Food For Thought

January 1, 2010 on 2:26 pm | In Thoughts | No Comments

Here are some questions to think about now that we’re in the New Year…Grab an extra piece of paper and jot down your ideas and see how spiritual you want to be in 2010!!

DREAMIN’

Allow yourself to dream by completing these sentences:

  • If I had my wish, I would…
  • My life would be more fulfilling if…
  • One goal I really want is…
  • I am happiest when…
  • The one skill/talent that I would love to develop is my ability to…
  • If I had one gift to give to mankind, it would be…
  • If today were my last day on earth, I would…

NOW, GO AFTER YOUR DREAMS!!!

COURAGE

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

If I had the courage, I would…

REGARDING 2009

  • List five actions that you took that moved your life forward.
  • List five people who assisted you in moving your life forward.
  • List five gifts that you received this year.
  • List ten abilities, talents, or gifts that you demonstrate.
  • Next, take these same four questions and use them to set the path you want to be on for 2010.
  • Vision yourself doing even more than last year!!

NOW, LOOK AT THIS LIST. KEEP IT WHERE IT CAN BE REVIEWED AND ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FORWARD MOVEMENT AND YOUR TALENTS!!

GO FOR IT!!!

With acknowledgement and thanks to the Center for Spiritual Living, Greater Las Vegas, NV, www.cslglv.org ,which created this inspiring message

Beware of the “Change” to Overdraft Fees

November 5, 2009 on 8:22 pm | In Enough Money | No Comments

Sure, the banks have been hit hard by the recession, but they are enjoying gross profits in one area: overdraft fees. USA Today reports that banks are expected to pocket $38.5 billion in 2009 from insufficient funds and overdraft fees, more than double the amount banks earned a decade ago.

In light of the bad press they have suffered in the past year, banks are eager to re brand themselves as kinder and gentler. A few—including Chase, Bank of America, and Capital One—have capped the maximum number of overdraft fees it will charge any single customer in one day to four. At $35 a pop, this still causes customers in the red $140 a day—a hefty price tag for people who are already suffering financial strain.  This is down from 10 in one day;  Can you imagine getting charged $350 in one day due to overdraft fees?

How Can You Avoid This? Here are two ideas:

  • Call your bank and ask that it stop automatically paying transactions that overdraw your account. While they are not currently required to oblige your request (though a federal regulation might make it mandatory in months to come), banks might be eager to please unhappy customers by declining transactions that put your account in the red and saving you the overdraft fee.
  • Give yourself a $100 or $200 cushion—at least on paper. Today, make an adjustment to your bank ledger so that your records show that you have $100 or $200 less than you actually have. This will help protect you from overdrafts caused by charges that might have slipped your mind.

Bank of America Consumers Beware

Bank of America is going to start testing what their customers will do if they raise their annual fee on credit cards.

This month and next, about one in every 100 Bank of America customers will received a notice that their annual fees were increased by$70—from $29 to $99. Though the bank’s spokeswoman said the rate increases were assigned to customers based on “risk and profitability,” the truth of the matter is that customers who never carried a balance and always paid on time might have received this notice.

That’s right: customers in good standing who never incurred interest charges, late fees, or over-the-limit fees, but who had low credit scores, might be among the 1 percent of customers seeing a 340 percent increase in their annual fees.

Bank of America isn’t alone. According to the research firm Tower Group, 27 percent of credit card offers included an annual fee, compared to just 18 percent in 2008.

If you are one of the many people whose credit card annual fee has been increased, try this:

  • Remember, this is a test that B of A is running,so immediately, call and complain.  Most likely, they will report back to their management that they had to “make an exception” for you.

First Line of Defense: Housing Counselors

Second Line of Defense: Credit Improvement

By now, you know that homeowners across the country are walking away from their homes, unable to afford the payments. What you might not know is that HUD’s Housing Counseling Program provides free foreclosure prevention counseling services to troubled homeowners through 2700 nonprofit agencies.

For those having problems making their payments, housing counselors are the first line of defense. The services offered by these counselors run the gamut from negotiation for loan modifications with banks to helping homeowners establish more realistic budgets. If you are financially strapped and need immediate intervention to stop you from losing your home to foreclosure, visit the HUD website for foreclosure avoidance counselors.

Your next line of defense is to improve your credit score.With a high credit score, you can negotiate for better loan terms and lower interest rates. Regardless of your credit history—even if you have suffered a foreclosure, short sale, or bankruptcy—you can see your score jump to 720within two years of taking the appropriate steps. Here are a couple steps you should take immediately:

  • Keep your credit card balance below 30 percent of its limit. Credit-reporting bureaus reward people who keep a low balance month-round. Preferably, your balance would be close to $0, but this might be unrealistic. Aim for less than 30 percent of its limit, and you might see your score skyrocket.
  • Comb your credit report for mistakes. Though not all mistakes are detrimental to your score, some—such as an inaccurate credit card limits—could lower your score 40, 50, even 100 points.

For more information, visit the 7 Steps to a 720 Credit Score website.

By Special Guest Blogger Philip Tirone

October 2009… riding the waves, allowing ourselves to do over…

October 2, 2009 on 9:42 pm | In Balance | 1 Comment

Guest Blogger:
Frank Don
Astrologer Par Excellence

This October seems a paradoxical month, but should that surprise any of us?  We have been living, continue to live and will be living in a paradoxical world.  For many of us, we may feel as though we have entered a strange and bizarre landscape where the parameters have dramatically shifted, the terrain unstable at best, and people’s attitude a little edgy, edging towards a seething frustration, fraught with anxiety. Continue reading October 2009… riding the waves, allowing ourselves to do over……

A Wake Up Call For Baby Boomers

September 15, 2009 on 9:41 pm | In Baby Boomers, health | No Comments

The death yesterday of Patrick Swayze at age 57, from pancreatic cancer, should be a wake up call to all of us Baby Boomers.  Swayze, who was named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year in 1992, and certainly seemed as fit as a hunk, only found out he had cancer in January ‘08.  Not very long ago.

As we enter our 50’s and 60’s, in turbulent times, and as the months and years roll on, it helps to be reminded constantly that “This Is It,” it doesn’t get any better than this.  It’s all about the life you can create for yourself and your loved ones and making the best choices today.   There’s no time to waste.

That’s why I’m so committed to the mission of the Baby Boomers Retirement Club and the Baby Boomers Retirement Network. We’re here to help you make the most of what comes next, in your life, and the lives of your loved ones.  See you there!

A Day of Patriots

September 10, 2009 on 5:00 pm | In America's Future, Baby Boomer Advice, Get Motivated | No Comments

What an unusual day I had yesterday.  Starting at 7am, with three other members of our Baby Boomers Retirement Network team in tow, I headed to a large Hartford, CT venue to hear from an all-star cast of luminaries on the theme of Get Motivated!  We along with 19,000 others in the audience, heard Joe Montana, Laura Bush, Krish Dhanam, Phil Town, Zig Ziglar, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, and Colin Powell tell their personal stories, funny anecdotes, and reminiscences in the process of trying to make pertinent points.  I came away with a number of standout ideas, mostly not new but always worth being reminded of. Continue reading A Day of Patriots…

5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)

July 17, 2009 on 11:00 am | In Baby Boomers, Investment Advice for Women | 3 Comments

Here is step 5 of what every Baby Boomer woman should do now to create financial security for retirement…plus a final word.

5. Open a Roth IRA.


Hedge Your Bet Against Future Higher Taxes-By Having More than One IRA. A Roth IRA uses after-tax money to build it and gives you more options in how you take money from your retirement savings after your retirement. With both a regular IRA and a Roth IRAs, you can choose whether to withdraw either taxable or non-taxable income in a given year, or a mix of both, depending on the income and the tax rates you will face that year. Continue reading 5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)…

5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)

July 16, 2009 on 11:00 am | In Baby Boomers, Insurance Advice for Women | No Comments

And now…Step 4:

4. Research and get quotes for long-term care insurance before you are closed out for health reasons.

Make an informed decision now about whether or not long-term care insurance makes sense in your situation. Then purchase the right policy as soon as it makes financial sense to do so, rather than waiting and having monthly premiums increase.  There are web sites (including ours) that can help you easily calculate the cost of waiting to buy a long-term care policy, so you can decide when it pays best to do it.  But no calculator can tell you if an unexpected health condition is going to prevent you from obtaining it.  So do this research now (our site at www.mybbrc.com can help you get quotes from the best companies quickly).  Make A Decision NOW Whether to Buy-or Not to Buy-So You Won’t be Closed Out, and You Will Have No Regrets Later.

5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)

July 15, 2009 on 11:00 am | In Baby Boomers, Financial Advice for Women | No Comments

Here is the Third action step every Baby Boomer Woman should start taking now.

3. Get started on an accelerated debt reduction plan that also gives you a 10-year or less roadmap to financial security.

Whether you do it yourself, using widely available budgeting or money management software, or invest in an automated debt repayment acceleration system such as the United First Financial Money Merge Account (UFirst), make putting the power of compound interest to work for you a top priority this year.  This system should be easy to update (at least monthly) and should give you a little flexibility, while showing the exact long-term cost in compound interest of your spending decisions. Continue reading 5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)…

5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)

July 14, 2009 on 2:20 pm | In Baby Boomers, Health Advice for Women, Hospitals | 1 Comment

As I promised, here is the second action step every Baby Boomer woman should be taking now.

2. Take extra steps NOW to safeguard your health.

We tend to focus obsessively on our financial capital, but it’s our human capital-our “aliveness”-that is really the engine that makes a long life continually worth living. Continue reading 5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement (continued)…

5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement

July 13, 2009 on 11:45 am | In Baby Boomers, Financial Advice for Women | 2 Comments

If you’re anything like most people I know, you’ve struggled and worked hard to build up your retirement nest egg over the years, only to see much of it melt away because of inept fools in Washington, greedy idiots on Wall Street, and self-serving advice from so-called “expert advisers.” It’s truly sickening. Continue reading 5 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Financial Security For Retirement…

Next Page »

Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds. Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^