50 Plus Finance

The love of a parent is unconditional. It's li...

2012-05-30T06:51:43.915-04:00

The love of a parent is unconditional. It's like the parable of the prodigal son. It's really sad how the recent economic crisis affected each of us. The good side I'm seeing (but can never outweigh the bad side) is the fact that more have been searching for the right financial education... how to make a budget, how to live life below the income, how to manage credit cards and the likes.

Learning from our own experience is a painful one.

Best regards,
Belinda

Very well said. Credit cards should only be for th...

2012-05-30T03:33:49.233-04:00

Very well said. Credit cards should only be for those who knows how to manage them well. Being easily attracted to rewards, my increase them is by offering friends/relatives to transact their payment needs on some occasions. I get their money, charge their services to my credit card, and then I have additional reward!

Neat.

Best regards,
Belinda

Each has several factors to consider. This acts th...

2012-05-30T01:57:17.105-04:00

Each has several factors to consider. This acts the same in long island mortgage as well.

Betterment is just a start as I see it. I believe ...

2012-05-29T23:12:42.478-04:00

Betterment is just a start as I see it. I believe for most people the hardest part of investing is just getting started. They have no idea where to put their money and then picking investments can be difficult also.
As they learn they are more confident and get into other investments that may suit them better. I think it's a great way to get your feet wet.

Seems like Betterment caught your heart! (*smiles)...

2012-05-29T21:09:55.366-04:00

Seems like Betterment caught your heart! (*smiles)

For starters, this is a very nice option. It's the same as having a finance mentor at a lower price. However, I don't see this as a permanent solution. Investing easy is not how this game should be played. To get more out of an investment - research,insider knowledge and more knowledge are the important keys.

Best regards,
Belinda

Wow, this is a very interesting application. Learn...

2012-05-28T20:35:16.567-04:00

Wow, this is a very interesting application. Learning the stock market for free via a virtual trading game. The downside of this is on the mental side. Because the trader knows that the money is not real(or money is not his own), the motivation to risk big money is greater. So it's either huge win or huge loss virtually.

Best regards,
Belinda

When your dealing with a large expenditure like re...

2012-05-28T07:54:01.324-04:00

When your dealing with a large expenditure like remodeling your probably spending $10,000 dollars or more. You may be even borrowing the money on a home equity loan. There is a lot at stake. You should be taking your time and doing it right by following my list in the post.

Unfortunately, all these cross checks oftentimes w...

2012-05-28T00:42:03.708-04:00

Unfortunately, all these cross checks oftentimes will not be enough to protect you. I'm of the thinking that there are more disreputable contractors than there are reputable ones.

I recently watched what happened to a family friend when dealing with a Seattle remodeling CON-tractor. They checked references, saw his work, licensed/bonded/insured all checked out. In the end, the guy did not deliver a quality project and actually walked off the job when it became evident he was unwilling to fix his horrible workmanship. In the end, they went to court and this guy got his subcontractors to lie right along with him... blaming the homeowner for everything that went wrong. Really amazing.

So watch out folks. And watch out for companies like Mazall Build who boast about workmanship and experience, but possess neither.

And always have a lawyer review your contracts before you sign. You could easily be signing a questionable document. It's worth it to spend a couple hundred bucks to ensure the contract you sign protects you as well.

Retirement rules are being rewritten everyday. Wit...

2012-05-26T21:06:12.213-04:00

Retirement rules are being rewritten everyday. With the bulk of people giving up on a traditional retirement, entrepreneurship is going to grow and be the rule. Out of necessity many boomers are set up businesses that produce a living and fit into a retirement lifestyle.

I see it as being able to do what you really want ...

2012-05-26T21:01:56.542-04:00

I see it as being able to do what you really want to do without being tied to a job you don't like. But if you really enjoy your job, why retire. It must be possible to cut back your hours or transfer your skill set to some other incarnation of work.

Saying good bye to a day job is our view of retire...

2012-05-26T04:09:50.763-04:00

Saying good bye to a day job is our view of retirement. And that is good- not tied up to 9-5 day job. But retirement should never mean good bye to activities as well. I know a Professor from Germany who visited our country to share his expertise. He has white hair but still very active. He's 75 years old! Oh well, he has retired from Bielefeld University but his activities has not generally changed.

Retirement should mean doing great things without the pressure of a boss or hitting some quota.

Best regards,
Belinda

Those are really valuable comments. But it's h...

2012-05-25T20:10:14.493-04:00

Those are really valuable comments. But it's human nature to hope for the better...buying things and hoping for an incoming windfall. And this behavior is even more evident to students.

It really saddens me there's a huge lack of financial education. Imagine the fact that students borrowed $117 billion in just federal student loans last year. And there is an increase in students unable to keep up with the interest rates.

Currently, there are only 15 states offering finance related courses in high school. Let's do more than that!

Best regards,
Belinda

Accessing cash from your receivables is a good ide...

2012-05-25T17:37:27.006-04:00

Accessing cash from your receivables is a good idea if your customers are paying their invoices. If they are not you are setting yourself up for disaster. In today's economy many companies are also coming up short in paying their bills. It's a fine line businesses have to walk.

Much of the justification for the investment in th...

2012-05-25T15:22:12.920-04:00

Much of the justification for the investment in the Olympics has been the increased trade it will bring to UK PLC. If that’s true there could be many businesses out there over-stretching themselves – good in the long run but dangerous if the funds aren’t there to finance the increased level of business. Equally there could be businesses thinking – we’d love to take advantage of this but we just can’t afford to.
http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/2012/04/24/startups-invoice-factoring-your-ability-to-grow-your-access-to-cash

I would avoid them completely unless you use them ...

2012-05-25T08:21:21.818-04:00

I would avoid them completely unless you use them as a last resort and are in a desperate situation.

Interesting post. Loans could really help you at t...

2012-05-25T02:47:58.239-04:00

Interesting post. Loans could really help you at times that you need fast money, however you have to be careful on which cases you would use them so you won't regret paying it afterwards. Also, be sure that you can pay it on time. Bad Credit Auto Loans

Starting early and compound interest are the two b...

2012-05-24T10:04:27.173-04:00

Starting early and compound interest are the two best tools we have for anykind of savings plan. The negatives are procrastination and indecision. Sadly most people wait to long to start and save to little.

Thoroughly useful guidelines to say the least. In ...

2012-05-24T08:47:06.216-04:00

Thoroughly useful guidelines to say the least. In order to avoid the extra monetary burden off your shoulder you should start the planning for educational fees when your kids are infant or even better when they are born. At the same time retirement planning should get started when you have just stepped onto your job and stabilized yourself a bit on corporate world. On the other hand, when your kids grow, its possible for them to save more from pocket money or to have a part time job in order to help their parents.

Your post is certainly one of the best source of v...

2012-05-24T04:02:28.320-04:00

Your post is certainly one of the best source of valuable information every reader must follow. Glad to hear a lot from you soon. Keep on sharing! Thanks

I don't know of annuities specific rates. It&#...

2012-05-23T09:42:28.996-04:00

I don't know of annuities specific rates. It's not something I know to much about. Personally I don't like annuities because they seem more riskier than other solutions. That's just my two cents worth.

Having your kids pay for more of their needs teach...

2012-05-23T09:36:42.227-04:00

Having your kids pay for more of their needs teaches them a work ethic. They should have jobs as soon as possible. Paying for their own phones and saving for college. Parents should use every opportunity to teach money comes from work.

Great article!! by the way I am looking for good r...

2012-05-23T06:08:06.370-04:00

Great article!! by the way I am looking for good rates on annuities any thoughts – my next door neighbor is an agent with bankers life and casualty he claims to they have the best rates but don’t know if anyone here had any experience with them please give me your feedback

Very sensible advice I think. The kids have lots o...

2012-05-21T11:02:16.137-04:00

Very sensible advice I think. The kids have lots of time and opportunity to solve their own challenges; parents have to took after themselves first. Otherwise, they may end up a far bigger burden on the kids than would have been the student loans they avoided by robbing their own retirement savings!

Don't look for the discount see what the servi...

2012-05-20T00:35:55.645-04:00

Don't look for the discount see what the service offered by the car company. Because we are paying for the car.

I was looking for blog articles on reliance first capital but surprisingly there is very little. I am doing a research analysis on them. Anybody has worked with them? Let me know and I will compensate for your time.