.com/ Retire Secure!, James Lange, can keep you from jeopardizing your family’s security. He has developed tax-savvy retirement and estate plans for over 1400 U.S. citizens with appreciable assets in their IRAs and 401(k) plans. Boost your family’s financial security with a regular dose of great information. Sign up for his monthly Retire Secure newsletter at paytaxeslater.com paytaxeslater.com. Sign up now and get a free bonus report on the best order to spend your retirement assets.