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Friday, December 19, 2008

Retirement Investing Crisis

By Doug West

The meltdown on Wall Street has taught us all many lessons.

"You Better Learn To Make Your Own Investment Decisions - And Not Let Brokers Make Choices For You!"

This is a basic fact that we have been teaching for many years now. Most investors either blindly throw money at the market or let a broker do it for them. With just a little time and effort, you can learn to direct your investment accounts and retirement funds on your own.

In this article we want to point you in the right direction, and give you a few crisis tips too.

An excellent alternative to mutual funds are the fairly new Exchange Traded Fund (ETFs) vehicles.

There are now ETFs that cover every sector of the market. ETFs offer many advantages over mutual funds. Here are just a few:

* Tax Advantages - ETFs seldom sell any equity positions or create taxable profit midstream. Mutual funds do this often. With mutuals, you could owe tax on part of the funds holdings (the winning stocks they sell at a profit) even though you lost money over all. A double whammy!

* Less Management Costs - Even No-Load Mutual funds have become top heavy with many "Professionals" employed and eating up GIANT parts of the profit. You might think of ETFs as Electronically Traded Funds. MUCH less management costs (in some cases no management costs) and the ease of trading them.

* Diversification - Let's face it, this is what was attractive about mutual funds to begin with. Instead of picking out stocks on your own, you had "Professionals" (with the meltdown we can see that most of them are not too professional) putting together a diversified portfolio for you. With ETFs, you can get the same if not better diversification without the hassle of dealing with a mutual fund giant eating up all the profits.

* Easy To Trade - With true mutual funds you can only get out of a position After the market closes. You can trade ETFs just like a stock in your discount brokerage account. If you were locked into a fund when the market was in crash mode, it was not a good feeling. Had that been an ETF you could have bailed at any time (before the DOW closed down 777 points!)

We could go on with the benefits of ETFs, but you should be starting to see the picture. An even better way to call your own shots with your investments is to trade the index (or indices for plural). We are referring to the mini Dow, the S&P eMini, the mini Russell and others. (there are also ETFs the mirror the indices such as "SPY" for the S&P 500 index)

While we focus on mini-Dow trading, any index will do. With Index trading, you just follow the overall market up, or ride it down with a short position.

While we are on the subject of shorts it would be good to mention that while most US mutual funds are not allowed to short a stock, you can actually buy ETFs that do good with the market is dropping. One such fund is ticker "DUG" which does well when the Oil price is dropping (a tip we gave our readers after the big run up in oil to over $140 per barrel - at the time of this writing it has been dropping since).

You can find other ETFs that do well in falling markets. So, you don't have to short the market (statistics show that 80% or more of investors never do short the market - but are always looking for a upward bull run), you just buy the right ETF and let it do the shorting for you.

By now, many investors see the importance of having a strategy for making money when the market is dropping. Most investors have yet to develop this strategy. We prefer to do it with simple index trades. Whatever you do, find a way to make your own moves and don't depend on someone else to invest your money for you. No one will take care of your money like you will!

*********************************************************** NOTE: To learn more about ETF's visit Yahoo Finance and look under the Investing Tab at the top of the page - then select ETFs www.finance.yahoo.com ***********************************************************

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New Reverse Mortgage Law Gives Home Buyers Another Option

By Tiag Vanrock

Borrowers, aged 62 and older, now have an additional financial tool to help them purchase that home they formerly thought was out of the budget. As of january 1, 2009 the government is allowing the reverse mortgage to be used the fund the purchase of a home, rather than just as a refinancing tool. The program works almost identically to any other home purchase with a mortgage. The borrower brings in adequate downpayment, and the mortgage company funds the loan.

This comes as a boon to some seniors as financial or credit restraints prohibit them from purchasing their next home. Now they can do so and are not obligated to make monthly payments the mortgage company.

In recent years, due to general need and national marketing by major financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Bank of America the reverse mortgage has come into its own. Its major benefit to seniors is to allow the senior borrower to convert the equity in the home into cash to be used at the borrower's discretion.

Only at the end of mortgage, when the home is finally sold, is the borrower or the borrower's heirs obligated to repay the reverse mortgage company the original loan amount plus accumulated interest.

These are the steps to the purchase program:

1. Contact a reputable FHA approved reverse mortgage company. The borrower will be advised as to how much money will be necessary for the down payment. Additionally, closing costsm, purchase price limits and various loan programs will be discussed.

2. Go home shopping and write contract based upon guidelines in the approval letter.

3. At closing the borrower will be required to make a down payment between 25% to 55% of the value of the home.

4. At closing, the reverse mortgage company funds the remaining balance and closing costs if desired by the borrower.

5. Borrower takes ownership of the home.

6. The obligations to the mortgage are as follows: live in the home as primary residence, keep the property in reasonably habitable condition (per FHA guidelines) and pay property taxes and home owners insurance.

In the near future the typical reverse mortgage candidate will continue to be one in need of funds to relieve financial stress. The reverse mortgage purchase, however, will cater to a certain profile and offer a viable financial tool.

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Daytrading Mindset - The Real Key

By Doug West

We have taught nearly 1,000 people how to daytrade the mini-Dow or S&P emini index. Of those traders, nearly all were able to successfully trade our simple index strategy on their demo accounts (we only know of 2 exceptions that reportedly could not even get consistent on the demo. One man claimed that every single trade he made was a loss. In my mind that would be as hard to do as to make profit on every trade).

If your day trading strategy is consistently successful on your demo account, then what is the difference when you go live? Mindset! It all boils down to that in your trading (in my opinion this is true of life in general, but you see the results immediately in trading - especially day trading).

I really hate to call what we do as index traders, day trading. That is only because of the negative connotation the term brings to mind. Stock trading is what most people think of when they hear the term day trading. Regardless of what type of trader you are, you will have to come to terms with the fact that each trade depends on YOU. What frame of mind you are in at the time you place those trades will have a HUGE impact on how many of those trades are successful.

Most traders think that it all boils down to the technical and/or fundamental analysis of the markets. This is where they spend all their time and money, but they never get around to working on the mindset. They feel the real key is in becoming a great market analyst. However, the world is FULL of good market analyst (just watch CNBC or Bloomberg for examples) who are not able to trade. They too didn't have the right mindset and had to take jobs instead.

So what is the right mindset for a trader (or day trader)? That would take volumes of articles to answer. A good start is to read Mark Douglas' book "Trading In The Zone". Don't end your mindset training there, but it is a good start.

Another good exercise is to keep a traders diary. Write down what you were thinking and how you were feeling as you made your trade. Do this immediately after the trade so that you can be as accurate as possible. Do this on winning trades and on unsuccessful ones too. You should notice that on your winning trades everything felt easy and sure. Once you notice the difference, don't enter trades unless your mind is in the correct frame!

It's amazing how the human mind is able to pick up on the overall mood of the market. Douglas calls this being "In The Zone". We have always referred to it as getting a "Market Feel". Some traders have felt that it was impossible, while others gain that market feel advantage rather quickly. The difference is always in the mindset of the person. Some people are naturally much more in tune with their emotions, and they don't let them effect their mind while trading.

Many traders reason that if they can just add the right tools, they will become successful traders. They work on finding the lastest greatest chart, software or gadget that will take them to the next level. After working with hundreds of traders over the years, I can tell you for certain that you will NEVER be successful unless you have the right mindset. Work on that and you will be MILES ahead of ones who are always adding more tools!

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Avoid Foreclosure By Negotiating With The Lender

By Tomasheus Privetsky

If you find yourself facing foreclosure, there are probably several contributing factors, which have led to your situation. You might have lost your job, suffered an illness (and its accompanying medical bills) or been through a divorce. However you get here, one thing is certain; the bills are piling up and it is getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Even worse is the situation of having an adjustable rate mortgage whose interest rate has skyrocketed, making your payments much larger.

Unfortunately, while you're worrying about stopping foreclosure of your home, you're bombarded with letters, postcards, phone calls and strangers driving by and knocking on your door.

These investors are in the business of buying homes from people who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure and then selling these properties for a profit. They know that many people who are facing foreclosure have no alternative other than to sell their home for whatever price they can get.

Should you sell to an investor to avoid being foreclosed on? Maybe, but certainly not as your first option. And only after you exhausted other foreclosure prevention means such as rearranging your loan.

Rearrange Your Loan To Stop Foreclosure

Once you have missed a couple of payments, your credit rating will begin to be affected your credit score will likely drop considerably, which will make it extremely difficult to refinance your current loan.

Every lender has what is known as a loss mitigation department, whose purpose is to limit the potential losses, which could be faced by the lender on their loans. Part of their duties are to arrange payment plans with homeowners whose mortgages are in default to get them current with their payments again. This process of working with the loss mitigation department does not require getting approval for a new loan, which makes this an attractive alternative for those who are in default on their mortgages.

A Repayment Plan May Still Be Challenging

Loss Mitigation departments are lightly staffed. One of the biggest problems with workout plans is caused by employee overload. At time of high default rates, like we're experiencing now, the employees have too many files to work on. And they have a limited time to process each case. The result is, the lender offers you a 'canned' repayment plan that has too short of a 'catch up' time and too large of monthly payment increase that is not realistic for your budget to sustain.

With the difficult situation you are in, you may be tempted to take this repayment plan offered to stop foreclosure; however, this is generally just a short-term solution. Since the terms of the repayment plan are not a realistic fit for your budget, you will as likely or not be facing foreclosure again in a matter of months.

Watch Out When Hiring Workout Professionals To Stop Foreclosure

One of the simplest, yet little known ways to get a lot better outcome through the Loss Mitigation process is to hire an experienced professional to do the work for you. These are companies that have experience of negotiating literally thousands of workout cases for owners in default. Some have established working relationships with the Loss Mitigation departments of many mortgage lenders nationwide.

These companies will look over your finances and help you come up with a repayment schedule, which is possible for you to meet; payments will be kept as low as possible to make it easier for you to make your payments. These companies have intimate knowledge of the programs offered by different lenders and can negotiate a better deal for you than you would be offered by the lender on your own. They may even be able to negotiate a lower interest rate on your mortgage, which will lower your payments.

You may think that these services will be too expensive, given your financial difficulties; however, most of these services charge a low flat fee, usually about a months payment. With the money and time these negotiations can save you, they usually more than pay for themselves? They can often even negotiate a deferral of your next payment.

You May Consider Cutting Your Losses

If stopping foreclosure through loss mitigation isn't in your plans, then it's time to sell your home so you don't have a foreclosure record on your credit. If you have a lot of time before the foreclosure sale, then list your home for sale with a real estate agent. This way you will get more for your property. If you're out of time, now you may have to turn to investment companies that can buy quickly. Just make sure you're dealing with a company that has means and track record to perform and close the purchase fast.

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Dispute Experian

By Justin Hutto

To dispute Experian you must compose a dispute letter and mail it to them. Upon receipt of your letter they will investigate the disputed item.

However the first step is to request a copy of your credit report. This can be done for free from annual credit report. It is your right to have a free copy of your credit report from each credit bureau once a year.

Often your credit report will be made available online; you need to then decide what items are inaccurate or incorrect. These are going to be the items you dispute.

You can dispute these listings by writing a dispute letter and then mailing it to Experian credit bureau. When they receive your dispute letter they will decide if it is valid or invalid.

If they find your letter invalid you will receive a letter from them asking for more details about the dispute. You should respond accordingly and provide them with the information.

However if your dispute is found valid they will conduct an investigation. During an investigation they will contact the creator of the listing and ask them to verify the account, the dates, and the amounts.

It has been found that investigations will often result in a listing being removed. This is a result of many businesses being unwilling to spend the resources verifying disputed debts.

A credit repair service can also be hired to remove negative credit from your report. With this option you only need to identify the marks you wish to dispute and the service will do the rest.

The benefit of a service is they can use advanced dispute techniques such as; debt validation, escalated dispute information requests, and creditor direct intervention.

If you have multiple bad credit items you wish to dispute then I suggest hiring a service, in addition they will have no problem getting a valid dispute submitted. However if you only have one or two bad credit items to dispute then you can do it yourself.

You should also know that a dispute letter must be sent to each credit bureau. Failure to do this and the other two major credit bureaus will still show the negative listing even if Experian removed it from your report.

In sum you can dispute Experian and have them remove negative credit from your credit report. You must either hire a service or dispute the listings yourself.

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1 Minute Guide to Beating your Debt

By JR Rooney

Imagine for a second being having no debt -- no more sleepless nights over mounting credit card balances, no more ball-and-chain of debt feeding your anxieties, and no chance of threats from dreaded collection agencies. You can do it! Here's the scoop -- in one minute flat.

0:60 Resolve to spend less than you make! Make it a habit as fundamental as changing your underwear. Realize once and for all that if you can't pay for it today -- you can't afford it.

0:55 Distinguish between Bad Debt and OK Debt. OK Debt has an interest rate well under 10% -- preferably with some tax advantages also. In the best case, what you bought with borrowed funds will appreciate in value. Home mortgages and student loans are examples of OK Debt. Automobile loans are on the border: They often satisfy the low-rate piece, but automobiles almost never appreciate in value. Bad Debt is everything else -- from your Gold credit card to the 600% loan from Vinny's Quick Cash.

0:50 Pick a winner. Out of all your cards, pick the one or two major credit cards that feature the lowest annual interest rate. Resolve to use those cards for emergencies only. As for all the other plastic pals in your wallet, remove temptation by taking them out of your wallet. Throw them behind a major appliance, freeze them in a bowl of water, or put them to a shoe box. Do whatever it takes not to use them.

0:41 Gather all the bills from your accounts. Line these up on the kitchen table. Find the minimum monthly payment for each account and then add these up to get an overall monthly minimum. Make a decision to pay this overall minimum PLUS a hefty additional chunk every month -- enough to make a solid dent in the outstanding balance of at least one account. If you can't pull this off, you'll have to make a drastic move to increase your income or lower your expenses. It's harsh, we know, but it's also an inescapable fact.

0:34 Pick the card with the highest interest rate and: Attack! Next, order the latest bills according to annual interest rate charged. Apply the "hefty additional chunk" (beyond the minimum) to the highest rate account(s). Repeat this process monthly until the last Bad Debt account is paid in full.

0:26 Ask for a lower interest rate. Grab a bill from any account charging you more than 14% interest. Call the toll-free number on the bill and demand to have your rate reduced -- say, to 11%. Tell them that you'd really like to stay with them out of customer loyalty (embellish according to your acting skills), but that you have received offers for much-lower-rate cards. Expect to be made very uncomfortable, but stand firm and remember that, to them, you are both a customer and a cash cow. You also stand to save a bundle. Practice makes perfect.

0:18 Be prudent. Be aggressive in paying down Bad Debt, but don't get so ambitious that you risk missing minimum payments on your mortgage, automobile, or any other secured credit account. (Secured means that if you miss enough payments, the bank can show up and take away your stuff.)

0:12 Commiserate with others. You'll find plenty of emotional support and great ideas by visiting debt relief discussion boards. Help others celebrate their debt-free "happy dance."

0:05 Dance, Fool! You're done when the Bad Debt is 100% exorcised and you can make remaining OK Debt payments with ease, leaving plenty of budget room for savings.

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Affordable Housing found in Non Standard Construction Properties

By Phillip Evans

In these tough economic times where it difficult to get on the housing ladder or awkward to find a property bargain non standard construction properties could offer a viable solution.

Non traditional construction or prefabricated concrete properties where originally designed as temporary housing as a solution to soldiers returning home after the Second World War and bomb damaged properties.

The properties where built by the Local Councils and formed part of the housing stock, when the Right To Buy legislation was enacted by Margaret Thatchers conservative party in the 1980's these houses slowly where sold into private hands as "Right To Buy" exploed in popularity

Valuation Firms will value these properties far below their traditionally built counterparts, as traditional mortgage lenders don't tend to lend on Non standard construction or prefabricated reinforced concrete properties owing to their originally temporary use despite them still being perfectly habitable in the 21st century.

It's estimated that there were about 1.25 million (one million two hundred and fifty thousand) of these types of properties built after the war. Which I'm sure you will agree offers a great affordable housing stock.

A lot of the non-traditional housing are ex local authority flats, maisonettes or low rise bungalows some of the more popular construction types are Airey, Cornish, Unity, Wates, Reema, Stent and Woolaway. Enable Finance Ltd provide non standard construction mortgages even if these non standard properties do not have a PRC certificate or have not had remedial works carried out.

PRC or non traditionally built properties could answer some very simple affordable housing solutions for the UK home mover or professional buy to let investor. If you are an investor you will no doubt have come up against problems when your rental yields do not stack up as property prices have soared over the past few years, make sure you speak with Enable Finance today.

Home movers looking for affordable housing could be very surprised at how inexpensive these properties are especially as the vast majority of the properties purchase prices will be below the government's current stamp duty threshold of 175,000.

For a mortgage on a non standard construction property in the United Kingdom please contact Enable Finance Ltd Think carefully before securing other debts against your home. Your home may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage. Ask for a personalised illustration. There will be a fee for arranging mortgages, normally 1% of the advance, subject to a minimum of 1950 and a maximum of 2450. The fee can usually be added to the mortgage amount.

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A Mortgage Refinance Primer

By Ned Dagostino

Mortgage refinance is an option most house owners look at from time to time. The big question they ask themselves is: Should I? Well, that depends on the particulars of the case. Generally people go in for mortgage refinance either to save money on the interest they pay, or to consolidate sundry debts. The crucial factors that merit consideration when deciding the 'Should I?' question are noted below for your information.

If you are facing a difficult debt repayment situation with a number of repayments to manage every month, then it is definitely a good idea to put all your loans under a single 'roof' and deal with a single repayment issue. Just make sure you choose the repayment plan that suits your monthly cash flow. The question of saving per se does not arise here, since you are refinancing for a different purpose.

You may have gone in for a variable rate mortgage plan when the interest rates were low. The interest rate in this plan is linked to the market rate. If there is a rising trend in the market rate which is not likely to abate, you may well change your mortgage to a fixed-rate plan in which the interest rate is equal to or less than the current rate.

Whatever the reason for refinancing, you should study all aspects of this important decision very carefully. The one thing you should understand is that while refinancing your mortgage could save you a packet, it could just as easily cost you a packet. Refinancing can hurt you in certain situations.

Refinancing is not as sweet as it looks. There are a number of fees that have to be paid for refinancing the mortgage which are not disclosed to you. It's only after you have gone too far into the deal to turn back that you are made aware of these hidden charges. Be persistent in finding out all the nitty-gritty details about these hidden fees from people who have already taken a refinance. Deduct these fees from the total savings you expect to make. If the money saved is reduced to an insignificant amount, you might as well stay with your current plan.

When you consider refinancing, the first thing to do is to survey the market. Find out all the plans and schemes being offered by different companies. Make a comparison chart showing all the salient features and savings of each plan. Don't restrict your survey to just your local companies. Go online and get information on various plans offered in your area.

Find out the total amount you'll have to pay upfront just to kick start the mortgage refinance. Some brokers conveniently forget to mention that brokerage fees will be taken before the refinance kicks in. Financial advisors fail to tell you that you have to pay a penalty when you pay off a mortgage before the maturity period. Forgetting to mention these fees and penalties is not a problem except that these are really hefty amounts we're talking of here. The total upfront costs can wipe out all your expected savings, and, in some cases, can actually make you incur a loss.

Refinancing will be beneficial for you if you are able to save more than you spend on all the fees and penalties involved in refinancing. One very important factor that you must consider is whether there are chances of your moving out before the refinanced mortgage expires. If there are good chances of your moving out soon, then, far from saving you money, the refinance is going to cost you a packet!

Refinancing your mortgage can be very helpful indeed. It can save you quite a bit. You should survey the refinance market very carefully and minutely. Find out all the options available to you. Find out all the fees and charges that will be taken upfront. Compute the savings you expect to make and then deduct the upfront fees to determine whether taking the refinance is a good idea. A wrong decision here, a single point overlooked, can mean ending up losing money with the refinance. Remember, refinancing is a very serious financial decision. The benefits differ from situation to situation, and sometimes even within the same situation.

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Rewards Credit Cards

By Gray Rollins

There are more and more different types of credit cards coming out on the market each and every day. So how do you know which ones are good ones to go with? Many people like the rewards credit cards as this is a way for you to get something back for the money you spend. There are many types of rewards credit cards with many different kickbacks so it can be hard to pick the best one.

To choose the right rewards credit card, be aware of the details and information pertaining to the rewards. Some banks usually offer this to attract applicants, but before making your decision, make sure that the rewards offered are something that you can use in your lifestyle and spending activities because some rewards may not be suitable for your needs. Check also the detailed APR charges or fees you might incur in the future. Some rewards may be enjoyable but are charged to your account after some time.

There are different kinds of rewards. Some credit cards offer miles for travel voucher in every purchase made using the card. This is best for cardholders who love to travel out of the country once in a while.

Payment for utility bills using the rewards credit card is also acceptable. You can use your card to pay on or before due date time to avoid disconnection of utilities and then pay the amount due on your credit card bill using your cash. This will not only maintain the credit score in good status but will also earn reward points in your credit card.

With the way gas prices go up and down it can really pay off to go with a rewards card that will give you gas cards as a reward for your purchases. These are generally credit cars that are directly related to certain gas stations or companies. This incentive is to keep you coming back to purchase your gas from their chain. This can be beneficial for anyone so this makes a good choice where the rewards credit cards are concerned.

One of the most popular types of rewards cards is the ones that offer a cash back bonus when you make your purchases with their particular card. They will give you a certain percentage back on either all of your purchases or they may have certain purchases that have to be made such as 8% cash back for purchases over $200.00. Again, you will want to look into what the annual fees are so you know that you are getting the most out of the card as possible.

Among all the rewards credit cards, American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card is the best. It allows the cardholder to choose where to use the rewards for their own suitability. Even the rewards are based on almost every dollar spent using the card. Some cardholders use the rewards for some special or exclusive events, shopping, and even for travel rewards. This is why the American Express Rewards Gold card is the best.

If you want to get the most out of your credit card then look into the rewards credit cards. This way you can get a kick back for making the purchases that you need to get. Do a bit of comparison-shopping before you make your choice, as you want the card to be able to work for you the best it can.

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Have a Bad Mortgage? Your Options for Relief

By Karen Smyke

I'm not afraid to admit that I was one of the millions, caught up in the frenzy of the "easy refinance." Some of us bought cars, some of us went on luxury vacations. I bought some investment houses. Either way, were all in the same boat: Stuck in bad loans with increasing payments, and not able to refinance due to the sagging housing prices. Let's face it, most of us aren't going to qualify for loans if the house is worth less than we owe. So what are our options? Keep juggling and hang on? Dump the house and take the loss? Who can we trust to help us?

I not late on any payments, but I am working like a dog to keep up with them. I won't be able to sustain this speed for very much longer. You see, I started investing in rental homes a while back and have faithfully stuck with them through thick and thin. Now I'm struggling and looking for help and looking at my options. People keep telling me I'd be in a better position if I had missed some payments!!

My personal "end of the rope" was when my rental homes had each reached over $100,000 in depreciated loss. I figured that even if I kept making the payments, and the market rebounded, I'd be a slave for many years. In other words, if the market suddenly started appreciating again at the same rate or faster than "the good old days", let's say 15% a year, it would still take me 6.6 years to just regain the loss. No appreciation, no recovery of expenses, insurance, tenant hassles, taxes, etc. Just pumping most of my paycheck down a black hole. At one point, it just doesn't make sense anymore. The actual situation is probably worse because in this economy, the days of 15% appreciation are long gone! So what do I do?

That's what I had to ask myself, and the professional I talked to. Maybe your in the same boat as me. Maybe your house is worth a lot less than you owe on it. I researched and talked to real estate attorneys, realtors, and CPAs. Here is what I found out, and I hope my story can help you make your own decision.

1. Maintain that balancing act! (Those of us that can!) For some of us, this will be a personal choice, and for the rest, it won't be an option. All of us that are caught in upside down mortgages and can afford to keep up the payments need to ask yourselves if your willing to gut it out for the next (x) number of years with little to no equity gain. Who knows, the market may recover soon, but it's not likely. You can't time the market, not even the banks can.

2. Loan Modification is another option. This is a fairly painless process where you contact your bank and they send you a hardship package. This is a big stack of forms where you try to look as poor as possible, documenting your income and expenses. You simply send the package in and wait . . . . . and wait. . . . . .and wait. Finally they'll give you a reply with a possibly lowered interest rate and terms.

3. Short Sale: This is sort of a pre-foreclosure sale. Your late on a few payments, and the bank takes a serious look at you and threatens foreclosure. You find a realtor to represent you and present the hardship package. The realtor prices the home at a substantial discount and finds a buyer. They present the offer to the bank, and the bank usually accepts the deal, which is a positive situation for all. The bank is always interested in short sale instead of foreclosure as it saves them 10s of thousands of dollars in hassle and legal fees, and allow both parties to move on to new business. You should remember that there are still negative ramifications for short sales, even if less damaging than those associated with foreclosures and/or bankruptcy. However, short sales do carry less negative effects than foreclosures. Short sale sellers are widely seen as more credit worthy than foreclosed sellers. Case in point, Fannie Mae recently adjusted their guidelines to dictate only a two year waiting period for a short sale seller to buy another primary residence, while they extended the waiting period for foreclosures to five years.

4. A Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure is one of the banks least favorite options. This is where you just hand over the deed, and say goodbye to the bank. The lender has to then sell the house to recover it's losses. The bank will subsequently provide the borrower with 2 documents. One document will cancel the debt and relieve the borrower any further debt, and the other one assures they can never come back to you for the money.

5. Foreclosure: This is the final option and if you like to go to court, then this is the option for you. In foreclosure, the lender first sends you a summons to appear or foreclosure complaint. The borrower responds to prevent foreclosure and explains the problems at a hearing. The borrower can this point you can still pay the full amount and get the house back during this redemption period. After the redemption period is over, the lender sells the property a public sale or auction and getting as much as they can (or settle for). Any excess goes to you, the original owner/borrower. If the sale amount is less than the loan amount, and in your case it probably will be, you will still owe the balance to the lender. This amount is determined as a result of deficiency proceedings. So as you can see, as we go down the line, the options get worse and worse! As far as my situation, I have to walk away from at least 3 houses. I'm losing a hell of a lot of money, but I'm getting my life back.

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How To Get Social Media Sites To Link To You

By Brian Armstrong

You may have heard about social networking or social media marketing. These are basically websites that you can use to give people information about your site and do so in a way that you can targeted traffic back to your site. The best way to learn this social marketing is to actually do this yourself on your site.

The first thing to do is to compose your article, your blog post, or your web page. You can use any number of free websites to create your content. This is the first thing that needs to happen before you'll get the benefits of social networking for your site specifically. You can always start with other people's websites or web pages, but typically you'll get the most benefit by doing some of both.

You'll need to setup new accounts because you most likely haven't done this before. Start at socialmarker.com and get the new accounts setup by the recommendations they make there. These sites are typically very well respected with a high authority as it relates to how they're judged by the search engines.

There are a few different components to these bookmarking sites that you'll need to consider. The first thing that you'll be prompted with is the title. Ideally this title is going to have your main keyword phrase in the title itself. However, the title should match the title of the blog post or article.

When you bookmark your site, you'll also be prompted with a description that you'll want to include which should have in it your keyword phrases as well. This description should also be a strong call to action. People will often read or scan this description and make their decision on whether they click through or not. These social bookmarking sites are still another click away from your website.

The url or web address that you're prompted for should be relatively self-explanetory. In any case, you need to make sure that you're using the web address of the exact blog post instead of just the main domain name of the website.

Tags are another thing you'll be prompted for when bookmarking your sites. These tags are basically keywords, usually 1-2 word keyword phrases that can be used to identify relatively broadly the article or blog post. As tags, you should use both a main keyword phrase that you're trying to get ranked as well as some of the more broad keyword phrases that better represent what people on these social bookmarking sites will actually search for. These sites are a lot like a search engines that people use to find very relevant updated content on their search topics.

These are some relatively easy ways to get traffic back to your website. One of the things about this is that it becomes difficult to stay organized. I personally don't try too hard to stay organized on this as I do have analytics installed on my website so I can track where most of my traffic comes from. You'll tend to see patterns that some sites will work better than others at generating traffic.

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The Continuing Agony Of Identity THeft

By Darren Cason

A person that becomes a victim of identity theft is a victim for life. This is because no matter how often the law reassures you that they are trying to fix the problem, they are lying. I was a victim of identity theft. The second time this occurred, I reported the problem to the police. Their reaction was to ask a few questions and give me a report number - no further action was taken. So I reported both this and the crime to the Federal Trade Commission (this was in 2000), but I am still waiting for a response - and the perpetrator is still committing the crimes!

When I informed the credit bureaus of my dilemma, they made no attempt to remove the charges. They simply put a comment on my records to the effect that it was "resolved". I am aware of other people who have faired far worse, some of whom have been summoned to court to answer for debts that they could not possibly have incurred. These people lived on the opposite side of the world to where the perpetrator was committing the offenses. How outrageous is it that the victims of crime have to suffer again and again because so few who could make a difference decide to act.

It is the case that with most instances of identity theft that is not involving a company, but rather an individual, they will receive little or no assistance at all. These individuals are denied credit because of the ramifications of the identity theft and are often placed in financial hardship. Some states place a "freeze" on credit reports. This should be the case in all states as it prevents anyone except the rightful owner of the credit to review the reports. The majority of states will place "fraud alerts" for up to three months on a credit report, but this achieves little - nothing is removed from the report. It can actually give the wrong impression.

It appears then, that it is our responsibility to protect ourselves from identity theft. Thieves are finding it increasingly easy, with the advancements in technology, to "steal" a person's identity. Government data bases are protected by sophisticated "firewalls", but still this is not enough to prevent thieves from hacking into accounts.

The newer credit cards available have microchips in them. These are supposed to prevent identity thieves from using them. This is not the case, as most identity thieves are already aware of the technology behind the chip and are able to bypass it.

The biggest and most "convenient" place for an identity thief to work is the world wide web. Even with firewalls and anti-hacker programs, anti-virus software and spy detectors, it is still not entirely safe to use the Internet. In 2004, an estimated eleven million people fell prey to identity theft, most of which were through the Internet.

It is the case that some cases of identity theft were perpetrated by friends, neighbors, family members or colleagues. One such case involved a couple, who moved from England to the States. When they arrived, they discovered that their identity had been "stolen" and they were left to answer a summons for debts they did not incur.

Some creditors and financial lenders will go so far as to accuse a victim of identity theft of fabricating the story of increase debts on your part or to avoid any poor credit rating, even when it has been proven that they were not responsible.

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Debt Consolidation Programs

By Darren Cason

You're not alone if you have accumulated more debt than you can repay. If you're in this situation, you're probably finding that the debt you have results in more debt from interest charges and penalties. It may seem impossible to pay this debt down, but there are ways to do it.

To break this cycle, many people try debt consolidation. Thousands of people have found their way out of debt using a debt consolidation program, but it isn't for everyone. There are pros and cons to debt consolidation programs, and you should consider these carefully before deciding if it is right for your circumstances.

Debt consolidation is, quite simply, the gathering of multiple sources of debt into one. Then, you'll make a single payment each month towards paying off this debt. While it seems simple on the surface, in fact there are many factors to consider when deciding if debt consolidation is right for you.

Remember that whether you pay $150, $50, and $25 per month in three separate bills, or $225 in one check to one debtor, you are still spending the same amount of money paying down your debt each month. With online bill paying, it doesn't even take any more time to pay three bills than one, so if the monthly payment stays the same, debt consolidation will not get you out of debt quickly.

In order for a debt consolidation program to work, either the monthly payment amount needs to decrease, the net amount of interest has to decrease, or the total amount of debt you owe needs to decrease. While it is possible for a debt consolidation program to accomplish at least one of these, you'll need to understand all the details of the consolidation plan to make sure it will actually help you get out of debt faster.

Most debt consolidation programs do not accomplish all three of these. Most commonly, they lower your monthly payment. This will make it easier to pay the bill each month, so you won't add late charges onto your debt. It can also help if you're struggling to make payments each month, making it easier to make ends meet. However, if the payment is too low, you might over-spend because you consider the difference money to spare. If your goal is to become debt free, you'll have to reduce your spending even if your payments on existing debt are lowered.

Unfortunately, most debt consolidation plans are able to give you are lower monthly payment by extending the term of the loan. Over the long term, you'll end up paying more interest and when worst comes to worst you might as well decrease instead of increase your credit score. However, you may be able to negotiate a lower loan amount, because some companies are willing to settle for less to get you to repay the debts. Then, consistently make your payments on time every month to lower your debt.

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Practical Guide On Debt Consolidation

By Don Pedro

Debt consolidation is a way to manage or even reduce the amount of debt someone has. It's a specially panned procedure that when its applied properly anyone carrying heavy loads on the shoulder can find a bit of relief.

People suffer from debt due to varieties of reasons. Most of the times people find themselves in debt due to the high interest rates. And then, another big reason for debt s using multiple credit cards and at the same time spending too much with shop until you drop mentality. Debt can take away the joy from life; however the situation can be improved by consolidating debt.

A solution to the debt crisis can be debt consolidation, where one consults the debt consolidation professionals and together they make plans to rid the sufferer of debts step by step. A credit card debt consolidation means the debts from multiple credit cards are transferred to one credit card which makes debt management easier.

Debt consolidation officers will need your co-operation to successfully take you out of the danger. It's highly recommended to provide the officials with all the necessary information they need for planning. This information may include your income, debt account, credit card balance and information and so on.

Along with debt consolidation programs a debt reduction plan is also required. A debt reduction plan means t he proper planned approach to meet the crisis and reduce the heavy debt condition.

Those who have more than one credit card and have dues in them, its extremely difficult for them to keep a track about the debts and the amount that is to be paid for the debts in all those cards. A credit card consolidation allows them to take care of all the debts by just managing only one credit card.

Those who have credit card debts can benefit themselves a lot by debt consolidation plans. Managing multiple credit cards is a hazard. And it's almost impossible to keep an eye on the due for each credit card. But when credit card debt consolidation arranged, it becomes much easier for someone to maintain the card.

There are many debt consolidation agencies on the web. Simply go through their sites and see which is good for you and your budget. Also, it is really essential to acquire as much informatioin on debt consolidation as posisble so that you will be able to avoid all the scams out there.

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Getting Student Loans With Bad Credit

By Dave Davis

Are you getting ready for college? If you are, you may be worried about getting financial aid, especially if you have bad credit. There is hope, there are many different programs available that allow people with bad credit to get loans and grants. You simply have to know where to look.

Perkins loans and Stafford loans are two of the loan options that are available for individuals that have bad credit. There are also grants such as Pell grants that don't consider credit history as part of the approval process.

Out of all of the loans that the government offers, Stafford loans are the most commonly used. They are available based on the need of the applicant, as determined by the school they are attending.

Subsidized Stafford loans are only given to those who are financially needy and therefore qualify for the loan. If you are awarded a subsidized Stafford Loan, the government will take care of the interest accrued on the loan while you attend school and for the first six months after you graduate.

The unsubsidized version of the Stafford loan is available to even individuals that don't have financial need. Since the government doesn't pay for the interest on the loan while you're in school, these loans can be significantly more expensive.

Perkins loans are also available for students that have bad credit. Perkins loans are harder to qualify for in that you must have more financial need than those who can qualify for Stafford loans. You can qualify for Perkins loans even if you have a bad credit history.

If you have financial need, you may be able to qualify for Pell grants, even if your credit is bad. Credit history isn't considered for the grant approval process. These grants may be large or small. The amount you can get is determined by how much need you have.

Since Pell grants are a reward from the federal government, they don't need to be paid back. Not everyone can qualify for them, but those that can should definitely get them, even before they take out loans. Credit history is not considered for the grant approval process.

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?Starting a Credit Repair Businesses

By William Blake

These are difficult financial times that we are caught in. Many people are without work and lenders are not extending credit as readily these days. These circumstances are making credit repair a necessity for many and credit repair business a good business to be in.

The current situation means that the number of people looking to improve the credit will be on the rise. Good business sense will tell you that this is a good time to take advantage of the circumstances and start up a business that will fill this growing need.

Experience Matters

If you have successfully started and run a home business before you are a step ahead of the game. The business experience you have gained will really help you when you are getting your credit repair business off the ground.

Even if you have fixed up your own credit you will have the minimum skills to get into this line of business and if you also have basic knowledge about improving credit scores, working out decent repayment plans as well as know how to spot and remove errors from a credit report; opening your own credit repair business will prove to be a paying proposition.

It is important to understand exactly what you are getting into and what the market is for this type of work before you try to start your business. You need to understand in detail what is involved in a credit repair business. Knowledge of the specifics is vital. Once you have a comfortable knowledge of what you are getting into you are ready go take the first steps in starting your business.

It is also necessary that you research the different kinds of services a normal credit repair company offers, and in addition, it also pays to know how many other such companies are located in your immediate neighborhood. What's more, you need to also identify the kind of expenses involved in establishing your own credit repair business.

One you've started pulling your business together you need to start thinking about drawing in customers. It might be helpful to check your local newspapers for foreclosure and bankruptcy listings to see if you can create of list of potential customers.

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