How long will it take to be through with your bankruptcy case? Experienced attorney Catherine Christiansen, from the Christiansen Law Office in Long Beach, California, explains the basics of what people need to know.
Continue Reading »

According to the results of a recent Performics study, consumers are looking forward to 2010 to get back on track financially. The findings come from the ninth month of consumer behavior findings in their “2009 Online Buyer Economic Trend Study.”
Continue Reading »

Getting out of debt is very challenging for many people. Many people are conflicted with getting out of debt as quickly as possible, but they do not know which options are right for them at the moment. There are many companies advertising their services claiming that they offer the perfect solutions for handling your debt, but how do you know if this is factual if you have not tried their services? It is very important that you find the most effective method that works with your current financial situation. Here are some tips that might help you in your financial situation to get you out of debt faster.
Continue Reading »

Staying on top of one’s finances can be a daunting challenge made more difficult by money-management myths we believe and little lies that we often tell ourselves. In some areas of life, a little white lie might be perceived as harmless. But when it comes to money matters, the myths and misconceptions we believe can do some serious damage. To help ditch those misconceptions that might be holding you back economically, think about whether you’re guilty of subscribing to – or telling yourself – any of the following six money-management myths:
Continue Reading »

Tax season is here and one of the topics I hear frequently discussed at work is the current income tax bracket people are in. One common misconception is that receiving a raise can put you into a higher tax bracket, and the net effect of your raise has a negative impact on your bottom line.

For example, a raise from the 15% tax bracket to the 25% tax bracket doesn’t expose all of your income to the 25% tax bracket – only the income earned within that range is taxed at 25%.
Continue Reading »

Investors who receive employer-provided help investing in their 401(k)s have better returns than those who go it alone, according to a recent study. That provides some support for the Obama administration’s expected proposal, which would make unbiased investment advice available to workers who participate in these types of plans.

For the three years between 2006 and 2008, the median annual return for investors who received employer-provided help was 1.86 percentage points higher (after taking fees into account), on average, than those who did not receive any help, according to the report. The study was conducted by Hewitt Associates and Financial Engines, which builds and manages portfolios for retirement plan participants (and which clearly stands to benefit if more employers hire them to provide advice).
Continue Reading »

Lost of 401k advice are present in the market as the advice change from person to person and from stocks to the stocks. Investing plans change according to the investment, same goes with the 401 advice. Every kind of 401k advice suggest you to have patience in the tough times of economy and better try to limit the investing while keeping in mind the basic rules of the investment. 401k advice could be found either through the guidance of insurance expert or online. But it’s better to look online for the 401k advice as you’d get a lot of alternatives and different kind of advice according to the features of investment which you are looking for.
Continue Reading »

The 401k withdrawal rules force everyone who takes money out of their plan before the age of 59 ½ to pay a 10% early withdraw penalty. That means it can be very limiting if you really need money now. However there are a few different methods of getting around this.

One of the methods you can use to get around this is to take out a hardship withdraw. If you are in a very bad situation you may be able to take money out without this penalty. For example of you become disabled and are nota ble to work. During a situation like that you may be allowed to take out some money without the added penalty.
Continue Reading »

When someone refers to a 0% credit card, it’s either a 0% balance transfer card or a 0% purchase card. Both credit cards offer special promotional rates; however, it is essential to understand the difference between the two so you don’t end up getting stuck with unexpected fees and interest charges.

O% Credit Card

Zero percent is a promotional rate offered by credit card companies to attract new customers. A card will generally never stay at 0% forever. If it did, it would be difficult for creditors to make money on you, since creditors typically earn by charging interest.
Continue Reading »

Santander card’s recent study has uncovered some surprising figures detailing the changing borrowing habits of UK residents.

A total of 3.2 billion pounds will be redistributed on to new credit cards in the first quarter of 2010. Avoiding interest with 0% credit card deals by moving money between cards has become increasingly popular, with 10% of the population adopting this method.

Also unearthed by the research was that even though a greater amount- £7 billion- was transferred last year, the total number of transfers is a third higher.

The average amount transferred per transaction has gone down, now at £1140, but the amount of transactions has shot up. This has led many to proffer that UK residents are becoming more stringent in their handling of debt.
Continue Reading »