Top Ten Reasons to Choose an IVA

If you are finding it impossible to keep up with debt repayments, an individual voluntary arrangement, or IVA, could be the helping hand that you need. An IVA is government legislation which helps to create a better and more manageable program for paying off your debts, over a fixed term, which is usually set at 5 years, after which time the remaining debt is written off and you are successfully back in the black. The main advantages of an IVA, in no particular order, are:

1. You make just one monthly debt repayment, replacing all existing payments, which is an affordable sum based on your income and expenditure.

2. Most IVA programs can be initiated without any fees or payments up front, which could help you to save even more money.

3. An IVA is a legally binding agreement which protects you from further intervention from any of the creditors you owe, throughout the term of the agreement.

4. The Insolvency Practitioner responsible for your IVA relieves pressure on you by dealing with your creditors on your behalf.

5. The majority of IVA processes last for just 5 years. Some may last longer, others considerably less.

6. All interest payments are frozen immediately, so that the sum you are attempting to pay back is not growing continuously.

7. It is also frequently possible to waive any charges that may have been incurred, following any failed debt repayments, which make the repayment process increasingly difficult.

8. IVA proceedings are suitable for many tenants and homeowners, individuals and couples, even business owners. There are certain qualifying criteria, but are suitable for many.

9. An IVA can be set up in as little as 4 weeks, giving you the opportunity to deal with your rising debt problems as quickly as possible.

10. Only 75% of your creditors need to accept your IVA proposal for it to be passed and made legally binding to all.

The Style, Why, When, Where, How To Retire

Early on, it wont hurt just thinking about how, when and where you would retire in order to prepare for the inevitable advantage of living a full hassle-free living after working for a number of years.

The following are a number of tips to ensure you are set for life.

Decide where you want to settle

According to a demographic survey most retirees, seem to be content living for a number of years in the same place and in the same community until retirement age. But think about it, downsizing your expenses makes more sense. Moving to a less expensive community can help you keep your resources intact and your expenses less. This ensures you will have more income for future wants, needs and luxuries.

Decide what you want to do

It helps to think now about what you plan to do upon reaching retirement age than waking up one morning with no job after being used to having one for a number of years.

The idea is as financially troubling as well as psychologically disturbing. There are retirees who were able to lick the problem of what-to-do by pursuing a career or a task they were not able to do during their younger years. Primarily it should be a career one is genuinely interested in. It makes doing it more fulfilling and less stressing.

Pay it off now

Any debt, especially the mortgage, when finally paid off, helps most retirees sleep soundly at night. This is literally a load off your mind and your wallet. It helps if you have money left over that is sufficient enough to fully pay your mortgage as well as a little for something extra for you or your significant other. If your mortgage is fully paid, the tendency is for you to take less from your savings therefore allowing your money to increase via tax-deferred methods thus decreasing your total tax bill.

Know what to expect

There are three standard sources of income for retirees as according to experts: Social security payments, pensions, and the retirees savings. Do not forget to review your yearly Social Security benefit. For information, call 800-772-1213 to know your estimated monthly check. Make sure to contact your previous employers to see if you have other pensions available as well as to determine how much you could receive. Compute your income from the investments you made in the past. The total of these three could help you determine where you stand as well as how much.

The Pros and Cons of the Bankruptcy Option

Being insolvent is one of the worst situations a person can find himself in. The threat of foreclosures, or losing ones home and valued possessions looming over ones head would cause sleepless nights. This predicament would force a person to grasp any possible solution. However, if all possible solutions fails to deliver the desired result, the last course of action is to opt for bankruptcy.

If you have tried credit counseling and you still can not pay your bills, and if you have exhausted your savings, then you should consider filing for bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is considered as the last debt management resort because of its long lasting effect. Bankruptcy will stay in a persons record for at least 10 years. Needless to say, this would affect his future financial standing. Lenders will have to think twice before extending credit because of his being a potential credit risk. Acquiring credit cards and mortgages will be difficult if you have this on record.

Bankruptcy records are easily accessible because they are published and also can be viewed on line. This far reaching result would be detrimental to future financial dealings and employment. A person who declares bankruptcy should be prepared for the consequences face the rejection and ridicule of the society and associates, being branded as a failure and oftentimes judged as culpable and dishonest.

With a bankruptcy order the debtor can expect to have all his bank accounts closed. Credit cards will also be closed. On a positive note, closing of credit cards will be beneficial since credit cards could be one of the causes of the bankruptcy.

Contrary to the notion that bankruptcy would give a distressed debtor a new slate, not all debts can be discharged or written off. Examples of this are student loans, unpaid taxes and child support.

On the positive side, bankruptcy will give the debtor peace of mind, will free him from harassment of creditors and will give him a chance to have a brand new start. Stress in dealing with countless creditors will be eliminated because once the bankruptcy order is made; the appointed trustee will do the administration and the payment of the debts.

A bankruptcy stops the creditors from filing collection actions. Creditors are prevented from foreclosing, repossessing and garnishing your assets. In some states, bankrupt individuals are allowed to keep the house, the car and other possessions and a reasonable amount of cash to live by. The primary purpose of this is to lessen the risk of the bankrupt person to be bankrupt all over again.

Filing for bankruptcy could be a “habit” though. Many filers have been noted to file again. This could be attributed to the absence of proper finance and debt management. People who have experienced financial downfall would commit the same errors again and will eventually grab the last resort to get them out of the difficult financial situation…again.

Repeat bankruptcy filers are strongly advised to get proper counseling and to learn how to manage debts and finances effectively.

The Legal Procedure Of Wage Garnishment

A legal procedure, in which some portion of a persons earning is required to be withheld by an employee for the payment of the debt, is called as wage garnishment. Most of these garnishments are made by court orders. There are some other legal procedures also which include IRS levies or state tax collection agency levies. They levy for the taxes, which are unpaid.

There are assignments in which the employees voluntarily agree that their employers will deposit a particular specified amount of their earnings to their creditor. But in the case of wage garnishment this voluntary assignment does not work.

Title III of Consumer Credit Protection Act says that person has his pay garnished for only one debt then the Act limits the amount of that employees earning that may be garnished. It even protects the employee from being fired also. If any garnished controversy in wage garnishment is arises, then the query solution part has to be taken directly to the court or the agency initiating that withholds the action. In the case of wage garnishment, Wage and the House Division, which administers the Title III Act cannot do anything.

The Garnishment law protects everyone from receiving their personal earnings like pensions, salaries, commissions, wages, bonus, etc. this law implies in all the 50 states. Wage garnishment is not prohibited if an employees earnings are garnished for or more debts.

There are some restrictions also on wage garnishment. The amount of pay subject to wage garnishment is based on the employees disposable earnings which includes federal state and local taxes and the share of employee in State unemployment Insurance and social security. These disposable earnings for wage garnishment under the CCPA many deductions are not made from the employees gross earnings such as voluntary wage assignments, union dues, health and life insurance, savings bonds purchased, payments made for payroll advances, contributions to charitable causes. Only the retirement plan contributions are deducted and that too only those which are required by the law.

For wage garnishment, the garnishment law sets the maximum amount that can be garnished from a person in a particular pay period. During the fixing of the amount, the law does not consider the member of garnishment orders received by the employer. In case of ordinary wage garnishment, which does not include bankruptcy etc., the amount of garnishment in a week may not exceed the lesser of the two figures. The garnishment amount maybe 25% of the disposable earning of the employee or the amount by which his disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum wages. Of the pay period is weekly and the disposable earnings are lesser than the amount calculated through the federal minimum wage, then the garnishment cannot be done. A maximum of 25% can be garnished. The law for wage garnishment specifies that the restriction on garnishment does not apply to certain cases where the bankruptcy court order is issued or there are outstanding debts for the federal or state taxes.

Wage garnishment is the last option that an employer goes for. When all the other options for settling the due debts exhaust, then the employer opts for wage garnishment. Most of the wage garnishment requires a court order and even in that they are required to notify the worker 20 days before the garnishment goes into the effect.

If someone ignores the IRS, then wages are the first place that goes in for garnishment. It is not only the IRS but also the state government; private creditors or even an ex-spouse seeking alimony can go in for garnishment. The government creditors can garnish more than the paychecks. But the Title III of the Credit Consumer Protection Act limits the amount of wage garnishment from the workers paycheck. This facility leaves an employee with some income and at the same time creditor also get paid up regularly also prevents the creditor to speed up the recovery procedure.

The Envelope System of Budgeting

Often, when you cash a check through a bank, your money is given to you in a cash envelope. People used to spend the money in this envelope wisely, knowing that there was no more money until the next payday. They physically could look and see how much they had left everytime they shopped or thought about shopping.

So rarely do we sit and look at our checking register before we whip out a plastic card or a pen. The envelope system of budgeting works for many people. It uses the tried and true method of physically seeing your dollars to determine your spending.

First, you sit down and budget out your spending. You can use one of two methods:

In method one, you label an envelope for each expense. Be sure to break down your yearly bills, such as property taxes or insurance premiums, into monthly allotments. Each envelope will have an amount on it that you will place in it each month. You can substitute envelopes for several coupon organizers. Designate one for bills, one for debts and one for monthly spending. This method works well for those with few bills.

Method two takes into account that many payments come directly from your checking. On paper, you will account for each bill that you pay during the month. This is your bill paying guideline. Simply keep a notebook with a page for each month with each bill listed. Mark them off as you pay them. You can total each month’s bills in advance to help determine how much you have to go in the envelopes.

It is often wise to go ahead and have your savings automatically deducted from your account each month. Never seeing the money in an envelope reduces the desire to pinch some of it.

Take the left over money each month and allot it to the envelopes for your monthly spending. The envelope categories may include groceries, clothing, eating out, gasoline, car maintenance and so on.

If you allot $100 a month to clothing, put $100 in cash in the clothing envelope. You can only spend what is in your envelope for clothing on clothing. If you don’t spend anything on clothing one month, then you will have $200 in the envelope the next month. Once you’ve spent all of the money in the envelope, you are done with that category for the month.

The cash you have is all you can spend. Don’t write a check, don’t use a debit card and never use your credit card to buy extras.

It could take a few weeks to get the process down, but stick with it. You will get the hang of it. Most people find that the envelope method allows them the spending freedom they desire from a budget. They know how much they can go spend, without worrying about what has already been spent for the month.

If you are paid bi-weekly, simply adjust the method to work around your pay periods.

I like to treat myself for sticking with the method by taking all of the cash out of the grocery, eating out and entertainment envelopes and putting it in a special savings envelope before refilling it each month. This is my blow money. I use it to save for things I see that I want. This envelope has no rules or restrictions, but can be used for anything. I’ve found that over time, it is easier to save for large items — I don’t just blow it on a bunch of little things.

Your Retirement Hopes: Filled With Holes?

If you’re like many Americans, you may expect to enjoy a comfortable retirement, but you probably haven’t taken the actions needed to turn those hopes into reality.

The latest survey showed many Americans’ retirement expectations are like a piece of Swiss cheese-full of holes. For example, many have accumulated only modest retirement savings, underestimating the share of their preretirement income they are likely to need in retirement, and have made no estimate of how much they will need to live comfortably once they retire.

The Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), begun in 1991, is the country’s most established and comprehensive study of the attitudes and behavior of American workers and retirees toward all aspects of saving, retirement planning and long-term financial security. The survey is sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Matthew Greenwald & Associates.

Here are some of the survey results:

• Saving: More than two-thirds (68 percent) of current workers say they and their spouses have accumulated less than $50,000 in retirement savings.

• Health care costs: Nearly six in 10 (58 percent) of current workers say they and their spouses do not expect to receive any health insurance from their employers when they retire. Recent EBRI research showed that individuals age 55 who live to age 90 would need to have accumulated $210,000 (by age 65) to pay for insurance to supplement Medicare and out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement-far more than all but 10 percent of workers currently have saved for all retirement expenses.

• Longevity: Two-thirds (66 percent) of current workers think they have some chance that they will live until age 90-or spend 25 years in retirement, assuming they retire at age 65. These findings suggest many workers may not be planning and saving enough to finance the full amount of time they expect to spend in retirement, thereby increasing the odds that they will outlive their retirement savings.

• Income replacement: Fourteen percent of current workers said they thought they would need less then 50 percent of their preretirement income to live comfortably in retirement. Another 36 percent expected to need 50 to 70 percent. However, 62 percent of current retirees say their income is 70 percent or more of their preretirement income.

• Planning: Nearly six in 10 current workers (59 percent) said they hope to have a retirement standard of living equal to or higher than their working years. But when current workers were asked if they or their spouse have calculated how much money they will need to retire comfortably, nearly six in 10 (58 percent) said no.

“Recent research has found that when a ‘traditional’ pension is frozen, many workers in the pension are unlikely to get an equal benefit value contributed to their 401(k) plan,” said Jack VanDerhei, a Temple University professor, EBRI fellow, and co-author of the Retirement Confidence Survey. “Each case is different, but it’s clear that people currently working should factor into their retirement planning the long-term trend away from ‘traditional’ defined benefit pensions and toward 401(k)-type plans.”

He added: “We find there are a lot of people who need to be saving more than they are, if they hope to be able to afford a comfortable retirement.”

“Working ‘in retirement’ may be one partial solution,” said Michael Falcon, chief operating officer of the Retirement Group at Merrill Lynch-a sponsor of the EBRI study, as well as its own New Retirement Survey. “Seventy-seven percent of our respondents say that ideally, they would work either full-time, part-time, or cycle back and forth between work and leisure before they quit work completely,” Falcon said. “Working beyond normal retirement can obviously help financially, but Americans also say they are interested in working to stay socially and physically active.”

The Cutbacks in How to Save Money

Cut back on groceries and gas expense to save money

Groceries:

If our body did not require food, we would have more money. However, our body needs nutrition so we must learn how to save money. Groceries are very expensive these days and prices are going up every day. All these high-rising expenses are because of changes in our economy.

We can save money by making changes in how we buy and eat. It takes a few changes but we can learn how to save money by changing our grocery spending habits and taste buds.

You can save coupons to save money, check out the Internet to find free coupons. The coupons that come in newspapers and magazines are free so take advantage to save money. It only takes minutes to cut or print them.

You will find there are many coupons that offer you various saving options. Watch for different ways; some will offer you money back on certain products. These are called rebate coupons. You will find some coupons that say buy one get one free. When you buy, one you will be saving the full price on the next item.

Buy ahead when you use coupons and watch for sales. Save money by using your coupons and buying items in cases rather than one item at a time. Buying a case on sale can save you a bundle of money.

Change brand names to save. Most items you buy in a can are all made by the same company only have different labels. Watch for savings by reading labels and prices to save you in the future. Maybe one-week buy a case of something and the next week buy a case of something else that is on sale.

You will be saving money by using coupons and buying cases of items when on sale. Stocking up can also be good if you can’t get to the store every time you need something. This will save money on car expense by buying ahead when on sale.

Car Expense:

Save gas money, wear, and tear on your vehicle at the same time by buying groceries ahead. With the way gasoline is today, we all need to save on gas expense.

Don’t make a trip to town everyday to buy something you need for supper. When you buy groceries ahead, you will have extra items such as spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and extra vegetables for a side dish.

Save car expense by buying groceries ahead when they are on sale to save gasoline, tires, and food. Start learning how to save money today by buying sale items ahead.

You’re Being Forced To Make Higher Payments

Consumers already burdened by higher energy costs are being saddled with another drain on their finances : higher minimum credit card payments.

The higher minimum credit card payments are the result of January 2003 guidelines issued by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, regulates national banks and is concerned that many cardholders have credit card debts that will take decades to pay back. To prevent this problem, these regulatory agencies proposed that, by the end of 2005, credit card issuers establish reasonable periods for paying back balances, such as a seven- to ten-year payback or amortization period

Card issuers were supposed to adopt the raised minimum payments by the end of 2003. The federal regulatory agencies acted after years of seeing credit card issuers lower minimum payments because of “competitive pressures and a desire to preserve outstanding balances.” Credit card lending consistently yields greater profits for large bank issuers than other services, Federal Reserve data show. But these profits could decrease if consumers pay off debt faster or default on payments, leading to debt write-offs.

The agencies expressed alarm that some banks were setting minimum credit card payments at levels that did not even cover interest. These were seen as predatory lending practices targeting low-income and financially naive consumers. The result was predictable: consumer debt load surged. Consumers were being encouraged to accumulate debts they could not service, resulting in high levels of default and bankruptcy.

Before the new government guidelines were issued, many banks required only 2% of outstanding balance to be paid off each month. For example, take the case of a credit card with $10,000 of debt and an 18% interest rate. Almost 58 years would pass before this debt was completely paid off, assuming the cardholder stuck to the minimum payment each month, according to Bankrate.com’s credit card calculator. Total interest paid during that time would be almost three times the original debt, or $28,931. Now, the same cardholder paying 4% of outstanding balance each month would pay back the debt in a more reasonable 15 years and would pay only $5,916 in interest.

In recent years, banks have also raised the charges for cash advances, late payments or spending over the credit limit, helping push more consumers further into debt. These latest changes target credit card holders who don’t pay their bills in full at the end of each month. A 2005 survey by the American Bankers Association (ABA) showed that 43% of consumers carry a balance on their cards.

Nearly three years after regulators said minimum monthly payments should let cardholders pay off debt in a “reasonable period of time,” most banks finally acted. The majority of the top 10 credit card issuers raised their minimum payments in 2005, in most cases, during the last quarter.

Regulators encouraged banks to adjust their minimum payments by the end of 2005. The banks’ delayed response to the January 2003 guidelines caused consumers to be hit with higher credit card bills during the 2005 Christmas season. The increase was combined with a new bankruptcy law which has made it more difficult to erase debt with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. More consumers are now allowed to declare only Chapter 13, which forces them to repay their debts on a fixed schedule.

Banks say the delay was caused by the time it took to update systems in accordance with the regulators’ instructions. “These are not simple changes,” stated Alan Elias, a spokesman for Washington Mutual. Still, most banks were in compliance at the end of 2005.

Contrary to some rumors, regulators did not require minimum payments to be raised by a fixed amount. However, they said payments should cover fees and finance charges, plus 1% of principal. Some card holders are seeing their minimum payment double, to 4% of the balance from 2%. On a $10,000 balance, payment could rise from $200 to $400.

In the long run, the change is healthy for consumers, since it forces them to pay off credit cards more quickly. Until now, some of the banks charged minimums which did not even cover the interest owed, so debt would just keep growing, resulting in more indebtedness by consumers. But initially, consumers not prepared for the higher payments can experience financial hardship, especially those with lower incomes.

Utilizing Your Financial Safety Net

Where do you keep your money that you set aside for annual or semi-annual payments or for emergencies where you need extra cash quickly? You dont want to draw funds from any of your savings or investment accounts there may be a penalty for early withdrawal or it might be financially disadvantageous at that time.
Most people just keep what they have in their checking accounts where it earns nothing or next to nothing. Some dont keep funds for emergencies and just hope for the best or depend on luck.

Luck always seems to be against the man who depends on it.

-Unknown

Heres another question. Do you set anything aside in case you need to pay the deductible on an insurance claim?

A good place to put funds for infrequent payments or for possible emergencies is in a money market account where interest rates are most often higher than savings accounts and are more accessible. Some banks offer even higher rates on Internet money market accounts. You really need to check your banks rates on various types of accounts to see which would be best. Its good to compare banks. There can be a big difference. Money market accounts require a higher balance, but the amount you will need to keep in it will more than meet that.

The good thing about money market accounts is that even though there is a limited number of checks you can write on it in a given time period, it is usually more than enough for most people.

When you plan your budget, you will need to make payments to this account until the balance is sufficient to cover your home and auto annual or bi-annual payments and cover all your deductibles for your home, auto, medical and dental policies. Once this account is fully funded, the interest earned will be able to reduce your monthly budget payments that go to replace that which was used for insurance payments or for emergencies.

With this account in place, you will be able to take the highest deductible allowed thereby reducing your monthly insurance payment. If you pay your auto insurance quarterly or twice a year, you now will be able to make an annual payment, saving on the service charges.

Money market accounts may not earn the kind of return as a mutual fund or other types of investments but it is definitely better than most savings and checking account interest rates. Money market accounts have the advantage of easy access for your infrequent financial needs.

With a little self-discipline, you can give yourself some efficient financial security by enabling your money to work for you in several ways.

Why Not Earn Money From Your Talents Mom?

I come across talented Moms all the time. Moms who sew baby slings, nursing clothing, cloth diapers…. Moms who make their own herbal skin care, healing balms, and the like. (Im pretty envious of women who are crafty like this!)

Or maybe they are really good at designing their home school curriculum or writing interesting lesson plans. I know Moms with large families of grown children who could make a million bucks if they wrote a book with their parenting success secrets!

Sometimes I will ask these women if theyve ever thought about taking their interest or hobby to the Internet to earn some income with it. I usually get responses like: I dont know the first thing about how to build a website. or I wouldnt have any idea how to market my business online.

Yet, you may have a ton of knowledge in your head that could make you money on the world wide web. Or maybe you have a creative skill like sewing. Even if you dont have a physical product to sell, you can still make money online marketing other people’s products, either through Direct Sales, Affiliate Marketing or Drop Shipping.

Why not get the knowledge out of your head and into a business that could earn you some cash!

Building a business on the Internet isn’t difficult like many Moms assume. If you don’t know how to build a website, you can use a “What you see is what you get” html editor. HTML is the coding language of web designers. But you don’t have to learn it in order to build a site. WYSIWYG html editors are as easy to use as word processing software. If you can write a fancy email or draft a nice letter, you can build a website.

Some website hosts even include professional looking website templates and beautiful stock photos, so you don’t even have to hire a web designer to get a great looking site online anymore.

What is more, there are resources online that can teach you what you need to know in order to get traffic to your site and market yourself. Why not ask around at a work at home Moms message board and see what other Moms in business recommend for learning these techniques?

Don’t let a small budget deter you from starting a website. For less than $25, you can buy a domain name and website hosting for one year. As you start to earn income, you can reinvest in other tools and learning that will help you grow your profits.

Building a business on the Internet has never been easier. Don’t let fear or a lack of technical know-how stop you from meeting your income goals. Reach out and ask for help and you’ll soon be up and running.