Please Vote For Me In The Personal Finance Olympics!

The folks over at GoBankingRates.com are running a contest over the next few weeks that they're calling the Personal Finance Olympics. The winner of the contest will win a $1000 Amex gift card at the Financial Blogger Conference in September, and I'd love your help in winning. You can vote for it here by just clicking on the voting button on the respective pages:

• 6 Cheap Places To Retire Abroad (50 Plus Finance)

Thanks for your help, I appreciate it!

What Can Credit Repair Services Do For You?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In today's world your credit report is so integral to your financial life. It used to be that your credit report was only used to see if you credit worthy to take on new debt. Today, your credit report is reviewed when you sign up for car insurance. If your credit report is bad you will definitely pay a higher rate on your car insurance. When you sign a lease for a new apartment or start a new cell phone plan, your credit is checked and if it is bad you will be denied your apartment lease or new cell phone plan.

If your credit is bad, is it possible for someone do credit repair on your report? There are many companies who can help you fix your credit report and improve it for you. 

Most people think that magically you can just remove the negative items. No one can erase negative information if it’s accurate. Only incorrect information can be removed. Accurate information stays on your record for 7 years from the time it’s reported (10 years for bankruptcy). Even information about bills you fell behind on but now are paid will remain on your report for these time periods.

Remember only incorrect entries in your credit report can be removed. If you have legitimate negative marks on your report, the only thing that will remove them is settling with those creditors. After that's done the settlement will be reflected on your report. In time your credit score will climb to a more appropriate level.

By law you have the right to dispute inaccurate, misleading, biased, incomplete, unverifiable, and questionable listings on your credit report. With a little time and energy you can work on getting these blemishes off your credit report. If it is too time consuming or confusing for you to do the credit repair yourself there are good companies that can do it for you. 

The Bucket Approach for Retirement Income

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For many people the worst part of investing is short term volatility of the market. Going through that stomach turning rollercoaster can keep you up at night. You worry if you are going to have enough money to cover daily expenses. Staying invested during these trying times is very hard to do if you are worried about your life savings going down everyday. 

The solution is to find a way to keep you afloat during these frightful time. You need to find a way to insulate yourself from the storm until your through it. The "Bucket Approach" is a possible way to help you through these tough times.

Harold Evensky, President of Evensky & Katz Wealth Management, has come up with the "Bucket Approach" as a strategy for solving this problem. Back in the eighties Harold developed this approach which includes his five-year mantra. It simply means do not invest money you are going to use within 5 years.

His plan says to carve out a lump sum that you will be needing, short term. These needs can be a second home you may want to purchase in 3 years. You take that chunk of money and put it in short-term bonds or cash. Also, that goes for your retirement money that you need to live on for the next five years. But in this instance, you would be losing to much in potential growth so through experience Harold says to only take out two years worth of living expenses. The rest of your retirement money stays in your total return portfolio.

What you do is take that cash and set it up to pay yourself a check once a month like a payroll check. The market can be volatile, but you know where your grocery money is coming from, so you are not going to be panicked when the market is going down. As you manage your investment portfolio you need to rebalance as necessary.

This helps you be much more cost and tax efficient in managing that portfolio. You are not going to have to sell at the wrong time. You can sleep through volatile times. Your worry level should be way down during the tough times. Your portfolio may be down but you have money to live on for two years. This relieves any need to sell off your investments at the wrong time.

How Many Buckets Do You Need?

The amount of buckets you need can be as many goals you need to finance within a five year period. But for the small investor two buckets will do. One bucket with two years of expenses and the other holding your retirement portfolio. The most important thing is you have your short term cash in a bucket available to spend. Having other buckets for a trip or college expense, or a car is also good to do if you have the funds available. There is no reasonable limit to how many buckets you can have. 

The problem with multiple buckets is there more to keep track of but you are in a more organized position. Plus you are able to borrow and move around cash between buckets as you see fit. This system gives more control over your finances

My Take.

I believe this plan can work and solve the number one problem of retirement investors which is selling at the low. It would of worked in the last deep decline. You would of been able to hold on till the market began to rise again. I can imagine the freedom having two years of expenses put aside. Not having to worry about paying the bills and knowing you are able to ride out the storm. What's your take?

Technology Invades the World of Finance

In the world of finance, there have been a number of innovations that have changed the way people conduct their business. Thanks to technology, there have been a number of different advances in the finance arena. Here are a few examples of ways that technology has changed finance:

Smartphone Apps

Smartphone use has been growing rapidly in the last few years, with millions of people using these devices. With so many smart phones, there are also millions of apps being made. Many of these apps make it easy to manage your finances. Banks like Discover Bank offer apps so that you can check your account balances, transfer money, or make payments from your phone. Investment companies offer apps so that you can check your trades while on-the-go.

Investing Software

If you are an investor, there are a number of software programs out there that can help you do your job easier. For example, there are programs out there that can actually automate your trading based on algorithms. With these programs, you simply upload them to your trading platform, and then they start trading your account for you. This makes it possible for you to go do something else while the software is trading your account for you.

Peer to Peer Lending

In the past, when you needed to borrow money, about the only option available to you was to go to a bank and ask for a loan. In today's world, you can borrow money from other a regular people who have a little bit extra to loan. Thanks to peer-to-peer lending networks, you can get connected with people who want to lend. The peer-to-peer lending site handles the details like transferring the money and checking the credit of the borrowers. This has made it possible for many people to borrow money when they need it.

Virtual Wallet

Virtual wallets have made it possible to make payments with your smartphone. Using near-field communication technology, you only have to get your phone close to a scanner and the payment is charged to your account. This makes it easier and faster to make a payment.

Technology has completely changed the way that people handle their finances. In the future, there will be many more technological advancements that have an impact on the area of finance. By taking advantage of some of these advancements, you can save time, protect your money, and get some more peace of mind in the process.