What is Personal Financial Planning?

Personal financial planning is about dealing with several different financial issues by using proper planning to achieve a desired outcome for your financial goals. In most cases, this kind of work is carried out by a personal financial planner.

Some of the strategies included in a detailed financial plan include cash flow management, debt management, risk management, retirement planning, investment advice and planning, estate planning, and asset protection.

Creating a Personal Financial Planning Strategy

Before you can develop your own strategy for the future of your finances, you’ll need to sit down and create a long term goal or set of goals. This is where annual financial checkup forms can be a great help to you.  Your individual desired outcome will usually be different to anyone else’s, so it’s important you consider carefully what’s important for you and your family.

Creating a strategy to manage your cash flow and your debt levels more proactively is usually a healthy place to begin, as you’ll find you often have far more disposable income to work with once your consumer debts are under control. Effective tax planning strategies are also a key in making sure your cash flow is as structured as possible and preventing financial planning mistakes.

From here, factoring in your long term investing goals, such as building up retirement savings or developing an investment portfolio to provide further income becomes important. Asset protection and risk management are also crucial steps to consider once your investments start to increase.

You need to be realistic about what goals you want to set for your future, as it will become much easier to put the steps in place to get you to your desired outcome.

Prioritizing Your Financial Plan

There’s no point building up your asset base and your retirement savings if you haven’t effectively managed your current debt levels and personal cash flow properly. By learning simple tactics that can reduce the amount of tax you pay and reduce the amount you pay on personal debt repayments, you can increase your available cash flow.

This gives you more available income to put towards achieving your wealth creation and savings goals for other aspects of your total personal financial planning strategy.

In order to make sure you reach the goals you’ve set for your future, a financial plan should incorporate ways to help you work towards the outcome you want. Sometimes this can mean learning to put aside some of your regular income now so that you can benefit from it in the future. Many people cringe at this idea, but there are plenty of benefits to allocating your money to create a stronger financial future now.

Putting Your Financial Plan into Practice

There’s no point creating a plan if you don’t intend to take the steps necessary to make it a reality. The strategies you outlined in your financial plan should include various aspects of budgeting, saving, debt management and regular investing.

Once your plan is created, it’s then up to you to follow through on the steps put in place within the plan to see that you’re making the most of your own income while you can.

If you find that you’re not always as disciplined as you’d like, it’s possible to set up automated direct debit agreements with many lenders, banks and credit companies to make the payments into your savings accounts or off your debt repayments automatically when you get paid. The same principle is true of your retirement savings plan and your insurance payments.

You might even find that it’s possible to invest small amounts of money, from as little as $100 a month, into mutual funds by automated direct debit agreement with some companies. This can help you to continue growing your investment portfolio on a regular basis without having to worry about remembering when to deposit funds.

Finding a Professional Financial Planner to Help You

In most cases, financial planners are paid a commission for recommending various investment and financial products designed to help you achieve your goals. These can include various insurances, mutual funds, bonds, REITs and other investment options.

When you’re trying to find the right financial planner to deal with the precious asset of your future personal financial planning, it’s important to verify that your planner is keen to work to achieve your own goals and not to pad his own commission check.

In America, your financial planner should be registered and licensed as an investment advisor. Make appointments with several financial planners and discuss what you want to try and achieve with your goals. Ask about their qualifications and previous experience and check that they’re willing to use a wide range of financial products to suit your personal needs, not just those that pay the highest commission amounts.  Financial planners will also have long list of contacts like investment advisors, lawyers, inheritance planning professionals and more.

By the end of the process, you will already know which planner or advisor you prefer working with, so it becomes much easier to choose one to work with for your long term future. Personal financial planning doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does begin with creating a plan for what you want to achieve.

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Seeking debt management help is a responsible move and it’s the first step in regaining control of your financial situation again. But you should still make the effort to learn as much as you can about controlling your debts and learning how to manage your finances a little better so that you won’t get back into the same bad situation again in future.

Here are our top 5 debt management help tips to get you back on your feet:

1. Reduce Expenses

When most people read tips that tell them to reduce expenses, they immediately think of switching off a light bulb or learning to cook cheaper meals. Of course it’s always a good idea to look for ways in which you can reduce the amount of money you spent.

In this case, reducing expenses means to find a way to reduce the amount of interest you’re paying on your outstanding debts. Most people are paying far more in interest charges than they should be. By consolidating your high interest debts over to a lower interest loan, you can reduce the amount you pay in interest. You could even reduce your monthly repayments, which can help your cash flow each month.

If you don’t qualify for a low interest rate credit card balance transfer, you might consider consolidating your outstanding debts into a tax-deductible home equity loan.

2. Put Your Interest Savings to Good Use

If you’ve managed to reduce the amount of interest you pay each month and lower your monthly repayments, be diligent about putting your interest savings back towards reducing your debt levels.

Even paying a few extra dollars above the minimum payment amount will help your situation enormously in the long run. You’ll be reducing your balances and staying on top of your payment obligations more easily.

3. No More Credit

If you’re already having trouble managing the debts you have, it’s important you stop paying for new items on credit. Stop using your credit cards at once. Don’t apply for new credit.

Find ways to pay cash for the things you need out of your income each pay period. For bigger purchases, use the interest-free option of putting them on lay-away and pay them off over a period of time.

4. Change Payment Times

If all your repayments are due monthly, but you get paid bi-monthly or even weekly, see if you can alter your repayment times to help pay off debts more easily. A big part of the reason why many people fall behind on their payments is that they attempt to find enough cash to make a full monthly payment at the end of the month.

Even though these people might receive regular income each week, or each second week, their money is spent on other bills during those weeks. By the time the monthly repayment falls due, the income amount isn’t usually enough to cover the full payment.

A good way to avoid this problem is to change your repayment frequency to match when you receive your income. For example, if you’re paid every second Friday, try to make a smaller repayment on your credit card bill every time you get paid. By the end of the month, make sure the smaller payments you’re making add up to at least the minimum payment due.

This can be a great way to keep on top of your debt management efforts and make it far easier for you to budget.

5. Seek Professional Debt Management Help

If all else fails and you really can’t find a way to make some of the easier debt management help tips work for you, it may be time to seek out professional credit counseling.  Non-profit organizations like Freedom Debt Management seem to be really trying to help people get out of debt legitimately  So always try to look for a non-profit counseling firm, as they get most of their funding from creditors, not from charging you outrageous fees. Before you agree to any services at all, make sure you find out in advance precisely what services you’ll receive.

Ideally, you should receive counseling, debt negotiation services, a debt repayment plan and some solid budgeting advice, and you should receive agreements for these services in writing before you go ahead with trying to clear debt that you have accrued once and for all. You should also take the time to check that the counseling organization is a member of any professional bureaus, such as the Better Business Bureau.

Once you’ve entered an agreement, you won’t have to worry about paying multiple bills each month. Instead, you write one check to the organization and they’ll distribute your money to your creditors on your behalf.

When your payment arrangement is in place, your credit counselor should then call your creditors. They’ll try to negotiate with them to reduce your interest rates, lower any penalty fees and waive any late fees in an effort to help reduce the amount of debt you have to repay.

Debt management help is readily available, but always make the effort to work on some simple things you can do for your own financial situation first. In some cases, you might want to  consider consolidating your outstanding debts into a tax-deductible home equity loan – like the ones provide at credit.com.  Learning to manage your own finances responsibly can sometimes be frustrating, but it will mean you’re less likely to get into the same bad situation again in future.

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So let’s answer that now age-old financial question we all have asked – “just how can I improve my credit score?”

There simply is no quick credit fix solution for serious problems, regardless of what the late-night infomercials say. It’s also not possible to remove any listings on your credit report that are true, although you certainly can have any listings added in error taken off. Numerous companies provide a free credit score or credit report.

Nice credit score improvement

How Your Credit Score is Calculated

Before you can learn how to improve your credit score, you should take a moment to understand what factors could potentially damage it and how important each factor is to your overall score on the credit score scale.

35% – Repayment History
30% – Outstanding Balances
15% – Length of Credit History
10% – Types of Credit Used
10% – New Credit Applications

Repayment History

As shown above, the major factor in calculating your credit score is your repayment history. This aspect accounts for a full 35% of your score. If you have a habit of falling behind on your payments or making your payments past the due date, chances are your credit has been negatively affected.

Work on catching up any late payments and pay off any overdue amounts as quickly as you can. Find a way to get your budget in order so that you’re able to make your payments on time each month. This can have a big impact on improving your credit score.

Outstanding Balances

A full 30% of your total credit score is based upon how much you owe on your outstanding balances as they compare to your available credit limits. If you have several credit cards and they’re all near their limits, then this will reduce your credit score.

If you’re serious about finding out how to improve your credit score, then debt reduction will be a big factor. Work on ways to begin paying down your outstanding balances. With each extra payment you make on your credit card, your balance will be further away from the available limit.

Don’t be tempted to charge more purchases to your credit cards just because you’ve paid a little bit off the balances. Continue to reduce your debt levels and you’ll see several benefits arising.

Aside from knowing you’re in less debt, you should also notice your minimum monthly payment amount reduces as you pay off what you owe. You’ll also notice that your credit score will begin to rise accordingly as you fix bad credit issues.

Length of Credit History

While time is the only thing that can improve this side of your credit score, there are things you can do to help. Each time you apply for new credit, it’s listed on your credit. You can improve this side of your score by not applying for any new credit until you’ve regained control of your existing situation.

When a person has applied for several credit cards or loans in a short period of time, this can reduce your score, as it could indicate that you’re not able to manage your financial obligations responsibly.

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If you’d like a free credit report to check out your credit history, click here.

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Types of Credit

A big part of how to improve your credit score is about knowing what can affect your score and how to avoid it. While 10% of your score is based on the types of credit you use, don’t be tempted to go out and apply for new loans or credit cards just to have more accounts or to try and create a balanced mixed of credit. This won’t work.

As long as you manage the credit facilities you already have wisely, this aspect of your credit score will be relatively easy to improve.

New Credit

A person who submits several new credit applications in a short period of time can end up with a lower credit score. Instead of applying for more credit, work on ways to handle the credit you already have more responsibly.

Reduce your debt levels and you’ll find there’s always plenty of available limit on your credit card when you need it for emergencies. You’ll also find that your repayments will decrease a little as you begin to pay down the outstanding debts.

The best part of how to increase your credit score is that you’ll be learning to take control of your financial situation again so you’re less likely to get into the same trouble again in future.  Soon enough you’ll be able to find an easy to get credit card and back on your way to an excellent credit score – or even a close to perfect credit score. – which is really true credit power and freedom.

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You might think you don’t need one, and unless you are planning for all things mentioned in this article already, then maybe you don’t. But it may not be until you finish reading this that you realize you can do more for the future of you and your family, whether you feel you need a financial planner or financial coach.

So what is it a financial planner can do for you?

Savings Plan: While it might be easy to put away a little bit of your pay each week and slowly watch it accumulate, much more can be done. An expert planner would ensure you are putting away the right percentage of your income into savings (so to allow for other areas of budget and planning) and then use that savings to make money. They know how to generate the most interest on savings accounts and they can help decide on sensible amounts to use for investment. Whether you want to save for a new car, a holiday or perhaps your children’s education, there is a way to do it faster than an ordinary savings account so many of us use by default.

Investment Advice: Using a portion of your savings to get you started with investing is a great idea. Most people tend to shy away from investing their savings as they see it as too risky, which it can be when you don’t know what you’re doing. However if you have an expert planner helping you out, then it is a great way to make your money work for you.

Eventually the start up capital can be returned to your savings account and you will end up slowly creating and building a budding investment portfolio. You may choose to make regular payments into your investment accounts or simply watch the initial capital slowly increase. You will be able to discuss with your advisor different types of investments and the risks involved in them. Riskier investments generally yield bigger returns when successful while safe investments yield small and steady returns. A combination of both is possible and usually a good idea.

Retirement Planning: As well as savings and investments it is essential to put money aside for your retirement. Whatever your situation it can only be beneficial to have money set aside for the day when you no longer have a regular income. No one can rely on government support or financial assistance these days so you need to protect the future of you and your family. Your advisor can help you set up the right plan which could be a combination of savings accounts and investments, or whatever you and your advisor decide is best for your situation.

Tax Considerations: A very necessary part of life, but one that most people are happy to have done for them. Filing your taxes incorrectly or incompletely can be costly. Doing them thoroughly and correctly year after year will mean no nasty surprises of tax bills when you least expect them. Having a professional do your taxes can have big advantages as well. They are much more familiar with tax laws than most so they know about the different benefits you may be able to take advantage of. Having help with your taxes could end up saving you a lot of time and money, especially if you are a business owner or have investment property etc.

Future and Estate Planning: It is not always nice to think about but the reality is that we all leave this world one day. When you do wouldn’t you like your finances to be in order and not have any financial worries or stresses put on your family after you’ve gone? A financial planner can be worth their weight in gold here. They take the guess work out of estate planning and planning for your family’s future. Different trusts and accounts can be set up to ensure the cost of your funeral is not taken out of money you’d rather have put towards your children or grandchildren’s education, for example. Your finances can be set up in accordance with your will so when the time comes everything is already in order.

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Budgeting is all about knowing how much you have to spend and how much you’re expected to pay out and matching the two together. Frugality is simply about learning to spend the money you have on wise purchases and informed choices that won’t get you into financial trouble later. There’s nothing more sinister involved than that.

Here are some tips on budgeting and frugality that can make your financial life a lot easier.

Create a Clear Budget Snapshot

Before you can begin budgeting properly, you’ll need to spend a bit of time creating a clear snapshot of your financial situation as it stands today. This means writing down exactly how much income is coming into the household each month and how much you spend on bills, repayments, expenses and other living costs each month.

Be honest about what you’re spending now on your current expenses. This is an important step, as you can’t begin to improve your situation until you understand fully where you are right now.

Get Your Budget On!

Reduce Spending Costs

Take a close look of your current list of expenses and see if you can pinpoint any places where you might cut back your spending or reduce your costs. The majority of people automatically look to trying to cut back on grocery spending or on utility bills.

If you look closely at your budgeting snapshot, you might identify other areas of your spending that could be cut back. You might decide to try taking a packed lunch to work two days a week instead of buying every day. It’s only two days, but it can really reduce the amount you spend.

This can be a good start, but there are other ways to reduce your costs. Look at how much interest you’re being charged on consumer debts like credit cards, store cards or unsecured personal loans. By shopping around and finding lenders or banks willing to offer you lower interest rates than you’re currently paying, you could easily reduce the amount of money you pay in interest costs.

You could also reduce your monthly repayment amounts, freeing up cash flow from your budget for other things.

No More Credit

If you’re already in the habit of paying for all your purchases using your credit card, then this step in frugality can take a little patience to get used to. You should try to use cash whenever you can to pay for the things you need.

The key to this step is to add up the amount of money you need to pay for bills, expenses and other daily spending items, like lunches, entertainment or fuel. Then withdraw that amount of money when you get paid.

Your budget should show you how much you need to make it through each week, so don’t take more than you need. This way, when you go shopping, you won’t be as tempted to buy expensive items you see because you’ll know the money you have available has to last you the rest of the week.

Frugality is about considering your purchases carefully. You worked hard for the money you have, so it makes sense to try not to waste it on things you might regret later.

Reduce Debt Levels

If you’ve managed to cut back on your expenses and reduce your monthly payments and you’ve stopped adding more debt to your credit cards, you’re in a strong position to begin working on a debt reduction plan.

You should try to put some of your interest savings towards repaying your credit card balances and reducing other debts whenever possible. Try to increase the amount you pay on your payments so they’re higher than the minimum amounts due.

As your balances begin to fall, you should notice that your monthly repayments can begin to fall too. Don’t be tempted to reduce the amount you pay, though. Keep up the higher payments until the debt is gone.

Add a Savings Amount to Your Budget

As your budgeting expertise begins to grow and you become more comfortable spending only the cash you can afford to spend, you should notice it’s much easier to keep a few dollars left over at the end of each pay period.

Allocate these funds to a savings plan each week. If you don’t believe you’ll be disciplined enough to put the money away on your own without spending it, ask your bank to set up a direct debit payment from your account over to an interest-paying savings account.

Shop around for different types of savings accounts and ask your bank about what interest rates they’ll pay on savings. Even if it only adds up to a few extra dollars in interest, it’s still money you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Set Realistic Goals

Sometimes it can be difficult to stick to a savings plan if you don’t have a clear idea of what you’re saving for. You might want to save for a new TV or an expensive outfit or even save for a down payment on a home.

Whatever it is, create a goal to give you something to stay motivated for and you’ll find it easier to stick to your budgeting resolution. You’ll also find that frugality doesn’t have to mean going without the things you want.

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Credit card companies are surprisingly happy to work with customers to negotiate various aspects of your account. The key to successfully negotiating with your creditors is to know what you want them to help you with, before you make the call – that way you’ll have a much higher success rate.

Here are some of the best ways to negotiate credit card debt and get yourself back on track financially.

He's NOT negotiating like a pro...

Negotiate for Lower Interest Rates

Many credit card customers are surprised to learn they’re paying far more in interest charges than they thought. This can happen if you’ve missed a payment or been late on payments and your lender has applied a penalty interest rate to your account, along with hefty overdue fees.

This can make it much harder to get back on track with your payments, so call your credit card company and discuss your situation with them. Explain that by reducing the amount of interest you’re charged, you’ll be in a much stronger position to repay the outstanding balance more easily. You’ll be surprised how many credit card companies will consider this option.  And if they don’t you might be able to transfer your balances to a zero percent credit card for the time being – just watch and make sure that there isn’t any 0 balance transfer fee associated with the transaction.

Negotiate to Have Fees Waived

If you’ve been stung by late payment fees, over limit fees and other charges that have increased your balance and made it harder for you to keep up, call your creditors once again and ask to negotiate those fees or even have them waived.

Negotiate a Credit Card Debt Settlement Figure

You might find that your credit card debts have spiralled out of your control and you’re no longer able to keep up with the repayments at all. If this has happened to you, you might want to see if your creditor will negotiate a credit card debt settlement figure.

This is where you offer your creditor a lump sum amount of 25%-50% of the total outstanding debt as payment in full for the amount you owe. It might sound strange to offer your credit card company an offer like this, but in reality, the company will understand that it’s better to receive something from you than to risk receiving nothing at all if you file bankruptcy.

Negotiate a Payment Plan

When you’ve reached a credit card debt negotiation agreement with your credit card provider ask for a copy of the agreement in writing. It will show you exactly what the lender has agreed to in an effort to help you with your financial situation.

If this agreement involves reducing the total balance you owe as a lump sum settlement, then you may need to call again to negotiate a payment plan to make sure the amount gets paid. Be realistic about how much you can afford to pay and then stick to your payment amounts to avoid any further problems arising.

Things to Remember Before You Negotiate Credit Card Debt

Remember to be patient and polite, as the person on the end of the phone isn’t personally responsible for your fees. That customer service person is simply doing a job. Besides, you’ll receive a much better reception from the person on the phone if you’re friendly and helpful, as they’ll be more likely to want to help you.

Be aware of what you’re going to offer your creditors before you call. Remember that you are trying to negotiate down so you can clear debt you’ve accrued for good eventually – so remain cool and calm.  After all, they’re only trying to find a way to get their money back from you, so if reducing your interest rates or waiving your fees will help them do that, they’re more likely to help you.  End result is to be eliminating credit card debt once and for all.

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Get a Handle on Your Expenses and Debt

It’s really important to get a handle on this. Whether you want to use budgeting software, financial planning forms or a spreadsheet that’s up to you – they all work in their own right. It really isn’t about how you do it as much as you do it at all, and most people avoid doing it. Set a system that works easily for you. For example I just use an Excel spreadsheet with a few fields in combination with financial planning forms – that works for me. And every day I enter my expenses or even throughout the day as I work, as I work for myself. However this may or may not work for you, so the best way is to make it easy and fun for yourself. Some even use “envelope accounting” which is they only allot a certain amount of cash in each envelope category for the month. As soon as the cash is gone from that particular envelope (say “entertainment”) – then no more spending for that month.

You’ll need to include all expenses – food, dining, entertainment, electricity, money you loaned a friend, student loans – down to every cent you have spent. Yes even that 5-hour energy drink you bought at the convenience store.  Everything. Down to the last cent.  What I’ve found is after a while I remember what I’ve spent for the day easily and enter it by memory.  Actually I round up to make it overestimated, to help keep me in a more frugal mindset.  However if you have a spouse then you’d have to train them which may or may not be possible, so collecting receipts is the best way – then enter them daily, weekly or monthly as you see fit.

Know Your Cash Flow

Just as important as knowing your expenses is to know all your sources of income. Again, I recommend starting with just a spreadsheet or financial forms package. This is cheap and simple and the way it’s always been done – think of the spreadsheet as the new-fangled accounting ledger book. Then once you get good at tracking both your expenses and cash flow, you can consider programs like Quicken, Quickbooks, or a really impressive, relative newcomer on the market called “You Need A Budget” (YNAB) – which I haven’t used – but I have heard stellar things about it.  A popular online budgeting and account management platform is the ever-popular Mint.com.

Checking Your Credit Score & Report

Two different things – one is to see where you stand credit-wise in terms of FICO score, the other is to see if there are any “blemishes” on your credit record. Important to do yearly at least if you are concerned with borrowing money for a new home and are concerned about maintaining a good credit report & score. Often times there can be some marks that aren’t legitimate and can be easily removed. Credit Sesame is an excellent service for obtaining a free credit report every month.

Bank Accounts & Investments

Next take a look at all your bank accounts, their percentage rates so we can identify where you can do better. Also if you have any investments do the same. If you don’t having any investments, I won’t say it’s as important as the above two categories, though you should begin to consider some type of investments even if they are lower-risk like CDs and municipal bonds.

Calculate Your Monthly Net

Take your monthly cash flow each month and subtract from your monthly expenses. Are you in the red or the black? Strive for being in the black and think of ways to either further reduce your expenses and make more income. Perhaps you can start a side business or freelance to make some extra cash flow. Certainly cutting down on those things you don’t need, like extra meals out will help as well. But also know that if you take charge and earn more income, you can definitely enjoy the fruits of your labor and spend on what’s important to you whether it be a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks or a new Android phone.

Your Will & Inheritance Planning

No one loves this subject but it’s important to think about and plan for will & inheritance planning, especially if you have children. I remember my parents didn’t really do this until I was about 8 years old. You can use life, will & inheritance planning forms from USLegalForms.com to start this process yourself – or you can of course always hire a lawyer. It’s up to you how comfortable you feel with this process, but inheritance planning is definitely something you should think about if you haven’t done it already.

Your Overall Net Worth

Calculating your net worth is as simple as adding up of your current cash in accounts, investments, and assets like cars and your home and subtract . If you want to take it to the limit you can even add up things like clothes and jewelry that you could possible sell on eBay. But that’s for the extreme, and not really necessary. Are you happy with the number? If not, what would it take to get there?

Let’s talk about financial goals next.

Have a Financial Vision & Defined Set of Goals

One thing I think people don’t realize is that having a vision about something doesn’t just apply to art or overall life – it really can apply to your finances as well. The classic book “Think & Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill talks about having grand visions in terms of making money, and this can certainly be applied to your ideal financial life as well. This vision is turned into reality by writing down your goals and taking action, which involves all of the above steps.

Here at FPT we recommend the Annual Financial Checkup Package (choose the one for your state) from US Legal Forms because it covers everything we’ve talked about above here.

And…if you are interested in some amazing budgeting & personal financial planning software – check out You Need A Budget – there’s a reason it’s ranked #1 on Amazon above Quicken and Quickbooks!  YNAB is based on the four rules of the YNAB Way.  This methodology is fundamental to what makes YNAB such a great piece of software and stand out above all the rest.

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Before you apply for your first home mortgage, prepare your finances so you have the best possible chance to impress your bank. Here are some quick tips to help you qualify for a home loan more easily.

Gross Monthly Income

Your lender will look carefully at the gross monthly income for all borrowers. This is the amount paid to you before taxes are deducted. If you’re applying on your own, provide pay stubs to verify your income amount. If you’re applying jointly with a partner or spouse, make sure you provide evidence of all income you each receive.

The bank will calculate your affordability based on the net income amount you receive, less any existing repayment obligations you have, less an amount allocated for living expenses.

The maximum amount you can borrow will reduce if you have credit card payments, personal loan commitments or other loans to repay. Conversely, the amount you can borrow can increase on your existing income by reducing your debts.

Credit Score

Your bank’s lending assessor will look at your credit score closely to determine what kind of customer you’ve been with your previous creditors. If you have a history of paying your bills on time and managing your debts well, you’ll have no problem.

However, if you have some blemishes on your credit report, spend some time catching up any past due bills. Reduce the balances on your credit cards and get your finances in order.

Employment History

Your lender will want to know the details of your employment. This will include how long you’ve been employed in the same industry or line of work. You can still apply for a first home mortgage if you’re fresh out of college or trade school, as long as your new job relates to the line of study from which you graduated.

Keep in mind that banks often view regular job changes to various different industries badly, as it could be a sign that you’re not able to hold down a long term job. While they’re negative towards frequent job changes, this doesn’t apply if you’ve been made redundant or if you’re changing positions within the same industry.

Down Payment

While it used to be possible to apply for a first home mortgage with no money down, these types of loans are becoming scarcer. If you know you’re going to buy your first home soon, work through your budget and begin putting money aside into a savings account.

The more money you can put towards your down payment, the more lenient your bank will be on your application. Your savings history can show your bank that you’re disciplined enough with your income to handle the responsibility of a mortgage.

Get the Best Deal

Before you apply for your first home mortgage, spend some time getting your finances and documentation in order. Then shop around to find the best deal to suit your needs. A mortgage broker can help you sort through the home loan options available.

You might find you qualify for one of the flexible credit solutions offered by many lenders, such as a FHA Loan or a VA Loan, or another such program that could help reduce the fees associated with buying a home and setting up your first home mortgage.

Watch out for loans like 125% home equity loans and 40 year mortgages – these can seem like a good idea, but generally aren’t due to many factors than can put you deeper in debt than you need to be.

You may want to consider some solid home insurance policies to protect your new home – it’s not always necessary to go for the cheapest homeowners insurance possible, you do want to have reliable coverage as well.

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In most cases, you can only settle on unsecured debts, such as credit cards, store cards, student loans or medical bills. You’ll also need to know whether you’re trying to negotiate with your credit card company directly or whether your debt has been allocated to a debt collection agency.

How to Negotiate With Credit Card Companies

If your account is still with your credit card company and you’re being hounded by their collections department to make a payment, you might want to consider settling your credit card debt with them directly.

Be aware that your account should be more than 90 days past due before they will consider even discussing the option of a debt settlement agreement with you. If your account is already at this point, then you can call your credit card company and offer them an amount of money that is 25-50% lower than the total amount you owe them as payment in full.

Most of the people who work in the collections department at your credit card company have been trained to try and get a payment out of you while you’re on the phone. They may also be disinterested in talking about a debt settlement with you. Be polite and patient with them and explain that you are not in a financial situation where you can afford to pay the full amount.

Credit card companies understand that it’s often better for them to receive any amount from you rather than for them to receive nothing at all if you file for bankruptcy.

When you reach an agreement for an amount of the settlement, get this information sent to you in writing. You should also be sure you don’t offer more than you can realistically afford to pay. If the amount is larger than you thought, you might consider arranging a payment plan to repay the amount you agreed upon over the next few months.

Settling Credit Card Debt With a Debt Collection Agency

If your outstanding debt has already been handed to a debt collection agency, the process for settling credit card debt may be a little different. Instead of calling the debt collection agency on the phone, write to them with your offer to pay off debts that you have. Send your letter by registered mail and request a receipt. Include your name and account details and total amount owing on your correspondence and always keep a copy of everything you send for your own files for eliminating credit card debt with the agenct.

Keep in mind that debt collection agencies are used to settling debts at pennies in the dollar, so you should begin to negotiate credit card debt amounts at no more than 25% of the amount you owe, preferably less. For example, if you owe $5,000 you should open your negotiation for a settlement amount at $1,000, which is 20% of the debt.

When you’ve reached an agreement for settling credit card debt with the collection agency and you have the agreement in writing, write back and negotiate your credit rating with them too before you make your payment. You don’t want the agency to list your debt settlement as a ‘paid collection’. Instead, try to get them to agree to enter ‘settled’, as this can be less damaging on your credit.

Also you might want to read up on the credit card debt forgiveness act – to see what amount of debt the US government will forgive.

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There are several types of annuities investors can consider and they can become a valuable part of any retirement savings portfolio if they are done correctly. Unfortunately, they can also have some disadvantages if you’re not aware of the types of annuities you’re dealing with.

Time to explain annuities in a simple way.  Below are some basic pros and cons of an annuity explained:

Pros of Annuities

1) Tax Advantages - Annuities can offer investors some good tax advantages. This is because the tax is deferred until after you’ve started to withdraw your funds, which can be ideal for many people who anticipate that they’ll be in a lower tax bracket by the time they retire.

2) Guaranteed Return - If you’ve chosen to use fixed annuities, you can receive a guaranteed rate of return on the money you invested. In most cases, the rate of return can often be lower than other comparable types of investments, such as the stock market or mutual funds, but the risk to your investment capital is also inherently lower.

Fixed & Indexed Annuities Explained: guaranteed percentage rate and fixed payments given out at the maturation of the annuity. Lower-risk but low-return.  Often a preferred option because of this.  An annuity that rises and falls in relation to an equity or stock index like the S&P 500, Nasdaq or any other index you can think of.

Variable Annuities Explained: variable annuities can also sometimes offer a guaranteed rate of return, but you could find this option will also include investments that are based on stocks or mutual funds. These additions can improve the rate of return you thought you were guaranteed if the markets rise, but if the markets fall, you don’t receive any less than the guaranteed floor amount.

3) No Maximum Investment Amount - Another good advantage of annuities is that you aren’t restricted by a maximum investment amount as you are with 401k or IRA accounts. This can be ideal for any investor wanting a tax deferred investment in which to invest as much money as possible.

Cons of Annuities

While there are some very good advantages to investing in annuities, there are few disadvantages you should consider before you jump in at the deep end.

1) Low Liquidity - Annuities are not a very liquid type of investment. If you can foresee that you may need to use the money you’re investing for other purposes in the future, or if you want to use your investment income for other things, then annuities might not be right for you.

There are hefty penalty fees to consider if you withdraw your money early that can erode the capital amount you have invested. While it’s possible to sell your annuities on a secondary market, you’re often paid less than you could have received if you’d let your investment mature.

2) Higher Fees - You might also find that the fees associated with annuities can be higher than those charged on other types of retirement savings plans and investment options. If you’re trying to maximize your retirement savings, then a typical investor could benefit from increasing a 401K or IRA plan first until it’s maxed and then think about adding an annuity at a later point.

Hopefully this quick guide to the pros and cons of annuities makes your investing decision easier to make.

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