Asset Advice

Continued from…

If you have a home equity loan that you have had for several years and interest rates have fallen since then, you really should try to renegotiate a lower rat with your lender, especially if your payments have always been on time.

If you are not certain about your career’s future, meaning your existing job, it could be better to get a home equity loan or home equity line of credit now, before you may have to get another job. This way, you still qualify well. Then, should you get laid off, you will be better prepared to pay off high rate credit cards. This is not to say that you blow the money while you qualify, this asset advice is so you can consolidate some of those nasty credit cards if money is tight from a lay off.

There are some money and financial experts out there that think you should get a regular home equity loan instead of a line of credit because your [payments will be locked in when you sign the loan papers. The rate will be set in stone, whereas a line of credit will have different payment amounts based on how much you use from the line of credit.

Should you need some emotional and psychological support to help you through a difficult debt problem, Debtors Anonymous may have a chapter near you that provides help. You would be chatting with people who are in the same situation as you too. This is a great resource for those who need an outlet fro their stress.

When it comes to planning your retirement, here is an interesting bit of advice you should take to heart. If you still have at least a decade until you are planning to retire, invest in your 401(k) fro growth instead of stockpiling your money into the Money Market Account.

If you have a defined benefit plan, check to see whether that plan is in fact insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. This corporation guarantees to cover retired workers and the vested portion of current employees.

If you have saving bonds, be sure to check their status at (800) US Bonds.

This one is for all the ladies out there reading this debt free article. Young women who are non smokers are more likely to pay the least amount in insurance premiums fro tern life insurance policies. This is because the cost of term life insurance does not completely depend on age and women live longer than men (though this statistics is steady changing) – still women pay less – especially when they do not smoke.

Keep in mind that you can deduct up to $3,000 in losses from capital gains. This reduces your capital gains taxes. If you have no gains to offset your losses, you can deduct up to 3 grand from your ordinary income. All additional amounts can be carried forward to future plans.

And last but nit least, when it comes to doing your taxes, the cheapest way is to do them by yourself. Honestly though, unless your taxes are straight forward, hiring a tax preparer will save you in the long run. Even with all of the great free resources and tutorials available to tax payers these days, hiring a pro that has all the latest info on tax law changes may be able to save you hundreds of dollars. Using some of your assets to pay a tax preparer could save you more assets all together.

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