It can be hard to see any way out of a financial situation, which is why we as modern people are thankful for the concept of cash advances. Although it is a short-term loan, it can help in remedying a situation. This method of getting money has indeed helped a lot of people get their financial situations in order.
Cash advances are short-term loans meant to help us in our current need of money. They are the difference between losing your car to the car pound, and getting it out of the car pound on time.
To different people with different and unique situations cash advances can mean a lot. They are the money safety nets to which many people turn
The other notable thing about cash advances is they are relatively easy to get and the money is in your checking account within a few days. Some companies even send the money to your account within 24 hours after your application form has been approved. This is helpful in the way that you do not have to wait around for the money to come when you want to get the bills paid up as soon as humanly possible. So if you do need the money urgently, then you will receive the money more quickly than you might expect.
It’s always nice to get a surprise every now and then, and to receive a cash advance surprise, well that is even better because when you need it cash advances are there to help you out of any financial problem that you may have. They can resolve your financial problems and lay them to rest for at least a while. This will also help you get the peace of mind and to see to other things that are happening in your life. You get the added advantage of getting back the control that we sometimes lose when we are in a financial crisis that erodes our emotions.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
FINANCIAL STRESS MANAGEMENT
Most of marriages show that financial problem is the primary cause of stress in a marriage. So, you should deal with them. In such case, you can obtain the effective reference by using lots of books and through both television programs and web sites.
As the basic premise, make a table all your debts and the interest rate you owe on each of them. Start with paying the debts off by making more than minimum monthly payment. It should be started from the highest interest account. And then, you should examine about how you can shift the high interest debt into lower interest debt.
Stress management for financial case will be little bit difficult. Therefore, have a plan to gain extra money to refund your debts. You need to make a record of your each expense as a beginning. After a week, you will recognize how you are expending your discretionary income. It will be a sacrifice at first of forgetting some of those discretionary items. However, the capability for repaying high interest debt is worth it.
So, are you now willing to know more about stress management? I hope these guidelines will make you think and get smart about it!
Watch Your Finances A Relationship Problem Advice
The best thing that you can do is first make sure that you are committed to the concept of your marriage is a good relationship problem advice. Of course, when money and finances are the reason why your marriage is having a problem, you need to get organized and work something out.
So many marriages fail because of fights that start over money issues, and these failures only increase every year. Big financial decisions are often made without the spouse’s knowledge; gambling, debts, and income issues all play a big part in a couple’s marriage. This gets even more complicated when one of the spouses is not working. Financial problems become even bigger.
When it comes to finances in a marriage, the best things that can be done is for your marriage is to make sure that both people are equally involved no matter who makes the best money or if one spouse is not making any at all to make sure finance is not a cause of your relationship problem.
Money matters need not cause a marriage to end. However if you and your spouse find that you are constantly arguing about money matters, all that really needs to be done is for a good accountant and therapist to take over.
Marriage counseling helps many couples learn to deal more effectively with relationship problem advice, and they can help prevent small problems from becoming serious.
Marriages have a better chance of success when the couple goes to marriage counseling. In fact, research shows that marriage counseling tends to improve a person’s overall health and makes the family unit function better as a whole. A good marriage counselor can really make a difference in the worst situations in giving relationship problem advice.
If you want to find a good marriage counselor you can search through your yellow pages, but I would recommend that you search online. When you conduct your search this way, you can also get reviews of the counselor and what their specialties are.
Most counselors do have a specialty of their own. This makes finding the right one that much easier. Just look around and you and
your spouse will soon get your money woes to be gone for good.
How I Got My Finances Intact
First of all, I do not claim that all my finances are under control. At certain times, it can get wild and it can get out of hand. What I have noticed though, is that as I become more aware of my financial situation, I begin to have a better control over it.
Some years ago, I had started like everyone else, fresh out of university, landed myself in a job which paid relatively well given the economic situation then. I then got myself a credit card and then, the problems began. I was spending more than I was earning and I was a very good customer of the bank.
Despite knowing that it is not wise spending future money, I turned a deaf ear, saying instead that I am still young and money will not be a problem (I was optimistic that my job will still be there for me tomorrow). By then end of the first week, I was already looking forward to the last week of the month where the salary will come in.
One day, my situation hit me - OMG!! What am I doing?? I am in my late 20’s and I do not have any decent savings and besides some pathetic insurance policies, I do not have any savings nor investments. My constant excuse was that the cost of living was too high, I need to buy these things etc. I was denying that I was actually living in a dangerous turf. If I lost my job, I will not be able to sustain.
Admiting that I had a personal finance problem was a major FIRST step for me. I had to have the will to WANT a change in my current situation but I just did not have the knowledge to overcome it.
SECONDLY, I had to put in some action. Through much reading, I was able to make some sense of how to go about getting myself out of this situation. The saying “It is not about how much you earn, but how much you save” made sense to me. I started to put aside a small amount every month till I reached the minimum amount required to place a time deposit (TD). THIRDLY, I started to set goals about how many TDs I want to place by when and how much. I also had a set of broader financials goals I wanted to achieve - short terms goals (car, investment), mid term goals (insurance, house), long term goals (retirement).
All this time, I struggled to keep my expenses under control. Seeing my savings grow further motivated me to cut my expenses. NEXT, I read up on portfolio diversification - its pros and cons. I read that I should be having about 6 months of my monthly income saved for rainy days. It never reached there because I then diverted my savings into Unit Trusts (UT) funds. I then decided to give a good balance to it and took up some insurance policies. I thought about the consequences of not having the means to pay for my medical bills and having my family bear it for me. Here, I think I could have bitten more than I could chew because my premiums were killing me at one point in time and I started to regret it.
This is where my FIFTH point comes in - perseverance. When goals are set, it has to be constantly updated to suit our life stage. And when we believe that the goals are correctly set, we should just stick to it, no matter what. Our financial goals need to be realistic, our commitment to the portfolio needs to be realistic, else, we will easily give up.
Today, I am happy to say that my expenses are no longer more than my income. I have a dedicated pool of money channeled to savings, investments and insurance every month. The phrase “Too much month at the end of the money” still holds true for me sometimes, but it is more of an exception rather than the norm. Although I have cut back on my spend, I still manage to splurge on my family and myself once in a while. More importantly, I am no longer desparate for the month end to come and I could enjoy my life more.
LASTLY, it does not matter how much you earn, save, invest or insure if you do not protect it. Therefore, remember to have an estate planning session to ensure that your wealth (no matter how small it is) is being protected for the sake of your loved ones.
Credit Card Debt Problem Solutions
People all around the world are facing this credit card debt problem every second of the day.
Keep in mind that out there somebody might have even harder financial problems and you’re a happy person compared to him.
Eliminating the credit card debt is an important issue for all of us.
What can we do about it ?
How can we handle the situation ?
Actually it’s quite easy. Face the problem and deal with it before it will take over your entire life. You can use whatever method you want to solve this problem just be sure you’ve chosen the right one for your situation.
If you’re confused you can follow these 9 simple steps that will help you getting rid of that unpleasant credit card debt :-
1. Take a pen and a piece of paper and write down some important things as it follows: your credit card name, the balance, the day when you have to pay the bills, APR, your reward points along with their current offers and last but not least the remarks.
2. Put in the table the above mentioned information for all your credit cards.
3. Try to see which credit card causes most of your problems. In other words see which one has a harmful balance and APR.
4. Analyze the reward points because sometimes they can be used to pay some bills or fees. If is possible use them to cover some expenses.
5. Compare you consolidating credit card debt offers and choose the one that suits you best.
6. Get rid of the credit card that’s causing all the damage as fast as you can. (This doesn’t involves throwing anything out on the window)
7. Control your spending behavior because otherwise you might never be able to solve this problem.
8. Think about every financial alternative that will help you earn more money.
9. Enjoy the reduction of your credit card debt and breathe freely when the nightmare is over and you no longer have a financial problem.
These nine guidelines will help you deal with this situation but won’t solve it for you.
You’ll have to keep the final objective in mind and act accordingly.
Just remember a person with no credit card debts is a happy person.
Read more...
Keep in mind that out there somebody might have even harder financial problems and you’re a happy person compared to him.
Eliminating the credit card debt is an important issue for all of us.
What can we do about it ?
How can we handle the situation ?
Actually it’s quite easy. Face the problem and deal with it before it will take over your entire life. You can use whatever method you want to solve this problem just be sure you’ve chosen the right one for your situation.
If you’re confused you can follow these 9 simple steps that will help you getting rid of that unpleasant credit card debt :-
1. Take a pen and a piece of paper and write down some important things as it follows: your credit card name, the balance, the day when you have to pay the bills, APR, your reward points along with their current offers and last but not least the remarks.
2. Put in the table the above mentioned information for all your credit cards.
3. Try to see which credit card causes most of your problems. In other words see which one has a harmful balance and APR.
4. Analyze the reward points because sometimes they can be used to pay some bills or fees. If is possible use them to cover some expenses.
5. Compare you consolidating credit card debt offers and choose the one that suits you best.
6. Get rid of the credit card that’s causing all the damage as fast as you can. (This doesn’t involves throwing anything out on the window)
7. Control your spending behavior because otherwise you might never be able to solve this problem.
8. Think about every financial alternative that will help you earn more money.
9. Enjoy the reduction of your credit card debt and breathe freely when the nightmare is over and you no longer have a financial problem.
These nine guidelines will help you deal with this situation but won’t solve it for you.
You’ll have to keep the final objective in mind and act accordingly.
Just remember a person with no credit card debts is a happy person.
How Do I Know I Need Help In Managing My Finances?
There may be times when things don’t go as well as we’ve planned. It’s important that we look out for warning signs if we need help in managing our finances, particularly our debts. Below are some indicators that should trigger us to seek help in managing our finances:
1. Frequent Arguments over Money
They say that during courtship, the guy would do most of the talking while the girl listens. In the first year of marriage, the wife would do the talking while the husband listens. After a year, both the husband and wife would do the “talking” while the neighbours listen! If you are arguing with your spouse frequently over money, then it’s a sure sign that you are facing some financial difficulties. If this financial problem is not addressed promptly, it may lead to other marital problems and ultimately resulting in a divorce.
2. High Debt-to-Income Ratio
As a rule of thumb, we should limit all our debt obligations to about one third of our take-home income (generally defined as gross income less EPF, tax and SOCSO deductions). What it means here is, if our take-home pay is RM3,000 per month, then our housing plus car loan repayments (including other loans, if any) should not exceed RM1,000 per month. It’s not surprising to find many families having a Debt-to-Income Ratio of more than 50%! This would mean that they’d have less than half of their income left for basic living and child expenses. What about those occasional holidays, gifts, outside dining and entertainment expenditures? Most likely, they’d be forced into taking on more debt through credit card or personal loans. This will result in a vicious cycle and will only get us deeper and deeper into the debt-trap!
3. Maxing-out on Credit Limits
As a result of the above, i.e. when an increasing percentage of our income is used to pay-off debts, we would rely on credit cards. If you notice that your credit balance is increasing each month, this would be another warning signal. If left unchecked, you’d most likely hit the limit very soon and then start maxing-out on the second and third card. Before you know it, you find yourself drowning in a pool of debt. That’s when your “good friend”, Ah Long, will throw you a “float” to “save” you, not realizing that this “float” of theirs is filled with rocks that will weigh you deeper down into the drowning pool of debt! Beware!!!
4. Pay the Minimum Only
Another tell-tale sign is when you start paying only the minimum of 5% on your credit card balances. The balance would normally attract a finance charge of 1.5% per month or 18% p.a. For example, if you have an outstanding balance of RM1,000 and decided to only pay the minimum of 5% or RM50 whichever is greater, the amount of interest charged to you in the first month is about RM14.25 only. You might not think of this as a lot but do you realize that if you continue this payment pattern, it’ll take 2 years for you to fully settle your initial balance of RM1,000? The total interest incurred would amount to about RM173.00. Imagine if the amount is RM10,000 – it will take you more than 7 years to repay and your total interest incurred would come up to RM3,740! Of course, these numbers assume that you do not add-on to your present balance, but how can you be sure it will not happen? Yes… only if you CUT your cards immediately!
5. Always Late in Settling Bills
We are so used to the saying, “Better Late than Never!” However, when it comes to paying our bills, this is not a good sign! Of course we do not need to settle our bills immediately when we receive them but they should be settled by their due dates. If we are chronically late in paying our bills up to a point where late payment penalties are imposed, we need to re-examine our finances. We don’t want to end up in a situation where our electricity and water supply, telephone lines are cut or our cars are being repossessed. So, if we are a little behind most of the time, it’s time to get behind the numbers!
6. Lots of I.O.U.
If we realize that more and more of our relatives and friends are avoiding us, most likely it’s not because we’ve not bathed for a week! Very likely, we have been borrowing money from them and have stacks of “I Owe yoUs” in our drawer! Another early warning sign is when we tend to borrow to purchase things that we used to pay for in cash. This is an unhealthy sign and we not only loose control over our money but also our dear friends and relatives.
We may even owe it to ourselves that long overdue medical or dental visit or even our car service. These are certain necessary expenditures that take a back seat because budget is tight every month and they are deemed not “urgent” yet. Things like these are important and when they become urgent, most often it’ll be too late!
7. Sleepless Nights
This is also known as the “Sleep Test”. Can you sleep well at night or are you having sleepless nights thinking about your money problems? In fact, the more we think about our money problems, the more money problems we would encounter. Your mind attracts the things you think about most and we should focus on the solutions rather than the problems. And one way is to seek financial counseling and get started on a well-designed debt management programme. This is not something that we can “sleep over” and hope that everything will be fine tomorrow. We have to take ACTION now!
If you do encounter any one or more of these warning signs, you should seek immediate help in getting your financial fitness back in shape. Next week, we’d be journeying through “The Road to Managing Your Debt Wisely” and you might want to join us for the ride. Together, let’s “Make Prudent Financial Management A Way of Life!”
Read more...
1. Frequent Arguments over Money
They say that during courtship, the guy would do most of the talking while the girl listens. In the first year of marriage, the wife would do the talking while the husband listens. After a year, both the husband and wife would do the “talking” while the neighbours listen! If you are arguing with your spouse frequently over money, then it’s a sure sign that you are facing some financial difficulties. If this financial problem is not addressed promptly, it may lead to other marital problems and ultimately resulting in a divorce.
2. High Debt-to-Income Ratio
As a rule of thumb, we should limit all our debt obligations to about one third of our take-home income (generally defined as gross income less EPF, tax and SOCSO deductions). What it means here is, if our take-home pay is RM3,000 per month, then our housing plus car loan repayments (including other loans, if any) should not exceed RM1,000 per month. It’s not surprising to find many families having a Debt-to-Income Ratio of more than 50%! This would mean that they’d have less than half of their income left for basic living and child expenses. What about those occasional holidays, gifts, outside dining and entertainment expenditures? Most likely, they’d be forced into taking on more debt through credit card or personal loans. This will result in a vicious cycle and will only get us deeper and deeper into the debt-trap!
3. Maxing-out on Credit Limits
As a result of the above, i.e. when an increasing percentage of our income is used to pay-off debts, we would rely on credit cards. If you notice that your credit balance is increasing each month, this would be another warning signal. If left unchecked, you’d most likely hit the limit very soon and then start maxing-out on the second and third card. Before you know it, you find yourself drowning in a pool of debt. That’s when your “good friend”, Ah Long, will throw you a “float” to “save” you, not realizing that this “float” of theirs is filled with rocks that will weigh you deeper down into the drowning pool of debt! Beware!!!
4. Pay the Minimum Only
Another tell-tale sign is when you start paying only the minimum of 5% on your credit card balances. The balance would normally attract a finance charge of 1.5% per month or 18% p.a. For example, if you have an outstanding balance of RM1,000 and decided to only pay the minimum of 5% or RM50 whichever is greater, the amount of interest charged to you in the first month is about RM14.25 only. You might not think of this as a lot but do you realize that if you continue this payment pattern, it’ll take 2 years for you to fully settle your initial balance of RM1,000? The total interest incurred would amount to about RM173.00. Imagine if the amount is RM10,000 – it will take you more than 7 years to repay and your total interest incurred would come up to RM3,740! Of course, these numbers assume that you do not add-on to your present balance, but how can you be sure it will not happen? Yes… only if you CUT your cards immediately!
5. Always Late in Settling Bills
We are so used to the saying, “Better Late than Never!” However, when it comes to paying our bills, this is not a good sign! Of course we do not need to settle our bills immediately when we receive them but they should be settled by their due dates. If we are chronically late in paying our bills up to a point where late payment penalties are imposed, we need to re-examine our finances. We don’t want to end up in a situation where our electricity and water supply, telephone lines are cut or our cars are being repossessed. So, if we are a little behind most of the time, it’s time to get behind the numbers!
6. Lots of I.O.U.
If we realize that more and more of our relatives and friends are avoiding us, most likely it’s not because we’ve not bathed for a week! Very likely, we have been borrowing money from them and have stacks of “I Owe yoUs” in our drawer! Another early warning sign is when we tend to borrow to purchase things that we used to pay for in cash. This is an unhealthy sign and we not only loose control over our money but also our dear friends and relatives.
We may even owe it to ourselves that long overdue medical or dental visit or even our car service. These are certain necessary expenditures that take a back seat because budget is tight every month and they are deemed not “urgent” yet. Things like these are important and when they become urgent, most often it’ll be too late!
7. Sleepless Nights
This is also known as the “Sleep Test”. Can you sleep well at night or are you having sleepless nights thinking about your money problems? In fact, the more we think about our money problems, the more money problems we would encounter. Your mind attracts the things you think about most and we should focus on the solutions rather than the problems. And one way is to seek financial counseling and get started on a well-designed debt management programme. This is not something that we can “sleep over” and hope that everything will be fine tomorrow. We have to take ACTION now!
If you do encounter any one or more of these warning signs, you should seek immediate help in getting your financial fitness back in shape. Next week, we’d be journeying through “The Road to Managing Your Debt Wisely” and you might want to join us for the ride. Together, let’s “Make Prudent Financial Management A Way of Life!”
Money Can't Solve Poverty!!!
The story of Bonnie and Clyde
If a person is poor in mind and financial education, no matter how much money he has now, he will become poor after all. Bonnie earns as little as Clyde, below the average earning of a typical adult. Bonnie thinks that striking a big lottery will solve her financial problem. As her dream comes true one day, she made a few million dollars out of a lottery ticket. She became rich in cash for several months before she ended up being even poorer than before. Meanwhile, Clyde hasn’t bought any lottery ticket but he is much richer then Bonnie, even though he save money the stupid way. This is the story of Bonnie and Clyde.
The big difference between Bonnie and Clyde is financial IQ.
Why Money Can’t Solve Poverty
If money can really solve poverty, the simple solution is to distribute wealth equally amongst every person on earth. Do you think this will solve poverty? I certainly don’t think so.
The rich people donate a lot. Think of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. A very big chunk of their wealth is donated to help the world. The money is not simply distributed to the people who are “poor”. It is because they know that giving money to the poor will only accelerate poverty, not solving it.
In fact, money is the root of all evils. And these evils are limited only to the poor. The poor face financial problem because they don’t know how to manage their money. They don’t really need more money (although that’s what they think – more money will solve their problem). What they really need is financial education.
The ultimate solution is financial education
Think of the scenarios discussed below. I bet you will realize why financial education is the best solution to end poverty.
Financial gurus such as Donald Trump and Warren Buffett write books on making money by doing business and smart investment. They want to educate us to increase our financial IQ.
Why isn’t there any curriculum on financial education in our school system? I heard that it is a conspiracy. That’s why Robert T. Kiyosaki is writing a book about it and giving you total access for free.
Ask around the poor people you know, “Do you read personal finance books, magazine, blog or …..?” 99% will say NO. They are too busy (actually it is an excuse). But I do believe them. You stay rich in order to be free. So the poor must be busier than the rich in this sense!
Some of the richest people are born in the poorest family. And some of the poorest people are born in the richest family. Of course, it is also through the other way round. Some people are already born rich, and then become even richer later in their life. This shows that it is not the money you have that dictate your financial status. It is the difference of financial IQ, which is totally linked with the amount of financial education we learn throughout our life.
During a recession, it is harder to find a job, especially for fresh graduates. Rising unemployment rate worsen the situation and most of them will go back to school to get more education. Most of them borrows more money to get educated and hope that when they are going to graduate years later, the economy has already recovered. Do you think they will be better off compared to those who didn’t go back to school?
Again, money can’t solve poverty, financial education does!
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