When you are considering a health insurance plan, prepare to be confused. While a good agent can help you make the best choice you can, there are unscrupulous agents whose sole purpose is to steal. …

When you first buy a home, the requirement to refinance is not usually on your mind.  As time goes by, life changes such as promotion in your job, loss of a job, the birth of …

Guide to Reporting Self Employment Income to the IRS Everyone who has net income over $400 from self employment must report it to the IRS.  This may include income from farming, baby sitting, a partnership …

One of the biggest issues in the real estate market is foreclosure. Not everybody understands the meaning of foreclosure but it basically means that if you have a loan secured against your home but fail …

Most people with student loans choose to keep their loans around for the tax break or because it has a low interest rate.  However, why would you want to do this when you could pay …

Short sales emerged in early 1990 and since then, with the easy mortgages and the booming real estate market, they have been out of use, or at least written about but little. Now, with the …

Health insurance is so expensive because every day fewer people are paying for their health care. The people who have insurance, be it private or Medicare and the insurance companies are paying for the uninsured peoples health …

I consider myself to be both frugal and cheap. To me frugal means more about how you use what you have, and cheap is how you get what you have to use. I make the …

In personal finance, the terms disposable income and discretionary income are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are different, which can be confusing. As a guide, in a budget disposable income is what an individual has …

If you’re a first time buyer, purchasing a homeowner’s insurance policy seems like a daunting task. You know you need one, but you’re not sure where to look or what to look for in a …

Losses are part and parcel of forex trading. Every successful forex trader understands that losses are an inevitable part of trading. The important issue to consider is how those losses can be minimized while the …

One of the single most expensive necessities that a self employed person has to provide for themselves and their families is health insurance. The options are not good for those who go it alone. But …

I am going to stick with my conclusions on this subject even though my article has done horribly in the ratings. The reason is the title. The title is “How can the CASUAL INVESTOR beat …

A mortgage is a financial contract between the lender and the borrower. Mortgages are tailored to the individual and the precise terms and conditions given will be dependent on many different factors, such as the …

The annual back-to-school rush is underway. The kids are excited, and parents’ stretched wallets are further strained by the added demand for school supplies. Every penny saved is a small windfall that will undoubtedly be …

Passive income, or money someone receives for existing and owning certain assets, is a beneficial way to accomplish many tasks that lead to a healthier, less stressful, and financially safer life. The main overarching benefit …

Using your credit card is a lot like using your checking account. Your balance needs to be tracked daily after all of your purchases. You do this by knowing what your starting balance is and …

A life insurance agent once suggested that a life insurance policy is a great gift for people to give to their spouses. The suggestion seemed far out, but there is some logic to this idea. …

Most young adults today – university students and 20-something professionals – have short-term plans for their future. They think more about what they will have accomplished by the time they reach the age of 40. …

Being a young, streetwise kid myself, I like to think I know what I’m talking about when it comes to the youth of today. I see the youth of Britain becoming more aggressive, violent and …

Most people have heard that buying stocks will, over time, usually return more money than placing money in a savings account. But buying stocks can be intimidating for new investors, and the fees can eat …

A bank account is something the rich and the poor should share in common. Poverty should not be an excuse for avoiding opening a bank account; rather it should be a priority as a step …

What is Gap insurance and how to determine if you need it is an important question you need to ask when purchasing a new vehicle. Some key points will help you make this important decision. …

Banks can either be incorporated or not incorporated. This means that they are either considered to be a legal entity in their own right or they are not. A private bank is not incorporated and …

“The best $90 I spent in my entire life!” Can you believe that it is renter’s insurance that prompts this exclamation? I know that money is tight when you are in college, but if you …

There are a number of schemes that can be taken out to fix your mortgage rate. a) Fixed rate schemes. These work by holding the interest rate at a stated rate for a given period, …

There are a variety of ways that a person can use to get out of debt and these methods generally depend on where the debt comes from. The situations of individuals who wish to get …

Everyone dreams of living like a millionaire on a poor man’s budget. It’s not impossible and it’s well within anyone’s reach. It doesn’t matter how much money one does or doesn’t make, it’s all in …

Medicaid is a joint federal and state, need-based program that is often needed by senior citizens to pay for the catastrophic costs of nursing home expenses.  Medicaid planning involves tactics used to preserve assets while …

The golden rule for financial prosperity is to pay yourself first. You pay everyone else, why not pay yourself? You make sure everyone else has their money, but you don’t give yourself any money for …