Personal Finance News Monday 5/7

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Picking a Place to Retire
By ELLEN E. SCHULTZ From the Wall Street Journal

Where to retire? It's an age-old question that for many people centers on two big variables: housing costs and taxes.

They should add a third criterion to their list: the percentage of people collecting pensions.

Most people tend to retire close to home, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by Cheryl Russell, a demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Publications. Those who move farther away fall into two groups: the frail elderly, who want be closer to their children, and, as Ms. Russell calls them, the "energetic affluent."

For those looking make a long-distance move, the websites Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com provide listings, historical sales prices, mortgage rates, property taxes and foreclosure rates, among other information.

Zillow, for example, shows trends within states and metropolitan areas over one, five and 10 years, the percentage of homes sold for gain or loss, and the percentage that increased or decreased in value. Trulia includes data on crime rates and schools, and Google Earth lets you peek at the property.

Taxes are more complicated. States vary considerably, with different rules for different kinds of income.

Tennessee, for example, doesn't tax wages, Social Security benefits, or pension and IRA distributions. But the state sales tax is high (7% for tangible property, for example), and it taxes interest and dividends at 6%. Estate and inheritance taxes range from 5.5% to 9.5%.

Florida has fewer variables. It has no state income tax of any kind, no inheritance tax and limited estate taxes. Property taxes have a number of homestead exemptions. The state sales tax is 6%, though some counties have a sales tax that can bring the combined rate to 9.5%.

To read the entire article by ELLEN E. SCHULTZ/The Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303877604577380360566783028.html?mod=WSJ_FamilyFinance_FamilyFinance_2

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
If a man does his best, what else is there? -George Patton

Personal Finance News Sunday 5/6

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

I came across a program called Princess on CNBC when I was channel surfing last night. In it, money wizard Gail Vaz-Oxlade, with her no-nonsense approach to finance, helps the most desperate debt dodger get in touch with their inner scrooge. Whether you’re living a champagne lifestyle as you drown in debt or counting pennies for that walk down the aisle, Gail Vaz-Oxlade has the expertise to give you the financial makeover of your dreams. With basic concepts like "money runs out" and "think before you shop" Gail Vaz-Oxlade is the guru of finance and can take any families from red to black.

I recommend her website and blog for no nonsense common sense financial advice:

http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/

http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
To know what you know and to know what you don't know, that is real wisdom. - Confucius

Personal Finance News Saturday 5/5

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

How do you teach your kids about money?
By Clark Howard

How do you teach your kids about money? If you don't do it, one thing is certain: They'll learn their lesson in the school of hard knocks and you don't want that.

As a parent, there is so much you can do in this arena, yet a recent T. Rowe Price survey found that four in 10 parents said their own parents didn't do a good job teaching them about money. Those same respondents in turn graded themselves at a C or lower when it comes to teaching their own children.

To read the entire article by Clark Howard:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/family-lifestyle/how-do-you-teach-your-kids-about-money/nNWZP/


You can hear the Clark Howard show live from 1-3 PM Monday to Friday on WSB radio Atlanta:
http://www.wsbradio.com/

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Danger 4 most of us lies not in setting our aim too high & falling short; but in setting our aim 2 low &achieving our mark. -Michaelangelo

Personal Finance News Friday 5/4

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Tie-Downs Are Critical To Sales

May 3, 2012 By Harvey Mackay

If you knew two little words that could improve your sales, you’d use them, wouldn’t you?

When you see your customer has some reservations, it makes sense to get the issues out in the open, doesn’t it?

And after the ink is dry on the deal, you should make every effort to make sure your customer is satisfied, shouldn’t you?

So why all the questions? They illustrate a simple technique – sales tie-downs – that can help you improve your sales. By getting your customers to agree with you in small steps along the way, you have a better chance of reaching agreement when it’s time to do business.

The salespeople who effectively use tie-downs are more successful. The ones who don’t aren’t nearly as successful. It’s that simple.

So what exactly are sales tie-downs?

They are short phrases that can be added to statements to turn them into questions that get your prospective customer to start saying yes long before you go for the close. You ask these little questions throughout your sales presentation to engage your customer and get them used to saying yes. Psychologically, they will then be more likely to say yes when you ask for the sale.

To read the entire article from Harvey Mackay:
http://harveymackay.com/column/tie-downs-are-critical-to-sales/

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration. — Evan Esar

Please listen to the Dave Ramsey show live on WOR 710 from 2-4 PM EST. You can also listen to the 3rd hour 4-5 PM EST. at Dave Ramsey.com.

Personal Finance News Thursday 5/3

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Homeowners Association 101: What you need to know

Bob Massi weighs in/Fox and Friends Thursday May 3, 2012

There was a must see segment this morning on Fox and Friends regarding a lady whose tenants were evicted over her failing to pay a lien. Bob Massi on his Shattered Dreams segment lays out what to look out for as being members of a Homeowners Association.

To view the video:
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/index.html#/v/1618735204001/homeowners-association-101-what-you-need-to-know/?playlist_id=162383


Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
The greatest secret of success in life is for a person to be ready when their opportunity comes. — Benjamin Disraeli

Please listen to the Dave Ramsey show live on WOR 710 from 2-4 PM EST. You can also listen to the 3rd hour 4-5 PM EST. at Dave Ramsey.com.

Personal Finance News Wednesday 5/2

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Half of Americans Set to Die Without a Will

By Lisa Scherzer | The Exchange – Tue, May 1, 2012 3:31 PM EDT

If you died tomorrow, who would inherit your assets? Your house? Your Snapfish albums?

If you're like half of American adults, you haven't made a will and therefore — legally speaking — haven't answered these questions.

A survey from RocketLawyer.com, a legal services web site, last month found that 50% of Americans with children do not have a will. Even more alarming, 41% of baby boomers (age 55-64) don't have one. The top three reasons cited by survey respondents for not having a will: procrastination, a belief that they don't need one and cost.
[Related: How Long Will You Live, Exactly? Ask the Calculator.]

So what happens if you die without a will (known as dying "intestate")? The state will decide how your property is distributed. "You don't want the default to be what the state law is — sometimes it could work out in your favor, but sometimes it can't," says Jason Smolen, an estate planning lawyer and founding principal of SmolenPlevy.

Shifts in demographic patterns are making estate plans even more critical. As the survey notes, in the past five years the number of unmarried couples has jumped, according to the National Marriage Project. Throw a child into the mix and the surviving partner doesn't get the same protections that are default under law for a married couple.

Don't forget your 'digital estate'

And no doubt you've heard about the digital afterlife. According to the RocketLawyer survey, 63% of respondents don't know what happens to their digital assets when they die. Traditional estate planning doesn't take into account this emerging class of assets — and it's not just thinking about what you want to happen to your Facebook page or Match.com profile.

Your survivors may not even be aware of the extent of your online presence. Consider your online bank accounts, email accounts, iPod and all its music, blogs, photo albums, YouTube account, eBay account, PayPal account, e-book collection, Gilt Group subscription…you get the picture. Even your U.S. savings bonds are online.

Most popular online account services like Facebook, Gmail, LinkedIn and Twitter have developed deceased-user policies, which provide the family or executor of the deceased user with information about what's required to access the account.

"This is a problem most people don't know they have," says Smolen. His advice? Make a list of your accounts and passwords and print it out. His firm is in the process of setting up an online service for their clients to catalog their digital assets, as are others. Both RocketLawyer and LegalZoom have introduced services to address this rising need, allowing consumers to create a trust to manage their digital assets.

To read the rest of the article by Lisa Scherzer | The Exchange:

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/half-americans-set-die-without-193140015.html

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:

Sticking to it is the genius. — Thomas Edison

Please listen to the Dave Ramsey show live on WOR 710 from 2-4 PM EST. You can also listen to the 3rd hour 4-5 PM EST. at Dave Ramsey.com.

Personal Finance News Tuesday 5/1

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Improving Your Credit Score Without Gimmicks
By Ray Martin | CBS MoneyWatch – Mon, Apr 30, 2012 3:19 PM EDT

Chat boards and web sites are filled with tricks and gimmicks to improve your credit score.

One gimmick that gets a lot of attention is the practice called credit piggybacking. This is where one person, sometimes for a fee, agrees to add you as an approved user on their credit account. This is typically an account with a good history and lots of available credit. The result is that their credit account and history is added to your credit report. This increases your credit score and in some cases the increase can be dramatic. It amounts to buying another person's good reputation and posing that it is your own. While I'm sympathetic to the folks who want to improve their credit score, it's simply the wrong way to go about it.

[Related: Dangerous Black Holes in Your Family Budget]

But what if you have a few late payments or other negative information on your credit report? First, get a free copy of your credit report. Don't assume your credit score is doomed. There are steps you can take that can boost your credit score. Some of these steps can increase your score by 20 points or more in a single month -- and best of all is that you don't need to hire some credit repair shop to do it.

Pay Recent Past-Dues: The first thing to do is to pay the past due payments on the accounts that recently fell a month or two behind. That's because the more recent the late payment, the more it will lower your score.

Request Credit Report Adjustment: After bringing past due accounts current, contact the creditors who report late payments on your credit report and ask them to make a good faith adjustment to remove the late payment information from your credit report files. Not all creditors will do this, but if you ask politely and remind them that you will continue to be a good customer, you may find a few that will work with you.

Pay Collections that Vanish: Pay off accounts where the collection agencies agree to remove all references to the accounts from the credit bureau files. Make this a requirement of your offer to pay off the account.

To read the entire article By Ray Martin | CBS MoneyWatch:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/improving-your-credit-score-without-gimmicks.html

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
I'm not going to limit myself because people won't accept the fact that I can do something else. — Dolly Parton

Please listen to the Dave Ramsey show live on WOR 710 from 2-4 PM EST. You can also listen to the 3rd hour 4-5 PM EST. at Dave Ramsey.com.