Credit Score
October 31, 2007
Damaging a credit score
The best loan interest rates go to those with the highest credit scores, but it’s surprising how many points a late payment can cost you.
A late car payment, for example, can reduce your score by about 100 points. A late credit card payment reduces it by 20 points.
Christmas is coming!
September 30, 2007
Paying for Christmas
* Use the envelope trick. Withdraw the money to spend on an individual and just spend that. Or put receipts in the envelope until the budget is gone.
* Think before spending. Ask the store to hold the item until you are sure.
* Plan what to buy with your spouse.
* Get real. Visualize yourself paying the bills.
Financial Planning
September 30, 2007
Do you have a spending plan?
With so many ways to spend your income, it can be difficult to set priorities. Financial planners at Charles Schwab Corp. say this is how to plan.Pay off high-cost consumer debt first. Paying off an 18 percent credit card is like getting a tax-free 18 percent rate of interest on your money. Pay off the card with the highest rate first.After that, save enough cash to live on for three to six months in case of emergency or job loss. And save at least something for retirement.
With a cash cushion in place, invest in your retirement 401(k). Invest at least as much as the company will match.
Put retirement savings before saving for your kids’ college expenses. You can borrow for college costs, but you can’t borrow for retirement.
Don’t prepay your mortgage unless you are saving 15 percent of your income for retirement.
Insurance: Make sure homeowner and auto insurance are up-to-date. A full-time worker should have life insurance equal to six to 10 times their income. Consider long-term care insurance which will help pay for time spent in nursing or assisted living care.
Make a will to ensure that your wishes are carried out. Have a durable power of attorney and a health-care power of attorney.
Absenteeism Is Costly
September 13, 2007
How absence adds to cost of running a business
Companies all over the U.S. (and all over the world) are trying to stay competitive in the global marketplace. They do their best to keep expenses under control, but there are some factors they have no control over, such as unauthorized absence.
Estimates vary as to how much absenteeism costs businesses, from a low of $645 a year per employee to $1,762, based on a study of 88 companies conducted by San Francisco based Integrated Benefits Institute.
These are direct wage replacement costs only. The costs in terms of low productivity and other expenses could be seven times as much, according to the institute.
That means, on the low end, unauthorized days of absence could cost a company $4,522 per year per employee. On the high end, it could come to as much as $12,334 per employee per year.
Don’t let absenteeism hurt your business, hire a virtual assistant!
Credit Scores and Car Insurance
September 7, 2007
Insurers use credit scores to price car insurance
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Financial education through free websites.
September 4, 2007
| Get financial savvy through free educational sites
Most of us are not wise about financial matters. We don’t know how to judge which stocks will be profitable, whether we should invest in bonds, or what the financial interests are of those who say they will give us the answers. Knowledge is our best defense against bad advice, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Investing Your government has free help available. At sec.gov, look for the “Your Money” button to download lessons about how to evaluate stock tips and read disclosures. At mymoney.gov, you will find postings about how to save for retirement and avoid scams. It also links to local authorities at the North American Securities Administrators Association site, nasaa.org. Independent and free information may be even better. Morningstar.com, started as a mutual fund research company, but now has an entire curriculum on stocks, bonds, funds, and more. The course starts with simple stuff and moves up to more-complex levels. It tells you how to evaluate whether a stock is well priced or not. Borrowing Bankrate.com offers interest rate quotes and advice on borrowing and saving. For more technical information, visit the American Association of Individual Investors at aaii.org. Interest rates on home equity lines of credit are now around 8 percent or more. Many credit card companies, however, are still offering 0 percent interest for one year. One problem is that you don’t know how much credit each card will offer you. Financial experts recommend that you return several no-interest credit card applications. Then you can cancel those that don’t give a high enough credit limit without doing serious damage to your credit rating. |
