Friday, December 31, 2010

Coping With ID Theft

Identity theft can be hugely damaging to a victim's credit rating, as their file will invariably be filled with the worst kind of adverse information - unpaid credit bills and bad debts. While prevention is obviously better than cure, and there is plenty of information around on how to help protect yourself against ID theft and fraud, unfortunately many people still fall victim to this most modern of crimes. What should you do if it happens to you?

The most immediate and urgent step to take is to close all your accounts that you either know or suspect have been compromised, to prevent the thieves making use of them. You should also be sure to tell the providers of the accounts why you're closing them, as the quicker you report ID theft the less your liability will be for any financial damage that results. You could be held liable for any fraud that occurs between discovering your ID theft and notifying your banks, although many major organisations like Mastercard and Visa enforce a maximum liability of $50.

You should first request closure of your accounts by telephone, speaking to a representative of your bank's security and fraud department, and this will place your accounts on hold blocking any further access until you follow up the request in writing.

Any replacement accounts you open should at the absolute minimum have different account numbers, and should also have different PINs, passwords, and any plastic cards or checkbooks etc should be replaced.

Next, you should place a fraud alert on your credit file by contacting the three major national credit reference agencies - Experian, Equifax and Transunion. This will make it harder for people in possession of your information to commit further fraud. The first kind of alert, an 'Initial Alert' stays on your record for 90 days, and is a way of informing financial companies that there may be a problem either now or in the near future, for example if you've had your wallet stolen.

Having an initial alert on your file will make any credit applications made in your name be subjected to extra scrutiny, minimising any future damage. You are also entitled to a free credit report from each of major credit reference agencies.

The next kind of alert is known as an 'Extended Alert'. This kind of alert stays on your file for seven years, and is appropriate when you've been a confirmed victim of ID theft. As well as providing longer term protection against further damage to your credit file, an extended alert entitles you to two free reports from each of the three credit reference agencies listed above, which can be requested within twelve months.

Your details will also be removed from pre-screened credit offers marketing lists for a period of five years, meaning you won't receive any unsolicited offers of credit - and neither will any fraudsters still using your details.

Hopefully these steps will prevent any further fraud being committed in your name, so now it's time to start clearing up the damage. You'll find that banks and other organisations will be very helpful in this, advising you on what forms you need to fill in and what steps you need to take. It's a very good idea to report your case to the police and get a crime number, as this will be needed for most claim forms.

The final step is to report your case to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to help them build up better profiles of how ID theft happens and how criminals commit fraud, so making law enforcement agencies better equipped to prevent it happening in the future.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Controlling Your Finances

A person's finances are one thing that determines the way they live. It determines your lifestyle such as what type of car you drive or the area in which you live. Controlling your finances is a very important part of a person's life.

Since just about everyone has a checking account it is important to know how to keep that account balanced properly. If you do not keep a close eye on your account then it could end up costing you a lot of extra money. If you write one check that you do not have enough to cover then it could spiral way out of control.

You will be charged a fee for the insufficient funds which may cause another check to be returned which causes more fees to be added on. This is one reason for keeping a close eye on your checking account. It really isn't as hard as it may seem you just need to remember to keep a record of everything you spend no matter how small. Review your statements each month and compare them to your records.

The next big step that most people take is by receiving credit cards. Yes it is nice to be able to purchase items on credit, but you still have to pay for that luxury and with an added interest fee. Therefore, you need to be careful how you use your cards. This is very important when it comes to controlling your finances. Try to limit them to purchases that can be paid off within the thirty day period to avoid high interest rates. If you do owe a large balance then try to pay extra each month, not just the minimum payment. The more you pay the more money actually goes towards the balance saving you on interest. .

There are also a lot of smaller ways that you can help in controlling your finances. For example, be careful and control any shopping sprees you may be thinking about, even if it is for those Christmas presents. Phone bills can sometime be quite a shock so if you are making long distance calls keep a record so you will know how long you talk and how often. The same thing goes for cell phones, so be careful not to go over your minutes as this can add up very quickly.

Don't go in debt for large items such as automobiles if you are not financial able to afford the payments. Be careful when investing in stocks and bonds make sure you understand exactly what you are investing in and the amount of risk involved. Following these tips can help you in controlling your finances.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) from cpdwise.com

As the business world gets more and more competitive, many professionals are compelled to spend a higher percentage of their time pursuing the daily tasks of their job or profession rather than adding relevant knowledge and skills for the future. Attendance at educational courses, or even half-day seminars, has become prohibitively expensive, not in monetary terms, but in terms of time lost at the desk or with clients. e-learning has evolved as a self-paced educational tool in a bid to use the time available to the busy professional in the most efficient way.

Self-paced online learning is the most relevant and important method available to professionals pursuing the objective of continuing professional development (CPD). However, many e-learning courses on offer take eons to complete and get certified. cpdwise.com, easily the best amongst the current career oriented e-learning portals, offers short and to the point e-learning courses. With modular learning and no fuss procedures, they do not take up too much valuable time. Imparting relevant knowledge through the multimedia route, cpdwise.com’s interactive courses are compiled in an absorbing and pertinent style.

While learning at cpdwise.com is a pleasant and informative experience, enrolling is child’s play. Payment is accepted in Euro, US dollars and Sterling, via credit card or Paypal. Payments are processed online so access to the course material is immediate. cpdwise.com offers courses in a wide range of domains from financial markets and business skills. These genres are the most competitive in any job market across the globe and the completion of cutting edge CPD sets a professional a breed apart.

CPD courses purchased from cpdwise.com are valid for one year giving the learner ample time to complete the course or revise and refresh their knowledge. Course layout is clear and intuitive. Modular and flowing, each course has been designed by professionals from relevant industries, ensuring the content is appropriate and geared towards advancing a professional career. With key concept testing after every chapter and a short test after each module, cpdwise.com’s course design ensures that you understand the finer points and key concepts covered.

Continuing Professional Development is a requirement for many professionals across the span of their whole career. All relevant cpdwise.com courses are structured to meet the CPD guidelines of professional bodies such as ACCA, ICAEW, ICAI (Ireland), ICAS, CPA, ICAS and CIMA. With courses ranging across subject areas such as accounting, budgeting, investment, financial management and analysis, risk management, money laundering, commodities, project management, sales and business skills, cpdwise.com is focused on making the progressive professional the first among equals.

Opting for an e-learning course from cpdwise.com will benefit a professional through self-paced, to-the-point learning as per the CPD guidelines of accredited agencies or bodies, effectively driving your career ahead of the competition, whether in practice, financial services or industry.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Construction Projects and Gas Prices: Plan your budget accordingly

If you have a construction project planned, you may want to adjust your projections to include the impact that will be felt from rising gasoline prices. As the price of motor fuel goes up, so does the price of goods and services that have to be transported to your job site, and that translates into higher prices for construction.

Almost everything related to building projects runs on gasoline. If it costs more this year to fly business passengers across the country in jets that run on gasoline, that also means it will cost more for you to have your construction workers drive back and forth to the construction site each day. Next time you pass one of these gigantic dual-wheel extended cab pickup trucks with the tool box mounted on the back, consider how many construction workers drive commute to and from building sites in those big gas guzzlers. Those workers have to pay for their gas, and if they are getting hit hard in the wallet, they will have no other reasonable option than to pass the higher cost along to you, in the form of higher hourly wages. But not only labor costs more when gas prices spike. In fact, relative to the cost of raw construction materials, labor costs are affected very little. The real impact on your budget will be felt when you go to the lumberyard or home improvement store to buy supplies.

Many of the supplies used to build homes have to be shipped all the way across the country. And many of those supplies are made in factories or manufacturing plants that operate heavy machinery using – you guessed it – gas and oil. So if you are ordering, for example, power tools or generators that run on gasoline, and those are made in a plant that uses gas to fuel its machinery and then ships the heavy tools to you by truck, you are paying for gasoline several times over. It begins to add up a penny and a dime at a time, and can soon send you over your budget. Truckloads of concrete blocks, sheet rock, lumber, and fencing – whatever materials you need to build your house, they are probably coming to you thanks to gasoline-powered transportation. And they may have built-in gas costs even before they are loaded on the truck.

If you have construction plans, don’t’ wait for prices to stabilize. You are better off breaking ground now, while the potential spike in cost per square foot is still a topic of armchair speculation. By the time gasoline hits four dollars a gallon, it will be too late to reconsider your options. But plan ahead, and add another 25-30 percent to your overall budget, to make sure that you leave yourself a comfortable margin of error, in case the costs you listed suddenly go higher. And try to lock in contract agreements for prices of labor and materials now, so that they can’t fluctuate with the price swings that might happen between now and your completion date. That way, if gas prices stabilize, you will be way ahead of the game and might end up with some surplus capital to invest in upgrades or other amenities you didn’t think you could afford.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Consolidation Services

Life is tough enough without the burden of financial obligations. People have car payments, car insurance, rent, mortgage payments, college loans, private loans...the list goes on and on. Due to the increase of tuition and the value of homes, the ability to pay all of these payments on time is decreasing by the year. What does that mean? One thing: debt.

Not all debt is so large that you can't handle it. In fact, most debt does not bring a great financial hardship on people. However this isn't always the case. When in debt, it is also easy to go deeper and deeper into debt creating a very deep hole to climb out of. You are then limited to what you can attain whether it be a motgage loan or a car loan, there is a good chance that you will not be eligible due to the amount of debt you are in. In situations like this it may be best to research debt consolidation services.

By using consolidation services you are going through a legal process to take all your existing debts and combining them under one single loan. This will not only simply your monthly finances by paying only one lender, but can reduce interest rates and sometimes even the length of the loan. The consolidation service will pay off your debts with this new loan so they are able to offer you a new interest rate under new terms of repayment. Having less lenders to worry about also makes the financial stress levels go down each month.

Depending on the consolidation service you may have to give them some type of collateral. After all, you are in debt already, you are having trouble paying you current loans, so they sometimes want a guarantee that you will pay them back. Do not take this lightly, if you give them collateral and fail to pay them back then they can foreclose whatever asset you used. If no collateral is needed you will probably pay a slightly higher interest rate.

Debt consolidation services are helpful and can make your life much easier. Please keep in mind that it is not an all powerful solution. You still have debt, you still have an obligation to repay your debt however now you can repay it to a single lender for less interest. And if you can bring down your monthly payments then you are already on the right track and saving money.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Consolidate your websites to single web hosting account

If you are having many websites across multiple hosting provider, it will cost you lots of hosting annual fees and it might be very hard to maintain as well. You might need to consider consolidate them into single hosting account. See the pros and cons of doing this.

Having 3 or five hosting plan, can easily cost you $500 dollars per year. And if you are running single website at each web hosting account, this will be a waste of space and money as well. Do consider to consolidate them into single web hosting account.

There is few web hosting provider that offering multiple domain hosting. Meaning that you can have multiple unique websites in the single hosting account. This mean you can have firstwebsite.com, secondwebsite.com, thirdwebsite.com and so on. Each websites can have their own email account, ftp account, webmail services, etc.

To have this multiple domain hosting features, you need to look for web hosting provider that have the addon domain features. If they write 10 addon domains, this will mean you can have up to 11 websites in your hosting account. 10 addon domains plus the primary domain that you get when register the hosting account.

There is little few hosting provider that offering unlimited domain hosting. Meaning that you can host as many websites or domain in the single account. And you can add more addon domains as you like. Some hosting will have unlimited domain hosting value set to 999, and this will mean you can have 999 websites in the account only.

If you are having many websites in single hosting account, the only thing that you need to make sure off is that you not heavily linking each sites together. Search engines like google not prefer links coming from same IP address, and on only that, this link can harm your website too. However, you still can have 900 websites on your accounts, and you must make sure they are not link together like a spider web or link farms.

After consolidation, your web hosting cost will drop, and you just save yourself some money.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Consejos Sabios para Llenar el Alma

Aquí te presento una lista de consejos para que no te sientas vació, y observar al pasado con una sonrisa. Las he obtenido de una persona que estaba al final de su vida y sintió que hubiera hecho muchas cosas diferentes y ha recetado una serie de consejos para aquel que este interesado en cambiar.

1) Habla menos; escucha más.
2) Escucha a las historias de tus abuelos a cerca de su juventud. Cuando ya no este, revivirás sus llamas por sus memorias.
3) Invita a amigos para cenar o picar algo, a pesar de que tu casa no este en condiciones.
4) Come mucho chocolate.
5) Invita amigos con chicos a tu casa a pesar de que hagan lió.
6) Siéntate en el pasto a pesar de que ensucie tus pantalones.
7) No compres algo solo porque durara mucho tiempo o porque es practico, hazlo porque quieres.
8) Quédate en cama relajado si te sientes enfermo y no pretendas que el mundo no puede continuar sin ti por un día.
9) Prende las velas que tienes de adorno en el salón y déjalas encendidas. No las dejes sin uso en el armario.
10) Comparte responsabilidades de la vida con un compañero, no solo las expensas.
11) (Para las mujeres) En vez de esperar al embarazo a que se termine, disfruta cada momento en tu corazón. Aprende que la vida dentro de ti es la única oportunidad que tienes de ayudar a Dios a crear magia.
12) Deja que tus hijos de abrasen y besen cuando quiera que lo deseen. No los detengas por ninguna razón como: "mas tarde", "ve a lavarte las manos", "deberemos comer" o demás.
13) Di las próximas dos frases lo más seguido que puedas: "Te Amo" y "Lo siento."
14) Deja de preocuparte por quien te quiere o no te quiere, o que tiene quien o no tiene.
15) Valora todas las relaciones humanas personales.
16) Juega con una mascota cuando puedas. Riete y corre con ella y toma parte en sus juegos.
17) Pasa el mayor tiempo posible con la gente que te quiere.
18) Deja de transpirar por todos los pequeños detalles y problemas sin sentido de la vida.
19) Toma cada momento, míralo y déjalo. Nunca volverá de nuevo.

La persona que escribió estos sabios consejos se llamaba Susana, y tenia una hija de seis años. Susana enseño estos ideales básicos a un conocido mío y yo los he tratado de seguir también en honor a su memoria. Creo que puedo decir que convertirá a quienquiera que lo haga en una mejor persona, un mejor esposa o esposa, y en general una persona mas feliz. Inclusive ahora creo que D'os ha bendecido a cada uno de nosotros, y deberemos aceptar estas bendiciones e intentar buscar sentirnos mas fuertes físicamente, mentalmente, y emocionalmente. Recuerda que todos tenemos la suerte de estar aquí, y aprovechar vivir la vida de la mejor manera posible, así que consejos para esa receta nunca están de mas.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Consejos Sabios para Lenar el Alma

Aquí te presento una lista de consejos para que no te sientas vació, y observar al pasado con una sonrisa. Las he obtenido de una persona que estaba al final de su vida y sintió que hubiera hecho muchas cosas diferentes y ha recetado una serie de consejos para aquel que este interesado en cambiar.

1) Habla menos; escucha más.

2) Escucha a las historias de tus abuelos a cerca de su juventud. Cuando ya no este, revivirás sus llamas por sus memorias.

3) Invita a amigos para cenar o picar algo, a pesar de que tu casa no este en condiciones.

4) Come mucho chocolate.

5) Invita amigos con chicos a tu casa a pesar de que hagan lió.

6) Siéntate en el pasto a pesar de que ensucie tus pantalones.

7) No compres algo solo porque durara mucho tiempo o porque es practico, hazlo porque quieres.

8) Quédate en cama relajado si te sientes enfermo y no pretendas que el mundo no puede continuar sin ti por un día.

9) Prende las velas que tienes de adorno en el salón y déjalas encendidas. No las dejes sin uso en el armario.

10) Comparte responsabilidades de la vida con un compañero, no solo las expensas.

11) (Para las mujeres) En vez de esperar al embarazo a que se termine, disfruta cada momento en tu corazón. Aprende que la vida dentro de ti es la única oportunidad que tienes de ayudar a Dios a crear magia.

12) Deja que tus hijos de abrasen y besen cuando quiera que lo deseen. No los detengas por ninguna razón como: "mas tarde", "ve a lavarte las manos", "deberemos comer" o demás.

13) Di las próximas dos frases lo más seguido que puedas: "Te Amo" y "Lo siento."

14) Deja de preocuparte por quien te quiere o no te quiere, o que tiene quien o no tiene.

15) Valora todas las relaciones humanas personales.

16) Juega con una mascota cuando puedas. Riete y corre con ella y toma parte en sus juegos.

17) Pasa el mayor tiempo posible con la gente que te quiere.

18) Deja de transpirar por todos los pequeños detalles y problemas sin sentido de la vida.

19) Toma cada momento, míralo y déjalo. Nunca volverá de nuevo.

La persona que escribió estos sabios consejos se llamaba Susana, y tenia una hija de seis años. Susana enseño estos ideales básicos a un conocido mío y yo los he tratado de seguir también en honor a su memoria. Creo que puedo decir que convertirá a quienquiera que lo haga en una mejor persona, un mejor esposa o esposa, y en general una persona mas feliz. Inclusive ahora creo que D'os ha bendecido a cada uno de nosotros, y deberemos aceptar estas bendiciones e intentar buscar sentirnos mas fuertes físicamente, mentalmente, y emocionalmente. Recuerda que todos tenemos la suerte de estar aquí, y aprovechar vivir la vida de la mejor manera posible, así que consejos para esa receta nunca están de mas.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Conoce a la Realeza y Aristocracia Europea

Una de las maneras más fáciles para conocer a tu príncipe o princesa es en los prestigiosos casinos de Europa. La realeza y Aristocracia salen a divertirse en cinco casinos en especial, y si estas adentro puedes hablar con ellos. También podrás jugar con ellos, y en contra de ellos, y si eres lo suficientemente bueno, podrás ganarles. Es emocionante la idea de haberle ganado a un rey. Estos cinco Hoteles Casinos te dan esta oportunidad.

Aquí deberás ir vestido elegante con traje o chaqueta y moño y zapatos elegantes, solo así te dejaran entrar y ser parte de la aristocracia europea, para jugar a un partido o dos de bacará con ellos.

Los Casinos alistados aquí son los mas grandes y lujosos en Europa. Su clientela no es de turistas de la temporada, sino la alta sociedad. Así que si estas buscando una forma lujosa de pasar un tiempo en el casino jugando a Dados u otro juego, puedes tirar los dados en uno de los casinos alistados aquí mientras que tus compañeros de viaje se relajan en la rivera francesa, o hacen compras en las casas de renombre en Londres o Moscú.

1) Casino de Monte Carlo, Mónaco:
Este es el sitio favorito de los ricos y famosos en Europa por mas de 150 años con el primer casino fundado por el Príncipe Carlos III de Mónaco en 1863. EL Casino de Monte Carlo es un complejo de cinco casinos "posh" ubicados en la costa decorados con un etilo rococó francés con columnas enmarmoladas, ornamentos de oro y candelabros de cristal. El ambiente te hará sentir como un participante en una película de época francesa.

2) Casino Metropol, Moscú:
La Federación Rusa tiene la mayor cantidad de casinos y maquinas tragamonedas en Europa del Este. Los mejores casinos para turistas son desde ya los que están ubicados en los hoteles. Casino Metropol, que no solo es uno de los mas elegantes en la zona sino que también es conveniente localizado en el centro de la ciudad de Moscú a solo unos minutos del Kremlin. El monto mínimo para las apuestas es de 25 en cada mesa y una noche en la suita presidencial cuesta 2,000 dólares.

3) Baden Baden Casino, Alemania:
El casino veterano europeo fue fundado en 1809 y a pesar de que ha cambiado varios dueños desde entonces, su reputación como uno de los más finos en Europa y en Alemania especialmente no ha cambiado. Hoy en día, el Casino Baden Baden es una de las atracciones principales en la ciudad junto con los famosos baños termales. Si ignoras a los juegos de mesa y las maquinas tragamonedas. Caminar por la enorme sala se siente similar a una visita a un museo de arte europea, con exhibiciones permanentes de óleo y esculturas.

4) Clermont Club, Londres Inglaterra:
Si visitas Inglaterra, no puedes solo ir a cualquier casino sin ser miembro previamente. SI decidas seguir ese procedimiento, el Clermont Club en Berkley es uno de los clubes de apuestas con mejor reputación alrededor. Construido en el siglo 17, fue diseñado para parecerse al Great Hall en Holkham. También, el casino Clermont Club incluye una sala de apuestas amistosa y conveniente, con un bar donde los miembros y sus invitados pueden disfrutar de un banquete con una botella de champaña de estilo. Recuerda que jugar en casinos en línea es legal ahora en Inglaterra así que puedes hacerlo desde cualquier café online.

5) Casino Barriere de Deauville, Francia:
El elegante casino resort ha inspirado a Ian Fleming en su primera novela de James Bond Casino Royale. Fundado en 1860 por Duc de Morny, este extravagante lugar es uno de los hermosos casinos en el mundo. Además de sus facilidades en apuestas, Casino Barriere ofrece variedad de entretenimiento exclusivo, espectáculos y eventos artísticos.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Conducta de

Una de las principales reglas de los casinos es que el cliente siempre tiene la razón. Sin embargo, el casino tiene sus propias reglas de comportamiento y etiqueta que hay que tener en cuenta a la hora de jugar. Para ser mas profesional en los casinos y no llevarte malos momentos es importante que tengas estas reglas en cuenta.

Primero y principal, debes ser mayor de 21 años para entrar en el casino y jugar. Todos los casinos son estrictos con esa norma, así que si todavía eres menor de edad, debes esperar tu turno.

Segundo, los objetos electrónicos como teléfonos celulares, están bloqueados en el casino, así que recuerda dejarlos en casa a la hora del juego. Esto es debido a que pueden transferir información de un lado a otro, muy peligroso para los casinos. Tampoco la cámara digital o filmadora está autorizada, aunque esas son más flexibles.

A los fumadores: Asegurarse de que el casino al que vayan este permitido fumar. Aunque en la mayoría de los casinos permiten fumar, hay salas de no- fumadores o casinos de-no fumadores, una ley que empezó a popularizarse mas ahora. EN las salas de maquinas tragamonedas tampoco esta permitido fumar. Recuerda usar cenicero si fumas.

Es una costumbre darle propina al crupier luego de haber ganado una mano. Especialmente en los casinos de Estados Unidos. El monto es 1$ en general pero depende de lo que hayas ganado. En países como Inglaterra o Australia darles propina esta prohibido.

Recuerda aprender las reglas de los juegos antes de comenzar a jugar. No vaya a ser que los demás jugadores o el crupier te tengan que explicar en el momento del juego. Muestra sensación de respeto y seguridad en el casino, hay muchas guías y libros que te pueden ayudar a aumentar tu conocimiento. Observar juegos ajenos también ayuda.

Es importante no dar consejos o sugerencias a otros jugadores en el momento del juego. Aunque tengas buenas intenciones, no es aceptable para los demás jugadores que ayudes a uno y a otros no. Esto puede hacer a quejas y enojos en los jugadores, y eso es lo último que el casino quiere. Todos tienen la libertad de elegir sus jugadas y equivocarse o ganar correspondientemente. Esa es la gracia del casino.

Todas estas reglas son parte de los requisitos del casino, y esenciales para sentirte conectado a los juegos y al resto de las actividades del casino. Así, es muy probable que no te sientas perdido vagando por la sala sin saber a donde ir. Recuerda que nadie nació sabiendo y que la experiencia se gana con el tiempo.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Concerned You Will Not Retire In Comfort?

Traditionally people have considered their retirement 401Ks and IRAs to be like safety nets rather than wealth builders. However, with the self directed IRA, you need not be satisfied with growth rates in the single digits. It is possible to realize phenomenal growth potential outside of the traditional IRA markets, tripling and quadrupling your IRA's value is not uncommon, within relatively short period of time. It will not just happen, however. You have to take the reins of your retirement portfolio, put in the time and effort, and do your research. The possibilities are endless to those who are prepared to make the investment paradigm shift.

Most savvy investors, due to the ups and downs of the stock market, are frankly not as confident as they once were in the old financial planner adage that the stock market is going to go up forever. If your memory is a little foggy, then reflect back just a few short years.

Concerned that you will not retire in comfort? Put your IRA money to work and truly diversify your IRA portfolio with alternative investment vehicles. Your banker and broker will not allow you to invest in alternative investments because they want complete visibility and control over your IRA. In the meantime, they are earning fantastic returns on your money. Isn’t it time you take the driver’s seat.

Fundamentally, what do you need?

· Sufficient funds in your self-directed IRA.

· Intimate knowledge of a permissible alternative investing strategy for the IRA (such as real estate investing, purchasing discounted paper, private money lending, or gold investing)

· A Self-Directed IRA Advisor that can share valuable information and advice.

· A low fixed annual fee to pay your custodian, while you maintain full checkbook control at all times. You – not they – issue the checks for managing your investment.

Provided you satisfy IRA regulations on the type of investments allowed for your self-directed IRA funds (real estate is only one of several possibilities), you can take charge of your financial future by turning that IRA into a high-earning instrument.

The IRS’s position is clear, as defined in their publication # 590: your IRA should be a separate and distinct entity from yourself. Whatever investments you make should benefit your IRA, and not you directly. Your self directed ira advisor will be able to explain the subtleties and refinements of this IRS publication.

It’s your money. If we told you that there are about $7 trillion dollars sitting in IRAs but of that amount, only 3% are self-directed, wouldn’t you be curious about how you can be part of that 3% that unknown to most, are enjoying unheard of returns?

Monday, December 20, 2010

Como Mantener tu Salud Mental

En los últimos años la mucha gente se ha dado cuenta de la importancia de una dieta apropiada y acompañada de ejercicio físico. En los pasados 20 años sin duda ha habido un cambio en cuanto al estado de salud de muchas sociedades, que ha determinado una mejor calidad de vida. Sin embargo, esto no ha traído salud mental que es tan importante como la salud física.

Hoy en día, la mayoría de la gente hace de 4 a 6 horas de ejercicio por día, y se asegura de que todo lo que ingiere, no tiene azucares o preservantes, pero no prestan atención a su salud mental. Es decir, mucha gente no toma las vacaciones necesarias, ni siquiera en los fines de semana largos. La gente trabaja 60 horas por semana, llevándose a las casas los problemas del trabajo y trabajando los fines de semana también. Todo esto con esperanzas de mejorar la calidad de vida material. Pero, ¿de que sirve todo el esfuerzo cuando el cerebro esta abundado y sientes explotar en la oficina?

Al final, la salud física puede sufrir no importa que bien comas y hagas ejercicio. Probablemente tengas alta presión, estrés y tensión lo cual pondrá en alto riesgo tu salud.

Para ayudarte a evitar llegar a alguna de las anteriores situaciones, aquí te presento algunos consejos para mejorar tu condición mental.

Si disfrutas la adrenalina, te recomiendo que pruebes deportes como kite surfing, bunge jumping, y demás. Si disfrutas andar en motocicleta es muy bueno andar en contra del viento como terapia para relajarse y disfrutar un buen viaje.

Buscar actividades que te desconecten de la rutina diaria (la cual a veces puede ser estresante) es la clave principal. Por ejemplo, si disfrutas leer, un buen libro de ciencia ficción como "Harry Potter", "Lord of the Rings" u otros pueden ser perfectos para ti. Si disfrutas en cambio mirar películas, entonces comienza con hacerte socio de una tienda de DVDs y veras que bien te hará.

Actividades como paseos fuera de la ciudad, visitar viñedos, campos, parques y demás son esenciales a la hora de relajarse. Si disfrutas las montañas, todavía puedes ir a visitar la nieve, esquiar y aflojar tu mente. Las vacaciones, por más pequeñas que sean te llenaran el alma con memorias alegres y positivas.

Si disfrutas andar en bicicleta, o en patines esas son actividades que te destaparan y ayudaran a sentirte mejor. Siempre es divertido hacerlo con amigos que estén dispuestos a un poco de aventura. Organizar un grupo grande de gente que quiera hacerlo es una buena idea, que los puede llevar a conocer lugares que nunca creías que ibas a encontrar. Ríos abandonados, pasajes que están cerrados para la gente, bosques y demás lugares increíbles para conocer.

En fin, hay un sin fin de actividades para llevar a cabo si buscas caminos diferentes para mejorar tu salud mental y relajarte naturalmente. No olvides que la salud mental es tan importante como la física y que para tener una hay que tener la otra!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Como hacer que tu tiempo sin compania valga la pena

Cuando empecé a escribir este articulo, pensé en como pase el ultimo mes sin necesidad de un compañero y aun así, muy entretenida. Es importante clarificar que sea la razón que sea que te encuentras sola o solo, mejor así que mal acompañado! Y que no hay por que avergonzarse! Una vez teniendo eso claro ya llega mi lista de recomendaciones, entretenimientos para ti.

Datos útiles para ayudarte a conectarte con ti misma:

1) Si eres miembro de un DVD club cerca de tu casa, mejor. Sino, hazte miembro! Películas que valen la pena para una noche que buscas un poco de acción: The Man Inside (con Live Owen y Denzel Washington), Blood Diamonds (Con Leonardo Di Caprio), Babel (Con Brad Pitt) entre otras.

2) Si estas con amigas y quieren algo romántico, Prime (con Uma Thurman), In her Shoes (Cameron Dias), The Hollyday, (Cameron Dias, Kate Winslet).

3) Si buscas reirte con algo simple y un poco ridículo te recomiendo My Super Ex Girlfriend (Uma Thurman), Just Married, Monster in Law, y The Devil wears Prada.

4) Hablando de satisfacción culinaria, puedes averigua de buenos restaurantes delivery, en Sushi, Pizza, Pasta, Chino, Japonés, cualquiera sea que te guste mas. Si no estas en el humor de ordenar comida y disfrutas de cocinar es una buena opción!

5) Para descargar toda la mala energía o para refrescar tu mente reincorporarte en el deporte que mas disfrutes. Patinaje, Yoga, bicicleta, Gimnasio, etc. Te ayudara a sacar todas las preocupaciones y retomar energías. Si es un día soleado aprovecha una buena caminata o corrida con tu I-pod y relájate!

6) Si disfrutas leer, la literatura también es un buen método para ti. Autores como Pablo Cohelo, cuentos de Harry Potter, Gabriel García Marques, son mis preferidos para desconectarte de la realidad y pasar al mundo de lo imaginario.

7) Juegos en Linea son una gran opción si disfrutas juegos de azar o de mesa. Puedes jugar gratis o por dinero al Black Jack al Póquer mientras chateas con otros jugadores en línea.

8) La música es un acompañante esencial para muchas actividades. En el Jazz, Bossa Nova, Blues, y Soul mis recomendados son Ray Charles, Norah Jones, Maxwell, Jewel, Sting, Sade, Bilberto Gil y Tony Bennet.

Sin duda hay un sin fin de entretenimientos y cosas para disfruta de una noche o día sin compañero y aun así utilizar el tiempo de la mejor manera posible. Películas de acción, libros de fantasía deportes, música, buena comida, pueden ahora ser tus buenos amigos.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Como Ganar Jugando Video Poquer

La mayoría de la gente te dirá que la única manera de salir de un casino siendo Millonario es entrar siendo un Millonario, pero la realidad es que no es completamente verdad. Solo es la forma más fácil de hacerlo.

Si eres el tipo de persona que no teme a los riesgos para ganar grandes sumas, entonces puede que esto te sea útil.

Las maquinas de video Póquer pueden ser encontradas en cada casino, en los clásicos casinos o en línea. Estas maquinas ofrecen las mejores posibilidades de hacerte un millonario si sabes como jugar.

Todo lo que necesitas es una tarjeta de crédito con por lo menos $20,000 y los cojones de arriesgarlo, en lo que puede ser menos de 20 minutos. Recomiendo guardar hasta $20,000 dólares antes de que lo intentes y no solo gastar el dinero de tu tarjeta.

El juego que elijas es muy importante. Hay muchos tipos de juegos diferentes de poquer ofrecidos en forma de video. En algunos juegas en un computador y el jugador con la mejor mano ganara, en otros no hay otros jugadores, la mejor mano que obtengas la maquina pagara mas. Un par paga 1:1; dos pares pagan 2:1 y sucesivamente. El segundo tipo de video póquer es el que mas te conviene.

Recuerda que esto no es no es una garantía de que ganaras, y si no ganas dinero puede que quedes con menos $20,000 dólares. Pero la realidad es que puede hacerte ganar mucho efectivo, de una forma bastante sencilla.

Usualmente conviene comenzar con por lo menos 20,000 dólares, y haciendo apuestas de $1,000 cada tanto, y así comenzar a ganar el gran monto real.

Te recomiendo no aumentar tus apuestas a mas de $1,000 hasta que no hayas hecho por lo menos $100,000.

He descubierto este método hace dos años; He gastado mis fines de semana en el casino jugando al poquer blackjack, Ruleta, sin ganar nada de dinero, pero durante la semana jugaba video póquer desde mi casa, y ganaba montos que nunca lo había hecho antes.

Un día decidí intentarlo y en vez de gastar mi dinero en juegos de mesa fui directamente al video póquer, y para el final del fin de semana había ganado casi $60,000 dólares.

Ahora cada dos o tres meses voy al casino, con una cuenta de $20,000 y gano montos que nunca había pensado ganar nunca antes.

Recuerda que no hay garantías que esto te resulte un 100 por ciento, ya que ha habido momentos en donde puedes perder tus $20,000 antes de ganar tu primera buena mano, pero también puede que recibas una increíble mano y ganes de una $25,000 en la primera mano. Aprende más sobre eso en Juegos de casinos 6.

Sin duda las apuestas de casino son un tipo de actividad la cual puedes decepcionarte mucho o sorprenderte por haber recibido grandes ganancias. Si sientes que tu situación económica no pasa por sus mejores momentos, debes esperar hasta sentirte mas seguro para no tener grandes decepciones. Al mismo tiempo si buscas ganar dinero rápido, puede que sea tu oportunidad.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Como Ganar en el Bacara

El clásico juego de casino Bacará es conocido por ser el juego preferido del famoso agente secreto 007 James Bond. Las versiones del Bacará son Punto Banca, Las Vegas y Chemin de Fer (el de James Bond). El juego fue originado a fines de 1400 y principios de 1500 ya era conocido en Europa, especialmente en Italia y Francia, luego Inglaterra continuando con Estados Unidos.

La gran particularidad del juego es que los participantes ganan altas sumas de dinero y por otro lado, el casino no presenta alto porcentaje de ventaja lo cual es ideal para los jugadores. En el resto de los juegos de casino pasa lo opuesto, ganas pequeñinas sumas y el casino se lleva un alto porcentaje.

Las reglas básicas del Bacará son bastante simples y fáciles para cualquiera que desee aprender. Los jugadores deberán apostar en aquel que su mano de naipes sea lo mas cercano a 9 en su suma. Si por ejemplo el primer naipe es de nueve, se llaman nueve natural, o si suma ocho la petite ocho en francés.

Los dos jugadores son la "banca" y el "jugador" y el que en su mano es mas cercano a 9 ganara la jugada. Si por ejemplo el jugador obtiene el puntaje mas alto en sus dos primeros naipes, la banca no podrá tirar un tercer naipe.

Es una gran ventaja que no se necesita tener experiencia para jugar, apostar y llegar en el Bacara es por eso que es fácil e importante aprender para luego practicar en línea o en el casino y divertirse.

La particularidad del juego es su estilo glamoroso y elegante, el cual lo ha hecho popular en su personaje de James Bond, el cual suele apostar con excelencia en sus películas desde los 50. Primero con John Connery, y luego con Pierce Brosnan siempre el juego estuvo presente.

Los valores de los naipes en Bacará, son bastante particulares ya que el 10 y las figuras suman cero o Bacará. Claro que el 9 es el valor deseado a obtener, luego el 8 y los demás números valen según sus números. Es decir si tienes un 7 y un 4 suman 11 y como el primer digito desaparece, vale 1. El naipe de As tiene un valor de 1, es así como un As y el 9 suman 10 convirtiéndose en cero.

La Banca y Jugador son los denominadores de las apuestas del juego. El estilo lujoso que presenta el Bacará, es único y lo puedes hacer en línea o desde los casinos clásicos, ganado grandes montos y con un poco de experiencia puedes convertirte en un gran jugador de estilo.

El clásico juego de James Bond es sin duda muy simple y entretenido para jugar con amigos en el casino, en línea y divertirse un buen rato. Si tienes tiempo de dedicar para practicar veras que este juego es un gran descubrimiento en donde podrás quien sabe ganar altas sumas de dinero que nunca creías que iba a pasar.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Como Controlar Adiccion a las Apuestas

Dicen que el primer paso para detener una adicción es admitir que tienes un problema. Aquí te presento una serie de consejos para tratar a un ser querido que es adicto a las apuestas de una forma efectiva.

Tratar con alguien que tiene una adicción a las apuestas puede ser doloroso. Tienen una tendencia a desconectarse de la familia y de los seres queridos, entonces a continuación te explicare lo que debes hacer en el caso que alguien que quieres es adicto a las apuestas.

Algunos de los pasos son difíciles, sin embargo tienen un muy buen resultado y son importantes tener en cuenta la hora de actuar.

La primer cosa que debes hacer es esconder tus objetos de valor, y si esta persona vive contigo, deberás mantenerlos bajo llaves y si eso no es posible entonces llevarlos a un banco bajo una caja de seguridad.

Si esta persona es tu hijo o pareja, entonces deberás limitar su acceso a tu dinero. En muchas circunstancias gente ha gastado los ahorros familiares y ahorros para la universidad de sus hijos. Entonces si puedes obtener el número de cuentas de la persona indicada, si no es demasiado tarde, y cancelar todas sus tarjetas de crédito.

En algún momento deberás confrontarlo. Cuado lo hagas, es importante no gritarle y no enojarse; sino diles como te afecta lo que están haciendo. Asegurate de que la gente cercana a ellos estén ahí para ayudarte y apoyarte (sin contradecirte).

Es importante que todos tomen turnos y le digan a la persona como su adicción a las apuestas ha afectado sus relaciones, sin hacerlo agresivamente, sino tranquilamente. Esto ayudara a la persona a darse cuenta que la gente que lo quiere esta viendo algo que el no ve, y comenzara a mirar a sus acciones con otros ojos.

Recuerda, el objetivo de confrontarlo no es de hacerlos dejar de apostar completamente, pero ayudarlos a reconocer que tienen un problema. Y buscar ayuda profesional.

Algunas personas recomiendan que lleves a la persona a Encuentros de Adictos Anónimos a las Apuestas, pero yo no creo que sea buena idea. Aunque esta sea una organización que ayuda a aquellos con problemas de apuestas a alejarse de ellas, creo que algunos necesitan una sesión o dos con un psicólogo o un consejero entrenado para tratar con adictos al juego.

Luego de que todo este dicho y hecho, deberás estar listo ya que la mayor parte del tiempo el apostador seguirá apostando, quizás lo intenten hacer en secreto pero no se detendrá completamente.

En la mayoría de las adicciones, la persona con el problema necesita tocar el fondo, y luego cuando haya perdido todo lo que significa para el importante (familia, amigos, trabajo), comenzaran a ver el problema y buscar ayuda. Si conoces a alguien que no admite tener el problema de ser adicto, te recomiendo que si ya has intentado tu mejor esfuerzo, deberás estar listo a alejarte, y recuerda que en algún punto debes abandonar a un barco hundido antes de ir abajo a buscarlo.

Para encontrar más información sobre el tema puedes buscar en Apostadores Anónimos.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Communication par Internet entre Franchiseurs et Franchises

Cette communication entre franchiseurs et franchisés peut donc se faire aujourd'hui via Internet ou câbles de d'interconnexion reliant les franchises via leur réseau et permet de rentabiliser le travail des franchisés par le gain de temps en recherche d'informations si ce dernier est correctement utilisé.

Les franchisés peuvent alors passer leurs commandes en ligne et contrôler les dates de livraisons. La plus part des grandes franchises utilisent le système "à la minute", qui permet de connaître au moment précis l'état des stocks ou encore les livraisons effectuées à leur franchisés. Cela a donc réellement permis d'activer le processus et signifie également que le franchisé peut mieux réorganiser ses stocks sans être à court au moment X.

Les systèmes les plus pointus permettent également aux franchisés de s'approvisionner auprès d'un autre franchisé si le franchiseur est à cours de stock.

Les demandes peuvent être connectées au réseau et toutes les ventes peuvent être relayées auprès des franchiseurs. Cela implique donc que la plus part des cas des demandes d'ordres peuvent être retirées directement par le franchisé.

Pour le franchiseur, cela est fantastique car il n'est alors plus nécessaire de perdre du temps à rechercher le franchisé disposant de la quantité adéquate désirée qui pourrait répondre urgemment à la demande.

Les franchisés en tire un avantage certain car ils voient leur travail diminué et leur permet de passer plus de temps sur les problèmes marketings et la gestion de la relation clientèle.

Par ailleurs, les franchisés peuvent maintenant payer en même temps en ligne le franchiseur et les fournisseurs sans avoir recours aux carnets de chèques, enveloppes et postage. Une solution simple de payement en ligne donne de nombreux avantages que ne peuvent procurer les méthodes de payements classiques. En plus d'augmenter leur facilité de caisse, ce système leur permet également de réduire les risques de fraude.

Par exemple, une grande société de jeux carte possédant bon nombre de franchises. L'une d'entre elle se retrouve à cours de jeux que l'on vient de lui demander. Un simple passage sur Intranet et elle peut alors renseigner exactement son client quant aux délais de livraison du produit.

D'autres systèmes encore plus perfectionnés permettent de voir leurs comptes, rendant alors leur travail plus aisé grâce à une analyse plus objective. Le comptable est ainsi capable de voir en temps et en heure toute transaction effectuée et de récupérer les données des autres franchises.

Mais l'Intranet permet aussi à l'entreprise d'y déposer ses brochures, de visionner les dernières vidéos publicitaires de la société et éventuellement aider les franchiseurs en leur adressant un feedback sur la manière d'améliorer leur politique marketing pour le futur. Ils peuvent également tenir leurs opérateurs informés de façon régulière de manière manuelle.

Pour cela, un accès Internet haut débit est obligatoire, les franchisés développant habituellement leur business depuis leur ordinateur. Cela implique au franchiseur de devoir former son franchisé quant à l'utilisation et la maintenance de leur outil informatique.

es franchiseurs aiment adopter ce système afin de renforcer l'image de marque de la compagnie et faire participer activement leurs franchisés au cœur de cette dernière.

Toutefois, les dangers de l'utilisation d'Internet (ou intranet) sont nombreux. Si le serveur principal des franchiseurs tombe en panne et ne dispose pas de back up adéquate ou une facilité d'accès d'autres serveurs, tous les réseaux des franchisés peut être pénalisé.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Common Mistakes When It Comes To Refinancing

There are many reasons for refinancing your mortgage. Refinancing can reduce your interest rates, your monthly payment, or both. Often, refinancing is an effective way to consolidate debt and to reach your long term financial goals.

However, there are many common mistakes when it comes to refinancing, some of them so serious they could cause you to lose your home. Identifying pitfalls is the best way to make a refinancing decision you will not later regret.

When refinancing, you do not want to eliminate all the equity you have worked so hard to build. Home ownership is all about building equity – it is the equity in your home that makes it one of, if not the most valuable investment you will ever make.

This does not mean refinancing your home is always a bad financial decision – in fact, often refinancing can be a big step toward reaching your long-term financial goals. And it is the equity in your home that allows you to refinance in the first place. What you want is a loan that allows you to borrow against some – but not all – of your equity.

The most common mistake homeowners make with regards to canceling equity is cash-out refinancing. On the surface, cash-out options can appear extremely attractive, because they allow you to take cash out of your loan amount and put it in your pocket. You can use the cash to pay off debt, but taking cash out reduces the equity in your home, and can even eliminate it altogether.

To avoid this refinancing pitfall, consider a second mortgage as an alternative to refinancing with a cash-out option, especially if the interest rate is higher on the new cash-out loan. Already have a second mortgage? Then refinancing with a cash-out loan is very likely to eliminate all your equity. Instead, you can refinance both mortgages into one new mortgage with a cash-out option.

Another form of refinancing homeowners might regret is refinancing from a fixed rate mortgage (FRM) to an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). Homeowners often do this to lower their monthly payments, but with an ARM, the interest rate is not locked in. Sure, the payments may be lower now, but if interest rates go up, future payments could be higher than the payments you were trying to reduce.

Refinancing options that homeowners are not likely to regret include refinancing from an ARM to an FRM in order to lock in a low interest rate. This is a decision that is usually made with long-term financial goals in mind.

Another refinancing decision that is generally sound is refinancing to the same type of mortgage with a lower interest rate than the current loan. So long as the borrower expects to remain in the home long enough for the interest savings to cover the cost of refinancing, the borrower usually will not regret this decision.

Low interest rates and a lucrative real estate market have prompted many homeowners to consider refinancing. But with predatory lending on the rise, it is up to you, the homeowner, to protect your investment. Fortunately, the Federal Truth in Lending Act is a safeguard for those who refinance a loan on their primary residence with a different lender. This Act guarantees borrowers the “right of rescission,” meaning they can cancel the debt within 3 days of closing. Not many borrowers take advantage of this option, but those who do are not stuck with a refinancing decision they will come to regret.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Common credit mistakes

  • Using expensive or undesirable types of credit costs too much and is
    negatively scored
  • Accumulating too many lines of credit or too many credit cards causes
    credit report remarks like "too much consumer credit."
  • 3. Only paying the minimum due keeps balances too high. make sure you make
    it a habit to always pay more than minimum
  • 4. Maxing out your credit card will drop your score dramatically
  • 5. Cash advances from Credit cards cost higher interest rates and credit
    cards companies love you, when you do that
  • 6. Exceeding limits and having to pay over-limit fees is a negative with
    creditors and causes "high proportional amounts owed" remarks on credit
    reports and subtracts credit score points.
  •  Charging more than you can afford causes a snowball effect of debt
    with no easy way to pay it off.
  • Ignoring credit problems causes unnecessary negative impact. Talk to your
    creditors, and give them a heads up that you are about to be late. This wont
    always work, but sometimes creditors wont report it to bureaus
  • Always report change of address to your creditors in a timely manner

Arslan

AmeriFico -
Credit Repair
& Analysis

Dallas, TX

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Commercial Mortgages Transform - Jan 2007 update

Many commercial lenders have effectively (if not actually) shut their doors. For the rest of us, the resulting volume is so great our appraisal and processing systems are stressed to the limit. Several of our competitors are not even taking any more loans just to get through the current overload in their systems. We have chosen to push through the current avalanche of loans, and will continuing to entertain your new loan requests - all while trying to keep our rates very competitive.

What has changed (at least for now, and especially on larger loans) is our desire to only look at solid apartment and commercial properties, with borrowers that add to the overall strength of the loan. To lessen our processing overload, we have temporarily "closed the tap" on hotels/motels, gas stations, owner/user properties, environmental issue properties, "poor-credit" borrowers, etc. This is intended to help "unclog" the backlog so that your more traditional loans will go through faster.

For loans $3,000,000 and above, we are going to be strictly looking for traditional properties, nothing exotic, no stories, issues, or moving parts. Policy DSCRs and LTVs will be strictly adhered to. Borrowers will need to have average credit scores of 680 or better, their adjusted net worth must be 150% or greater than the loan amount, personal debt ratios cannot exceed 40%, etc.

Loans under $3,000,000 have more flexibility in all these areas. The range of acceptable product types is greater, we will look at a wider range of borrower credit and issues, and we can look at offsetting strengths and weakness (where we will not in larger loans).

Debt Service Coverage Ratios are on the rise as we see the economy weaken… 1.20 ratios for residential and 1.25 (or higher) ratios for commercial for the time being...

Though I'm not sure for how much longer… we are still offering to lock your loan, for up to 90 days, at no cost to your borrower.

And yes, we still offer you 1/2% rebate pricing - up to $15,000.00 per transaction.
I have enclosed our latest rate sheet for your review, and I will be happy to discuss your next transaction. On loans over $3,000,000 I will want to see reliable borrower financial data along with your submission - but feel free to call to discuss the transaction even if you do not have "everything" in hand.

For the short term, loans can be expected to take 60-90 days to close. We cannot handle any "rush" transactions for at least the next 60 days. Please let your borrowers all know to structure sales with longer closing dates!! If you have a 1031 exchange, make sure all parties can live with the reality of these closing times. The shortage of quality lenders with good rates, and the uncertainty of the market, will pass and the market will settle. Until then, we will try hard to meet your financing needs. My best wishes to you for the New Year!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Commercial Endowment - Your Options

Property development is big business. The rash of TV programmes about home makeovers and renovations reflects our current obsession with property as a way to make big bucks, quickly. It may seem a failsafe way to make a killing – buy a shabby house, paint the place magnolia, add laminate flooring, and bingo!

In reality, of course, property development means a lot of hard work, and involves a certain degree of risk. Many developers will have more than one property on the go at once – and to cover repayments can end up being an expensive business. If you factor in the time it takes to renovate a property, then advertise and sell it, it adds up to several months when you will have to be paying out on a mortgage. Not only that, but the fact that rates for commercial property are generally higher than for residential mortgages, and it can be a costly period indeed. Other reasons you may require a commercial mortgage is if you are buying business premises or buy to let property. For all of these needs, you will want to keep your monthly outgoings as low as possible.

One solution is taking out an interest only mortgage, such as an endowment mortgage. This will minimise your monthly repayments, and the extra security provided by the endowment policy could result in the lender offering a better interest rate for your mortgage. You will be paying interest instalments, plus separate amounts into an endowment policy. The payment of the capital, or principal will come from the proceeds of the endowment policy. (Bear in mind that the tax benefits have changed since endowments had their heyday in the 80s and 90s.)

Endowments – The Bad Press

In recent years there have been scandalous reports about endowment policies being mis-sold – thousands of people lost out when their policies failed to produce the lump sum needed to pay off the capital. The FSA, after investigating, reported that the problem had been exaggerated – most people with endowment policies are as well off as those with other types of mortgage. However, endowments are investments linked to the stock market, and as such do represent a financial risk. Insurance companies were forced to pay compensation to some investors who had received bad advice when they took out an endowment policy.

If you end up with an endowment policy that has not produced the money to pay off your capital, you may be entitled to compensation if the advice you received was not sufficient to make you aware of the risk involved. You can also consider selling your endowment in the traded endowments market, which could make you more than surrendering it to the insurance company.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Comment Resserer les Liens de L'Amitie

Lors de multiples discussions avec de nombreuses femmes combinant vie professionnelle et vie familiale, il est toujours apparu le regret de ne pas avoir assez de temps pour soi. L'abandon au fur et a mesure du temps de ses amies d'antan, il en est ressorti que ce qui motive une personne a jouer de plus en plus au casino et autres jeux d'argent est son rapport a la vie.
Pour ces dernieres, la vie elle meme est un jeu. Respirer est un jeu,sortir hors de chez soi est un jeu, bref, meme le quotidien est un jeu. mais le casino, quant a lui, nous offre des sensations uniques car les paris ne sont, contrairement aux mouvemet quotidiens,bases que sur le fruit du hasard. Le casino procure a l'homme une montee d'adrenaline hors norme. Le risque est donc plus fort.


Ainsi, de cette etude. il en est ressorti les resultats suivants:


Le temps des vacances:

Ces 10 dernieres annees, Las Vegas est devenue l'endroit populaire pour jouer en famille car a la mise en place de systeme de resort et d'attractions familiales.


Pour gagner et devenir riche :

De toutes personnes interviewees ces personnes sont les plus representatives du phenomene. Elles sont venues au casino avec l'espoir de devenir riches et de pouvoir changer le cours de leur destin.


Problèmes d'argent :

Rejoint l'idee precedente. Beaucoup semble croire qu'ils peuvent regler leurs problemes d'argent en jouant. Or, il y a aussi de forte chance, si madame chance n'est pas la, qu'elles engrangent d'avantages de pertes et de problemes si elles ne peuvent gerer leurs jeux et leurs mises.

Salle de Mariage:

Pour certains, se rendre au casino est l'endroit ideal pour celebrer son mariage. Un peu comme dans une eglise quoi. Et de preference a Las Vegas ou Salt Lake City. Leurs salles deviennent a la mode pour ce genre d'evenement en raison de leur prix rentable, l'originalite de leur hall d'accueil et l'espace de la salle pouvant accueillir grand nombre d'invites.


Leurs revenus.

Pour certains, le casino est comme un metier. Certains y passent toute leur journee pour pouvoir remporter une sorte de "salaire" plus ou moins eleve d'ici la fin du mois.


Pour trouver l'ame soeur:

Vous n'imagineriez pas le nombre de personnes celibataires se rendant en casino lors de parties de celibataires, uniquement dns l'espoir de trouver l'ame soeur et pourtant. Grand nombre de personnes interrogees y ont mentionne ce desir.


Pour fuir de chez soi :

La majorite des personnes interrogees ayant repondu pour sortir de chez soi sont essentiellement des gens de la gente masculine, tous maries depuis plus de 10 ans et peres de famille. Ces derniers se rendent generalement au casino en moyenne une fois par mois pendant quelques heures avant de rentrer.


Pour le plaisir :

Ces personnes auraient eu la bonne reponse. Toutefois, j'ai du mal a croire que cette categorie, qui devrait apparaitre en premiere place, ne se trouve au final qu'au bas de la liste. En effet, jouer au casino devrait etre avant tout une partie de plaisir. Integrer une ambiance hors pair d'un casino reel, avoir des boissons gratuites et ameliorer leur techniques de jeux, telles sont leurs principales preoccupations.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Coming To A Post Box Near You!

You know the procedure by now, you get out of bed, walk downstairs grab a cup of coffee and go and look for what you have in your mail box, the majority of us know that its usually filled with fliers and mailings offering the next best interest rate for home loans….but we usually never even bother to go further by opening the envelope to the details inside.

But! What if on the front it said “What did you neighbors pay for their house? See inside for details..” would you be tempted? I have to put my hands up and say “Yes” I would not because I’m a nosey neighbor but I’d be curious to know what “so and so” down the street sold their house for. Well that’s the new technique you may find from now on if a company called “Donania” has anything to do with it.

Domania is now allowing lenders of home loans access to their data base of home pricing for use in their direct mailings. What does that mean to you, well now instead of just receiving a generic letter with just an interest rate on the front (they found a very poor opening rate for this type of mailing...We all know, most if not all of these offer's went straight into your trash can.) you now receive a more targeted offer as the lender can quote the house prices in your street, they’ve also found by doing this type of mailing that they now have more people enquiring about home equity loans who never had before, when they realize how much extra equity they now have in their home.

So don’t be surprised to find one in your mail box tomorrow….. and by the way would you be tempted to open it??? be honest... I thought so!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

College Student Credit

If you're a college student, chances are you've been offered more than a few credit cards. Maybe you have a friend who has already run up credit card bills on par with her student debt, and so you've steered clear of the credit card offers. Or maybe you're one of the few who have received their first credit cards and used them responsibly - so far, at least. Regardless, you probably don't realize just how important responsible use of your first credit card is to your financial future. It could have a significant impact on whether or not you'll be able to get financing for your first new car or house, and increasingly, it could even determine whether or not you get hired for your first professional job.

If you're not a college student, be sure to forward this message to anyone you know who is -- it's that important.

The Importance of Building Credit History

For many people, credit is a Catch-22: They can't get approved for credit because they don't have a credit history, but they can't build a credit history without first being approved for credit. Luckily for them, college students don't tend to have this problem. Credit card companies view them as low risk, at least compared to other young people with no credit, and so they're willing to give them a first chance. As a new cardholder, it's vitally important that you make good use of this first chance.

When you have a credit card, the issuing company reports information to each of the three major credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. This information includes the amount of credit you've been approved for, how much of that credit you are currently using, and most importantly, your payment history. All payments - both late and timely - show up on your credit report, and even one late payment can hurt you rather badly when you lack a solid credit history. This is why you should always, no matter what, pay at least the minimum due on each of your credit card bills. Always Try To Pay More Than The Minimum Due

While it's important to always pay at least the minimum due, you should never only pay this amount unless you are completely unable to pay more. In fact, it may not be a bad idea to pay the minimum immediately upon receiving your bill and then pay more later in the month when you have more money.

If you pay less than the total amount due, you will be charged interest on your next bill. Even though the credit card company holds you in higher esteem than one of your high school peers who didn't go on to college, they still regard you as a rather risky proposition - which means you'll probably be paying a very high interest rate. If you only pay the minimum due on a card with a high interest rate, it could take you several years to pay off even a modest amount of debt.

Take Advantage of Your Opportunities - But Use Your Credit Wisely

Believe it or not, it may be easier to get approved for credit while you're in college then after you get out - particularly if you don't start a professional job right away (or at all). The high interest rates you're asked to pay are just part of being a newcomer to the world of adult finance. But then again, if you always pay your credit card bills in full, interest rates will be irrelevant.

Regardless of all the cautionary tales, you should definitely open up at least one credit card account while in college to begin building a solid credit history. If you can show the credit card companies that you're responsible, you'll soon be paying much lower interest rates, and you'll be able to get that new car or house when the time is right. If you ignore or abuse your credit opportunities in college, it could be one of the worst mistakes of your life. You're an adult now - it's time to stand up, take responsibility, and enjoy your share of the American Dream. And it all begins with responsible use of credit!

To see our full listing of Student cards, simply visit: http://www.CC-Yes.com/categories/student_credit_cards

Monday, December 6, 2010

Collecting The Levy

The Financial Management Service (FMS) is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, to provide a centralized debt collection service to most federal agencies. The FMS has begun utilizing two Congressionally mandated federal debt collection programs. One is devised to collect delinquent non-tax debt by neutralizing federal payments and the other is to collect delinquent tax debt from those individuals who receive federal payments.

The Tax Payer Relief Act of 1997 authorized the IRS to collect delinquent tax debts from individuals and businesses that receive federal payments, by levying up to 15% of each payment until the debt is paid.

Before the IRS transmits an electric file to the FMS, the IRS will send each tax debtor a notice by certified mail that will include the tax bill, a statement of the intent to levy, an explanation of the debtor's rights to appeal, and an IRS phone number to inquiries and assistance. The intent to levy notice will also inform the debtor that if arrangements are made to repay the debt within thirty days of the notice, the levy will be dismissed.

To those debtors who receive Social Security benefits, a second notice will be sent as an opportunity to make payment arrangements to repay the debt and to avoid an IRS levy. As the payments are made, the FMS will send a notice to the debtor with explanation of the reduced payment, along with contacting the IRS to answer any questions regarding past debt. A debtor can make payment arrangements through the IRS at any time, whether its before a tax levy is issued or after the tax levy begins, to be released from an IRS tax levy.

Federal tax debts will be collected by FMS through The Treasury Offset Program (TOP), a program that is also used to collect non-tax debt. The TOP database, which is maintained by FMS, includes delinquent debtor information that has been submitted by federal agencies. As with the tax levy program, the IRS will supply the FMS with an electronic file containing tax debt information to be compiled in the TOP database.

FMS will match the federal payment information with the TOP database and the contact the IRS if they find any matches that would specifically identify any debtors that are recipients of Social Security benefit payments. The IRS will then send a notice of levy to the FMS to reduce matched payments continuously at a rate of 15% until the debt is paid, until other repayment arrangements are made, or until the expiration of the statutory collection period.

In February of 2002, the FMS started reducing the IRS garnishment amounts of Social Security beneficiaries who owed delinquent federal tax debts, by sending the IRS the levied amounts and sending the balance of the payments to the tax payer.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

College Scholarships: How To Find Money For School And Get The Help You Need!

Many potential college students don't end up attending university due to a lack of money, however there are thousands of college scholarship programs available. Here is a list of the most common types of college scholarships that students can apply for:

• Private organisations
• Corporate awards
• College-specific awards
• Athletic award
• Union funded scholarship
• Military scholarship
• Academic scholarship
• Departmental awards

College scholarships awarded by the college that a student is attending are subject to strict terms of acceptance. This type of college scholarship is constantly re-evaluated throughout the length of the course that the student is funded for and can be withdrawn if the student fails to keep to the agreed terms.

An athletic scholarship is fairly self-explanatory but this type of college scholarship is probably the hardest for a student to obtain. There are hundreds of thousands of highly gifted athletes from a range of sports every year that apply for an athletic college scholarship and the numbers awarded are extremely low. It is worth bearing in mind that only the top flight schools will offer an athletic college scholarship.

The academic scholarships are one of the few that do not actually require the student to apply for them. This is because the college normally awards an academic scholarship based on the college application alone. Obviously, the very nature of an academic scholarship means that a student will require outstanding academic potential to be offered a full academic college scholarship and it is more common for a particle college scholarship to be awarded.

A departmental scholarship is most commonly awarded by a specific department of a college to either attract or retain students for courses run by that particular department. The individual department will provide information as to whether they offer any type of special scholarship or not.

There are many private organisations that offer some form of partial college scholarship. These often depend on the area that a student lives in but national organisations may also offer a student a college scholarship but the competition for these can be fierce.

On the other hand, many corporations actually have a college scholarship program but fail to award them because of a lack of applicants. The corporations may offer a college scholarship to students to attract them into the particular line of work that the corporation is in or simply to offer students in their community the chance to attend college.

Unions have a large amount of money allocated to a college scholarship fund. These are usually aimed at students who are going to enter a field of study related to the type of union.

Finally, the various branches of the military all have an extensive college scholarship program. A military college scholarship is often extremely generous but is awarded in exchange for a pre-agreed length of service after graduation in the particular branch that sponsored the student.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Collection Harassment & Resolving Debt Pt. 2

In the last section we covered your rights against harassment and abuse by collectors. We also covered some options that your creditor may have to help you resolve your delinquent debt. Again I repeat that this is not legal advice but a guideline of your rights and options.

Before we begin I would like to share a little info about myself. I was a collector for about 10 years until health problems forced me to leave the profession in 2003. I was really proficient and often resolved account no one else could. My supervisors would sometimes have poor performers sit next to me and the next month they would be getting bonus money. With that experience I may have some insight to share.

If your account is in collections and you simply can’t catch them up you still have options. We will explore all of them.

1) Check with your creditor to see what programs they may have to assist.

2) Pay the furthest past due payment each month.-This doesn’t catch you up ever but it keeps the situation from getting worse

3) Consumer Credit Counseling--- there are many different organizations that do this. Some of them are businesses, some are not for profit. Check with the United Way. You simply pay them a set amount each month and they disperse it to your creditors. Most creditors will give special benefits to someone on this program. Typically they will bring the account current after 3 consecutive payments. (Similar to the cure program discussed in previous chapter) Since your account is current then, there are no late fees assessed. Additionally and perhaps even more beneficial is that most will reduce interest. Typically they drop the interest rate, usually to 6%-9%. Your creditors policy may be different. Your creditor will probably close your account for future charges with this option. In some case this option may save your creditor from being ruined by late payments.

4) Bankruptcy—This is also an option. Individual bankruptcy can be either 1 of 2 chapters.

7 is a straight liquidation. In other words, all of your unsecured debt is wiped out if the court approves your bankruptcy. You still must pay for your secured debts if you wish to keep them. The court MAY force you to sell some of your assets. But just because you file Chapter 7 doesn’t mean you will lose your home or car. If you are at this point I strongly advise you to consult an attorney on what filing would mean to you.

Chapter 13 is similar except that your delinquent payments are paid over a period of 3 to 5 years in addition to your current payments. You may have to pay all, none or a small percentage of your unsecured debt over the term of the plan. Again if you feel this is an option then consult an attorney. If you decide this is the option for you then be aware of these facts. Once you notify your creditor that you have retained an attorney for bankruptcy and give them the attorneys name and a way to contact them, the creditor MUST stop all collection activity for “ a reasonable time”. Once the case has been filed they must stop all collection activity against you.

FAQ Q I mentioned to the collectors that I may file bankruptcy. They said not to because my credit will be ruined for 10 years. Is this true. A. First lets look at who told you that. A collector. His/her job is to get you to pay the debt. He may or may not get a bonus off getting you to pay. What is true is that it will report on your credit bureau for up to 10 years. Maybe even less. Will you ever be able to get credit again? Most likely. It depends on many factors. What is true that it may be more difficult to get credit but not impossible. You may also pay a higher interest rate than you would if you had never went past due.

I personally had to file a chapter 7 in 1996 after my son was in accident with medical bills over ½ million dollars. 30 days after the case was finalized I was able to get financed on a 1-year-old truck with no money down. 18 months later I had credit cards and had purchased a house and got it financed.

There are lenders whom will finance you but they charge higher interest rates This is called “sub-prime lending” Just because you are behind on your bills and cant catch up the past due payments doesn’t always mean you should file bankruptcy.

Communicate with your creditor first and see what options are available, look into credit counseling to see if they can help. New laws coming into effect may make that a requirement before bankruptcy can be filed.

Q I got 4 months behind on my bills when I lost my job. I got caught up but my creditor will not fix my credit. What can I do to make them remove the bad mark against me. An If you where 4 months past due and they are reporting that, they are following the law. If a creditor reports they must report accurately This quote is from the Fair Credit Reporting Act “Reporting information with actual knowledge of errors. A person shall not furnish any information relating to a consumer to any consumer reporting agency if the person knows or consciously avoids knowing that the information is inaccurate. “ In other words, they can’t report that you weren’t past due if you where and vice versa. The only way they can change a report is if it was due to the fault of the creditor. (i.e. payments posted to wrong account)

However you can place a statement into your credit file that explains any derogatory info. (i.e I was behind because of unemployment) As long as that negative information is on file that statement must accompany it. It is up to the person with whom you applied to for credit who makes the decision of if you are granted credit or not. The credit bureaus do not determine if you get credit. They simply relay your score which is based a many factors such as payment history, recent inquiries, % of total credit available to you that you have used, and income to debt ratio.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Collection Harassment & Resolving Debt Pt. 1

So you are getting collection calls? You’re desk is full of unpaid bills. You dread answering the phone. You are having trouble sleeping at night because you are worrying about a bunch of bills. You feel depressed.

Does any of this sound familiar? If it does then, maybe this article can help you. First of all you need to realize that you are not the only one. You are not alone. Then you need to know that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

This article is not meant to be legal advice. It is to let you know your rights under the law. Perhaps it will steer you in the right direction. As this site is targeted for residents of Jacksonville, I will only deal with Florida statutes. I will explain your rights under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is legislation that was enacted in 1977 to stop abusive collection practices. I quote the Florida State Attorney General How to Protect Yourself: Debt Collections/Consumer Source: The Florida Attorney General's Office

You may have questions relating to debt collections if you are contacted by a "debt collector," someone who regularly tries to collect debts owed to others. A debt collector may contact you if you are behind in your payments to a creditor on a personal, family or household debt, or if an error has been made in your account. A debt collector may contact you in person, by mail, telephone, telegram, or fax. However, a collector may not communicate with you or your family with such frequency as can reasonably be expected to be harassing. A debt collector may not contact you at work if the collector knows your employer disapproves. A collector may not contact you at unreasonable times or places, such as before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., unless you agree.

A debt collector is required to send you a written notice within five days after you are first contacted, telling you the amount of money you owe. The notice must also specify the name of the creditor to whom you owe the money, and what action to take if you believe you do not owe the money. You may stop a collector from contacting you by writing a letter to the agency telling them to stop. Once the agency receives your letter, they may not contact you again except to say there will be no further contact, or to notify you if the debt collector or the creditor intends to take some specific action. If you do not believe you owe the debt, you may write to the collection agency within 30 days after you are first contacted saying you don't owe the money. The agency may not contact you after that unless you are sent proof of the debt, such as a copy of the bill.

A debt collector may not harass or abuse any person. For instance, a collector may not use threats of violence against the person, property or reputation, use obscene or profane language, advertise the debt, or A debt collector may not use false statements, such as: falsely implying that they are attorneys, that you have committed a crime, or that they operate or work for a credit bureau or misrepresenting the amount of your debt, the involvement of an attorney in collecting a debt, or indicating that papers sent to you are legal forms when they are not. Debt collectors may not tell you that you will be arrested if you do not pay, that they will seize, garnish, attach, or sell your property or wages, unless the collection agency or creditor intends to do so and has a legal right to do so, or that a lawsuit will be filed against you, when they have no legal right to file or do not intend to file such a suit.

If you have a question about whether the collection agency which has contacted you is properly registered, you may file a complaint either with the Attorney General's office or the Federal Trade Commission, Correspondence Branch, Washington, D.C. 20580. You may file suit against the collection agency for violating state and/or federal law. If you prevail, you may be awarded your actual damages, attorney’s fees and costs. The protection he mentions is from the FDCPA. The FDCPA is not a Florida law. It is a federal law. The law provides for stiff penalties for debt collectors (i.e. the actual collector or the company or agency for which he/she works). This means that you do not have to put up with collection harassment or being insulted or threatened with such things as going to jail, criminal charges, seizing you wages, calling your employer or friends and family to tell them about the debt. You do not deserve this type of treatment and should not stand for it. They may not misrepresent themselves. They can’t tell you they are from the Sheriff’s Office, “warrants processing”, or an attorney’s office (unless they do work for an attorney). Most of the abusive practices are done over the phone. Letters and correspondence will usually comply with the law.

If you feel that a collector(s) are being abusive you have several options : 1) contact the supervisor or owner of the agency. The one on the phone is usually an hourly employee. Higher ups normally want their people to comply with the law as to prevent costly lawsuits against them.

2) You may also notify them that they are not to call you again. This should be done in writing by certified mail with return receipt so that you have proof that you did advise them not to call you. This is a no call request. You should only do this after repeated incidents. Why do I say this? You may get one call where the collector is rude. The next one you get may not be.

Having done collections for many years, I often had calls where the person was angry from the last person they had spoken to. But by working with them I was able to come to a mutually agreeable solution. So because you had one bad experience doesn’t mean they are all like that.
Many collectors strive to stay within the law. But you do have the right to do this under the law.

3) Contact the Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov).

4) Consult an attorney. The bottom line is that you don’t have to take abusive practices. Bear in mind also that they can’t harass you. Calling you one time every 3-7 days isn’t harassment. Calling you repeatedly on the same day after they have done spoke to you may be considered collection harassment. Calling before 8 am and after 9pm is against the FDCPA. An attorney can best determine if it is.

Perhaps the problem isn’t that you are being harassed or abused. You are behind and don’t know what to do. You know you owe the debt but don’t have the money to resolve it right now. Lets look at your options. Debt is either of 2 kinds. Secured or unsecured. A secured debt means that there is an asset that secures it, such as a house or a car. Unsecured is normally a credit card or similar account.

With a secured debt the creditor has the right to take possession of the secured asset if you do not pay. You may also be liable for the balance of what was owed less what the creditor sold it for. With an unsecured debt the debt continues going past due until it “charges off”. This means the creditor has to remove it from the books as an asset. This doesn’t mean they just “write it off” and the debt goes away. Typically they will either send it to a collection agency to try to recover or they may send it to a collection attorney to take action. This is up to the creditor to decide which action they will take.

Now less review your options.

1)Keep the lines of communication open between you and your creditor. They want to work with you to resolve it. It does neither you nor them any good if they have to repot your car or charge off your account. If you have run into problems, let them know.

2) Don’t promise something that you can’t do. If you can’t commit to an amount then don’t say you will. Creditors normally keep track of the number of times you break your promises and it some case it may influence their actions later on.

3) Most secured creditors will allow you to skip one or two payments and put it on the back of the loan. Each one has different rules for this.

4) Most unsecured creditors have programs to work with debtors. The most prevalent one is a “reage” or “cure” program. For instance, your monthly payment is $50. You are 4 months behind. You don’t have the money to catch it up. But you could make that $50 a month payment now. I have seen this scenario many times in my years as a collector. The statement is wanting $200 and they can only do $50. With a “reage” or “cure” program they would just have to resume making the $50 a month and after 3 months the account is current. Which means it will report to the credit bureau as current and it will not be getting late fees since it isn’t considered late any more. Call your creditor and ask about a “reage” program. They may call it something else.

5) Credit Card companies have a minimum payment, which is usually something like 2.5% of the balance plus any overlimit amount. I have seen many people get behind and have their credit affected by it because of this. View the example Credit limit balance Payment % Minimum MIN+ ovrlmt 1000 1100 3.0 $33 $133 In this example the payment being requested by the credit card company is $133. The person may get this and be unable to pay the $133. Instead they pay nothing. Hence their account goes past due.

The next statement the the amount is even greater since there was no payment the month before and it is even more overlimit because of finance charges, late fees and overlimit fees. However if the person had paid the $33(3% of balance) the account wouldn’t have went past due. It would still have gotten an overlimit fee but no late fees since it is still current on the payments. Check your cardholder agreement to determine the minimum payment percentage.

I realize this has been lengthy. I hope it has been of some help. Check back again for the next article in this series. If you know someone this can help, please refer them to the site.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Collection Agency Law Explained

If you have ever been contacted by a collection agency, you know that it can be an unpleasant experience. A collection agency can turn simple acts, such as checking the mail or answering the phone, into dreaded tasks. However, it is important to know that there is a law in place intended to protect the people that collection agencies contact. The FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) was enacted to keep debt collectors from abusing, harassing, or deceiving a person when attempting to collect a debt. It also gives debt collectors strict guidelines to follow when collecting a debt. In this article, we will have this collection agency law explained in simple terms, to better inform debtors of their rights.

For starters, the FDCPA outlines very clear practices for debt collectors to follow when contacting a debtor. Debt collectors are only allowed to call during reasonable hours (usually 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.), but they are also allowed to call a debtor at work. However, if the debtor notifies the collection agent that their employer wants the calls to cease, the debt collector must stop calling the person’s place of employment.

There are also rules of conduct a collection agency must follow when collecting a debt. A debt collector is forbidden from harassing any person from whom they are trying to collect a debt.Examples of harassment include excessively calling, insulting the debtor, or using obscene language. A debt collector is also not allowed to make false statements when collecting a debt. Examples of false statements include posing as a government official, making threats (lawsuits, imprisonment, seizing of home and property, etc.), or telling the debtor they owe more than they actually do. In addition, a debt collector can not use unfair practices in attempting to collect a debt. These practices include collecting an amount larger than what the debtor actually owes, or suing the debtor for a debt they do not owe.

The FDCPA requires collection agencies to notify debtors of their rights, and any correspondence (mail or phone) has to contain the information that the contact is being used to collect a debt. The only reason a collection agency can contact a third party (family or friend) is to acquire the debtor’s phone number or address. If the collection agency has this information, they are forbidden to contact a third party. It is also illegal for collection agencies to tell a third party that they are attempting to collect a debt.

The FDCPA is in place to protect the rights of debtor’s while making a collection agent’s job clear and concise. If a person being contacted by a debt collector feels that they are experiencing the violations discussed in this article, it is important that these misconducts are accurately documented. The reason for this is so that the claims can be proven if the debtor decides to take legal action.

Now that you have had this collection agency law explained, you should feel more confident about your rights if you are ever contacted by a debt collector. It is best to avoid the situation altogether by staying current on your debts, but it is good to know that the FDCPA exists if ever find yourself on the receiving end of a collection call.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Cleaning the Mess in Your Credit Report

An important factor that plays an important role in
maintaining a clean credit report is actually the
contents of your credit report. The credit report is
pretty much the story of your financial life,
contained in a detailed document.

The credit report carries the credit score, which is a
numeric ranking usually between 300 and 850. Several
lenders use the credit score to help them decided
whether you are worthy of a credit. More so, the score
is also used to determine your capability of paying a
loan. The credit report is important and cleaning or
maintaining a good credit report is vital to your
financial survival.

A Look inside the Credit Report

In a credit report, the first entry is normally your
personal information. It includes your name, listed
telephone number/s, previous and current addresses,
reported differences of your Social Security Number,
past and present employer and the date of birth.

The information regarding your credit accounts follows
your personal information entry. This is also listed
in detail and normally includes loans, the maximum
loan amount, and information of any joint account
holders or co-signers. The credit report also
incorporate a section, called Inquiries, which lists
any person who has recently requested a copy of the
credit report.

There are some states, wherein the credit report
contains public record information. This information
can feature overdue payments, bankruptcies or other
judgments in the court. Normally, these entries can
last for up to ten years and may affect your chances
of obtaining a loan negatively.

How to Start

Firstly, in order to clean your credit report, you
will need to order a copy of the report. You must
determine what is out of date or inaccurate, after
which you can submit a letter to the bureau requesting
fixes to the information. This process may take a long
time and you may be required to do several follow-ups
with each bureau before achieving a clean credit
report. However, to perform this correctly, you must
be aware of the information the credit agencies are
allowed to report and the duration.

Ordering a credit report can be easily done and
accessible to everyone, since at least one free report
can be obtained by the consumer each year; this rule
is also included under the FCRA or Fair Credit
Reporting Act. More so, the consumer is also allowed
to obtain a free copy of his or her credit report each
year from each of the three major companies handling
credit reporting, namely the Experian, TransUnion, and
Equifax. However, in case you have already obtained a
copy of your credit report this year, you may be
required to pay an additional fee if you want another
copy.

Once you have obtained your report, review it
carefully. Every detail must be inspected since
bureaus can sometimes confuse names, addresses or
employers. Most often, people who have common names
have credit reports that may contain information on
other variations of their name.

Additionally, it is important to perform a periodic
check on the credit report. It is advisable to order a
copy of the report once a year and dispute any
possible inaccuracies. Always take careful steps in
handling your payments and make sure not to make any
late payments. Time is of the essence and even minimum
payments should not be neglected. Remember that
carefully managing your credit can add as much as
fifty points to your credit score per year.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Citas a Ciegas

Para todo aquel que busque encontrar su alma gemela, media naranja, amor, enamorarse, un compañero de emociones o como quieras llamarlo es algo difícil de encontrar. Para algunos desde ya no es algo complicado, les ha pasado a los 15 años, 18, 22, en fin ya comparten el día y la mayor parte de sus vidas con alguien desde hace mucho. A otros, sin embargo les es más complicado y duro de encontrar.

La experiencia de las citas a ciegas es algo inolvidable, bueno o malo puede ser interesante. Como dicen, la experiencia es cuando no encuentras lo que buscas. Sin embargo hay casos en que esta experiencia se vuelve en lo que uno busca.

Si eres de aquellos que creen en que un amigo, familia o alguien que te conoce puede llegar a tener a alguien con el cual encuentres lo que buscas, la pregunta es ¿Por qué no probar?

En mi caso personal, experimente varias citas a ciegas y amigas mías también lo hicieron. Algunas fueron sorprendentes, en el sentido de buenas y otras de malas. Es como un juego de ruleta una pequeña probabilidad en muchas de que salgas feliz o que algo interesante salga de ello.

Una amiga de mi mama quiso que conozca al hermano de su nuera. Cuando llegue al lugar de la cita y lo vi, rápidamente me di cuenta de que no era para mi pero quizás podía pasar un buen rato. El chico, trajo consigo un poema que había escrito y quería decírmelo. Era una situación muy rara e incomoda ya que el y yo no concordábamos en nada y no teníamos nada que ver. El problema era que la amiga de mi mama no me conocía tanto, y creía que si. Es por eso que la cita no funciono.

En el caso de mi hermana, al mudarse a un país nuevo la única forma de conocer gente y chicos era por medio de citas. Lo gracioso de la historia es que la señora de la lavandería le propuso salir con su hijo y ella acepto. Al llegar a la cita el chico tenía labio leporino y era nada atractivo en su aspecto. Mi hermana no podía disimular no mirar a su labio y en el medio de la cita encontró a otro chico en la mesa de enfrente que le gusto.

Mi amigo, que es gay y yo salimos hace unas semanas a una fiesta con una amiga mía. Los dos se hicieron amigos y ella le comento que tiene un amigo de su clase de la universidad que también es gay y es muy lindo. Entonces arreglaron que por que no se conocían. AL final de la noche intercambiaron teléfonos y quedo ella en hablar con su amigo. Su amigo acepto y se llamaron. Al encontrarse los dos no tenían nada de lo que hablar y el otro para hacer la cita más corto no pudo disimular su desinterés y hacia todo rápido para irse antes.

En fin, las citas a ciegas son algo que debes hacer si la persona que los conecta los conoce bien y puede llegar a saber que te gustara de la otra persona o que buscas. Sin embargo no hay certeza de que saldrás contento de una forma u otra. Puede pasar que de casualidad la persona te encante y que si tienes la mente abierta saldrás ganando.