Why Get a Prepaid Card?

Prepaid cards sound very similar to a debit card, but they do allow you to build credit.  The reason is, when you apply, you put down a deposit.  That deposit is a guarantee that allows you to spend up to that amount.  Think of it like a security deposit when you rent an apartment.

However, unlike a debit card, you still pay off the prepaid credit card monthly like a normal card.  That deposit only comes into play if you don’t pay your bill.  So, they everything is still treated like a normal card except for that special security deposit.  And if you don’t pay your bill, the company will then use your deposit to pay off the balance and fees incurred, and they will close your account afterwards.

Is This Right For Me?

These cards are right for people who may not have credit.  The reason is that if you don’t have a solid credit history, lenders may be leery to loan or extend credit to you.  Using prepaid credit cards, you can build a credit history and show that you are responsible in making payments.  Just never be late and always pay off the balance in full.

These cards are also great for individuals rebuilding credit for the same reasons.  If you have a poor credit history, you may not qualify for traditional cards.  These prepaid cards can help rebuild your credit score if you use them responsibly over time.

Finally, these cards are great for people who are trying to watch or limit their spending.  Since there is a low set limit based on the amount of cash you deposited originally, there is no way you can buy something that you can’t afford.  If you feel like spending may be a problem for you, a prepaid card can help you by taking away frivolous spending options and making you focus on purchases that you can afford and need to buy.

Before you get carried away with all that extra cash you’re going to have for holidays, cars and whatever else your heart desires… it’s important you fully understand the situation and make an effort for it to work.

Below we have outlined a few tips, which will hopefully make the situation work best…

Are you comfortable speaking about money together?

Before you sign up to sharing your finances in any way, you need to establish whether you can talk about money together. Some people, for whatever reasons, find discussions around money very uncomfortable. If this is the case, then you may want to wait a while, as it could put a serious strain on your relationship.

You don’t know what financial issues your future holds – good or bad, so it’s important you work out whether your relationship is mature enough for discussions about money.

How many bank accounts do you need?

You need to sit down with your partner and assess your needs. Do you need one bank account for bills, one for saving and one current account? Do you do it all through one account? Do you want to keep a secret savings account away from your partner? You need to discuss this as you may have completely different ideas about what you think is best.

How separate are you going to keep it?

Having a shared bank account doesn’t mean that you necessarily have to get rid of your current account. It could be that you compromise, so that you keep your own bank account and are paid in to this. You could then have a joint account for mortgage and bills or perhaps just a joint savings account that could be easily sorted, if the worst happened and you were to split.

Consolidate your credit cards

Through your discussions, you would have talked about your current debts and how you feel about consolidating these. You may find that your best option, if you have credit card debt, is to transfer both balances on to one account. If you were to do this, then it is essential that you compare credit cards online. Sites such as uSwitch provide an easy to use online tool, to make sure you’re getting a deal that works with your current situation.

Post by Sarah

Take, for instance, Matt and Jessica who bought a home 10 years ago and have been aggressively paying down their mortgage.  Now, they only owe $50,000.  Despite the market, their home has retained its value, and they have $155,000 in equity in the home.

Since they bought the home 10 years ago, they have also saved aggressively by working side jobs in addition to their day jobs—Matt is a D.J. and Jessica is a photographer.  They have banked all of their side job money and now have quite a large amount.  They have decided to take advantage of the historically low interest rates to buy a bigger home.  However, they won’t be selling their current home; they will instead rent it out and become landlords.

If you are in the market for a new, larger home, there are a variety of home loans available to you, so when preparing to buy a bigger home, you need to determine what mortgage is the best fit for you personally.  Should you take out a 5 year adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) and take the chance that mortgage rates will be lower than they currently are, or should you take out a fixed rate mortgage with the assumption that today’s rates are quite good and locking in those rates would be wise.  Using  mortgage calculators as well as talking to a mortgage broker or loan officer can help you choose the mortgage that is right for you.

With careful planning and the right mortgage, you can find yourself in the enviable position where your tenants pay for your own mortgage payment through their rent payment.  Then, you can continue to grow your own wealth and, if you are interested, buy additional properties.

While being a landlord is sometimes difficult, such as when you have tenants who cannot or will not pay or when your property needs to have expensive repairs, it also has many financial perks.  You can grow your wealth and develop a passive income stream that can give you a good return on your money for years to come.

People enter the rental market through a variety of means.  If you are thinking about becoming a landlord, consider waiting until you plan to move to a larger property.  Then, you can use your former home as your first rental property.  You will know exactly how the property has been taken care of and what condition it is in, so you will not have any surprises as you might if you were buying a new property.

What to Analyze on the Statement of Cash Flow

When analyzing the company’s statement of cash flow, there are three important parts to consider—operations, investing and financing.  Each piece gives you a separate piece of the company’s corporate finance strategy and analyzing all of them together helps you determine if the company is financially strong and a company you would like to invest in.

The operations piece of the cash flow report tells you how much money the company can generate internally.  The investing piece shows you how much the company is spending for acquisitions, investments, property and equipment.  It also shows you how much the company is bringing in through their investments.  Finally, the financing piece shows how much the company is spending to service their debts as well as the debts they have recently paid off.

Another important piece to consider is how often the company is issuing cash dividends as it takes cash to do so.

When you consider net income as well as the company’s statement of cash flow, you can get a fuller picture of a company’s stability and financial success, which in turn will help you determine if you want to invest with them.

Steps for an Investing Novice

Of course, a new investor may want to think twice about investing in individual companies without guidance.  A better strategy for a first time investor may be to invest in mutual funds so the risk is spread out over several companies.  As you invest more and become more comfortable with investing, you can begin to invest small amounts into individual companies that you research careful.  As your confidence and, hopefully, investments grow, you can begin to invest larger sums.

Likewise, you can hire a financial planner, but it is still in your best interest to do your research and feel comfortable with the company you are investing in because it is your money.  If you lose that money due to a bad investment, you will suffer the financial consequences, not your financial planner.  When investing, no one cares about your money as much as you do, so invest wisely after careful planning and research.

Post by Melissa

Evidence of this was brought into the spotlight repeatedly in 2002 by companies such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and Global Crossing. When business ethics are diminished, it impacts employees, their families, customers, stakeholders, partnerships, the business’s reputation, the economy in entire geographic areas, and can even lead to death. Some examples of poor business ethics include insider trading, the use of child labor, medical malpractice, exposing people to harmful materials, predatory pricing, predatory mortgage lending, overly generous executive perks, extensive work hours, creative accounting, and tax evasion.

Companies like Wal-Mart have been infamous for unethical business practices for quite some time and still manage to thrive. Others lose their businesses immediately and often go to jail like the medical malpractice case against Michael Jackson’s doctor.

When stacking the odds in a business’s favor, practicing good ethics should be at the top of the list. Those who choose the high road tend to experience higher revenues due to positive customer service, more recognition for their product or service, better employee morale, retention, and motivation, a trend of an increasing customer base, and more. They also have the privilege of walking through this world carrying their shoulders wide and their heads high. Others will allow greed to get in the way, and will tempt their fate by their poor decisions. Choose the high road both as a professional and a consumer.

Post by Katya

1. Take a loan from the bank.  If you have good credit, you may qualify for a loan from your bank.  However, this process may take a few days, and not everyone will qualify.  If you do qualify, the bank will probably offer you a lower interest rate than the other options listed below.
2. Pay with your credit card.  True, you will be paying for your tax bill at up to a 19.99% interest rate, depending on your credit worthiness, but it may be worth it to avoid paying late penalties to Uncle Sam.  If you have good credit, you could always try to open a credit card account with a 0% introductory APR and pay it down before the introductory APR expires.
3. Get a cash advance.  A cash advance can be a good source for short term loans.  However, make sure you understand the terms and be sure to compare interest rates to make sure it is better to pay the interest rather than the penalties you may have to pay the government.
4. Take out a peer-to-peer lending loan.  You can apply for a loan through Prosper or Lending Club.  You will need to submit some paper work detailing your current credit worthiness, and then members can choose to “invest” in you and fund your loan.
5. Borrow from friends or relatives.  If you have no other options, borrow from friends or relatives.  Make sure to make timely payments so you don’t affect your personal relationship due to borrowing money.

Tax season typically causes a great deal of stress, especially when you discover you owe money and don’t have the money to pay readily available.  If you owe a large bill, you may want to gather money from a number of sources.  While you can make payments to the government, there are hefty fees to pay, and the consequences for not paying your tax bill can be severe.

Once you have made your tax payment, you will want to pay off the loans as quickly as possible, especially since many of the sources of quick money have high interest rates.  You may even consider taking on a second job until the loans are paid.  While facing an unexpected tax bill can be stressful, there are ways to pay.

Post by Melissa 

Two banks are involved in the processing procedure: the issuing bank, which supplies card cards to consumers, and the acquiring banks where merchant accounts are held. Often called “merchant banks,” these are the institutions that deposit the funds from a credit card sale into the merchant’s account.

When a cardholder makes a purchase of goods or services, the acquiring bank pays the issuing bank a percentage of the gross amount of the sale. Each card has a different schedule of reimbursement fees. Simply put then, an interchange fee is the amount an acquiring bank pays to the issuing bank for a credit card transaction.

The actual level of this reimbursement fee is set by the card companies themselves, and there are many interchange fee categories. Risk is a factor in assessing fee levels. For instance, the interchange fee on a CPS/retail signature transaction would carry a lower interchange fee than that on a CPS/Card Not Present transaction because the first transaction has the lower risk profile.

Both the type and the size of the business involved, and the processing behavior also affect interchange rates. A number of interchange categories also arise from marketing strategies on the part of card companies, for instance rewards credit cards, a scenario in which there is no benefit to the merchants who are actually absorbing the cost of the reward program.

The real benefit in these programs goes to the banks, who acquire new cardholders who use their cards to make more purchases out of the sense of security they derive from knowing a “reward” is attached. While these cards do stimulate consumer buying, accepting rewards cards is more expensive for merchants in terms of higher processing charges.

In order to determine if you are considering a merchant account service with low fees, it’s necessary to evaluate the full schedule of interchange fees as they relate to your business. The fees schedules are generated twice a year, usually in the spring and fall, and should be examined regularly. If you just accept your merchant account service agreement and forget
about the interchange fee structure, you’re just throwing money away.

The debt drama in Greece has been playing out for some time.

Greece has been in recession since 2007, dependent on its Eurozone neighbours to avoid going bankrupt. In 2010 for instance it received some €100bn, intended to see it through recession and back into growth. But since then, it emerged that Greece is in much worse shape than previously thought. Last September it appealed for a second bailout worth €130bn.

This afternoon it at last appears it might receive those funds, following a protracted negotiation between both EU officials and Greece’s private creditors. But will this be enough to save Greece, and how might it affect the euro?

Foreign exchange boom?

On the one hand, reports that Greece has received its second bailout are likely to give the euro an immediate boost.

This is because, in the short-term at least, it will end speculation regarding whether Greece is remaining in the euro, and whether it has the potential to shock the Eurozone by defaulting. (Other EU countries including France and Spain have financial exposure to Greece. This means that if it defaults because it cannot pay its debts, it becomes much tougher for Spain et al. to pay their debts, reducing confidence on the markets. This is called financial contagion.) In short, receiving its second bailout would provide some much-needed financial stability to the region.

Foreign exchange bust?

On the other hand, some economists are doubtful that Greece receiving its bailout will mark an end to the drama.

On the contrary, they estimate that the spending cuts being imposed on Greece in exchange for its EU loans will exacerbate its recession. (This is because Germany in particular is imposing draconian measures on Greece that prevent it expanding. Growth is arguably necessary for it to pay down its debt, without which it can only sell existing assets.)

These advocates argue that the only way Greece can escape its present woes is to exit the euro and revive the drachma. The argument goes that a devalued drachma will stimulate exports in Greece as well as tourism, because Greece will be cheaper.

Of course, as far as the euro is concerned, this is hardly good news! Greece leaving the euro could exacerbate all the contagion concerns EU officials so wish to avoid.

This guest post was contributed by Michael Smith at foreign exchange specialists Pure FX.

What Collectors Can Do:

Any debt collector — whether a hospital, doctor, other health care entity, or a collections agency, is entitled to know:

• The name, birthdate and Social Security number of who owes the debt
• The account number and payment history of the debt
• The name & address of whom the debt is owed to (even if it’s a psychiatrist or AIDS clinic)

What Collectors Can’t Do:

• Tell anyone else that you owe a debt
• Make your phone ring excessively
• Call you at work if they’ve been told you can’t accept calls at work
• Call you from 9pm-8am, or at anytime you’ve told them is inconvenient
• Use any profane, abusive or harassing language
• Do anything abusive, harrassing or oppressive
• Lie about what they might do or how much you owe
• Threaten you with criminal prosecution or arrest
• Give false information to credit bureaus

So if, for example, you’ve fallen behind on payments to a doctor or hospital, they can turn the debt over to a collection agency. But you still have specific consumer rights that deserve protection. After all, the last thing you need when trying to pay medical bills is harrassment from a collector.

If a debt collector violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act in any way, you might be entitled to recover actual damages and/or statutory damages up to $1,000, as well as court costs and attorney fees, and — most important of all — make them stop calling you.

Larry P. Smith & Associates, a Chicago Law Firm, focus on consumer rights law. If you are having difficulties with bankruptcy, identity theft, debt collection or consumer fraud, request a free case review with Larry P. Smith & Associates.

In recent years, the birth rates have more than doubled for older women in their late thirties and early forties. However, advances in medical care have led more and more women to the decision to have a baby later for many reasons—including because they may be healthier and more financially sound at this point in their lives. However, as women’s bodies’ age, greater issues may arise anytime during the pregnancy, delivery and post-birth stage that can put thier health and finances at risk. And even though the majority of women over 35 experience healthy pregnancies and deliver healthy, happy babies—age can leave older women at heightened risk of certain medical complications during and after pregnancy that will cost them throughout their lives, and that their younger counterparts don’t experience quite as frequently. For instance, older mom’s need to be concerned with things like:

• Low fertility rates: which can cost upwards of $24,000 out-of-pocket for in vitro fertilization (IVF)
• Miscarriage: which can incur costs for counselling and depression
• Fetus placement during pregnancy
• Problems associated with cesarean births: which can delay the return to work and every day activities
• Neural tube defects e.g., Spina Bifida
• Still born babies
• Down Syndrome

These financial risks highlight why monitoring by a qualified physician should be maintained consistently throughout conception, pregnancy and even post-delivery. Regardless of age, every single woman should consult with their doctors if they are planning to get pregnant. This is especially true for women 35 or older with preexisting health issues, such as diabetes, anemia and high blood pressure that can affect pregnancy, delivery and even healing in post-pregnancy bodies. Your doctor will also prescribe the 6 following essential nutrients and healthy habits for older pregnant moms to keep you healthy as well as financially secure:

1. Prenatal vitamins

Upon learning that you are pregnant, your doctor will immediately prescribed a prenatal multivitamin as part of your pregnancy supplement regime to support calcium, iron, folic acid and magnesium intake, which are all vital for keeping your bones strong, skin elasticized, and baby happy and nourished. These are also worth the cost if you consider paying later in life to cover medical costs for osteoperosis or iron deficiency. Once you have been prescribed a certain brand and dosage of prenatal vitamin from your physician, you can chose to fill the prescription via an online through a Canadian pharmacy, where Canadian drugs are about half the price of those you’d buy from your local pharmacy in the U.S. Plus, your order will be conveniently shipped to your address.

2. Folic acid

Your doctor will likely also recommend a separate folic acid supplement, 3 months prior to conception (if you’re trying to have a baby), which you’ll take up to the 12^th week of your pregnancy. Folic acid has been linked to lowering the risk of neural tube defects, like Spina Bifida, which can cost approximately $52,000 in medical costs and treatments for the first year of a child’s life. You can also get a healthy daily dose of folic acid by incorporating leafy green vegetables and green organic produce into your diet.

3. Zinc

Medical research shows that inadequate levels of zinc can lead to lowered fertility, especially in women over the age of 35. This means that while you try to get pregnant, your doctor may tell you to eat foods rich in iron as well as take an iron supplement to lower the risk of Anemia and costly medical treatments associated with concieving.

4. Adequate hydration

Water is important to keep your body functioning for two at the optimal level. The recommended daily intake of water should be 8 glasses of water or more each day for pregnant women, which will keep your skin healthy, and flush away sodium retention that results in that dreaded swelling in the feet, hands and legs, and lead to more serious and costly sprains and muscle tears later on.

5. Consume a health, balanced diet

A healthy diet is the perfect balance of fresh fruits, leafy green vegetables, lean proteins, calcium-rich dairy products, heart healthy fats and complex carbohydrates that feature whole grains. Pregnant moms really “are what they eat”—that goes for you and affects your baby too. And of course, this includes cutting your fatty food and caffeine intake, and quitting drinking and smoking, which can cause significantly lower fertility rates and exposes a developing fetus to toxic carbon monoxide and nicotine as well as cut off vital oxygen.

6. Yoga and other exercises

Ensuring your body is in healthy shape, without putting undue stress on you and baby, can help prime your body for pregnancy, birth and recovery post-pregnancy, as well as the costs associated with troublesome births and post-pregancy recovery. Gentle, low impact exercise—including brisk walking, swimming and stretching exercises will put less strain on your joints. Yoga is one form of exercise that serves as beneficial form of activity during pregnancy by gently stretching the pelvic floor and core to help ease back and joint pain throughout pregnancy and aid delivery with minimal discomfort. Yoga is also helpful during the post-natal phase, which new moms can start approximately six weeks after the birth to help strengthen the abdominal muscles and pelvic floor, and help the body restore its pre-pregnancy shape.

Post by Brenda