Personal Finance News Tuesday 7/10

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Some homeowners lose houses for a little as $400 in overdue taxes, consumer group says
By Daniel Wagner, AP Business Writer | Associated Press – 8 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The elderly and other vulnerable homeowners are losing their homes because they owe as little as a few hundred dollars in back taxes, according to a report from a consumer group.

Outdated state laws allow big banks and other investors to reap windfall profits by buying the houses for a pittance and reselling them, the National Consumer Law Center said in a report being released Tuesday.

Local governments can seize and sell a home if the owner falls behind on property taxes and fees.

The process helps governments make ends meet at a time when low property values and the weak economy are squeezing tax revenue.

But tax debts as small as $400 can cause people to lose their homes because of arcane laws and misinformation among consumers, says John Rao, the report's author and an attorney with NCLC.

The consequences are "devastating for individuals, families and communities," Rao said. He said states should update laws so speculators can't profit from misinformed homeowners and people who have difficulty managing their finances.

The rules for property tax sales can be confusing, especially to elderly people who can't keep track of their finances and people in minority-heavy communities that were targeted by subprime lenders.

To read the entire article from AP:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/report-lose-homes-over-little-040212140.html

Scripture of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
1 Thessalonians 5:14 — And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

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 Monday 7/9

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Car repair costs drop; West pays most
By Kelsey Mays | Cars.com – Fri, Jul 6, 2012 12:57 PM EDT

As the median age of a car on the road nears 11 years, drivers can breathe a (slight) sigh of relief: Fixing their cars is getting cheaper.

The average cost for car repairs stemming from a check-engine light fell 6% in 2011, California-based CarMD.com says, with drivers averaging $333.93 per repair. About two-thirds of that went to parts, with labor making up the remaining third. CarMD says lower labor rates, driven by the recession, are responsible for the overall decline in such repair costs, but the cost of parts has gone up, and severe repairs are becoming more common.

Drivers in Indiana paid $283.95 per repair, making the Hoosier State the cheapest place for check-engine repairs. Other inexpensive states include Maine, Wisconsin, Iowa and New Hampshire. In sharp contrast, Wyoming drivers averaged $389.18 per repair, capping a group of pricey states that includes Utah, California, Montana and Arizona.

CarMD believes that high altitudes left Wyoming drivers paying the most, as did having long distances between mechanics. Indeed, with 5.8 people per square mile, Wyoming ranked as America's second-least-dense state in 2010. Alaska ranked first, but it's midpack in CarMD's repair costs.

High airborne dust in Western states risked expensive repairs ($400, on average) to vehicles' mass airflow sensors, CarMD says. Nationwide, faulty oxygen sensors were the most common cause of a check-engine light. To replace those sensors, drivers paid the least in Nebraska and the most in Illinois.

See where your state ranks from Cars.com:
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/car-repair-costs-drop--southwest-pays-most.html

Scripture of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Proverbs 11:3 — The integrity of the upright guides them.

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 Saturday 7/7

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Road to Millions: The Favors
From Dave Ramsey.com

Don and Sandy Favors (top right) are building a wonderful legacy for their family with the guidance of their investing professional.

A couple of years ago, Don and Sandy Favors were in the same boat as many Americans. They'd had their income cut due to the recession, and they were doing all they could to keep the bills paid. Don worried that they would never save enough money to be able to retire.

The Favors finally got mad at their debt, and today they're debt-free and saving for retirement. But now that they're almost 50, do they have time to build a nest egg that will give them the retirement they want?

Not Where We Thought We'd Be

In 2009, the Favors were $43,000 in debt. Making their truck, boat and credit card payments wasn't a big problem until Sandy, a teacher, and Don, an auto technician, were both forced to take pay cuts, reducing their $100,000 income by $10,000.

The turning point came when Don and Sandy's son, Jason, returned from Afghanistan to his Army base in Anchorage, Alaska. Don made the trip to Alaska to welcome Jason home, but they had to pay for it with their credit card.

"At our age, we should have had the money in savings to pay for that trip without having to put it on the credit card," Sandy said. "So I just got mad at the debt. Dave says you have to get mad at it, or it will never go away."

Don and Sandy signed up to take Financial Peace University (FPU) in the fall of 2010 and were immediately gazelle intense. They shopped differently, used money received as gifts to pay off debt, skipped vacations, and didn't buy anything they didn't need.

One year after their FPU class began, the Favors were debt-free!

Building for the Future

Don and Sandy are both 49 years old. They want to move from their current home in Lowell, Indiana, and buy a lake home in Minnesota when they retire at age 65. "We have vacationed in Minnesota for almost 20 years and love it there," Sandy said. "It doesn't hurt that our grandson lives there too."

A few months before the Favors paid off their last debt, they visited Steve Brady, Dave's investing Endorsed Local Provider for their area. They'd already been investing in their work retirement plans, but they knew they'd need to do more to reach their retirement goals.

Steve coached Don and Sandy on paying off their remaining debt and building their emergency fund. He helped them reallocate the investments in their 401(k)s and showed them how to invest in Roth IRAs. They are now investing $400 a month in their 401(k)s and $350 a month in their Roth IRA.

Their Road to Millions

"The Favors are within three years of paying off their home and have decided to double down on their mortgage to get it done," Steve explained. "Then, they will begin investing an additional $1,300 a month toward retirement."

Based on their mutual funds' strong performance record, Steve estimates that Don and Sandy will have more than $1.4 million when they retire in 16 years. "It is possible to retire with dignity even when starting late, if you get as serious as the Favors have."

"With no debt in retirement, it will be easy to live on our retirement savings," Sandy agreed. "We feel confident that Steve has helped us build a plan that will get us there."

Get Great Advice and Start on Your Road to Millions Today

It's never too late to start investing for your future. An investing ELP like Steve will show you how to make the most of your investments and help you make a plan to reach your retirement goals. Contact your ELP today!

Inspirational Quotes@Inspire_Us from Twitter:
Don't take tomorrow to bed with you. -Norman Peale

Personal Finance News Friday 7/6

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

New Careers: Where Tragedy Became Triumph

By Daniel Bukszpan | CNBC – Fri, Jul 6, 2012 2:42 PM EDT

After living through an accident, illness or loss of a loved one, many people find comfort in going back to the predictable rhythms of their old, familiar routines. Losing themselves at work can offer escape from these events and help set them on the road to recovery.

For others, the response is exactly the opposite, and going back to their old lives after a traumatic, life-changing event is out of the question. The only thing that seems right to them is to create a new plan for living, one that acknowledges the hardships they’ve endured and the wisdom they’ve acquired since their lives changed.

CNBC.com presents this list of people who survived tragedies and responded by creating new careers and businesses. These new ventures not only helped them cope, but may have served to inspire other people going through similarly challenging times.

HALO Innovations

In 1991, Bill Schmid and his wife experienced what most parents only go through in their worst nightmares — they lost their daughter Haley to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. While some of the causes of SIDS remain unknown, loose crib bedding is a known risk factor, and Schmid, an engineer, vowed to put his skills to find a way to eliminate it.

He founded HALO Innovations, and the company manufactured sleeping products such as the SleepSack swaddling blanket. The blanket is now sold at Babies R Us, Target and Walmart, and its success has prompted the company to create other products, such as the Active-Airflow crib mattress.

According to the company’s website, “the mattress is the only product proven to reduce the risk of ‘rebreathing’ for infants, a condition associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).”

To read the entire story from CNBC:
 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-careers--where-tragedy-became-triumph.html

Scripture of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Proverbs 12:17 — An honest witness tells the truth, but a false witness tells lies.

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 7/5

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

When You Delegate You Elevate

July 5, 2012 By Harvey Mackay

“The surest way for an executive to kill himself is to refuse to learn how, and when, and to whom to delegate work,” said James Cash Penney, founder of the J.C. Penney retail chain.

When you grow, you have to know when to let go. You have to know when to delegate down so you can rise up. The inability to delegate properly is the main reason that executives fail. I’ve learned that people will seldom let you down if they understand that your destiny is in their hands, and vice versa.

Delegating is a key management skill. But managers often mistake delegation for passing off work.

Failing to effectively delegate wastes your time as well as the company’s time and resources.

Personal experience starting and running Mackay Envelope Company, now MackayMitchell Envelope Company, taught me this. There came a day when we had grown to the point where I had to hire a person under me to run the company day to day, while I scanned the horizon, studying our industry and the company’s future direction.

The reason? You don’t want to be micro-managing and end up macro-mangling. The captain’s place is on the bridge and not knee deep in the bilge. As the person steering an enterprise, you keep your head high and your vision unobstructed so you can study the big responsibilities, while maintaining authority and control. Many aspects of this art can’t be taught. Pulling it off successfully can’t be analyzed or quantified. But it can be qualified. If you don’t get quality people, you’re doomed.

Robert Townsend in his book, Further Up the Organization, wrote: “Leaders delegate whole important jobs. Non-leaders make all final decisions themselves.”

To read the entire article from Harvey Mackay.com:
http://harveymackay.com/column/when-you-delegate-you-elevate/

Mackay’s Moral: The most successful managers aim at making themselves unnecessary to their staff. 

Personal Finance News Wednesday 7/4

HAPPY JULY 4TH!!!

Today we take a break from Personal Finance and enjoy the festivities of the holiday.

John Adams was a prophet back on July 2nd, 1776 in describing how we would celebrate the signing of The Declaration of Independence. However he was two days off at the time:

“The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade with Shews Games Sports Guns Bells Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction even altho We should rue it which I trust in God We shall not. The Book of Abigail and John: Selected Letters of the Adams Family 17621784 Harvard University Press 1975 142 .”
― John Adams

Personal Finance News Monday 7/2

Phil's Personal Finance Tip of the Day:

Apps that can help you earn money
By Clark Howard

Looking some quick ways to make a little extra cash?

Some months ago, I told you about a service called Fiverr.com, where people share things they're willing to do for $5. You might be able to hire someone to review your resume, design a website, improve a PowerPoint presentation or even write your Maid of Honor speech -- all for $5! The low price is often a loss leader allowing a contractor to develop a client base for their particular area of expertise.

I have also talked in the past about eLance.com, which you can use to find freelancing and consulting jobs, or to offer your freelance services to others.

Now The San Francisco Chronicle has written up several other sites that offer similar options.

TaskRabbit.com allows you to hire someone in your local area to run errands for you. For example, if you buy Ikea furniture, you might hire a "rabbit" to assemble it for you. Or you might hire someone to pick up your dry cleaning. The service is only available in select areas.

RedBeacon.com lets you get price quotes and book appointments for local services, such as those provided by a plumber or electrician. Again, RedBeacon.com may only be available in select areas.


Meanwhile, USA Today reports on CheckPoints.com, an app that offers manufacturer deals while you're in the store. You earn points for simply scanning the barcode on an item in a store. No purchase of the product is necessary. You can redeem the points you collect for free gift cards, airline miles, and other perks.

Finally, I've gotten a lot of questions about EasyShiftApp.com. This app lets you essentially be an on-demand secret shopper. You're assigned 'shifts' by product manufacturers who want people on the ground to go into stores and confirm that their merchandise is being displayed properly. The pay rate for a shift is between $3 and $8 and the money is remitted to you via PayPal.

Please listen to the Clark Howard show live from 1-3 EST daily:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Colossians 3:23–24 — Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men... It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

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.