Why is it important to have life insurance?

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Why is it important to have life insurance ? The plan simple fact is that one day you will die. You will either leave your family with a money or you won’t. A life insurance policy can relieve your family of financial stress during the difficult time. Those of us still struggling to keep on the road toward financial freedom will put our families in an even worse situation if we don’t have plan ahead. A life insurance policy will not replace you but it is a gift your can leave behind for your family.

Dave Ramsey recommends term life insurance policies because they offer the most money after death as well as the lowest monthly payments. Dave Ramsey also recommends a 20 or 30 year term. If you have “savings plan” type policy (Universal Life, etc) cash it in and get a Term Life policy. Life insurance policies are not a good savings plan.

You might be thinking, what happens after the twenty or thirty years? The idea behind using a term life insurance policy verses other types is that with in the 20 or 30 years you should be gaining financial freedom. You should be out of debt, have a retirement plan, house paid off and gaining monetary wealth by long term investing.

Visit lifeinsure.com for quote on term life insurance policies. LifeInsure.com offers an easy to use life insurance quotes calculator. You can get a full explanation of term life insurance or you can watch the video they have available. Don’t waist your time with any other type of life insurance policy, term life is the best.

July 18, 2007 | Filed Under Life Insurance, Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | 2 Comments 

Don’t Forget To Plan For Retirement - Check Out NewRetirement.com

I am a firm believer in planning for retirement. I think much of the world is so concerned with “now” that they forget to plan for the future. This is deffinetly apparent in the credit card use statistics. If  people planned more for the future there would be a lot less credit card debt. But since we live in a society of “gotta have it now”, there is little talk of saving for retirement these days.

There are the group of people that are so dedicated to saving for retirement that ignore getting out of debt. The problem with this type of thinking is that you will end up with a retirement income that is used for paying off debt, and back to work you go to pay for basic needs.  A well rounded person seeking true financial freedom will get out of debt first (excluding the house) and then start planning for retirement.  The only exception to this order might be if your job offers a good retirement plan.

Planning for retirement is something that many lower-middle income families don’t think about. This is probably largely due to the fact that they are spending more than they make and don’t have “enough” money to set aside. It is important for all people to plan for retirement if they want to eventually not have to work to survive. Dave Ramsey has talked a lot about Walmart greeters and the fact that most of them are at retirement age. Some may be working and don’t need to but those that do need the income probably got there due to lack of planning.

NewRetirement is a website dedicated to helping people plan for retirement. They offer some very useful information on how to plan for retirement. A few articles that I recommend reading are Retiring Too Soon, Rising Medical Costs, Debt ( this article has some shocking statistics on retired age people acquiring debt). This site is very easy to navigate, clean layout and useful tools.

NewRetirement also has a free retirement calculator that could offer you some help in planning for retirement. Though this website has some very useful information I would caution against using techniques like reverse mortgage in your retirement plan. I have to say I don’t know a lot about reverse mortgages but from what I have read it just doesn’t sound like a good option.

Remember to seek the advice of a sound financial adviser before making any long term financial decisions.

July 2, 2007 | Filed Under Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | Leave a Comment 

Should You Use a Payday Loan or Cash Advance Service?

There some things I will not be able to convince you even if I try. The use of payday loans or cash advances hopefully not part of your financial freedom strategy. According to PersonalCashAdvance.com a personal payday cash advance loan works like this:

1. Read and complete our online application form (remember, there’s never an application fee). It’s important that you answer each required question accurately to expedite the approval process.

2. Your loan representative will contact you within a few minutes to confirm your details and complete the processing of your application. In some cases, it may be necessary to fax in certain documents to support the information you submit online.

3. Once approved, your payday loan is directly deposited into your account overnight.

4. On your due date, the loan amount plus the loan fee will be automatically withdrawn from your account.

So according to this site a payday loan is fairly easy to get but is it wise to choose a payday loan service when you are out of cash? In my opinion it is not a wise choice if you are planning to make it a regular habit. If you don’t have a handle on your money then a service like a Payday loan will probably cause you to frequently use the service which is like taxing yourself due to lack of control.

This ’stupid tax’ ,as Dave Ramsey calls it, is something that happens to different people in different ways. I recently made a huge mistake that costs use a large amount of ’stupid tax’. It’s never fun to throw away money but if you choose to use a service like a cash advance be sure it’s few and far between. Borrowing money should be something you decide will not be part of your financial plan. It can be difficult to stop borrowing money but it should be something you are actively seeking.
This post is also a review of a payday loan site called PersonalCashAdvance.com . I chose to do this review because I feel that my readers can make up their own minds. I am not promoting payday loans or suggesting that they are completely useless either.

PersonalCashAdvance.com offers up to $500 in cash advances. There is no application fee and they offer a fast and easy approval process with no credit check. Website is easy to navigate and offer easy to understand information.

May 31, 2007 | Filed Under Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | 2 Comments 

Online Savings Accounts

Having a savings is more important than most people seem to realize. Some realize it but don’t have a real plan for the money and end up wasting it away. Dave Ramsey recommends having an emergency fund of at least $1,000 in a savings account or some other quick access type account. An emergency fund is very important for those of use trying to get out of debt. The reason is because if we don’t have the money to pay for the emergencies we then tempted to use credit cards. Saving money is very important for all people not just for those in debt.

Now with online banking we can have access to our funds from comfort of a home or office. Online savings accounts are perfect for those interested in taking money management seriously. How do you know which online savings account to choose? SavingsAccounts.com is a new site offering information on high yield savings accounts. There are many companies to choose from and having the top companies and their rates listed makes choosing the right one easier. It is also a quick easy comparison of the different online savings accounts.

SavingsAccount.com also has a great Savings Account resource center. I found the article, 7 tips to boost savings interesting as well.

April 3, 2007 | Filed Under Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | Leave a Comment 

Mortgage LowDown - News, Tips and Resources

If only I had read this very useful list of 43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer when my husband and I where searching for our first home. There is much to be said for being prepared and having an understanding of what you are venturing into.

It seems many of us just expect the realtor to tell us what we should and should not do. People will take more time into finding the right digital camera that only costs a few hundreds dollars but when it comes to buying a home that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars we are not nearly as in control. Why is this?

It could be that we are overwhelmed with the realtor and mortgage jargon that it is easier to take the back seat and let those with the ‘knowledge’ plan how we are going to live the next 30 years??? Let’s stop having a passive control of our finances and step into the drivers seat.

There is no excuse for not being educated these days. The Internet net has a wealth of information that we can access instantly. MortgageLowDown.com.com is one of those free resources that will educate you on all things related to home buying. As mention before the information available in the 43 Must-Know Tips (and Resources) for Every First-time Home Buyer would have been very helpful to us before we bought our first home. The first 3 tips in the section titled ‘Plan of Action’ would have been extremely helpful. I have listed the first three tips below. I’ll give an ‘amen’ to number one.

1. First things first – You need a budget if you ever hope to save for that home you want to own

The media, along with the illusion of abundance created by our credit cards have led to a culture where impulsive spending has become the norm. We don’t think twice about picking up that fancy outfit or those cool shades. And of course we have to have those latest CDs and DVDs. And we end up losing out on the opportunity to save for things that are really important – such as saving for that home we want to own.

2. Educate Yourself – Knowledge is Power

Use resources such as the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) first time home buyer programs. “These programs are designed to help first time home buyers weigh the benefits of renting vs. buying. The programs teach first time home buyers about the different mortgage programs that are available, the value of a home inspection, and what to expect at closing, including calculating your closing costs.”

3. Know Your Rights

As a home buyer, and as a mortgage borrower, you have certain rights – don’t let anyone intimidate you into believing otherwise. “You have the RIGHT to know the reason if your loan was turned down.” Read the complete list.

You hear me stress a lot on this site about ‘taking control and change the way you handle your money’ well for all you potential homebuyers remember this means you too. Don’t let your self be strapped to a mortgage your couldn’t afford because you didn’t plan ahead. A place to start - Mortgage LowDown - offering useful home buying and mortgage news . Just be sure you educate yourself before buying your next home.

March 28, 2007 | Filed Under Home Buying, Paying The Bills- Sponsored Ads | 2 Comments 

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