March 30, 2011

Take ACTION to Become Wealthy Right Now

I would like to share with you about wealth and the misconception most of us have about it. Many times I encounter people who truly do not appreciate what they have. Instead they focus on what they do not have. We live in the richest country of this earth and all we can focus is in feeling sorry and blaming others about something that happened several years ago. That is the wrong attitude towards building wealth and becoming wealthy.

So today I want to make a change. I want to share with you something positive. Let's take ACTION right now to become wealthy. Before we start, let's define WEALTH. Most people THINK that wealth is an illusion or something that only "lucky ones" know the secret. Let me tell you something, you and I are already wealthy as you will soon see. I would like for you to think about what does wealth mean to you? Money? Material things? Power? What could wealth bring you that you don't have right now? What are your current beliefs about wealth?

By dictionary definition wealth means:

1.An abundance of valuable material possessions or resources; riches.
2.The state of being rich; affluence.
3.All goods and resources having value in terms of exchange or use.
4.great amount; a profusion: a wealth of advice.

Wealth is basically ABUNDANCE, and abundance is the opposite of lack. However, most people have the wrong idea that wealth is being financially rich. However, being financially rich is only part of being TRULY WEALTHY. Let me explain, if you are financially rich, but you lack HEALTH to enjoy being rich, then you are just financially prosperous. Nothing wrong with being financially prosperous, but you are not wealthy. Because to be truly wealthy you must have abundance in all areas of your life. Your self worth and net worth are not the same thing. Once again there is nothing wrong about being financially prosperous, actually it is part of being wealthy. Your goal should be to seek TRUE WEALTH; to enjoy life to its fullest: to have, be and do the things you desire. Therefore, wealth is about FREEDOM. Freedom to do what you want, when you want.

Now that we have clarified the meaning of wealth, this is a good moment to start the journey. Write in a notepad the major aspects of your life, what have you learned during this journey that has brought you to this point. Please keep in mind that the past has absolutely nothing to do with the direction you want your today’s story to take. The only reason to look into your past is to learn from the mistakes of the past and improve our new plan. If your life up to. Remember that you can be whatever you desire; WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK ABOUT.

Since you become what you think, the first call of action is to begin seeing being wealthy as the only way; plant that seed in your mind and nourish it. YOU ARE WEALTHY and you are wealthy now. Make all of the necessary changes required to live the way you know that you are; wealthy. Commit to it with your entire being by saying it out loud: "I AM WEALTHY and there is no other way". Get into the feeling of how joyful it is to live a life of complete abundance and feel how thankful you are to have anything you desire in this moment. Be grateful right now because you are about to take focused action that will insure your success. Do not doubt in taking this simple step, when you do it you have just exercised important universal laws. The law of reciprocation, the law of reciprocity, the law of attraction, the law of abundance, the law of action, the law of cause and effect, the law of karma, and the powerful force of gratitude, just to name a few. You become what you think about, You attract what you think the most about, and you get what you give. By following the simple step shared with you on this blog, you have taken action with focused thought, intent, desire, emotion, gratitude, trust, faith, determination, commitment and exercised all the forces needed to bring you that which you desire; to be wealthy!

March 25, 2011

Operation Broken Trust

The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force announced the conclusion of Operation Broken Trust, the largest investment fraud sweep ever conducted in the U.S. The 211 cases in the operation involved more than 120,000 victims who lost more than $8 billion.

Operation Broken Trust focused on scams directly targeting individual investors, rather than long-term complex corporate fraud matters. In many instances, these criminals were trusted people within their communities—sometimes neighbors, co-workers, fellow church-goers—who betrayed that trust in order to line their own pockets. And the results were often devastating, with some victims losing their life savings, their homes, their livelihoods. Each of the cases included in the sweep involved individual investors being deceived by individuals presenting “investment opportunities” that were either completely fictitious or not structured as advertised. An overwhelming number of the cases were high-yield investment frauds and Ponzi schemes. Others involved commodities fraud, foreign exchange fraud, market manipulation (i.e., “pump-and-dump” schemes”), real estate investment fraud, business opportunity fraud, affinity fraud, and the like.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2010/december/fraud_120610/fraud_120610

March 23, 2011

Are You Ready to Invest?

We grew up in a world in which the news about the failure of Social Security is almost as constant as the news about the failure HMOs. We all know that it is unlikely that many people who are currently contributing to social security will ever see the money we've invested into the program. Therefore, we must look for alternatives and stop our reliance on the government for a comfortable retirement that doesn't appear to be available.

This is the reason we must take matters into our own hands and investing not only for our retirements, but also for emergencies and other matters such as fix broken houses, buy new cars, or pay hefty insurance deductibles for medical care. There are many reasons we choose to invest and very few that would ever be considered the wrong reason. The question remains, because there are so many out there who are not yet investing, with so many reasons to invest, are you ready to invest? Why? Here I share with you a few situations that should consider in your financial planning:

1. If you have children and a job that doesn't offer a pension plan or matching retirement fund then it is probably a good idea to invest on your own. Even if you don't have corporate provisions for contributions you have alternatives such as Roth IRAs that will give you a tax break for investing some of your money and helping to plan for your own retirement.

2. If you have children that will some day need dental work, medical services, and/or college educations it is about time that you began those savings plans. Yet again there are tax deferred and tax fee options that are available and having this money invested ahead of time can save you so much money later on that it is worth making a few sacrifices along the way to secure the future of your children.

3. If you want your retirement to be a nice comfortable existence and not to be spent in your future daughter-in-law's closet you need to be ready today to begin investing in your future retirement. Please consider the following, life expectancies are longer than ever, and the costs of living are continuing to rise at alarming rates. If you're not ready to invest you need to figure out why and fix the problem so that you can be ready to invest and soon.

Investing in your financial future is the greatest gift you can give yourself by far. If you aren't sure where to begin or how, perhaps it's time to seek the services of a qualified financial advisor. His advice may prove invaluable and may give you a much more comfortable future than you would have ever imagined left to your own devices.

March 22, 2011

Basics Of A Living Will

Today I would like to talk to you about a document that many times is overlooked in our financial planning process; living will. A living will is an important document that directs the close members of a family about the steps to take if the person become terminally ill or incapacitated at a later point in life. A living will is a legal document that a person uses to make known his or her wishes regarding life prolonging medical treatments.

This document can go by other names such as advance directive, health care directive, or a physician's directive. A living will is not a living trust, which is a mechanism for holding and distributing a person's assets to avoid probate. A living will instructs a health care providers and specially your family about your desires for medical treatment in the event you are not able to speak for yourself. The person, through a living will, can tell if he wants to be revived through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), be nourished through feeding tubes, or be supported through mechanical ventilation, among other things. If so, when and for how long does he intend to be on such support devices?

One of the misunderstandings of the living wills is that they are exclusive for older adults. Unexpected end-of-life situations can happen at any age, so it's important for all adults to have advance directives.

Everyday you see unfortunate cases of families in courts with debates and disputes about what to do with a family member who has suffered an illness and now that person cannot make a decision for themselves. These type of uncomfortable family situations can be avoided with a living will.

The laws that affect living will vary from state to state. Some states require living will to be notarized; others do not. There are also states that use standard living will form, and states that have specific instructions on making a living will. Before making a living will it is important for a person to know the fundamentals of a living will in the state he is residing in. As soon as the living will is completed, copies must be distributed to loved ones, health care agent, personal doctor, and, in case of hospitalization, attending physicians.

Finally, changes can be made in the living will; however, these should be brought to the attention of all people concerned. The old living will, which must be destroyed, will then be superseded by the new version.

March 17, 2011

Understanding What a Credit Score Is

You just want to get a loan and suddenly you are bombarded with all this questions about your credit score. And you don't really know what to answer since you don't even know what a credit score is.

A credit score is your credit grade, representing how much of a good creditor you are. This score is dependent upon your credit history and credit report information, which is gotten from credit bureaus and credit reference agencies such as Equifax and TransUnion. Banks, credit card companies and lending companies use the credit score to have an idea if a person will pay what they borrowed in time. These scores will help these companies calculate their risk and determine if you will be lent to or not.

Another use for the credit score is to determine how many percent interest rates will be given to the borrower and what will be the terms of payment. People with high credit scores will be given more time frame to pay their debts and much lower interest rates.

A person with a not so good credit score may be given shorter terms in their payments but high interest rates. This is because they are riskier to lend money to so the banks and lending companies would want to get a high interest from them at shorter periods of time.

Because of the importance that credit score information gives to companies, banks and lending companies are now not the only ones that use these information. Even mobile phone companies, insurance companies, and private companies also use this information to check on the background of their clients and potential employees and see their character.

There are actually a lot of ways to determine what a person's credit score is. One of the most popular is the FICO score which was created by Fair Isaac Corporation. FICO is being used by lenders of mortgages to determine which borrowers are likely to default on their payments. A FICO credit score can range from 300 to 850.

When before only financial institutions have access to their credit score, now it is being commercialized. Equifax is actually offering consumers a glimpse of their FICO score through their website for a fee, $12.95. The same goes with other credit bureaus such as TRansUnion and Experian but what they are offering is not the actual FICO score but their own scores.

Both companies however swear that their scores are comparable to the FICO scores. Experian charges the same price as Equifax for their score, $12.95 while TRansUnion charges $9.00 for a credit report that will also have the credit score. This can be purchased by mail, through phone and of course, the easiest course, online.

Some however do not see the need to buy these things as they are entitled to a free credit report from each of the three agencies. Some states even give a free credit reports within 30 days of being rejected of a credit by a lending institution or when they receive a not so good credit terms because of their credit score.

For those of you interested in improving your credit score, I have written a book that will walk you through the process of improving your score so you can gain access to better credit terms. If you are interested in learning more, GO HERE.

March 16, 2011

How Can Business Credit Can Help Your Business Grow

Establishing your business is not easy. It is a dream of millions of people around the globe. Many never start their businesses. The main reason for the failure to launch the business can be summarized to two factors; 1) Lack of capital, and 2) Fear of losing their own money.

However, with careful planning, thought and effort, it is possible to raise some capital that can help to get the business started and it can be done through building a business credit. For short, you need to borrow against the business rather then from personal assets.

Carefully Produce a Business Plan and Structure

Setting up a business through business credit takes you in the world completely different from consumer credit. This only states that you are striving to project yourself in a business point of view. You must be able to prepare yourself for the transition it entails to ensure successful venture; from being an employee to being a business man. The more you think in the business point of view, the better it is for the business and allows growth in the future.

Maybe the hardest step in building a business credit is to convince the potential lenders that you are trying to achieve and set up a viable venture. The quality of your business plan and preparation is important. In order to set up a proper business structure, you must make sure that the prerequisites, i.e. licenses, documentations, are in place. You can use the business plan to show your lenders that you have placed a deep thought about the several elements in a business: the competition, pricing, products and the markets. If you are not sure about the business plan, you can always hire an advisor but it is critical to prepare yourself for the defense of your sales projections and the estimated costs of the start up and running.

Be an Excellent Credit Customer

There are materials that you will need before the business can become a reality and these are: the services, equipments, stocks and several other materials necessary for the business. Be on the lookout for vendors who are willing to grant you a credit though it may best to choose those companies that will be able to report your credit history to major business credit reporting agencies. Good scores in business credit are reserved for other large and stable business, but with careful and diligent business and credit practices, you can also achieve a good credit rating.

Get Hold of the Assessment for Your Credit

Preparing and doing a credit assessment is necessary before entering the business credit market. The credit assessment would determine if you are able to comply with the lender and the credit bureau's requirements. After achieving that, keep your eyes peeled for businesses that can issue credit without the need for an established business or personal credit checks or guarantees. Once you are able to transact the business with credit vendors, you will be able to use those references in order to build your credit profile with the agencies for credit report.

You can also take advantage of those retired or semi-retired businessmen. These people sometimes volunteer to help start up a business. You can build your knowledge as you start the journey to a successful business with a good standing in credit.

You can also utilize the advice they can give about pitfalls and disadvantages of starting a business to help you better prepare for the future.

March 14, 2011

Tax Changes That Will Affect Your 2010 Tax Filing

Here are some of the changes that will affect you as you prepare your 2010 tax returns:

1) Taxpayers, nationwide, will have until Monday, April 18, 2011, to file their 2010 returns and pay any taxes due. Taxpayers get the extra time because Emancipation Day, a holiday in the District of Columbia, is observed this year on Friday, April 15. By law, D.C. holidays impact tax deadlines in the same way that federal holidays do. The April 18 deadline applies to any return or payment normally due on April 15. It also applies to the deadline for requesting a tax-filing extension and for making 2010 IRA contributions.

2) Several tax breaks that expired at the end of 2009 were renewed and can be claimed on 2010 returns. They include state and local general sales tax deduction, primarily benefiting people living in areas without state and local income taxes.

3) A provision available through the end of 2011, offers older owners of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) a different way to give to charity. An IRA owner age 70½ or over can directly transfer, tax-free, up to $100,000 per year to eligible charities.

4) Overall income limits for personal and dependency exemptions and itemized deductions do not apply. Before 2010, taxpayers whose incomes were above certain levels lost part or all of their exemptions and part of their itemized deductions. For taxpayers at all income levels, limitations continue to apply to particular itemized deductions, such as medical and dental expenses, certain miscellaneous itemized deductions and casualty and theft losses.

5) The maximum adoption credit for 2010 is increased to $13,170 per child, up from $12,150 in 2009. The credit is refundable, meaning that eligible taxpayers can get the credit even if they owe no tax. In general, the credit is based on the qualified adoption expenses, which include adoption fees, court costs, attorney’s fees and travel expenses. Income limits and other special rules apply.Because of these documentation requirements, taxpayers claiming the adoption credit will have to file paper tax returns. Normally, it takes six to eight weeks to get a refund claimed on a complete and accurate paper return where all required documents are attached.

6) Eligible self-employed individuals can use the self-employed health insurance deduction to reduce their social security self-employment tax liability in addition to their income tax liability. As in the past, eligible taxpayers claim this deduction on Form 1040 Line 29. But in 2010, eligible taxpayers can also enter this amount on Schedule SE Line 3, thus reducing net earnings from self-employment subject to the 15.3 percent social security self-employment tax.

7) Premiums paid for health insurance covering the taxpayer, spouse and dependents generally qualify for this deduction. Premiums paid for coverage of an adult child, under age 27 at the end of the year, for the time period beginning on or after March 30, 2010, also qualify for this deduction, even if the child is not the taxpayer’s dependent.

8) Taxpayers who claimed the first-time homebuyer credit for a home bought in 2008 must generally begin repaying it on the 2010 return. In most cases, the credit must be repaid over a 15-year period. Many of those affected by this requirement received reminder letters from the IRS. A repayment requirement also applies to a taxpayer who claimed the credit on either their 2008 or 2009 return and then sold it or stopped using the home as their main home in 2010.

March 9, 2011

March 8, 2011

United State Credit Users Suffer Credit Scores Decline

Millions of Americans have experienced decline in their credit scores to the lowest levels possible. FICO has reported that almost 26% of American consumers have a credit score less than 600. When a consumer reaches a those low levels, he/she is considered a very high risk for lenders, which makes it almost impossible for these consumers to obtain a mortgage, auto loans, or credit cards. This group of low credit score Americans has increased by 2.4 million over the past two years. Another important piece of information is that the group of consumers in the credit score group of 650 to 699 is almost 12% of consumers, which has decreased from the typical 15%

These consumers are in a bind. What used to be considered a good credit score not too long ago, now leaves them with no access to financing. Standards have toughened and these scores aren’t as good as they once were. These tightened standards will make it much tougher for these people to obtain loans, especially with the best mortgage rates.

For those interested in improving their credit score on a simple way, I have written a book that will help them achieve that goal. It is written in simple terms so it is easy to implement. It will save thousands of dollars in professional fees in your attempt to increase your credit score. If you are in this situation you owe it to your family to address it now. For a small investment of $10.95 you can see improvements in your credit score of at least 50 points in 30 days and over 100 points in 60 days.

If you are interested in improving your credit score go here now!

March 2, 2011

Is Debt Problems Taking Over Your Life-Time To Find Out About Different Things You Could Do To Change Things

There are many different and amazing, as well as quite simple little things that anyone of you could do to try and change your current debt condition and flip it to something more positive, which will in turn make your life much more productive. Just wait and see, as soon as you start sticking to the program and finding different things that you can do to help your situation, you will begin seeing that life is not that difficult, saving money does not have to feel impossible and gaining knowledge about your finances is something very valuable and helpful throughout your entire life.

Debt problems can strike anyone out there, nobody is too good for failed financial security, it does happen to all different types of people and that is definitely a fact people! The internet is a fantastic place for you to locate all types of helpful information regarding your finances and how to keep them all in check. Taking the time out to actually study over some of those helpful steps is something very important because you should all know that there is just no way possible that anything like this is going to happen, without your determination and researching so that you will have the kind of knowledge that it is going to take for you to be financially successful in the future.

Finding books on finances and debt can really make a huge difference whenever it comes to the way that you have previously thought about money and it will change your entire outlook on your financial future as well. Nothing but positive things will come from you taking time out of your daily activities to further investigate what all it is that is definitely going to help guide you and get you on the appropriate path, where you can gain the financial freedom that you have always longed for throughout the difficult years growing up, turning into an adult.

Decide to start spending less and less money every chance that you think about it or every opportunity that arises, it will for sure save you quite a bit of money, and probably more so than you would have ever imagined possible. Little things add up to a whole lot of money, so even if it is just saving yourself a few dollars here and there, at the end of the month it is all going to add up, that is for sure and once you start seeing it happen you are going to be more than thrilled by the results!

Pinching pennies each month will really be quite helpful to you and your family and will help to alleviate many of your debt problems that you have been going through each and every month that passes. This does not at all mean that you can not have any kind of fun at all, you just need to be much more conservative and thoughtful, whenever it does come to how much money you are spending each and everyday, no matter what comes up. Even if you could open up a small savings account at your local bank, that would be very beneficial to you as well, allowing you the opportunity to save back a little bit of money any chance that you do get.

Debt is a problem that too many people are having to deal with each and everyday and if this all sounds like the headache of a problem existing in your home, then perhaps it is time for you to consider making some changes too, just as so many people have chosen to do, in which it was most helpful to them over a period of time. Your future and happiness depends on it, so why are you still sitting there all upset over your debt problems, get up off that couch and do something about it today, before it gets too deep and there is no time for help at all!

Alleviating your debt as early as possible during your life will be the most helpful to you in the future and by doing this you will be giving yourself the opportunity to have much less stress on you each day that you step out of bed, as well as bringing much joy to your life, allowing you many opportunities that would never have came along had you not had your finances in more order.

Your debt condition can and will improve, but only if you take the appropriate steps that it is going to take to get you in that wonderful position. You are the one that should be in control over your life and your finances and if you are not then maybe you should sit back and try to figure out just where things might be going wrong, causing you the debt problems that have been occurring with you.

If you need help improving your credit score, I recommend How To Improve Your Credit Score One Step at a Time