America Saves Week is February 26 – March 3, 2018

FDIC Press Release

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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today is encouraging people to use America Saves Week as an opportunity to develop or review their progress toward, financial goals.

FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg said, "During America Saves Week, financial institutions and their community partners collaborate to help people of all ages develop and achieve savings goals. Small steps in building a savings habit can make a big difference over time."

The FDIC offers a number of resources to institutions interested in supporting savings and to individuals of all ages who are interested in learning more about saving. For instance, through the FDIC's Youth Banking Network, financial institutions are working with schools and nonprofit organizations to teach financial education and offer students an opportunity to open a savings account—for many students, their first account.

Many organizations work together during America Saves Week to encourage consumers to make a savings commitment and then take steps to make savings automatic, such as setting up a regular transfer into a savings account. Developing this type of savings habit can help consumers withstand unexpected expenses and income disruptions.

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Disclaimer: Kevin Surbaugh is an independent sales representative of Youngevity(YGYI) and is a shareholder in the publicly traded company. He also has positions in Coca-Cola (KO) but has no positions in any other stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 96 hours.
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The Debt Hole

Kevin Surbaugh

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When you are in debt, especially when you owe more than what you earn, it can seem like you will never get yourself out.  Debt is a trap that can sneak up on you. You don't think it will be a problem and then like a hunters trap, it has you.  You are caught with nowhere to go. Jow are you going to get out.  You owe, a car company or two, then there is a major credit card not to mention two or three store cards.  The debt keeps piling up and you are sinking lower and lower. How will you ever get out?

It is easy to think borrowing more can help.Those in the situation may turn to payday or other risky lenders to pay bills. The problem is that using such loans, only create more debt. Thus digging the hole deeper.Even the savviest of us can get caught up in this cycle.  Even those that may have been through Dave Ramsey's no debt classes.  It takes discipline and courage, to say no to debt.  Even when we are faced with certain needs and dare I say it, even desires. Especially desires to try to make your spouse happy. 
So what can one do?  Bite the bullet, spend less than you earn and pay down those debts.  No matter how hard it may be, in the long run, you will be happier.

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Mortgage Rates Drop

Marketwired

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MCLEAN, VA-- Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), showing average mortgage rates dropping to start the year.

News Facts

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.95 percent with an average 0.5 point for the week ending January 4, 2018, down from last week when it averaged 3.99 percent. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.20 percent. 
• 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.38 percent with an average 0.5 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.44 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.44 percent. 
• 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 3.45 percent this week with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 3.47 percent. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.33 percent.

Average commitment rates should be reported along with average fees and points to reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining the mortgage. Visit the following link for the Definitions. Borrowers may still pay closing costs which are not included in the survey.

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 Kevin Surbaugh no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 96 hours.
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Learn How to Reduce Your Taxes by $100k or more in 1 Year with Passive Income Generators (PIGs)

PRweb

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LOS ANGELES - December 30, 2017 - High-income earners who reside in high-income tax states, help is on the way.

We are offering you an alternative to permanently reduce your taxes by $100k or more within 1 year. This methodology was created over the past decade and has been used by many of the wealthiest people on earth, including President Trump.

This training will show you how to eliminate your tax liability by $100K or more in one year just by implementing three (3) easy steps. We have proven that once you implement these three steps you will be protected from any adverse changes as a result of tax reform.

One recent customer shared the following….“I had no idea that I could reduce my taxes by utilizing the tax code. In the past, my CPA’s had advised me just to make less money or buy a larger house. Now, I have found ways to not only reduce my taxes but to also replace my high taxable income with lower taxed income.

Here are the details:

DATE: Thursday, January 4th, 2018
TIME: 11am PST/2:00 PM EST
LOCATION: ONLINE
COST: NO COST
ENROLL: HERE

Hosted by Gena Lofton, the Founder of A2A. A2A stands for Accredited2Accredited, which is a Los Angeles Based edutainment company which helps the global investing community work less, make more money and pay less in taxes. Having grown up homeless and in foster care in South Central Los Angeles, Gena escaped and learned the secrets of the wealthy, one of which is related to Taxes. Today, she uses the tax code to build wealth and helps others do the same with A2A. Gena resides in the highest taxed state in the union, California, and uses the tax code, in the same manner, thus pays very little in taxes.

In addition to leading A2A, Gena is an active investor across all asset classes, including real estate, oil, and gas, media and entertainment, natural resources and mining. As an author and speaker, she contributes as an industry expert across the globe. Gena’s corporate career is expansive, including but not limited to, a member of the management team of the largest pay television service in the world, DIRECTV until the sale to ATT, prior to DIRECTV, she lead a successful career, at Ernst & Young, LLP.

The training is now open for registration. SPACE IS LIMITED TO 250 PEOPLE. SO ENROLL EARLY HERE

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Kevin Surbaugh no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
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Pre-Token Sales Launch on December 28, 2017, for the Privacy Mobile Phone

Newswire

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DALLAS, TX - StealthCrypto^TM is launching the world’s largest decentralized, community-distributed, telecommunications network in less than 48 hours. The much-anticipated ICO opens pre-token sales at midnight on December 28, 2017, and is expected to sell out rapidly due to the fluctuation of the cryptocurrency market. Sharky Ashmore, CEO of BTC Media Group, states, “The bitcoin has so much movement that investors are looking for a stable, investment-grade place and StealthCrypto^TM is as stable and profitable as we have seen in the past six months.” The smartphone features include full privacy with hard kill switches and a built-in privacy control center whereby the user is always in total control.

Larry Castro, CEO of StealthCrypto^TM, says, “One of the most impressive features of the phone is the wallet which allows various currencies and the privacy app included on the StealthCrypto^TM page ensures approval from the user with IBE and split encryption authentication integration.” The StealthCrypto Cloud^TM NAS (Network-Attached System) is fully decentralized with files distributed and stored all over the world on multiple containers. The network is robust to attacks and therefore has no central point of weakness.
The genius of the StealthCrypto Cloud^TM is the fact that NAS has an embedded Wi-Fi router container that connects to peer-to-peer cloud storage, telecommunications, communications, IoT (Internet of Things) connections and mining and is powered by a decentralized StealthCrypto^TM incentive-based, Quantum meshed network. The integrated StealthCrypto^TM MESH network delivers Quantum Entropy with quantum key generation and distribution. StealthCrypto^TM has taken every step to ensure privacy and the pre-order list for phones are in the tens of thousands due to smartphone users’ need for privacy in their day-to-day lives.
About Stealth Grid™
StealthCrypto™ provides a proprietary, quantum secure blockchain solution, utilizing a multi-layer approach on the endpoints, dynamic split encryption, and Dynamic GeoDistribution™, eliminating the setup and management challenges associated with certificate-based solutions. StealthCrypto™ can be scaled to levels required for massive deployment characteristic of the Internet of Things and Blockchain and protect billions of devices and transactions with ease.
The StealthCrypto™ ecosystem provides products based on quantum secure blockchain technology for cloud storage, data protection, email, instant messaging, video conferencing, voice calls, mobile, AI cybersecurity and the StealthCrypto™ smartphone, all on its quantum mesh network and its Qubit Blockchain™.
All cryptocurrencies depend upon elliptic curve public-key cryptography (ECDSA) to generate digital signatures which allow transactions to be verified securely. The most commonly used signature schemes are ECDSA, DSA, and RSA. All these schemes are theoretically vulnerable to quantum computing attacks. Qubit Blockchain is being developed to be quantum computer-resistant and to provide transactions speeds untouchable by other blockchains.

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GEICO Offers Last Minute Tips to Protect Your Identity During Holiday Shopping

BusinessWire

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WASHINGTON--Millions of shoppers will flock to the stores looking for last minute gifts, but before you pull out your credit cards, GEICO offers these last-minute reminders to safeguard your personal information over the holidays and into 2018.
Beware of data security incident– Every time you use your credit or debit card with retailers, you leave behind a trail of valuable information that is susceptible to a data security incident. Protect your identity by using alternative forms of payment (cash, traveler's checks, prepaid cards) that aren't connected to your personal information.
Prepaid is the way – A prepaid Visa credit card acts just like a credit or debit card and also goes a long way to protect your personal information from thieves and data incidents. And just like a credit or debit card, if your prepaid card is ever lost or stolen, you can recover your money.
Be careful what you sign up for – Steer clear of in-store and online promotions that promise you a discount on your purchased items if you fork over personal information. Most retailers sell your information to the highest bidder (marketing companies) who then create a profile about your buying habits and solicit you with things they think you might want to purchase.
Free Wi-Fi comes with a price – Believe it or not, free public Wi-Fi comes with a very big security risk. Never connect to your bank, credit card or other sensitive accounts over public Wi-Fi. The open nature of public Wi-Fi allows hackers a direct line into any unsecured personal information that may be stored on your laptop or mobile device. Disabling the Wi-Fi function will prevent it from connecting to a public Wi-Fi signal automatically.
Close your banking and credit card apps – If someone hacks into your laptop or mobile device while your apps are open, they may be able to gain access to any open information. Make sure to close all of your banking and financial apps after each use. Keep in mind that some apps will automatically log you off, but only after a certain period of inactivity.

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GMLCPA Accepting Bitcoin in the First Quarter of the New Year

PrWeb  

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TUCSON, Ariz. - Knowing that cryptocurrency is an up and coming form of payment, GMLCPA believes that this is a necessary addition to ensure that their client’s needs are being met. The firm sees cryptocurrency as not a fad, but an opportunity to grow. Several companies, like Overstock.com, have started accepting bitcoin and expanded their service market to reach all over the world. In the past, service markets were limited to the access to banks and other financial agencies, and with cryptocurrency, this restriction is eliminated. All that is needed to complete a bitcoin payment is a connection to the internet. 

Accounting for and taxation of these transactions will be part of a normal CPA practice in the coming years; they are happy to take on this new adventure. Keeping with her firm’s culture, Luoma believes “accepting bitcoin as a form of payment is our way of adhering to our company culture of learning and innovating. Cryptocurrency is, and will be part of the future of all business transactions.”

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Interactive Brokers Launches Bitcoin Futures Trading at the Start of Trading December 10th, 2017

Business Wire

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Greenwhich, Conn. -  Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ GS:IBKR), a global electronic brokerage firm, began offering clients the ability to trade bitcoin futures at the start of trading on the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) on Sunday night, December 10^th, 2017. In addition to offering bitcoin futures from the CFE, under the ticker symbol GXBT, the company plans to offer bitcoin futures from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) at the scheduled start of trading December 18^th using the symbol BRR. IBKR was there at the start of trading and its systems operated normally.

“Interactive Brokers was on the buy side of the low print of 14,710,” said Thomas Peterffy, founder, Chairman and CEO of Interactive Brokers. “A Registered Investment Advisor on the Interactive Brokers platform purchased two March contracts in the first minute of trading.”
As of 9:15am ET on Monday, the company said that 201 of its accounts had placed 1,240 trades in bitcoin futures totaling 1,429 contracts representing approximately 50% of exchange recorded volume. The recorded value of all futures trades at Cboe exceeds $50 million.
The all-in commission rate, including exchange and regulatory fees, for bitcoin futures will be US $5.01 per contract for the Cboe product and US $15.01 per contract for the CME product. The CFE contract size is for one bitcoin, and the CME contract size is for five bitcoins. Old and new clients can learn more about trading bitcoin futures with IBKR and sign up for “Crypto” trading permission here.
Due to the extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies, clients will be unable to assume a short position. In addition, only limit orders will be accepted. IBKR’s margin requirement on long positions will be at least 50%. The company will continue to monitor concerns surrounding the market's ability to process bitcoin futures risk.
Clients can subscribe to live quotes for both Cboe and CME bitcoin futures.

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Kiplinger.com Unveils Rankings of Most, Least Tax-Friendly States for Retirees

Press Release

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—2017 ‘Retiree Tax Map’ Offers Easy, Interactive State-By-State Guide—

 

Washington, D.C.— Kiplinger.com has revealed its annual list of the most and least tax-friendly states for retirees. Kiplinger’s 2017 Retiree Tax Map—available at Kiplinger.com/links/retireetaxmap—reveals senior tax breaks across all 50 states, and compares taxes on income (including Social Security benefits, pensions and other forms of retirement income), property, everyday purchases and estates.

“Where you live in retirement matters just as much to your tax bill as what you have,” says Sandra Block, Senior Editor, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. “Retirees and near-retirees can use Kiplinger’s Retiree Tax Map to plan ahead and determine which locations fit best based on their sources of income, spending habits and value of their estate.”

The 10 Most Tax-Friendly States for Retirees: 1.    Wyoming 2.    Alaska 3.    South Dakota 4.    Mississippi 5.    Florida 6.    Pennsylvania 7.    Nevada 8.    New Hampshire 9.    Kentucky 10.  Georgia

The 10 Least Tax-Friendly States for Retirees: 1.    Minnesota 2.    Connecticut 3.    Kansas 4.    Vermont 5.    Nebraska 6.    New Mexico 7.    Utah 8.    Maryland 9.    Indiana 10. Wisconsin

The Retiree Tax Map is a sister project to Kiplinger’s annual Tax Map—which outlines each state’s income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, “sin” taxes (for products such as alcohol and tobacco) and other tax rules and exemptions.

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Debt Consolidation Through Home Equity Loan As Explained By National Debt Relief

PRweb

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Carson City, NV -   Debt consolidation is one of the best ways to help consumers manage their mountain of debt and National Debt Relief shares how a Home Equity loan can help. A recently published article titled “Home Equity And Debt Consolidation” released June 9, 2017, helps consumers understand this option in helping them address debt payment.

The article starts off by pointing out that managing a lot of debt for consumers is one of the most stressful areas in their life. Making sure that payments are sent out and dealing with multiple creditors can take its toll on people. As household debt goes up, a lot of is due to credit card debt but there are also other big ticket debts in it.

For most people, a mortgage loan is one of the biggest debt items in their finances.The article also shares that car loans and student loans round up some of the biggest debt accounts people usually carry. When they start to add credit card debt, consumers are now looking at a big debt amount.

This is where the article shares the idea of using a Home Equity loan in helping people manage their debt payments. It goes on to explain that this loan is based on the equity that homeowners have already paid up on their mortgage loan. The approval can be up to a certain amount and they can choose to draw the funds whenever they need it.

The article explains some of the advantages of debt consolidation through a home equity loan such as lower payment and low interest fees. It also points out some of the downside such as putting the house at risk and bigger payment amount when repayment period is stretched over a long period of time. To read the full article, click https://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/home-equity-debt-consolidation/

A1 Trade Shares Excellent Ideas

Thank you A1 Trade for your support. Your information is excellent.

When it comes to investing, it is important for you to be familiar with the various investment asset classes. When you understand the pros and cons of each asset class, you would be able to make more informed investment decisions that suit your wealth management goals. We shall briefly discuss some of the common asset classes.

Shares

A share represents part ownership in a publicly listed company. The share price growth and dividends income are highly dependent on the company’s performance. The pros of share investment include liquidity and accessibility. While shares can yield high returns, share prices can be volatile and subjected to short-term market conditions.

Fixed Interest

These investments include debentures, government and corporate bonds. The return is generally in the form of regular interest payments over the life of the investment with the capital amount repaid when the investment matures. Although they usually offer lower potential returns, they have potentially lower risk than shares. The attractiveness of the return depends on the interest rate movements.

Cash

Cash include bank accounts, bank deposits and similar securities which have a short investment time horizon. They provide stable and low-risk income in the form of regular interest payments. They are highly liquid and have low capital risk. However, they have one of the lowest potential returns of all asset classes, particularly in a low interest rate environment.

Property

This asset class includes direct investment in physical property as well as investments in listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other property securities. The value of property can increase substantially over the medium-to-long term, generating higher returns than cash or fixed interest. This illiquid investment usually involved high capital outlay and on-going costs.

Whatever your wealth management goals are, it is important not to put all your eggs into one basket.

4 tips for investing in offshore funds

Thank you Primus Trade for the great information on investing.

4 tips for investing in offshore funds

Prepare an investment policy statement (IPS)

A respectable wealthmanager should prepare an IPS document for their client, which is vital in order for the investor to make an informed investment decision. The investment policy statement should outline your investment objectives and risk tolerance, among other things. It should state your motives for investing in the offshore funds and that tax minimization or deferral is not one of the main factors behind your decision to invest offshore.

Document discussions

It is important to clarify with your wealthmanager what your objectives are and, if reducing taxes is not one of the primary reasons for investing offshore, explain that to your wealth manager.

Choose local if you can

If there’s an investment fund in your region that is equivalent in all important respects to the offshore fund you’re considering, you may want to choose the local investment instead in order to avoid any questions from the applicable tax authorities. It’s more than likely, that you may have difficulty finding an equivalent localized fund if the investment adopts an alternative strategy (something esoteric, and not simply a fund that purchases stocks on a long-only basis). If there is no localized equivalent investment fund that you’re aware of, be sure to document that fact.

Watch your cost amount

In general, if the value of your offshore investment is less than $100,000 USD in aggregate, you won’t have to report these assets to your tax authority. It is likely that your local tax authorities will raise this threshold, so it is advised that you keep abreast of all relevant tax laws and any changes to them pertaining to offshore investment.

Stock Circles Announces the Beta Release of its Smart Auto-Trading Application to TradeKing® Customers

Los Angeles, CA: StockCircles announces the beta release of its Smart Auto-Trading application to TradeKing® customers.

The new application ‘trades on the news’ by using street sentiment and market data to screen and auto-trade elite stocks”, says Clemons, Stock Circles CMO. “The new application was trained over the course of 2 years to identify trading opportunities and to auto-trade elite stocks."

"We are very happy with the results we are seeing", said Clemons. "The application simplifies stock investing to a few steps. It truly lowers the barrier to entry for customers interested in short-term stock investing."

Stock Circles’ management anticipates that Fintech innovations like Smart Auto-Trading will eventually replace personal investment workflows. “This technology virtually eliminates the need to pay someone to watch over your portfolio", says Clemons. "With this innovation, gone are the days of staring at a Bloomberg terminal for the purpose of identifying trading opportunities."

If you are interested in short-term stock investing or just curious about how this innovation can help you become a better investor, you can try Stock Circles Smart Auto-Trading in simulation mode at http://www.stockcircles.com. "Best of all, it's free" says Clemons.

New robot ‘trades on the new’,
copyrights Stock Circles Inc. 2017

About Stock Circles

Stock Circles is a Los Angeles software company with the mission to simplify stock investing. For further information, please contact Ms. Clemons via email at: jana@stockcircles.com. 

Artificial Intelligence robot ‘trades on the new’,
copyrights Stock Circles Inc. 2017

About TradeKing

TradeKing provides and facilitates application program interface (API) access for third-party software developers. TradeKing account holders may log into their TradeKing account when utilizing a third-party site that has incorporated the TradeKing API. The API allows for those customers to connect their account to the third-party provider and integrate third-party tools with their TradeKing account. TradeKing is not affiliated with, does not sponsor, is not sponsored by, does not endorse, and is not endorsed by the third-party developers and their products that utilize the TradeKing API.

CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report: Average card APR remains locked at 15.18 percent

AUSTIN, TX - (PRNewswire) The average APR on new card offers held steady this week, according to the CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.
The average is comprised of 100 of the most popular credit cards in the country, including cards from dozens of leading U.S. issuers and representing every card category. Introductory (teaser) rates are not included in the calculation.
Rates for card categories tracked by CreditCards.com are listed below:

Credit Card Rate Averages
	Avg. APR	Last week	6 months ago
National Average	15.18%	15.18%	15.18%
Low Interest	11.98%	11.98%	11.96%
Balance Transfer	14.38%	14.38%	14.35%
Business	13.12%	13.12%	13.12%
Student	13.42%	13.42%	13.42%
Cash Back	15.32%	15.32%	15.26%
Airline	15.08%	15.08%	15.17%
Reward	15.29%	15.29%	15.28%
Instant Approval	18.04%	18.04%	18.21%
Bad Credit	22.56%	22.56%	22.88%
Source: CreditCards.com
Updated: 8-03-2016

For the eighth week in a row, the national average APR has remained fixed at 15.18 percent.
Interest rates on new credit card offers are currently near record highs and show few signs of dropping anytime soon. After increasing steadily earlier this year in response to the Federal Reserve's December 2015 rate increase, minimum rates on new credit card offers have largely remained unchanged. Since March 1, for example, the national average has changed just three times. It has increased twice and fallen just once.
A number of card issuers have increased maximum interest rates on new card offers; but the increases aren't reflected in the national average because CreditCards.com only considers a card's lowest available rate when calculating average interest rates.
The CreditCards.com credit card rate survey (permalink: http://www.creditcards.com/rate-report) is conducted weekly, using offer data from leading U.S. card issuers' websites. Introductory offer periods and regular interest rates will vary with applicants' credit quality and issuer risk-based pricing policies.

Stay Cool and Within Your Budget During this Summer Heat

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (PRNewswire-USNewswire) - With much of the country stuck in high heat and humidity for the next few weeks, GreenPath Financial Wellness, a nationwide non-profit financial counseling and education organization, is sharing some tips on ways you can save money on utility costs, during this summer heat wave.
It's very easy to crank up the air-conditioning, during this extreme heat. If you do, be prepared for a larger energy bill at the end of the month. Here are some tips to cope:

• Consider using fans to help move cool air more effectively.
• Close your window blinds during the day to keep out the sun and heat.
• Invest in a smart thermostat so you can regulate temperatures throughout the day to use less energy.
• Turn up your thermostat, while you are at work or away from home for an extended time. Does your house really need to be 65 degrees if no one is home?
• Use your vents wisely. Shut off rooms that aren't used on a regular basis to help conserve cool air.

Make sure to prioritize your utility bills each month, as these are essential for daily living. It is more expensive to turn the lights back on, after they have been shut off, than to address your monthly bill.
If you need assistance, GreenPath can help you prepare and review your budget, to help prioritize your expenses and budget for increasing utility costs. We can also refer you to local city and state programs to help you apply for utility assistance.
On days of extreme heat, don't forget about those who may need your help. Always remember to look in on shut-in neighbors and relatives. Also, watch your pets and neighborhood pets closely. They need more shade and water during this heat wave.
GreenPath provides in-person credit counseling, financial education and debt management services in more than 60 locations in 16 states. The company also offers licensed services by phone and Internet throughout the United States. For more information about GreenPath, visit www.greenpath.org or call (866) 648-8122.

National Debt Relief Talks About The Relationship of Financial Stress and Homeowners

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 23, 2016 - National Debt Relief recently shared in an article published May 13, 2016, how homeowners seems to have an advantage when it comes to financial stress. The article, titled “How To Overcome Financial Stress? Be A Homeowner,” looks at some of the things that helps people who owns a home deal with financial stress better.

The article starts off by explaining that being a homeowner seems to have a positive effect when dealing with financial stress. Apart from the fact that owning a home puts a consumer in a better financial position than someone who rents, they are also able to use their homes to deal with financial stress.

One way they are able to do that is the fact that they know they are adding on to their equity every month. Paying rent every month only makes the landlords or the people who owns the house richer and that is a never-ending cycle. Homeowners know for a fact that every payment they make every month is an investment on their part and after a definite number of years, the house will be fully paid and the payments will stop.

The article also points out that homeowners are increasing their net worth every payment they make every month on the house. This is because they add on to the equity they own on the property which in turn can be considered as part of their assets. As their worth increases, they will feel less financial stress because consumers know that they are making their finances more stable.

The house also serves as an emergency financial backup since homeowners can borrow against their equity. Referred to as HELOC or Home Equity Line Of Credit, consumers can access the amount they have paid up to the lender for emergency situations such as home repair, medical and even for loan consolidation. This can even give them the chance to enjoy a low interest rate since the house is still used as collateral .

To read the full article, click https://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/overcome-financial-stress-homeowner/

National Debt Relief Shared How Late Payments Affect Credit Scores

Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA (PRWEB) June 19, 2016 - National Debt Relief recently shared in an article published May 12, 2016 how a consumer’s credit score could be adversely affected by late payments. The article titled “What Late Payments Will do to Your Credit Is Worse Than You Think” takes a look at the possible financial scenarios that could come up when people send in late payments.

The article starts off by pointing out that there are people who believes that a late payment doesn’t affect their financial standing that much especially for those who has been maintaining a pretty decent credit score. But this couldn’t be further from the truth because about 35% of a consumer’s credit score is dependent on credit history and this takes a hit every time there payments are sent in late.

The credit history is an important factor in assessing the risk lenders are taking on when they deliberate whether to approve a loan or not for a person. The higher the score, the better financial managers people are. Consequently, the lower the score, the harder it would be to get an approval.

The article also shares that the late fees can really throw anyone’s budget off course. It might not be a significant amount for one account but there are some consumers who sends in late payments for more than one account. This can multiply not only their worries and stress but the amount as well that they have to pay out.

There are some lenders who gives out promotional offers to consumers in the form of deferred payment for a few months and even zero percent interest payment on some recent purchases. But one thing that could nullify these offers is when the consumer start sending late payments. Not only do lenders stop the promo but demands a full payment on whatever amount was charged.

To read the full article, click https://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/late-payments-will-credit-worse-think/

Continuing Research for our Tiny House

Pat and I have been looking at various plans to build our own tiny house as we talked about the other day on Facebook. We continue watching Tiny House Nation and Tiny House Hunting. Most of the plans we have seen don’t exactly fit what we are looking for so we will probably combine a couple plans to come up with a interior plan that better fits us.
However, we are also looking at the possibility of buying a smaller existing home, However that won’t give us the experience to learn from building up. Even if it is a fixer upper. Though a fixer upper we could learn about building new cabinets to make it more handicapped accessible, as we need. Making upper cabinets into display cabinets.

Of course we are still looking for ways to raise the estimated $30,000. Some could be raised through a yard sale, we after all do have to downsize considerably. Another idea, is from our friend Christian, by selling Kettle Corn. Another idea is using crowd funding. The fundraising would probably include all these ideas.
We have already decided on the name for our new home “petite maison de cygne.”

From Idea to Planning

Recently, my wife and I have been talking about a 500 square foot, tiny house. There are many reasons why this is a great idea.  Not only is it a popular thing currently, as featured on Tiny House Nation™ and Tiny House Hunting™. First, the cost of building smaller is less. Second, utility expenses is less, which means less of a carbon foot print on the environment. Third, and most importantly, is my wife’s handicap.  Because she is handicapped everything has to be lower. Which makes it harder to use the vertical space which is so critical in any tiny home. However, by putting display cases up above, I believe this can be gotten around.  This would allow the nick knacks to be displayed in an area that would go unused. The nick knacks don’t need to be messed with everyday (or even every month) any way, so this seems to be a perfect solution. Thus, bringing dishes down to the lower cabinets where they need to be for a handicapped individual.
Further, to help with utility costs even further, we want to have solar panels so that the all electric house will cost us nothing each month.  In addition we would like to use a rainwater collection system to flush the toilet and water the garden with?
The question now is, how to raise the estimated $30,000.  A friend suggested having a fundraiser. So I posted for ideas on Facebook. One friend suggested to look at Pintrest. According, to one link which gave 100 fundraising ideas, some of the ideas included:

Bake sale
Battle of the Bands
Bazaar
Bingo night
Bowling tournament
Carnival
Casino night
Charity auction
Charity concert
Charity dinner / pot luck
Charity race
Christmas party
Coffee morning
Costume contest
Craft fair
Dance / ball
Easter egg hunt
Easter egg roll
Egg and spoon race
Fashion show
Fete
Golf tournament
Halloween party
Karaoke
Learn a New Skill day
Meet-a-Celeb night
Photography exhibition
Pub quiz
Quiz night
Santa’s grotto
Shopping fair
Singing contest
Skating party
Skills raffle
Sporting match
Street party
Talent show
Themed fundraising party
Treasure hunt
Variety show
Wheelbarrow race
Wine tasting

Another link suggested individuals could use crowd funding. However, I am not sure that is the best idea to raise $30,000. So now I take the question to rest of the world. What do you think?
– Prince of Thrift

Are You Willing to Sacrifice Your Dream

In chapter 5 of "The Dream Giver," by Bruce Wilkenson, he descibes how Ordinary faced a choice. He could give his Dream back to the "Dream Giver," or he could keep it. Ordinary struggled with this idea. He really didn't want to give up his dream. Eventually though  he did. He left his journal behind, since he was no longer going to need it and crossed the river into the "Land of Promise." On the other side he found that the "Dream Giver" had gave him back his journal with a new entry.

Ordinary, I am giving you back your Dream. Now you can use it to serve me. Now you can achieve truly Great Things. And I am with you always.

We must all learn to sacrifice our entire lives. including our dreams, if we are going to be blessed by God. The thing is we must want God more then our dreams. He must be first in every aspect of our lives. For me and my dream, I believe God is calling me to have a little convenience store thay follows the Chick-fil-a model (of being closed on Sundays). I truly desire my dream be used to serve Him.




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