Road to Recovery: How to Take Care of Your Personal Finances After a Major Accident

A major accident can derail your life in several ways. Not only is your daily routine and ability to work impacted, you may also have changes in your lifestyle, interpersonal relationships and even your love life with your partner. 

After a major accident, handling your personal finances is a crucial step to ensure your future, including your retirement and investments. Here are some aspects you'll want to handle as soon as you're able.

Automate Your Monthly Bill Payments

After a major accident, you may need surgery, physical therapy and rehabilitation to heal your injuries. The last thing you need is a late or entirely forgotten mortgage payment or car lease. 

Set up automatic payment so there is no chance of a late or missed installment. This will protect your credit rating and give you peace of mind during recovery, in addition to avoiding late fees.

Get Legal Representation

No one really thinks to get legal representation to help them with their finances after a major accident because they think getting a lawyer will damage their finances further. If your accident was the result of someone else's negligence or malice, you may be entitled to a settlement. 

Find out what your rights are by contacting a lawyer such as Pritzker Law or another local law firm. If you're approached by legal counsel representing the other party, sign nothing until you secure counsel of your own and get guidance. You could accidentally sign away your rights to a settlement or, worse, take blame upon yourself. 

You want to make sure that you get out of this situation as cleanly as possible with as much money in your bank account as possible to cover your expenses and recovery after your accident.

Find All of Your Insurance

Depending on the accident and the extent of your injuries, you may qualify for short or long-term disability payments, loss-of-income insurance or other related payments. 

If you've lost a digit, a limb, sight or partial sight or suffered other permanent disfigurement, you may already be insured for that through your employer, life insurance policy or even insurance offered by your credit card company. Read the fine print and find all the insurance you are entitled to collect.

Draw up a New Budget

You wallet is going to take a hit after being hit in a major accident. After an accident, your needs and expenditures will likely change a lot. You may not need to buy coffee and lunch every day if you're not heading into work, but you may instead require copays for doctor visits, physical therapy or prescription medications. 

You may not need to sign up for the next season of ballroom dancing lessons, but you may need more fuel since you can't walk to the store like you used to. Don’t forget about your insurance payments too that you will likely have to make in order to have proper coverage otherwise you will end up paying for your medical bills out of pocket. 

Those bills can become very expensive very quickly. Consider your new limitations and needs, then draw up a realistic budget. This will help you keep tabs on your spending. Save as much money as you can. 

Cut anything from your budget that isn’t important for you to have at this time. You can always pick those amenities back up later.

A major accident is a life-changing event with big ramifications. By handling your personal finances as soon as possible, you can ensure your retirement and financial future will stay on track.

5 Different Financial Programs That Assist the Disabled

Although most people hope to get through life as healthy and functional as possible, there are a number of unexpected circumstances that can cause anyone to become disabled.

Whether you are facing long-term or short-term disability, you may find that you simply do not have the resources required to meet all of your financial and living needs. Fortunately, there are a number of programs available to assist the disabled meet their financial needs without having to go without basic, needed necessities.

Housing Assistance

Housing is a significant expense for most people. When you find yourself unable to work, you may have difficulty finding housing options that you can afford. The good news is that Section 811 vouchers are designed to ensure that the disabled have a safe and comfortable home.

As long as the home chosen by the disabled party meets the program’s terms, the tenant is not required to spend more than 30% of their income towards rent. This program benefits many different people from all walks of life, whether they were disabled in combat, or if they had an unfortunate accident.

Heating or Cooling Bill Assistance

For the disabled with a low income, there is help available for paying heating and cooling bills. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program offers grants for those in need of assistance paying their energy bills.

Furthermore, the program gives priority to the disabled. Some individuals are able to make ends meet by utilizing this program.

Social Security Disability

Social Security Disability Insurance, or SSDI, provides much-needed cash assistance to individuals and their family members who are unable to work or significantly impacted by an injury, medical condition or other hardship. Professionals, like those at Tarkowsky & Piper Co., L.P.A., can help obtain the needed medical records to maximize your disability claim.

The SSDI program is designed to assist workers who have paid into the Social Security system for many years. Although the dollar amounts of SSDI payments are determined by an individual’s lifetime earnings to date, the benefit assists disabled taxpayers who may otherwise do without.

Supplemental Security Income

Another federal government program for the disabled is the Supplemental Security Income program, or SSI. Paid for by general tax revenues, this program provides assistance for the blind, disabled, elderly and even their low-income children. The program helps with essential needs, such as housing, clothing and food. This helps many families grow and prosper, despite the difficulties they are facing.

Employment Assistance

For those individuals between the ages of 18 and 65 who receive SSDI or SSI cash benefits but are still able to work, the Ticket to Work Program offers work related resources like vocational rehabilitation, employment training and job referrals.

In fact, the program offers a wide range of employment services. Doing a little bit of research about this program can yield more information.

If you are in need of disability assistance for yourself or someone else, there is no need to worry about not having the things you need to live a comfortable life. With so many financial programs that assist the disabled, you can rest assured and know that you will continue to enjoy your life for many years to come.

Family Finance: What To Do If You Are Drowning In Debt

Millions of families in the world have problems with overwhelming debt. Once a person is underneath the rock of overwhelming debt, it becomes burdensome to get from under it. 

Fortunately, some solid solutions still exist for climbing out of debt. The following are six things the household head can do to regain financial composure:

Cut the Cards

The first step toward regaining financial footing is to stop spending. That may mean cutting the credit cards in half, but financial freedom will be worth the small sacrifice. Get rid of cards you don’t really need, but only use to make extra purchases.

Obtain a Credit Report

The next step that a consumer should take is obtaining a copy of the credit report to see how bad the situation really is. A consumer can take steps like disputing foreign accounts and charges if that person wants to climb out of overwhelming debt. 

Take a Counseling Course

Free credit counseling courses can help a homeowner to develop healthy spending and payment habits. Some people have to take counseling before they can file for bankruptcy.

Consolidate

A debt consolidation is something that a consumer can do, but the person has to have a credit score that is still acceptable. Some financial companies will provide a high-risk consolidation loan. However, the provider may offer the loan at a high interest rate.

Sign up for Debt Management

A debt management program is another option that one may have for recovering from overwhelming debt. A debt management program involves a third-party specialist who negotiates with the lenders and then then makes payments toward the creditors on behalf of the client. 

Debt management companies usually charge a monthly fee for their services. Debt management is a good choice for a person who has more than two open debt accounts and had various interest rates on each account. The arrangement can even out the interest and keep the person’s financial plate clean. 

Speak to a Bankruptcy Attorney

Bankruptcy may be a good solution for someone who has a low annual income and truly cannot pay the bills. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is for a consumer who does not have money left over after calculating the disposable income. 

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is one that requires the consumer to come up with a repayment plan and offer to pay a percentage of the debt over time. It’s important to speak with a bankruptcy attorney like those at Morrison & Murff when dealing with major financial problems. 

Dealing with debt can become a major burden for many families. Without self-discipline and help from experts, it may feel impossible to overcome financial problems. These tips can help you get back on the right track and control your finances.

How Significant is the APR in Short Term Loans

From home loans to car title loans the options available on the market today are endless, and promise you financial assistance to meet just about any financial need! 

Before committing to a specific loan, it’s important to know exactly what assistance you need, what the loan offers, and what is expected of you in terms of the qualification criteria and the loans repayments.

If you are the owner of a bad credit score, then this eliminates a significant chunk of loans that you can qualify for, as credit is used to by many lenders to determine the risk they taking in lending to you. 

Car title loans welcome all applicants despite their credit score, and these loans are approved with no credit checks.

Car title loans are short term loans that offer the applicant many benefits. When comparing the different loans on the market, it’s important to compare apples with apples, to make sure that you are getting a true reflection of what you are applying for and what is expected of you in return.

With all loan types, the APR or Annual Percentage Rate is a significant indicator in explaining the rates to you for your specific loan. 

It is sometimes difficult to compare loan benefits when some loans are short term and other are long term, as the periods that the loan runs for vary and significantly change the costs. The APR is a standardized measurement of the cost of credit, taken at a yearly rate.

It may seem strange to have such a measurement for a short term car title loan, but this helps you to understand and compare the costs across the board. 

With this value you could clearly understand how much it would cost you to pay off this short term loan, in the period of a year, which is a standard repayment time for all loans.

The APR is significant with short term loans, as different lenders charge different rates. Instead of looking at the numbers at face value, understanding the entire loan process with make sure that when you take out your car title loan, you will choose a lender who offers low interest rates and fees.

The APR is also determined based on a few criteria, such as how the repayments are structured, monthly, weekly, or every second week, what the length is of the loan period that you have taken out, and the time between when you receive the cash loan and the first required repayments. 

All of these factors are very important when it comes to a car title loan. There are so many providers to choose from that it is essential to make sure that you are getting the best terms and conditions. 

Be sure to take a look at all of the lender's terms and conditions, and they should also disclose any additional fees, including penalty fees for making early loan repayments. When you’re armed with this knowledge, your entire loan process is sure to be a success!