And in that instant, this woman set her daughter down the path of low self-confidence, cynicism, and mistrust. Imagine all the poor child could have achieved in her lifetime and all the happiness she could have experienced if she weren't emotionally and mentally crippled.
Think of your own life. Would it be any different if you had more confidence, more motivation, or better morals? Your parents control these factor. You do not. You are a product of your parents' conditioning. You are a mini-version of your parents. So sad.
There is no doubt that a settlement is a great tool for getting out of debt. It can make the difference between bankruptcy and digging out the hard way. The creditor gets to write off the loss (which isn't as good today since many banks aren't profitable), the debtor claims it as income unless an exception is granted, and bankruptcy is often averted. It's GREAT!
Beyond the obvious savings of not paying the entire balance, it also severely hurts your credit score which is a good thing. If you're this deep in debt, the last thing needed is another loan.
For those pursuing something like this, a few tips: (1) don't think settlement until you have money available at the bank, (2) contact all of your creditors to find the best settlement, (3) be nice and honest about your situation with the creditor, and (4) set aside some money for the tax bill. When I worked at Citibank years ago, settlements were routine so don't feel bad about not paying the full balance. Each creditor knows where their breakeven point is and usually by the time a settlement is available, a hefty portion of the balance is interest and fees anyway.
Most companies will entertain settlements if you're 3 months or more behind on your bills (with them or with others). Also, NEVER use a debt settlement company...it's safer and cleaner to do it on your own.
My dream job is to make money writing from a cruise ship somewhere in the Mediterranean. I'd work 2 hours a day maximum and just go explore the world, one city at a time.
It's always good to dream.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
* Evaluate your financial status
* Fix your financial goals
* Develop a retirement plan for you
* Implement and track the plan
Evaluate your retirement status:
Prepare a basic financial check list of your income, expense, assets and liabilities. This will help you to understand your financial status. Understanding your overall income and spending habits will help you in fixing your financial goals.
Fix your retirement goals:
Once you evaluate your retirement goals, make a list of your future financial goals of life. It may include buying a home, purchase of a car, children’s higher education, daughter’s marriage expenses etc. You won't be able to imagine these cash outflows unless you write them down. Fixing of financial goals will help you in developing the suitable financial plan/strategy.
Develop a retirement plan for you
Retirement plan depends on your retirement goals. Preparing a retirement plan is a one-time activity. You should know how you can meet your goals and objectives keeping in mind your present and future resources. Experts can help you in developing a financial plan.
Implement and track the plan
Once you design a retirement plan it becomes very important to implement the plan and track the same. Having a good plan and not taking any steps to implement will not help you in any respect. This is the most important step as you need to act on the plan if you want to get it going. Mere implementation is not enough to achieve the retirement goal, proper tracking also should be there.
* Managing debt
* Reducing expenses
* Coping with unemployment
* Minimizing complications if your retirement institution fails
* Protecting your retirement savings
* Making informed decisions about your home and mortgage
* Improving your credit standing
* Preparing for financial emergencies
I think a few of the other key points when trying to make money online is to take action, be consistent with your efforts, and be persistent and not give up in the face of failure. Not doing these things are really the reason why most people have a hard time making money on the internet.
Those are some good references and sites you've pointed out to get a lot of people started as well!
Tough times can never be avoided. It is said that tough times don't last, but tough people do. Financial market is a mixture of tough and good times. Even those who are experts in the financial world will face tough times.Financial planning will help us in reducing the depth of loss and to convert the loss into profit. In this scenario, it is important we should not get carried away by the group mentality. During tough times, we should follow some basic financial steps to make sure that we have our financial plan in place and follow the same carefully to gain its benefits throughout our future life.
The word financial planning can be defined in a number of ways. The objective of financial planning is very simple that a person must not run out of money whenever a present or future requirement occurring to him or his family. In India, especially middle class families are not well conscious about the benefits and importance of a good financial planning. This will put them in trouble once if they don’t have sufficient income to manage their needs.
Types of People
Under financial planning context, we can divide people into three major categories such as;
* Those who let it happen
* Those who make it happen
* Those who wonder what happened
The first category “those who let it happen” don’t bother about their future, they just let their life to go without any planning. The second category “those who make it happen” are really hard working and by their proper planning, they will make their future bright. Third category “those who wonder what happened” want to make their future joyful and happy but don’t want to plan. This category of people will always worry after losing an opportunity.
Out of these three categories of people, the second category of people will be always successful. The hard work and determination makes them to achieve great goals in life.
I live frugally, so some people might think I make less than I do. On the other hand, I know for sure some people think I make much more than I do, mainly because I'm good at saving and investing...
The investment are short-term money market instrument that mature in a year or less than that. The purchase price is less than the face value. At maturity the government pays the Treasury Bill holder the full face value. The Treasury Bills are marketable, affordable and risk free. The security attached to the treasury bills comes at the cost of very low returns.
Certificate of Deposit: The certificates of deposit are basically time deposits that are issued by the commercial banks with maturity periods ranging from 3 months to five years. The return on the certificate of deposit is higher than the Treasury Bills because it assumes a higher level of risk.
Advantages of Certificate of Deposit as a money market instrument are
1. Since one can know the returns from before, the certificates of deposits are considered much safe.
2. One can earn more as compared to depositing money in savings account.
3. The Federal Insurance Corporation guarantees the investments in the certificate of deposit.
Disadvantages of Certificate of deposit as a money market instrument:
1. As compared to other investments the returns is less.
2. The money is tied along with the long maturity period of the Certificate of Deposit. Huge penalties are paid if one gets out of it before maturity.
Commercial Paper: Commercial Paper is short-term loan that is issued by a corporation use for financing accounts receivable and inventories. Commercial Papers have higher denominations as compared to the Treasury Bills and the Certificate of Deposit. The maturity period of Commercial Papers are a maximum of 9 months. They are very safe since the financial situation of the corporation can be anticipated over a few months.
Banker's Acceptance: It is a short-term credit investment. It is guaranteed by a bank to make payments. The Banker's Acceptance is traded in the Secondary market. The banker's acceptance is mostly used to finance exports, imports and other transactions in goods. The banker's acceptance need not be held till the maturity date but the holder has the option to sell it off in the secondary market whenever he finds it suitable.
Euro Dollars: The Eurodollars are basically dollar- denominated deposits that are held in banks outside the United States. Since the Eurodollar market is free from any stringent regulations, the banks can operate at narrower margins as compared to the banks in U.S. The Eurodollars are traded at very high denominations and mature before six months. The Eurodollar market is within the reach of large institutions only and individual investors can access it only through money market funds. Repos: The Repo or the repurchase agreement is used by the government security holder when he sells the security to a lender and promises to repurchase from him overnight. Hence the Repos have terms raging from 1 night to 30 days. They are very safe due government backing.
Repurchase agreements - Short-term loans—normally for less than two weeks and frequently for one day—arranged by selling securities to an investor with an agreement to repurchase them at a fixed price on a fixed date.
Federal Agency Short-Term Securities - (in the US). Short-term securities issued by government sponsored enterprises such as the Farm Credit System, the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Federal National Mortgage Association.
Federal funds - (in the US). Interest-bearing deposits held by banks and other depository institutions at the Federal Reserve; these are immediately available funds that institutions borrow or lend, usually on an overnight basis. They are lent for the federal funds rate.
Municipal notes - (in the US). Short-term notes issued by municipalities in anticipation of tax receipts or other revenues.
Money market mutual funds - Pooled short maturity, high quality investments which buy money market securities on behalf of retail or institutional investors.
Don't bother trying set up accounts for your kids. Just put more in your own accounts. They can have the surplus when you die. And with a Roth IRA, they get it tax free!
An recession policy is a combination of insurance and investment: recession policy has typical maturities of ten, fifteen or twenty years up to a when job get retired. The life of the individual taking the policy is insured for a certain amount. This life cover is referred to as the sum assured. recession Policy combines the risk cover with financial savings. Historically recession policies have been the most popular policy in the world of life insurance. This is because people still consider “recession plan” as an investment rather than “pure insurance”.
In an recession Policy, the sum assured is payable even if the insured survives the policy term; if the insured dies during the term of the policy, the insurance firm has to pay the sum assured like any other pure risk cover. A pure recession policy is also a form of financial saving, whereby if the person covered survives beyond the tenure of the policy; he gets back the sum assured with some other investment benefits.
An recession policy may declare a bonus every year: The money that is invested generates a certain return every year. This return may be declared as a bonus. The bonus is typically generated as a certain proportion of sum assured or life cover as it is popularly known. However, the bonus declared does not compound it, only accumulates over the life of insurance; thus, returns are low.
i know not of anyone that works a dream job...never heard of them except those i see in donald trump's show- the apprentice. the only people that i know are living their dreams vis-a-vis their profession are the entrepreneurs that are working at their passions and not a hustle to pay the bills. You see i am from east africa where any type of job is really scarce so a job seeker will have to settle for what they can get. So i really don't think that this article would help a jobless person in a developing country like mine. nice points though :)
My friends would definitely be suprised at what I earn. Most of them would think that I earn alot more than I do and at the same time I suspect that they are the ones that are always complaining of 'Bad Luck'.
You may know the type I am referring to. I regard them as the 'Glass is Half Full' friends.
My friends would definitely be suprised at what I earn. Most of them would think that I earn alot more than I do and at the same time I suspect that they are the ones that are always complaining of 'Bad Luck'.
You may know the type I am referring to. I regard them as the 'Glass is Half Full' friends.
Even dollar cost averaging during a fluctuating market such as the one we're experiencing could yield pretty good results. I just wrote an article today about the one year performance of the stock market. It's been pretty much flat (year to year), but if you invested regularly in the past year, you'd have made a decent return.
As for other investments, you can take a look at them as "diversifiers" for your core portfolio which would best be in the traditional areas such as stocks, bonds and cash. These would be adjusted according to your age, circumstances and risk profile.
Everything is always in hindsight, but I wish I had followed my gut and dared move a little more in stocks when it was in the 6000 - 7000 range. Who knows, with the volatility, history can always repeat itself!
Still, the older you are, the more you lost. People who have been investing for only a few years may have already made a big portion back, especially if they kept investing. Those--like me--who have been investing for about 20 years lost more. In an absolute sense. But also because investments in the last 6 months of an up-market are only a tiny portion of the total amount invested. For newish investors, the proportions are closer to equal. I hope this makes sense....
you can find wifi almost anywhere now, especially in the city...so the ipod touch does for me just fine...also that way i can be sure that i am not racking up the charges on the data plan. canadian data plans are so much more limiting and expensive than the us ones for smartphones! the ipod touch has everything the iphone does except for the digital camera (which most people already have a better one) and the phone. i think now you can even use skype if you really need access to the phone bit!
@Alex - Carpe Diem was my high-school motto, and it stuck! Thanks for sharing your fabulous travel experiences....it really just keeps on giving, doesn't it?! I love to host travelers myself too.
I asked my dad what I should do about this whole netSpend situation and he told me about bbb.com; it's a website that checks out companies to see if they're legitamate or not.
I checked it, and this 'netspend' is apparently legit.
Priscilla that's ridiculous that they want to charge you for cancelling the card especially when you didn't even use their services. I would file a complaint with the BBB and tell them to cancel it without a fee. http://www.bbb.org/us/
I filed a complaint with the BBB on this issue and NetSpend actually responded and said that they have removed my husband's information.
I too received this card in the mail from netSpend. It happened to be a coincidence that I recently received a letter in the mail from my bank stating that they were issuing all of their customer's a brand new debit card that will have the Visa logo on it instead of the MasterCard logo. Then I received this netSpend card that says: "You're new prepaid debit card has arrived!” with many other things in the letter that seemed so legitimate. But I, being a small-minded 18-year-old, didn't even think of the fact that this new debit card didn't have my current banks logo on it ANYWHERE and that it said "prepaid" on it! So I called and activated it, but when I went to go use it, I got declined. I was distraught. I didn't understand how I could've gotten declined when I had just transferred money from my savings to my checking’s to buy a few essential things. So I called the company, and they told me that there was no record of the 16-digit card number that I supplied them with. I called back several different times and still got the same response. Frantic, I went to my bank, in person, and they told me that this card had nothing to do with them and it must've been a coincidence that they sent this card to me in perfect timing (after they sent their notice out). They also mentioned that netSpend seems legitimate, but that I should definitely cut up the card and cancel my ‘account’. Unfortunately, this company has my information in their systems, and when I went to their website to cancel the account, it states that there is a fee of “$5.95” to cancel this card (which is absurd because I never asked for it in the first place!).
Honestly, there is no "dream job" out there. Because for it to exist someone else Wouk have to be a mind reader, namely, your employer. You have to think about what's important to you, what your passion is and why persuing it would be so rewarding. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, then yes you will b resentful n hate your job n lose whatever creative juices you have n your drive. When you are passionate about something you become creative, innovative, work is no longer dreaded but looked forward to, you feel you have a purpose and if you need to make a certain amount to be comfortable n you are not getting paid that, you will find a way to make the extra money irregardless. When passion is what's fueling your ambition to suceed, the world becomes a blank slate for you to draw your life on on your terms. I have a passion for numbers so I am already living my dream n also teaching personal finance. My passion is for teaching finance to high schoolers, because most people nowadays are not financially informed n make rash decisions based on lack of education. Finance is taught in collge, which you have to pay for, but the majority of us started working while in high school. So if I can reach them before they start working n incur any debt, my duty is done.
I just quit my well-paying corporate job to stay home with my kids. People I know were extremely surprised we had the money to do this, "in this economy". What they do not know is that my self employed husband makes a nice six-figure income, because honestly, you wouldn't know it to look at him. We save half of what he makes and live on the rest, drive used cars and just basically aren't fancy people. I use one purse till it wears out and own a few pairs of shoes. I have never really gotten in to having expensive stuff and I like having money in the bank much better!
The four and five percent rules are just rules of thumb. Experience shows that you can take 5% year after year and usually grow your principle over time. But, as I say above, if you do that you need to accept the lower amount that's available in years when the market is down.
If you're willing to do that--if you're willing to cut your spending by 40% in a year when the market is down 40%--then you can certainly use the five percent rule.
Doing the same thing while following a seven percent rule will only work during good economic times. If you'd retired in 1982, you could have followed a seven percent rule and be sitting pretty right now. But if you'd retired in 2006, I think you'd be pretty unhappy--unless the cost structure of your houshold was quite flexible indeed.
And in that instant, this woman set her daughter down the path of low self-confidence, cynicism, and mistrust. Imagine all the poor child could have achieved in her lifetime and all the happiness she could have experienced if she weren't emotionally and mentally crippled.
Think of your own life. Would it be any different if you had more confidence, more motivation, or better morals? Your parents control these factor. You do not. You are a product of your parents' conditioning. You are a mini-version of your parents. So sad.
There is no doubt that a settlement is a great tool for getting out of debt. It can make the difference between bankruptcy and digging out the hard way. The creditor gets to write off the loss (which isn't as good today since many banks aren't profitable), the debtor claims it as income unless an exception is granted, and bankruptcy is often averted. It's GREAT!
Beyond the obvious savings of not paying the entire balance, it also severely hurts your credit score which is a good thing. If you're this deep in debt, the last thing needed is another loan.
For those pursuing something like this, a few tips: (1) don't think settlement until you have money available at the bank, (2) contact all of your creditors to find the best settlement, (3) be nice and honest about your situation with the creditor, and (4) set aside some money for the tax bill. When I worked at Citibank years ago, settlements were routine so don't feel bad about not paying the full balance. Each creditor knows where their breakeven point is and usually by the time a settlement is available, a hefty portion of the balance is interest and fees anyway.
Most companies will entertain settlements if you're 3 months or more behind on your bills (with them or with others). Also, NEVER use a debt settlement company...it's safer and cleaner to do it on your own.
My dream job is to make money writing from a cruise ship somewhere in the Mediterranean. I'd work 2 hours a day maximum and just go explore the world, one city at a time.
It's always good to dream.
Keigu,
Financial Samurai
"Slicing Through Money's Mysteries"
Following are the basic steps to make your future retirement planning;
* Evaluate your financial status
* Fix your financial goals
* Develop a retirement plan for you
* Implement and track the plan
Evaluate your retirement status:
Prepare a basic financial check list of your income, expense, assets and liabilities. This will help you to understand your financial status. Understanding your overall income and spending habits will help you in fixing your financial goals.
Fix your retirement goals:
Once you evaluate your retirement goals, make a list of your future financial goals of life. It may include buying a home, purchase of a car, children’s higher education, daughter’s marriage expenses etc. You won't be able to imagine these cash outflows unless you write them down. Fixing of financial goals will help you in developing the suitable financial plan/strategy.
Develop a retirement plan for you
Retirement plan depends on your retirement goals. Preparing a retirement plan is a one-time activity. You should know how you can meet your goals and objectives keeping in mind your present and future resources. Experts can help you in developing a financial plan.
Implement and track the plan
Once you design a retirement plan it becomes very important to implement the plan and track the same. Having a good plan and not taking any steps to implement will not help you in any respect. This is the most important step as you need to act on the plan if you want to get it going. Mere implementation is not enough to achieve the retirement goal, proper tracking also should be there.
A good retirement planning will help you finding easy and practical solutions for the following;
* Managing debt
* Reducing expenses
* Coping with unemployment
* Minimizing complications if your retirement institution fails
* Protecting your retirement savings
* Making informed decisions about your home and mortgage
* Improving your credit standing
* Preparing for financial emergencies
In our next articles we will discuss different retirement plans to be adopted in various financial conditions such as:
* Job/money rate crisis
* Inflation
* Unemployment, etc.
I think a few of the other key points when trying to make money online is to take action, be consistent with your efforts, and be persistent and not give up in the face of failure. Not doing these things are really the reason why most people have a hard time making money on the internet.
Those are some good references and sites you've pointed out to get a lot of people started as well!
Tough times can never be avoided. It is said that tough times don't last, but tough people do. Financial market is a mixture of tough and good times. Even those who are experts in the financial world will face tough times.Financial planning will help us in reducing the depth of loss and to convert the loss into profit. In this scenario, it is important we should not get carried away by the group mentality. During tough times, we should follow some basic financial steps to make sure that we have our financial plan in place and follow the same carefully to gain its benefits throughout our future life.
The word financial planning can be defined in a number of ways. The objective of financial planning is very simple that a person must not run out of money whenever a present or future requirement occurring to him or his family. In India, especially middle class families are not well conscious about the benefits and importance of a good financial planning. This will put them in trouble once if they don’t have sufficient income to manage their needs.
Types of People
Under financial planning context, we can divide people into three major categories such as;
* Those who let it happen
* Those who make it happen
* Those who wonder what happened
The first category “those who let it happen” don’t bother about their future, they just let their life to go without any planning. The second category “those who make it happen” are really hard working and by their proper planning, they will make their future bright. Third category “those who wonder what happened” want to make their future joyful and happy but don’t want to plan. This category of people will always worry after losing an opportunity.
Out of these three categories of people, the second category of people will be always successful. The hard work and determination makes them to achieve great goals in life.
I live frugally, so some people might think I make less than I do. On the other hand, I know for sure some people think I make much more than I do, mainly because I'm good at saving and investing...
The investment are short-term money market instrument that mature in a year or less than that. The purchase price is less than the face value. At maturity the government pays the Treasury Bill holder the full face value. The Treasury Bills are marketable, affordable and risk free. The security attached to the treasury bills comes at the cost of very low returns.
Certificate of Deposit: The certificates of deposit are basically time deposits that are issued by the commercial banks with maturity periods ranging from 3 months to five years. The return on the certificate of deposit is higher than the Treasury Bills because it assumes a higher level of risk.
Advantages of Certificate of Deposit as a money market instrument are
1. Since one can know the returns from before, the certificates of deposits are considered much safe.
2. One can earn more as compared to depositing money in savings account.
3. The Federal Insurance Corporation guarantees the investments in the certificate of deposit.
Disadvantages of Certificate of deposit as a money market instrument:
1. As compared to other investments the returns is less.
2. The money is tied along with the long maturity period of the Certificate of Deposit. Huge penalties are paid if one gets out of it before maturity.
Commercial Paper: Commercial Paper is short-term loan that is issued by a corporation use for financing accounts receivable and inventories. Commercial Papers have higher denominations as compared to the Treasury Bills and the Certificate of Deposit. The maturity period of Commercial Papers are a maximum of 9 months. They are very safe since the financial situation of the corporation can be anticipated over a few months.
Banker's Acceptance: It is a short-term credit investment. It is guaranteed by a bank to make payments. The Banker's Acceptance is traded in the Secondary market. The banker's acceptance is mostly used to finance exports, imports and other transactions in goods. The banker's acceptance need not be held till the maturity date but the holder has the option to sell it off in the secondary market whenever he finds it suitable.
Euro Dollars: The Eurodollars are basically dollar- denominated deposits that are held in banks outside the United States. Since the Eurodollar market is free from any stringent regulations, the banks can operate at narrower margins as compared to the banks in U.S. The Eurodollars are traded at very high denominations and mature before six months. The Eurodollar market is within the reach of large institutions only and individual investors can access it only through money market funds.
Repos: The Repo or the repurchase agreement is used by the government security holder when he sells the security to a lender and promises to repurchase from him overnight. Hence the Repos have terms raging from 1 night to 30 days. They are very safe due government backing.
Repurchase agreements - Short-term loans—normally for less than two weeks and frequently for one day—arranged by selling securities to an investor with an agreement to repurchase them at a fixed price on a fixed date.
Federal Agency Short-Term Securities - (in the US). Short-term securities issued by government sponsored enterprises such as the Farm Credit System, the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Federal National Mortgage Association.
Federal funds - (in the US). Interest-bearing deposits held by banks and other depository institutions at the Federal Reserve; these are immediately available funds that institutions borrow or lend, usually on an overnight basis. They are lent for the federal funds rate.
Municipal notes - (in the US). Short-term notes issued by municipalities in anticipation of tax receipts or other revenues.
Money market mutual funds - Pooled short maturity, high quality investments which buy money market securities on behalf of retail or institutional investors.
Don't bother trying set up accounts for your kids. Just put more in your own accounts. They can have the surplus when you die. And with a Roth IRA, they get it tax free!
An recession policy is a combination of insurance and investment: recession policy has typical maturities of ten, fifteen or twenty years up to a when job get retired. The life of the individual taking the policy is insured for a certain amount. This life cover is referred to as the sum assured. recession Policy combines the risk cover with financial savings. Historically recession policies have been the most popular policy in the world of life insurance. This is because people still consider “recession plan” as an investment rather than “pure insurance”.
In an recession Policy, the sum assured is payable even if the insured survives the policy term; if the insured dies during the term of the policy, the insurance firm has to pay the sum assured like any other pure risk cover. A pure recession policy is also a form of financial saving, whereby if the person covered survives beyond the tenure of the policy; he gets back the sum assured with some other investment benefits.
An recession policy may declare a bonus every year: The money that is invested generates a certain return every year. This return may be declared as a bonus. The bonus is typically generated as a certain proportion of sum assured or life cover as it is popularly known. However, the bonus declared does not compound it, only accumulates over the life of insurance; thus, returns are low.
i know not of anyone that works a dream job...never heard of them except those i see in donald trump's show- the apprentice. the only people that i know are living their dreams vis-a-vis their profession are the entrepreneurs that are working at their passions and not a hustle to pay the bills. You see i am from east africa where any type of job is really scarce so a job seeker will have to settle for what they can get. So i really don't think that this article would help a jobless person in a developing country like mine. nice points though :)
My friends would definitely be suprised at what I earn. Most of them would think that I earn alot more than I do and at the same time I suspect that they are the ones that are always complaining of 'Bad Luck'.
You may know the type I am referring to. I regard them as the 'Glass is Half Full' friends.
http://www.financeloans.quoteplease.net/
My friends would definitely be suprised at what I earn. Most of them would think that I earn alot more than I do and at the same time I suspect that they are the ones that are always complaining of 'Bad Luck'.
You may know the type I am referring to. I regard them as the 'Glass is Half Full' friends.
http://www.financeloans.quoteplease.net/
re Palmsprings: "the typical three-bedroom home can be had for just $250,000."
Hmmm... that's a whole $100,000 lower than regular LA housing. Maybe it is time to move.
Even dollar cost averaging during a fluctuating market such as the one we're experiencing could yield pretty good results. I just wrote an article today about the one year performance of the stock market. It's been pretty much flat (year to year), but if you invested regularly in the past year, you'd have made a decent return.
As for other investments, you can take a look at them as "diversifiers" for your core portfolio which would best be in the traditional areas such as stocks, bonds and cash. These would be adjusted according to your age, circumstances and risk profile.
Everything is always in hindsight, but I wish I had followed my gut and dared move a little more in stocks when it was in the 6000 - 7000 range. Who knows, with the volatility, history can always repeat itself!
SVB @ The Digerati Life
Still, the older you are, the more you lost. People who have been investing for only a few years may have already made a big portion back, especially if they kept investing. Those--like me--who have been investing for about 20 years lost more. In an absolute sense. But also because investments in the last 6 months of an up-market are only a tiny portion of the total amount invested. For newish investors, the proportions are closer to equal. I hope this makes sense....
you can find wifi almost anywhere now, especially in the city...so the ipod touch does for me just fine...also that way i can be sure that i am not racking up the charges on the data plan. canadian data plans are so much more limiting and expensive than the us ones for smartphones! the ipod touch has everything the iphone does except for the digital camera (which most people already have a better one) and the phone. i think now you can even use skype if you really need access to the phone bit!
@Alex - Carpe Diem was my high-school motto, and it stuck! Thanks for sharing your fabulous travel experiences....it really just keeps on giving, doesn't it?! I love to host travelers myself too.
I asked my dad what I should do about this whole netSpend situation and he told me about bbb.com; it's a website that checks out companies to see if they're legitamate or not.
I checked it, and this 'netspend' is apparently legit.
I still think they're really sketchy though.
http://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/credit-cards-and-plans...
Priscilla that's ridiculous that they want to charge you for cancelling the card especially when you didn't even use their services. I would file a complaint with the BBB and tell them to cancel it without a fee. http://www.bbb.org/us/
I filed a complaint with the BBB on this issue and NetSpend actually responded and said that they have removed my husband's information.
haven't you read any of the other stories?? NO ONE applied for this card; it just came to us in the mail.
I too received this card in the mail from netSpend. It happened to be a coincidence that I recently received a letter in the mail from my bank stating that they were issuing all of their customer's a brand new debit card that will have the Visa logo on it instead of the MasterCard logo. Then I received this netSpend card that says: "You're new prepaid debit card has arrived!” with many other things in the letter that seemed so legitimate. But I, being a small-minded 18-year-old, didn't even think of the fact that this new debit card didn't have my current banks logo on it ANYWHERE and that it said "prepaid" on it! So I called and activated it, but when I went to go use it, I got declined. I was distraught. I didn't understand how I could've gotten declined when I had just transferred money from my savings to my checking’s to buy a few essential things. So I called the company, and they told me that there was no record of the 16-digit card number that I supplied them with. I called back several different times and still got the same response. Frantic, I went to my bank, in person, and they told me that this card had nothing to do with them and it must've been a coincidence that they sent this card to me in perfect timing (after they sent their notice out). They also mentioned that netSpend seems legitimate, but that I should definitely cut up the card and cancel my ‘account’. Unfortunately, this company has my information in their systems, and when I went to their website to cancel the account, it states that there is a fee of “$5.95” to cancel this card (which is absurd because I never asked for it in the first place!).
Honestly, there is no "dream job" out there. Because for it to exist someone else Wouk have to be a mind reader, namely, your employer. You have to think about what's important to you, what your passion is and why persuing it would be so rewarding. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, then yes you will b resentful n hate your job n lose whatever creative juices you have n your drive. When you are passionate about something you become creative, innovative, work is no longer dreaded but looked forward to, you feel you have a purpose and if you need to make a certain amount to be comfortable n you are not getting paid that, you will find a way to make the extra money irregardless. When passion is what's fueling your ambition to suceed, the world becomes a blank slate for you to draw your life on on your terms. I have a passion for numbers so I am already living my dream n also teaching personal finance. My passion is for teaching finance to high schoolers, because most people nowadays are not financially informed n make rash decisions based on lack of education. Finance is taught in collge, which you have to pay for, but the majority of us started working while in high school. So if I can reach them before they start working n incur any debt, my duty is done.
I just quit my well-paying corporate job to stay home with my kids. People I know were extremely surprised we had the money to do this, "in this economy". What they do not know is that my self employed husband makes a nice six-figure income, because honestly, you wouldn't know it to look at him. We save half of what he makes and live on the rest, drive used cars and just basically aren't fancy people. I use one purse till it wears out and own a few pairs of shoes. I have never really gotten in to having expensive stuff and I like having money in the bank much better!
The four and five percent rules are just rules of thumb. Experience shows that you can take 5% year after year and usually grow your principle over time. But, as I say above, if you do that you need to accept the lower amount that's available in years when the market is down.
If you're willing to do that--if you're willing to cut your spending by 40% in a year when the market is down 40%--then you can certainly use the five percent rule.
Doing the same thing while following a seven percent rule will only work during good economic times. If you'd retired in 1982, you could have followed a seven percent rule and be sitting pretty right now. But if you'd retired in 2006, I think you'd be pretty unhappy--unless the cost structure of your houshold was quite flexible indeed.