Finance Wanted.

By Stephen Clayton

If you don't have online bill payment set up, you should do so now. Paying your utility bills online can save you hundreds of dollars every year, increase your household efficiency, and it helps reduce your carbon footprint!

Keep reading for a great list of reasons why you should be paying your utility bills online.

1. It's faster. You'll save your valuable time. Instead of driving to the bank or utilities office where you'll stand in line to drop off a payment, you can do right it from the convenience of your home office.

2. You'll save gas. For your own wallet and the environment, this is a great reason to pay your utility bills online. Using the Internet instead of trekking down to the bank means the car remains in the garage and your money stays in your wallet.

3. It's more secure. Despite what you hear about Internet security, it's actually safer to deal with your bank's secure web servers than to put a piece of paper in the mail with all your bank account numbers and financial details. You don't have to worry about your payments making it to the right people or your personal information falling into the wrong hands.

4. No more stamps and envelopes. If you're an online bill payer, you can often request to have your bills sent to you over the Internet as well. This means you can help save paper, which is great for the environment. You also save on the expense of ever-rising stamp costs.

5. You can often save on promotions. Because utility companies are still trying to market online payment, many are offering incentives for customers to sign up and get on board. Before you register for online utility bill payments, look for rebates and discounts for which you can cash in.

But, how exactly do you pay your bills online?

Typically, a bill payment will run through your bank account. Most banks offer online banking which allows you to log in and access all your account details. From there, you can register your account for bill payments, at which point you'll be prompted to enter your utility company's name along with your customer number.

If you're having difficulty setting up online payments, don't hesitate to visit or call your bank and ask for a step-by-step tutorial on how to set up an online payment program. Remember to always keep your passwords and account numbers safe and stored in a location off your computer.

For information on practical home energy savings ideas, please visit http://www.energysavingsoptions.com, a popular site providing great insights about energy cost cutting measures, such as garage door insulation, the helpful portable furnace, and many more!

By Aoureliou Televko

As a middle aged, middle class, married, business owner, father of 3 (one in college....argh) freedom seeker, I have sought for many years to establish the knowledge, the relationships, and the resources needed to make a lifestyle of financial privacy and freedom available to me and my family. One of the most frustrating and problematic areas to resolve successfully has been that of how to establish a private banking relationship, for someone of moderate means, in today's world of intrusive financial surveillance. Many have found that without doing something "shady" or "under the table" or downright illegal, and having to constantly be looking over your shoulder to see who is looking, having a workable private banking solution is, in real life, unattainable.

But I have found something that simply works...

If the above statement does not suitably impress you, perhaps you are not fully aware of what it takes to accomplish this in this day and time. Just because I said it is simple, do not underestimate the value of this "gem". If you think it's easy to find something that actually works...you have not tried...end of story. The Continental Trust and Credit Union has been the long sought answer to the banking relationships I required.

But before I give you a brief review of it's qualities and benefits, let me stress that I am not talking about just going out and opening an offshore bank account. In my opinion, this is not a valid and workable relationship. First, unless you intend on having assets of less than $10,000 USD (I am talking about US citizens here) you are required to report this account; and secondly, anything with your name attached to it in the banking system is discoverable. Just having an account in a supposedly sovereign jurisdiction that will "keep your information private" is not good enough in todays financial landscape. Suffice it to look at the large number of "high rollers" who tried to "hide" a good portion of their assets this way and got in a good deal of trouble. This is not the way to do it; it's not what I want, and I will presume it's not what you want. "Hiding" things and privacy are very different arrangements, and you want to be involved in the latter....legitimate, legal, secure, workable financial privacy!

With that being said...let's take a look at this treasure I have found...

The Continental Trust And Credit Union is a private savings and loan association domiciled in Stockholm, Sweden and registered in accordance with the Economic Associations Act (1987:667). The activities are regulated by the Swedish Banking Act (2004:297). As a legally designated 'Ekonomik Foerening' (EF) it is essentially a Savings and Loan association. Under the law that regulates Continental Trust, provided that it does not solicit to the public and keeps its membership 'small' by legal definition, an EF is exempt from the standard banking regulatory regime and the only reporting required is an annual tax return filed on net profits.

What this means is that this type of an organization is basically not required to report anything regarding its membership or financial transactions...ever! This is as good as it get's! Now this does not mean you can get away with criminal activity, because if you give governments or courts a legitimate reason to come after you, they can eventually get just about any information they want...but as far as financial privacy, this is off the grid. This is a legitimate type of organization classified by the World Bank as a Non-Bank Financial Institution and recognized as "having an important role in a balanced and diversified financial sector". In other words, it's not some shady deal that you have to worry about being under the table. All of its officers have had background checks, the books are audited annually by a major, well recognized auditing firm.

That's the legal stuff...now as far as its usability and benefits...here are the major points:

� Full internet access to accounts and built in secure message system
� Internet security system twice as good as most major banks (Regarding security; Account data is held not only in secure and stable Linux servers with all the appropriate firewalls, but is then maintained on powerfully encrypted hard drives which are not on the same server as the web page but are instead, held and maintained very privately and secure half a world away. The domicile, banking, secure servers, web servers and administration are all conducted and compartmentalized from different parts of the world making Continental Trust one of the most secure operations of its kind in existence today.)
� So designed that even if the webserver were hacked, no information could be accessed
� Transfer accts. for general in/out activity by wire transfer or by transfer to linked private International Secured Mastercard Program (no spending limits except for the balance stored)
� Credit card, not debit card; much more useful in situations such as car rental etc. Funds accessed by:
� merchant purchases
� ATM withdrawals
� Wire transfer
� Bankers draft
� Savings Accounts with 9% yearly earnings
� CD's yielding from 1%-2.5% monthly (that's right...monthly; excellent passive investment)
� Minimum initial deposit is 2500 euro.
� Loans against capital or real estate

My experiences with CTCU have been excellent. The communications with the staff have been prompt and professional. The treatment I receive is as a person, not a "number". The one small problem I once experienced was when opening a trading acct. The trading institution would not initially accept the wire transfer because it was sent from another institution than what was named on the account. This is actually how this kind of organization works, it's clearing of funds is through a separate bank. The problem was easily resolved by the staff sending the proper documentation showing that the CTCU account was in fact the initiator of the wire transfer. Problem solved!

The other thing you need to know is that access to the Credit Union is by private membership only...you must be a member of the private business group Venture Resources Group. There are other benefits as well to becoming part of Venture Resources Group as they are experienced professionals in the international arena, but I will not go into that here.

The last thing I will point out, is that CTCU is still fairly young and it's deposits and ability to do other things in the financial world is comparatively small...but growing.

So there you have it as best as I can put it. More detailed information is available from the Venture Resources Group and guest login codes to access all the information on the Continental Trust And Credit Union website are available upon request.

I sincerely hope that this article and the information it contains are of great benefit to you and can give you a sense of financial confidence that here, finally, is a solution to what you may have been looking for... as it did for me.

Important Note: A pre-requisite to having this kind of financial privacy is to establish working relationships with properly formed and maintained international entities. For the purposes of this article, I have assumed that you understand this, and have access to this kind of knowledge and relations. If you do not, then allow me to refer you to Venture Resources Group where I know you can get reliable and reasonably priced access to them.

VRG's Private Banking Solution

The Continental Trust And Credit Union

VRG Membership Inquiry :: kam.vrg@gmail.com

By Tom Tessin

If you currently get your CD rates from your local bank, you may want to think of finding a CD rate in a whole another way. If you're reading this article online, you're probably already internet savvy in some sort of way and if by some chance you're reading this article on a piece of paper, you should look for someone that can help you find these great CD rates online.

In today's technological era, CD rates generally are higher online than they are in a brick and mortar bank. The reason bank's online are able to keep rates so high are because they don't need to maintain thousands of branches, employees, etc. When people think of online banks, they may think of a scam or an oversea fishy type deal. Rest assure that most banks online are FDIC insured. If you don't know if they are FDIC insured, you can simply check for the logo on the webpage, check the FDIC main website, or simply contact the bank.

Finding special CD rates online isn't that hard at all. It will probably just take a few minutes of your time when you're looking for that rate online. Below are the steps you're going to take in order to find high special rate CD rates via an internet bank or a local bank branch that has online capabilities.

Find the top ten online banks

When you start your CD search, you'll want to frequent some blogs, website or forums. On these websites, you'll generally get a good idea on what banks work for people and what banks don't. From there, you'll either want to write down the top ten banks you're interested in or simply start a word processing sheet with the banks listed on there.

Check for FDIC mark

When you're looking for your special CD rates online, make sure that the bank is legitimate before you even apply. You'll want to go to the FDIC's website (fdic.gov) to make sure that the bank is FDIC insured. I highly recommend that bank is insured if you bank through them. It's also helpful to call up the bank to get answers if you may have any questions. Most banks, if they want your service will be more than happy to help you out over the phone.

Take action!

When you have the top banks written on a piece of paper, go to each of their websites and subscribe to their e-mail newsletter. By doing this, you'll be alerted with special rates associated with their bank. This way if any good rate does come by, you can grab it before too many people do and the bank lowers the rate.

Finding special rates aren't that hard. It just takes a little bit of time and research. You'll find that each website you frequent, they usually have a "special rate" section which you can click on and explore. When you do find the right rate, the website will tell you exactly how to sign up. From there, you'll be able to save even more money on your money.

Tom Tessin is an author for gotalkmoney.com that is geared toward investors looking for the highest cd rates

By Sandy Cosser

If you're anything like me, your salary has an alarming tendency to disappear without you really knowing what it is that you've spent it on. You know the basics are covered and you're not going to starve come month end, but you don't have much left over to save or see you through emergencies. Many people who used to be in the same boat as me swear by a mysterious solution called a "budget" that cured them of their financial haziness.

Budgets can appear daunting, and for those of us with a relaxed, 'come what may' attitude to life, the idea of sticking to a budget can be uncomfortably claustrophobic. Here's what I have learnt over the past couple of months: budgets do work. It's a truly amazing phenomenon, but their success is undeniable, and they're not as difficult to stick to as you might think.

Budgets are also very easy to plan. The first step is to work out what you actually take home after tax has been deducted from your salary. Work from net, not from gross. It sounds obvious but you'll be amazed at how many people make this mistake. The second step is to categorise your expenses. You may have some regular stop orders that come off every month, and it's important to know exactly what these amounts are. Keeping an accurate record of your spending is key to making a budget work. I find, however, that it's quite a good idea to round your expenses up to the nearest five or ten. Always overestimate than underestimate.

After you've considered all of your automatic deductions, you need to categorise your other expenses. Your categories have to reflect your lifestyle, as it's not always possible to generalise according to someone else's budget template. If you spend a certain amount of money on CDs or DVDs a month, write it down. If you go to movies regularly, include that. You could categorise them all together as "Entertainment" or you could simply create individual categories for "Movies", "CDs" and "DVDs". So long as you know what each category entails, you're ok.

It's not always possible to know exactly what your expenses for a category are going to be for a particular month. Electricity and telephone bills can fluctuate from month to month depending on usage. In cases like this, look at bills that go back a few months and work out an average cost. I would round up again and work according to that figure. Remember that some expenses are also seasonal and will need to be adjusted accordingly. For example, in winter you may find that your electricity costs go up as you use heaters and electric blankets to stay warm.

When setting yourself budget limits, try to be as realistic as possible. Your may have spent a grand and a half per month on groceries for the last six months, but look at what that money bought you. If your list consists of mostly ready-made meals, you may want to consider buying more fresh produce and cooking meals from scratch. It doesn't take that much more effort to feed yourself and it saves you a great deal of money. Try and set your budget to what you think you should be spending, not what you would like to spend.

An important tip is to always set money aside for emergencies. If you don't have a medical aid, create a category called "Medical" or something like that, so that visits to a doctor or medication can be paid for if needed. If you don't use that money every month, let it build up so that if you have a major emergency you'll have a safety net to fall back on. Also, we've heard this piece of advice a lot but not all of us pay attention to it: put money aside for savings. With a smart, practical budget, this can be done.

My last tip for budgeting is to always remember that banks are semi-evil and charge you for everything. Make allowance for bank charges, estimate them and include them in your budget, especially if you have to budget to the last cent. And remember that bank charges go up often and without warning. Keep an eye on your bank statements to keep track of what your bank is charging you.

Don't be afraid to include categories that allow for treats and special occasions. But keep them reasonable and stick to them rigidly. It's far better to go without that beautiful dress or new set of golf clubs than to have to dip into your savings to make it through the last week of the month.

Finally, remember that money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.

Recommended sites:

http://financialplan.about.com/cs/budgeting/a/GuiltFreeBudget_2.htm

http://www.stanford.edu/~dua/files/quotes.html

Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers Financial and Insurance News site index for the latest news in finance and insurance one of the leading site indexes for information on developments in the fields of finance and insurance.

By Carl Baker

There is a lot of talk at the moment regarding the 'credit crunch' and how this affects mortgage borrowers, specifically borrowers with bad credit.

Borrowers with bad or adverse credit apply for what is publicly termed as an 'adverse' or 'bad credit' mortgage. Bad credit mortgages can seem a little confusing; indeed any mention of bad credit can send people running for the hills - but it shouldn't, from our experience the majority of clients who have impaired credit are in the situation they are in due to no fault of their own (death in the family, made redundant etc). The process of applying for a mortgage with bad credit is pretty much the same as applying for any mortgage as far as the client is concerned, but the rate might be a little higher (representing the additional risk to the lender) and there may be more fees (due to the extra work from the broker and/or lender, most of which the borrower will never see!). There are a multitude of lenders that specialise in bad credit mortgages, these lenders are known in the industry as 'sub prime' lenders (a prime lender being your local high street bank or building society), 'sub prime' lenders tend only to deal with mortgage brokers as there is so much to consider when arranging a mortgage for someone with bad credit and, although the terms 'sub prime' and 'bad credit' can sound a little off putting to some, there are some very good products available with competitive rates and terms - if you use a broker who knows what they're doing.

Specialist brokers tend to get the best results as they deal in this area all the time, there are a number of brokers who will say they deal in adverse credit but, from experience dealing in this industry, its better to use a broker who specialises in 'bad credit' rather than one that dabbles, the reason being there are literally thousands of products available, some with very subtle differences and getting the best deal is sometimes just a matter of broker experience in dealing in the 'sub prime' market. If you are applying for a mortgage with bad credit, the golden rule of thumb is - to be honest with the broker, the truth will out in the end!, remember, brokers are there to work for you not against you and a specialist broker should know which lenders to approach depending on your individual circumstances.

So, whilst there is a lot of talk about the credit crunch and mortgages for the credit impaired, if you need a mortgage or remortgage with bad credit there are a multitude of products available, but, use a broker with no upfront fees and specialises in bad credit - that way you will be getting specialist advice and, if the mortgage doesn't complete you won't be left out of pocket.

Baker Financial specialise in helping clients with bad, poor and adverse credit obtain mortgages, remortages and secured loans throughout the UK. With years of experience and a wealth of knowledge in the sub prime market, we pride ourselves on having specialist knowledge and offering straight forward advice that works. We can be found at http://www.bakerfinancial.co.uk

By Gregg Elberg

According to Dictionary.com, the word easy has about 17 definitions. The most relevant definitions are:

"1. Not hard or difficult; 6. Not burdensome or oppressive; 7. Not difficult to influence or overcome; 11. Not tight or constricting; 14. In commerce it means not difficult to obtain." As used in this article, easy money is meant to convey the idea that, notwithstanding these very difficult times in 2008 where money is tight and difficult to obtain, under certain circumstances a business that sells products to other businesses can easily obtain money to grow exponentially.

On our planet earth, man did not invent money for thousands of years. As civilizations and nation states developed, man learned how to trade and barter for goods that they needed. Money was invented to solve the problems of bartering. There basically was a timing issue between, for instance, farmers having a crop to trade for what they wanted when they needed it. The invention and acceptance of gold and silver coins helped to overcome this timing mismatch. The farmer could sell crops for gold and trade gold, when needed, for the other things they required.

Paper money was invented for many reasons, not the least of which is to avoid the inconvenience of carrying around a large amount of gold or silver. Paper money is easier to hide. Until the early 1900's in the United States paper money could actually be redeemed for gold. During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt in 1933 passed laws outlawing the ownership of more that $100 of gold by individuals. By the turn of the century, the U.S. government discovered easy money. No longer restricted by the need for physical gold reserves, the government printing presses churned out however much money as they needed; and the politicians invented schemes such as the sale of government bonds, government loans of various kinds, and control of the money supply through twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks to manage the nation's economy and money supply.

Our government's easy money in fact is causing every American a very steep price. As the world economy realizes our money has less worth, we are charged more for imports such as gas, clothes, and food; if we travel abroad, in Europe for instance, we find that it takes about one and a half U.S. dollars to purchase a single Euro, the currency of Europe. In effect, European hotels, restaurants, goods and services cost fifty percent more for Americans because of the weakness in our dollar. Ironically, U.S. musicians make more money in Europe than they can make in America because it costs less to pay them "in dollars". In spite of this economic situation, many U.S. businesses are innovative, creative and ready to grow at a very rapid pace. Purchase Order Financing can be the easy money solution to rapid growth requirements.

Why does it work? Purchase order financing solves the timing problem to pay a manufacturer for goods before the buyer pays the seller for the product just like paper money and gold solved the barter timing mismatch problem. One real world example is the case of a company that developed popular products for dogs and cats. Most of their customers were small stores. One day they received a huge order from a big box store that would virtually double their business on a monthly basis. The business did not have the cash to fulfill the order. Purchase order financing provided the solution to their cash flow shortage to pay for the manufacture of the products and get the goods shipped to the big box customer.

How does it work? A letter of credit is issued to the manufacturer to guarantee payment. The costs of goods are paid to the manufacturer as soon as the goods are delivered, in the example above, to the big box store. An account receivable financing arrangement is created to pay for the purchase order and letter of credit side of the transaction. When the buyer pays the accounts receivable, the lender, generally a finance company or bank subsidiary, is paid pursuant to the contract and the profits are rebated to the seller.

Why is it easy money? Because the credit of the seller is not the main criteria to secure the financing; the credit of the buyer is used to support the financing. Nevertheless, good character and experience are important to lenders. During the due diligence process lenders need to determine that no prior UCC-1 liens exist with respect to the company. If there are serious credit issues such as bankruptcy, the approval of a bankruptcy court for the debtor in possession would be required. These types of situations would not typically be approved by a Bank, but the financing is still relatively easy to obtain considering the circumstances. And it is available if virtually unlimited amounts of capital. As the business grows so to will the finance facility grow so long as the purchase orders are from solid, creditworthy entities.

In 1959 Barry Gordy, the founder of Motown Records, and Janie Bradford wrote a song called "Money" (That's What I Want). The song was the first big hit for the record label. It was covered by the Beatles in 1963. Everyone wants easy money. Here are the lyrics:

The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees
Now give me money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want), yeah
That's what I want

Your lovin' gives me a thrill
But your lovin' don't pay my bills
Now give me money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want), yeah
That's what I want

Money don't get everything, it's true
What it don't get, I can't use
Now give me money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want), yeah
That's what I want

Well, now give me money (that's what I want)
A lot of money (that's what I want)
Whoa, yeah, you owe me money (that's what I want)
Oh, now give me money (that's what I want)
That's what I want (that's what I want), yeah
That's what I want.

The bottom line: Purchase Order Financing is easy money compared to traditional bank financing. Similar to the government printing presses for paper money, purchase order financing combined with accounts receivable financing, or factoring, can be a source of virtually unlimited cash for your business. Is that what you want?

Copyright ฉ 2008 Gregg Financial Services

Mr. Elberg is a licensed attorney and licensed real estate broker. Gregg Financial Services is a full service brokerage for commercial finance companies and banks that fund B2B businesses. Mr. Elberg arranges funding from $25,000 to $50 million per month at competitive pricing, and works to reduce your financing costs as your company grows. For more information about GFS, please visit our website: http:http://www.greggfinancialservices.com

By Mathew C Kenny

People often go for large amount of loans to increase their status and standard of living. But because of some unavoidable reasons they are unable to repay the loan. When they fail to repay, they get the tag of bad credit attached to them. If all this is not enough, lack of collateral makes the condition worst. Bad credit unsecured tenant loans is now here to take you out of these worst situations.

As we know that tenants usually do not own a house to put it against the loan amount, hence to ensure security of the loan lenders will analyze all income sources and financial standings of borrower. And based on that repayment capability of borrower is decided. The loan amount and interest rate depends on the borrowers' financial background, credit score and income. If these are on positive side, the tenants will get even larger loan.

Features of bad credit unsecured loans

Normally the loan amount ranges from ฃ500 to ฃ25000. The interest rate on bad credit unsecured tenant loans is higher, about 7.7 APR to 18.3% APR because the loan providers have to pay for insurance of the loan as there is no security of the loan offered by tenants. The repayment time period here is usually from 3 to 25 years.

Eligibility criteria for unsecured tenant loans are - you must be a UK citizen and not having any own home, you must be employed, you must have resided at your current address for over 12 months and you should have a UK bank account. In financial market you can find numerous bad credit unsecured tenant loan lenders. So you should compare interest rates of the different loan providers and deal with the lower interest rate provider. Online lenders are gaining popularity nowadays. Click the mouse and access infinite lenders online. An online loan application form needs to be filled up. It includes details like - name; address and employment history etc. Fill and submit the form for further process.

Mathew Kenny is offering loan and financial advice for quite a long time. He is working as the senior financial consultant with UK Tenant Loans. To find tenant loans, bad credit tenant loans, loans for tenants, unsecured tenant loans visit http://www.uktenantloans.co.uk

By Dror Klar

One of the worst things that you can do is live beyond your means, but millions of people a year in the United States do it every day. There are a lot of ways to learn to control your spending, but if you are already in the habit of using credit cards for everything, it is going to be a little bit harder to get control of your finances than you might think. Old habits are hard to break and you really need to have a good solid foundation of common sense when it comes to your finances and dealing with cash before you start dealing with credit.

Start with a checking and savings account at the local bank of your choosing. There are lots of different banks to choose from and each one has different features that may appeal to you. If you already have a checking and savings account, do some research and see if you can find better service elsewhere. It never hurts to try and find a better bank.

One of the hardest things to do to get control of your finances is to stop using your credit cards for everything. You must learn to deal only with the money that you already have in your possession before you start dealing with credit. You should never find yourself in a position where you need your credit cards to get by every month. If your income cannot sustain you, you must cut some expenses where possible. This can be done many different ways.

One of the most important things you can learn to do is cook things from scratch. Avoid buying pre-processed foods as much as possible in the grocery store. Ounce for ounce, these are the most expensive items in the grocery store and most of them contain next to no nutritional value compared to the same meal cooked from scratch. Not everyone has time to cook meals from scratch these days, but it will save you money in the end by having a pantry stocked with the basic necessities. Potatoes, noodles, and rice can make almost any meal go further and they are relatively cheap staples for any kitchen to have on hand.

Cutting back on utilities is also a good idea. Use the air conditioning and heating system in your home as little as possible to keep your bill down every month. Electricity is easy to conserve: just keep the lights off as much as you can.

Dror Klar is a writer in the field of finances and is currently assisting those in need of cash advances and payday loans, particularly in the state of California.

By David Faulkner

When the prospect of foreclosure rears its frightening head, the affected homeowner will benefit immensely from knowing what course of action will prevent the foreclosure from actually occurring. There are, surprisingly enough, several avenues open for those who want to avoid foreclosure, saving their credit ratings if not their homes. Knowing how to find stop foreclosure mortgage help will let you get to work right way and maximize your chances of a positive outcome.

Face Your Problems

Many of those facing foreclosure are so intimidated by the threat of losing their homes that they simply deny their situation until it is to late for stop foreclosure mortgage help to save them. You can avoid falling into this trap with a single phone call to your lender saying you are in need of stop foreclosure mortgage help, because as strange as it sounds, you lender is your best ally when it comes to stopping foreclosure. Lenders do not want to be saddled with empty homes which need maintenance and insuring until they find new occupants.

One way to get stop foreclosure mortgage help is to ask your lender to add your interest as a balloon payment at the end of your mortgage, instead of having to pay it each month. You can also consider selling your home, and as long as you get enough to pay the balance of your mortgage, you will save your credit rating and have a much easier time getting a loan on a new home. You can stop foreclosure by finding a way to come up with the funds to pay the late mortgage payments along with any penalties for not paying them on time.

Find A Specialist

You can consult with a stop foreclosure mortgage help specialist who can advise you on the best way to become current on your mortgage payments; there are thousands of such specialists and they have helped countless people in your position. Stop foreclosure mortgage help is really not difficult to find; the difficulty lies in summoning the will to find it.

You may be facing foreclosure fore reasons completely beyond your control, like a job loss, unexpected medical bills, of unforeseen litigation expenses. Finding stop foreclosure mortgage help can be as easy as performing an Internet search, or by looking in your Yellow Pages.

You can also find more info on buy foreclosures successfully and auction foreclosure. Foreclosureshomeguide.com is a comprehensive resource to get help about property Foreclosures.

By Kim M Clarke

House prices today have been described as being extortionate. In fact the average house price is about ฃ180,000 which is about 8 times an average persons salary. Whilst those that have been lucky enough to get onto the property ladder in the early days when it was possible to get a mortgage and still have money in your account, nowadays many people are struggling to save up enough of a deposit to put down on a mortgage, let alone borrow the large amount of money that will actually allow them to buy a house or flat.

All mortgage lenders are happy to provide a joint mortgage. The incomes of each applicant are combined and then multiplied by a figure to come to the total amount they are willing to offer you. Most lenders will times this total figure by two and a half times the amount, but some will often multiply it by three and a half times the amount. If a married couple have a combined salary of ฃ40,000 they could borrow anywhere between ฃ100,000 and ฃ140,000 for a property.

Deposit

Having more people save up for a deposit towards their mortgage can be so much easier than one person trying desperately to save by themselves. Having 2 people saving ฃ2500 each is much easier than one person trying to save up ฃ5000 for a deposit on a property. The bigger the deposit you can put on a mortgage, the more money you could borrow to buy a better house.

Borrow more money

By combining the incomes of 2 or more people, the mortgage lender will be able to offer you a larger amount of money. Joint mortgages could help you buy a larger property with 3 or 4 bedrooms which could even give you the opportunity to rent out an extra room to help cover mortgage costs. One person with an income of ฃ25,000 won't be able to borrow much more than ฃ87,000 and may struggle to find a property for this price, whereas 3 people with a combined salary of ฃ70,000 could borrow anywhere up to ฃ245,000 between them all.

Joint ownership

Having a mortgage is a big financial responsibility and for some the burden may feel too much. It can feel more comfortable sharing such a large commitment with someone you know and trust.

Location, Location

By joining forces with your partner, husband, wife or friend you can open up the opportunities of house buying. Lots of people now even buy with brothers, sisters and other family members to raise more finance. The benefit of this is you are more likely to be able to buy a better house in your favoured location than if you tried to buy alone.

Investing in property

There has been an increase in the number of people who want to start property development and getting a joint mortgage is a great way to enable this to happen. Although most people applying for joint mortgages are happy for it to be their home as well as an investment.

Any joint financial commitment needs to be taken seriously though and should be thought out thoroughly beforehand. Because each person named on the joint mortgage will have equal responsibility and liability for the property, it is important to have a joint agreement legally drawn up to cover for any eventualities such as separation, job losses or a change in your personal situation.

Kim M. Clarke writes for http://www.joint-mortgages.co.uk where you can get information about joint mortgages and other types of loan options available.

By Donald Yates

Is the love of money really the root of all evil?

Today belongs to the paycheck but tomorrow belongs to the prudent investor. Even as a person starts out in life, the end looms in the distance. It is everyday cost that determines positioning in future years. You must implement long term planning as a resolve to how you will spend your last years.

What does long term planning consist of?

1. Budgeting
2. Long term plan
3. Securing assets
4. long term commitment

These four factors are the basis for securing a financial free future. The fact is, you pay for today but you must finance your future. If you buy a home a car or any big ticket idem, you must make installments. Life is the same, it can be secured only by making installments. Unless you hit the lottery or inherit a great sum of money, you must buy your future by making pre determined payments. The future is bought in increments, one step at a time.

Plan For Tomorrow

Some factors are given, like monthly overhead, and predicted life span. Daily overhead cost are a given. You know and can expect the same cost from day to day, plus cost of providing services, increases. Considering the ten percent you hold out for your future you must stay within your allotted income.

Given any unseen events, you will probably live around eighty five years. If you are twenty five now and let's say you work twenty five years . . . that gives you thirty years you need to finance. You are essentially buying twenty five years of lifestyle. Because of the cost involved, you must use financing to achieve your objective. That's ok, it's common practice and one that can be mastered with a little determination.

The Mission Statement

First let's start with a mission statement. A mission statement is only a decoration of intent. It is a statement pertaining to your reason for doing. It answers the question, why. It also brings into light the facts of the situation. If you are married it must be a joint activity. Your spouse must be in agreement with the desired results and also agree to work jointly to achieve it.

Second, how are you going to do it? Financing twenty five years of life while maintaining a desired lifestyle is a daunting task to say the least. Unless you are a financial planner, you should seek the advise of one. Your life is your experience, I know that sounds a little obvious but you would be surprised how many people don't give it a second thought. An advertisement, I hate, is one where the couples TV goes bad. He runs down to the local supplier, and the music is playing with singers singing, "I want it all and I want it now." Of course that advertisement is from a credit card company.

Make a Budget

Make a budget and stick to it. Examine your lifestyle and determine if you can afford it. I know, no one wants to give up what they have been used to and you don't have to either. Through careful planning you can be prepared for what ever happens in the future. Do not use credit cards to finance today's desires. Filling today's desires will leave your future broken and in disarray. In fact, credit cards are one of the worst types of financing you can use. Their interest and other charges makes them a poor choice of use. If you need something, barring an emergency, make payments to yourself until you can pay cash. True, you must use the credit card occasionally, to keep your credit rating up. Use the card and pay it off within thirty days.

Be faithful to your budget. Stay on track and soon you will see results. There are a lot of good budget planers around. Go to your local office supply store and I am sure they will have one. The thing is, a budget is only as good as your commitment to it.

Develop a Life Plan

Third map it out. Like any adventure, you must have a map of where you are going. Perhaps you may have to take a second job or change jobs to accomplish your objective. Don't let today's things get in the way of tomorrows living. What happens it you aren't making enough to pay for your future? What kind of installments do you have to make? Either adjust your expatiations, or make more money. It's really that simple. If your job is not providing you with the capital you need, perhaps you should consider becoming part time or full time self employed. I know that sounds a little intimidating but it is not impossible.

How can you increase you earnings? One way is more education, certification or licensing. If you are a professional, you can increase your value by reaching a higher level of potential. Non professional people, can also increase their value to their employer by learning everything there is about their job. Attend seminars, conferences, any thing that would put you at an advantage. Always remember, your life is at stake.

Commit to your Plan

Now it comes down to commitment. Not many people can commit to anything. Marriage, family, job, relationships, there is little or no commitment anymore. People have become too self orientated and see commitment as a distraction to self fulfillment. Don't fall into this trap, free yourself and live a life of enjoyment and accomplishment.

Finance is and must be considered if you are to live an abundance life. Use the ten percent factor to secure your future and give you peace of mind.

Live an Abundant Life

It is your life , how will you experience it? will you be in constant need of money and constant pressure from finance companies, or will you be prudent and plan your financial future? Plan to be every ting you were meant to be. With a little foresight, finance will be no problem and your life . . . will be not only on track, but more pleasurable.

Next, Health, Wealth and the pursuit of Health

Happy Trails

Donald Yates, Former Director of Business and Leadership Development for Imperial Research, is now retired but continues to assist young people in engaging life through self discovery, Life course planning, intuitiveness and fulfillment. Learn how you can build a powerful organization of your own. To learn more, visit http://www.clean4profit.com
http://www.rockeriders.com

By Paul Dubsky

When recession starts creeping in it will become noticeable. Spending on households gets smaller and smaller as incomes get smaller. Business in general gets slowed down, and when that happens, unemployment starts going up. The consumer has less money to spend and gets worried, and any major outlays will tend to be delayed as much as possible. The consumer hangs on waiting for better times.

It does not mean that everybody earns less, but many will. What does make an impact is the feeling of having to be more careful about spending.

Naturally, consumer confidence starts to tumble, as a gloomy point of view takes over. It does not help to see reports of subprime crumple and other financial horror stories.

On the housing front, it is also a time to ponder, since most people are governed lately by the rising or falling value of their homes. Many have been dependent on the continuation of the increasing market price of their house and got used to this magic phenomenon which enabled them to get so many things they could not afford otherwise.

The financial standing of people is not always best measured by what amount they have in the bank, but their steady earning capabilities, and the competence of the control of their funds as well as their reliability. Thousands of instances occurred, when people have won fortunes or inherited them, only to wind up in a big minus. These are the most vulnerable people, because quick money came their way, and good luck to them, but they have problems to keep up their new style of living if something goes wrong. To fall into money is one thing, but to keep it, is another. Finding a way out is always hard, but at least there is a lesson to be learnt, and that is, when you get into money, do not be in a hurry to spend it all without making sure you can really afford it. Keep enough money to ride out a possible storm.

Of course, there are those who have been careful with their money, and to them many opportunities will unfold to purchase property at rock bottom prices. They are undoubtedly only waiting for the right moment to pounce and will gain eventually.

There are others, who have made investments which have lost in value. They have not spent their money recklessly, but are victims of circumstances which may change later. Mostly, these people can wait and will be back in good shape ready to fight on.

Looking to spot inflation is not too hard. The Retail Price Index is a good pointer to the inflation position. This is taken once a month.

The R.P.I. is arrived at by taking a numerous lot of prices and ascertain as to what extent there has been a price move. The items selected will generally be important such as food and other everyday necessities.

When you notice the phone bill, the electricity and gas bill, and various items on your shopping bill go up, you are looking at the arrival of inflation.

In other words, we know that your money will not go as far as it did before. Inflation can start eating into your savings, so make sure that your invested money makes at least enough to counter this.

Of course, gloom comes but it also goes. At all times be sure you get the best you can for your money whether it is buying a house or currency or a car or whatever.

There are many foreign currency exchange companies, so find the one which gives you the best exchange rates. It is well worth the few phone calls. The same thing goes for buying a house, so do not be afraid to make an offer thinking it might be on the low side, you never know your luck. With cars or anything else, the principle is the same, look for value.

Paul Dubsky is director of Foreign Currency Exchange & Transfers Ltd. The company is focused on being able to offer really friendly currency exchange rates. We believe we are the only Foreign Currency Exchange company which offers special rates to Senior Citizens.

By Gregg Elberg

Banks lend money to people and businesses. The money is used for investment purposes and consumer purchases like food, cars and houses. When these investments are productive the money eventually finds its way back to the bank and an overall liquidity of a well functioning economy is created. The money cycles round and round when the economy is functioning effectively.

When the market is disrupted financial markets tend to seize up. The liquidity cycle may slow, freeze up to a degree or stop completely. This is true because banks are highly leveraged. A well capitalized bank is only required to have 6% of their assets in core capital. It is estimated that the residential mortgage meltdown will cause credit losses of about $400 billion dollars. This credit loss is about 2% of all U.S. equities. This hurts the bank's balance sheets because it impacts their 6% core capital. To compensate, banks have to charge more for loans, pay less for deposits and create higher standards for borrowers which leads to less lending.

Why did this happen? Once upon a time after the great depression of the 1930's a new national banking system was created. Banks were required to join to meet high standards of safety and soundness. The purpose was to prevent future failures of banks and to prevent another disastrous depression. Savings and Loans (which still exist but call themselves Banks today) were created primarily to lend money to people to buy houses. They took their depositor's money, lent it to people to buy homes and held these loans in their portfolio. If a homeowner failed to pay and there was a loss, the institution took the loss. The system was simple and the institutions were responsible for the building of millions of homes for over 50 years. This changed drastically with the invention of the secondary market, collateralized debt obligations which are also know as collateralized mortgage obligations.

Our government created the Government National Mortgage Association (commonly known as Ginnie Mae) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (commonly known as Fannie Mae) to purchase mortgages from banks to expand the amount of money available in the banking system to purchase homes. Then Wall Street firms created a way to expand the market exponentially by bundling up home loans in clever ways that allowed originators and Wall Street to make big profits. The big stock market firms were securitizers of mortgage-backed securities and resecuritizers who sliced and diced different parts of the groups of home loans to be bought and sold in the stock market based on prices set by the market and market analysts. Home loans, packaged as securities, are bought and sold like stocks and bonds.

In the quest to do more and more business, the standards to get a loan were lowered to a point where, at least in some cases, if a person wanted to buy a house and could assert they could pay for it they received the loan. Borrowers with weak or poor credit histories were able to get loans. There was little risk to the lender because unlike the earlier days when home loans were held in their portfolios, these loans were sold and if the loans defaulted the investors or purchasers of these loans would take the losses i.e. not the bank making the loan. The result today is tumult in our economy from the mortgage meltdown which has disrupted the overall financial system and affects all lending in a negative way.

Who is responsible for this situation? All loan originators, including banks, are responsible for turning a blind eye to loans that were based on poor credit criteria. Under the label of "subprime" loans there were low documentation loans, no documentation loans and very high loan to value loans- many of which are the foreclosures we read about on a daily basis. Wall Street is responsible for pumping this system into a financial disaster that may grow from the current $400 billion dollar estimate to over a trillion dollars. Realtors, mortgage brokers, home buyers and speculators are responsible for their willingness to pay higher and higher prices for homes on the belief that prices would only go higher and higher. This basically fueled the system for the mortgage meltdown.

Are there any similarities to the saving and loan crisis of the 1980's? Between 1986 and 1995 Savings and Loans (S&L's) lost about $153 billion. The institutions were regulated by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation. These entities passed laws that required the S&L's to make fixed rate loans only for their portfolios. The rates that could be charged for these loans were determined by the marketplace. Imagine an institution with $100 million in loans at 6% to 8%. For years the interest rates on deposits were also regulated by the government. The interest rate spread between the two allowed institutions to make a small profit.

In 1980 the U.S. Congress passed the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (DIDMCA). A committee was established in Congress. Over a period of years the committee deregulated the rates S&L's could pay on savings. Nothing was changed with respect to what could be charged for home loans. Many institutions started to loose huge amounts of money because they had to pay market rates of 10% to 12% for their savings, yet they were stuck with their old 6% to 8% loans. Some executives in the savings and loan business referred to this committee as the damned idiots in Washington.

Many books have been written about these events. There is documented evidence of substantial wrongdoing by S&L executives who were trying to invest funds to save their institutions, sometimes for personal gains. Some were sophisticated criminals. Congress recognized their mistake in 1982 when the Garn-St.Germain Depositary Institutions Act was passed to allow S&Ls to diversify their activities to increase their profits. It also allowed S&L's to make variable rate loans. It was too little too late. After bankrupt institutions were liquidated by the government, the surviving S&Ls were assessed billions of dollars by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to replenish the fund that insures the depositors of all U.S. banking institutions. The mortgage meltdown and the savings and loan crises are similar with regard to the presence of greed and criminal activity. They are very different with respect to the fact that the S&L crises originated from a broken government mandated regulatory system and the mortgage meltdown has been caused primarily by a system that went wild with greed.

This has impacted non-bank lenders such as private commercial finance companies that provide hard money real estate loans, purchase order financing and accounts receivable financing. Most of these firms have raised their prices and their origination standards for safety and soundness of operations.

The bottom line: Bank lending can be replaced by other sources such as commercial finance companies to some degree. Hard money, purchase order financing and accounts receivable financing will help some businesses grow during these difficult times. But for the average borrower, businessman, or business owner these are difficult economic times, caused by the mortgage meltdown, which are here to stay for several years.

Copyright ฉ 2008 Gregg Financial Services

Mr. Elberg is a licensed attorney and licensed real estate broker. Gregg Financial Services is a full service brokerage for commercial finance companies and banks that fund B2B businesses. Mr. Elberg arranges funding from $25,000 to $50 million per month at competitive pricing, and works to reduce your financing costs as your company grows. For more information about GFS, please visit our website: http://www.greggfinancialservices.com

By Betty Bowler

Opening a new credit card may seem like the last smart thing to do when faced with mounting credit card debt. In one case, however, this may make sense and wind up saving you a lot of money as well. This special exception is a credit card balance transfer, and is oftentimes available to anyone with a mailbox and social security number.

Credit cards are a big business nowadays, with many companies making affluence off finance arraigns. The typical yearly percentage rate is about 16% on most credit cards. With that kind of pursuit, it's tough to pay down a credit card, because it is consistently charging pursuit and adding to the rule. Even hot stocks are pushed to grow at 16% a year. Luckily, companies are so anxious for your business the balance transfer was false.

In an attempt to decoy patrons to their credit card, many companies agreement open balance transfers from your old credit card. Once the money is carefully billed to the new band, they will regularly present a embellish interval where they arraign far fewer on the transferred balance. Decision two, one, or even zilch percent pursuit is workable. Oftentimes this introductory rate lasts for around six months to a year after the balance transfer takes place.

For a sense consumer, this can be a brilliant reasoning of dropping credit card debt. It designed the being open to pay down the balance on a credit card lacking incurring pursuit arraigns. With this strategy, a being could potentially open a new account that agreements a balance transfer when the old one expires. Then transfer all of the balance to the new card to launch a new embellish interval of low or non-present finance arraigns. If you design to do a balance transfer, be indeed to close your old account immediately; having more than two credit card accounts open may break credit scores.

Making a balance transfer work for you is a brilliant tradition, but industry is vital. Sometimes there is penalty carry friendly with unknown arraigns. Some invests may arraign a transfer fee that can be a percentage of the balance transferred. Be indeed that there is a cap on the total, like fifty or seventy-five dollars, or also a balance transfer in the thousands may end up price a join hundred dollars. Also, be indeed the invest doesn't arraign a high yearly fee, or fusion fee. The credit card companies are already receiving your business, so don't let them take the high hand in a balance transfer.

Betty Bowler writes for http://www.transferakocard.com where you can find out more about Balance Transfer Cards and other topics.

By Anton Kadin

Asset management implies the management of a client's investments by a financial services company that may usually be an investment bank. The way in which it works is that the company invests on behalf of its clients and gives them access to a wide range of traditional and alternative product offerings that may not be approachable to or affordable by an average investor.

As a rule, the expense of the service provided by the companies engaged in asset management in UK restricts it to high net-worth individuals, governments, corporations and financial intermediaries. The products that are generally included are equity, fixed income, real estate, agriculture and international investments.

When an individual deposits money into the account, it is placed into a money market fund. The fund, on the other hand, offers a greater return that can be found in regular savings and checking accounts. Now, the added benefit to individuals is that they can carry out all of their banking and investing activity at the same institution. They will not require having a bank and brokerage account at two different companies.

Thus, asset management in UK also includes the professional management of various securities like shares, bonds etc. and assets e.g. real estate to achieve desired investment goals for the benefit of the investors. Again, in this case, investors may be institutions like insurance companies, pension funds, corporations etc. Or it may be the private investors like both directly via investment contracts and more commonly via collective investment schemes e.g. mutual funds.

Asset management UK is used every now and then to refer to the investment management of collective investments. It is also a fact that the more generic fund management may refer to all forms of institutional investment as well as investment management for private investors. With lots of asset management companies in the UK, it is easy to get necessary solution on this.

The author is an expert in the domain of asset management and investment solutions. Written from experience and with expertise, his write-ups provide guidance to individuals and businesses on asset management uk and investment solutions and financial planning.

By Rama Krishna

Is offshore asset protection legal or is there a sleaze factor associated with it? There are a lot of myths surrounding it , which is nothing but a useful way to protect your assets in case you are facing litigation.

In offshore asset protection, you register all your assets in a foreign jurisdiction which is way beyond the reach of anyone who can benefit by selling it off. Since all your assets are registered in another jurisdiction, nobody can claim their rights on your assets legally.

A lot of creditors get discouraged the moment they hear the word offshore asset protection because of the cost of pursuing a lawsuit in a foreign jurisdiction. As I said before, there are a lot of myths surrounding it rather than facts. Let us look at some of them.

If I use asset protection services offshore , will it trigger an audit by the IRS?

Most people think that these services are only for the filthy rich people who wish to hide their assets from the IRS. But this is wrong. If you use it for legitimate means then it will not trigger an audit by the IRS. It is not a crime to business with a foreign country.

Why use offshore asset protection then?

It has been noted that the United States Jurisdiction tends to favor the plaintiff over the defendant on many occasions. If you are facing litigation and end up losing the case, then you may end up losing all the property that you have accumulated over the years. Hence it is common to use asset protection to save some of your assets.

How do I go about it?

You need to meet your attorney before you decide on using offshore asset protection services. There are a lot of requirements that need to be completed and your attorney will be the best person to advice you.

For more info visit : Offshore Asset Protection

By Wincent Loh

Are you interested in option stock trading? Then you must be interested in option stock trading strategies. To understand stock options better lets see a simple dictionary definition.

Strategy can be defined as a skill in managing or planning, especially by using stratagems. The words managing or planning using stratagems to achieve a particular end or objective is quite useful in our desire to apply this definition to the investment market.

The ability to pick the right stock or group of stocks is vital. Equally vital is the art of making the most possible return on the chosen investment possibility. This is where you need your strategy or game plan. So with the right opportunity but wrong strategy can still lead to risky investment, loss of profits an capital. These underlies the fact the proper knowledge of option stock trading strategies are important.

The desire of the stock investor, his style and depth of research and the personal preference of the stock broker would all contribute to the final selection of stock options would prefer and consider necessary. The process of selection involves the data that are available and preferred by an investor in options stock trading. The sources of data are wide and usually consists of charts, indicators, news, reviews, tips and oscillators.

Each investor in option stocks trading has his own preferred stock choosing process. Each would determine how he undergoes the selection process. Once the selection has been made viable option stock trading strategies would have to be considered and a strategy selected.

A stock option investor has some desired expectation for any opportunity chosen and implemented. A trading strategy that maximally suits the desired expectation should be selected.

Obviously the best strategy would be one that achieves the desired level of returns while still offering the least amount of risk and best protection on investment possible. Every option stock trading opportunity is unique with different variables attached to it and thus would require that each opportunity should have a different strategy that best suits the particular strategy. An obvious popular option stock trading strategy is the selection of stock that is believed to be on the rise, or that is expected to increase in price.

This directional play allows investors to profit as the face value of the stock or portfolio goes up. Each investor should take time to select his stock or trading opportunity and the best available strategy to execute it.

Find out more about online stock options trading strategies at http://www.optionsuniversityblog.com

By Ronald Tulit

With the U.S. economy in a downturn, more and more people have found themselves saddled with outstanding debt. This also means that more and more businesses across the U.S. have found themselves holding the bag for this outstanding debt.

Debt collection is a difficult task that is better left to professionals and if you have found yourself trying to do your own debt collection then you may already know this. The fact of the matter, is that most likely the people that owe you the money that you are trying to collect, have it and can pay you but they are forwarding it to other debts that they have and there is usually a good reason for this.

Its because, the other debts that they owe are in the hands of a qualified debt collection agency, so they are going to of course give the bone to the most intimidating dog on the block. Being the nice guy never has worked and never will, because there are just far too many people in this world that have an innate sense that lets them know when they are dealing with a nice person and they will take full advantage.

If you currently have delinquent unpaid debts that are owed to you, you have to understand that time is of essence. This is because unpaid delinquent debt and bankruptcies go hand in hand not to mention divorces and legal problems.

This means that the time to act decisively and contact a debt collection agency is now, before the person that owes you the debt that you have been so kindly working with, files for bankruptcy or winds up doing two or three years in jail for drunk driving. Any expert in the field of debt collection will tell you that unless the pressure is put on and kept on the delinquent debt will not be paid and that is a just a fact.

Written by Ronald Tulit. Find the latest information on Debt Collection Management System

By Gilbert Imlay

Life is full of insecurities and with each passing moment we realize that things that we have already planned do not fall into place. It is indeed a true saying that man proposes and God disposes. This is one thing that definitely holds true and therefore, we always remain unprepared for the future. Things happen all of a sudden and therefore, when events happen in our lives, we feel all despaired and devastated. Today, money has indeed become one of the most crucial things in our life and why not. People, who do not have enough money to support themselves, know the problems that they face. Therefore, having enough cash in our bank accounts is a necessity. However, many a times, this seems impossible and when we face major hassles in our lives when we need to shell out money, we feel all harrowed and lonely. However, now with the help of unsecured personal loans, this problem of having to meet financial emergencies can definitely be tackled to a great extent.

Unsecured personal loans are indeed one of the most convenient loan products that have been launched in the market. The sudden rise and boom in the financial industry has helped people to a great extent, as with these loan products they can now meet all their financial requirements without having to take the help of their near and dear ones, which is definitely demoralizing to a great extent. Taking the help of unsecured personal loans definitely helps to minimize the problems of many individuals, who find it really difficult to arrange for cash to meet some financial emergencies or some or the other demands. Time and again, the one thing that has been proved is the fact that we can do nothing without money and since life is highly unsecured, we need to have sufficient cash with our selves to meet all these emergencies.

Many a times, people find it difficult to get a loan because they do not posses any property or anything like that which they can put up as the collateral against the desired loan amount that they want to meet some emergency. However, now with unsecured personal loans, they do not need to worry about putting up a security as the collateral against their loan amount because this loan product does not demand a security. This acts as one of the major benefiting point for any individual who is need of instant cash to meet any kind of a financial emergency. Therefore, now there is nothing to worry.

There are many financial institutions, banks and even individual lenders who provide unsecured personal loans to meet their requirements. You can get all the information about these institutions through the internet and the best thing is that you can even apply for this loan product from the comfort of your place. All you need to do is to fill in the online form with them and then their financial representatives get back to you promptly. Therefore, there is nothing to be worried now, as you can meet any kind of an emergency situation and can even meet all your financial needs with the help of this loan product.

Gilbert Imlay is a financial advisor with years of experience and specializations in unsecured loan, Unsecured personal loans and bad credit unsecured loan. If you have any queries you could visit http://www.ukunsecuredloans.me.uk

By Ronald Tulit

For many people, they view a debt collection agency as the bad guys, because they are after them to clear unpaid debts. For others however; the exact opposite is true, because they have found themselves with more outstanding debts owed to them then they can manage.

The fact is, that the people who owe on the debts incurred them on their own and so it is they who are responsible for them in the end. Collecting on outstanding delinquent unpaid debt is a very difficult thing to do, because so many people are adept at dodging debts.

This is where a debt collection agency comes in, because they employ people who are experts in dealing with just this type of person. It takes certain type of person to thrive and succeed in the field of debt collections and trying to save a few dollars by doing it yourself can and will lead to further losses not to far down the road.

Time is crucial when trying to collect on delinquent outstanding debt so it is imperative that experts be assigned the task as soon as possible. Divorces and bankruptcies are just two of the things that can make collecting a debt more difficult than it already is and they bot come hand in hand with delinquent debts.

Also, it is imperative that you have a qualified debt collector on your side, because so often the party that owes the debt has more than just you trying to collect from them. It is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease and a debt collection agency and the experts that they employ know just what it takes to get your wheel squeaking the loudest.

If you are over burdened in your business with difficult to collect outstanding debt then now is not the time to procrastinate or get strung along further then you have already been.

Written by Ronald Tulit. Find the latest information on Debt Collection CMS

By Stephen Edge

Standardized Portfolio Analysis of Risk (SPAN) was developed in 1988 by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to enhance the margin efficiency of futures and options on futures in the same portfolio. SPAN calculates the likely loss of each position with 16 scenarios of volatility and price change to determine margin across the total portfolio arriving at a one-day risk (or worst-case scenario) for a trader's account.

The key strength of SPAN is that it takes into account the entire portfolio and not just the last trade when establishing margin requirements. It has been widely adopted at many other exchanges including those in Asia.

First of all margin in the futures market is not the same as margin for buying stocks. Futures margin is a performance bond that earns interest in your account while stock margin is money you borrow from your broker to pay for a stock (you pay interest for the loan to your broker). When you buy options outright you really only have to put up the premium to carry the position and no further margin is required. SPAN margining really focuses on the option writing and permits different futures and options months to offset one another.

SPAN uses a standard option pricing model to determine how a contract will perform over the 16 previously mentioned scenarios. Option pricing models typically require five inputs:

* Price of the Underlying Instrument
* Risk-free Interest Rate
* Strike Price
* Time to Expiration
* Volatility

In the pricing model the strike price is known and the risk-free rate isn't important. SPAN then takes the last three inputs, time, volatility and price of the underlying and performs the following 16 scenarios to arrive at a loss or gain value over each option and future.

Scenario 1 Futures unchanged Up
Scenario 2 Futures unchanged Down
Scenario 3 Futures up 1/3 range Up
Scenario 4 Futures up 1/3 range Down
Scenario 5 Futures down 1/3 range Up
Scenario 6 Futures down 1/3 range Down
Scenario 7 Futures up 2/3 range Up
Scenario 8 Futures up 2/3 range Down
Scenario 9 Futures down 2/3 range Up
Scenario 10 Futures down 2/3 range Down
Scenario 11 Futures up 3/3 range Up
Scenario 12 Futures up 3/3 range Down
Scenario 13 Futures down 3/3 range Up
Scenario 14 Futures down 3/3 range Down
Scenario 15 Futures up extreme move Unchanged
Scenario 16 Futures down extreme move Unchanged

Volatility is decided by the Exchange and the price range covers the maintenance margin also set by the Exchange.

Let's take a look at how SPAN handles calls and puts in writing strategies. Let's suppose you enter into a put credit spread on the Japan Government Bond future (JGB) with a delta of 0.10. The SPAN system will arrive at an initial margin requirement of say 20,000 Yen. Remember that SPAN assesses the total portfolio risk so if you add a call credit spread with an offsetting delta of -0.10 SPAN no further margin will be required. Without SPAN you would be required to post a margin for each position. As you can see this allows you to use less money to carry more positions and generate commissions for your broker.

Another consideration of SPAN are deep out-of-the-money (OTM) options which could be more risky to the portfolio than the scanning range covers. SPAN arrives at a Short Option Minimum to mitigate this risk. Each contract is assigned a Short Option Minimum Charge by the Exchange. All short options, are totaled and multiplied by the appropriate short option charge resulting in the Short Option Minimum. The Short Option Minimum isn't directly added to the portfolio risk but represents an absolute minimum or floor margin for the portfolio. The greater of the Short Option Minimum or the margin calculated under SPAN becomes the portfolio's margin.

SPAN treats all contracts months the same so a December future will have the same margin requirement as a June future. Unfortunately, contracts don't necessarily move by the same amount. SPAN adds Intermonth Spread Charge to account for this. SPAN also allows option contracts to be included in the Intermonth Spread Charge by creating a futures equivalent position from the options delta. Thus a more accurate Intermonth Spread Charge is realized.

Finally, SPAN also allows for increased margin for contracts in their last month before delivery. As contracts are more likely to be exercised more money will be required.

If you trade options understanding SPAN really isn't that difficult and is rather intuitive.

Visit http://www.AsiaEtrading.com the electronic trading resource for Asia. Are you Connected?

By Tatiana Vazulina

Quality

At the forefront of Check 21 are issues of image quality and usability and how to ensure that standards are met. Image quality refers to specifications that determine if images are:

� partial or heavily skewed
� piggybacked-an image scanned onto part of another image
� folded or have torn corners
� have excessive spot noise
� too light or dark
� below or above the set file size
� illegible, unreadable

Causes of poor image quality include poor paper quality or preparation, presentation of paper to the camera, reduced imaging system conditions, etc. that can often be fixed if caught in the initial capture phase.

Usability

Image usability takes a closer look at data on the check image to determine if the check is usable , negotiable or contains errors that might prevent it from being collected:

� missing or illegible fields, including date, payee line, or signature
� missing bank endorsement
� missing or illegible amounts (courtesy and legal)
� missing or illegible payor information
� missing or illegible bank name and address
� unreadable MICR line
� endorsements that cannot be verified/may be faulty

Full Image Integrity

Check image quality assessment can alert financial institutions to potential problems with the images of checks being captured-skewed or piggybacked checks may quickly indicate that there is a problem with the bank's imaging equipment, allowing an opportunity to re-scan images before hard copies are relocated or destroyed.

However, image quality assessment alone is not sufficient to determine if the item is acceptable for image exchange. While the quality of an image may be adequate, the information extracted from the image (image usability) may not be comprehensive enough to complete the image exchange and collection process. For instance, the signature may not be present or endorsements may be missing, rendering the check uncollectible.

Inadequate image quality/usability necessitates that checks be returned to the Bank of First Deposit for rework. The collecting bank risks delay of payment, incurring additional costs and time associated with researching poor image quality and eroding the confidence of the paying bank. The paying bank risks customer service issues and lower efficiencies. Both also may have to accept a higher incidence of check fraud by not utilizing image integrity assessment technologies.

What Can be Done

Choosing technology to address both image quality and usability will strengthen an institution's position. Systems that incorporate advanced pattern recognition technology help improve performance of the image analysis and recognition process. Some technologies work seamlessly with standard check scanning equipment already in place, and give financial institutions the ability to deploy image capture, truncation and exchange at central or distributed capture facilities.

For more information, please visit http://www.parascript.com

By Tj Valenzuela

Through a special type of individual retirement account (IRA), you can own and manage real estate as part of your investment strategy. This self-directed IRA gives you a lot of control over where and how your retirement monies are invested, with few limitations. There are still rules about how the investment properties can be managed, both for selecting and letting the property and for paying for routine expenses.

Trust Administration Services specializes in self-directed IRA investments and addresses some common issues with using a self-directed IRA for real estate investing here. A trusted financial advisor can help you determine an effective and specific property management strategy so you get the optimal return from your IRA.

Purchasing within the Rules

There are few limits on what can be purchased as an investment for your self-directed IRA, but unwisely selecting a property out of bounds can lead to tax liabilities and penalties. The rule of thumb for the restriction on real estate owned by your IRA is this: The property cannot be for your personal benefit.

"Personal benefit" ultimately means that the property has to be independent of your personal assets and purchased solely for investment:

• It can never have been owned by you or a family member.
• It cannot be rented, leased, or used by you or a family member while it is held by the IRA.
• All costs associated with the property must be paid directly by the IRA, not by you.

This last restriction is especially tricky because it prevents you from paying for an expense (like repairs or landscaping) out of pocket and then receiving a reimbursement from the IRA funds - and that can be a difficult distinction to maintain unless you have a sustainable way to manage the property.

Meeting Expenses

One of the rules about IRA-held real estate is that all expenses associated with the property must be paid from the IRA fund directly to the third party. This means every kind of property expense - taxes; maintenance, repairs, and improvements; appraisals; fees and dues; and insurance.

Since the IRA is responsible for all expenses, your IRA must have sufficient funds to cover all of the expenses from the current balance, from income from the property, or from making yearly contributions. None of the expenses for the real estate can be paid out of your pocket, so managing the property means that you have to actively work with the IRA administration to pay for routine costs. Determining the amount of property expenses and the demands on the IRA funds is an important consideration for you to work out with a financial advisor like Trust Administration Services.

There are two major strategies for managing the property:

• You handle most transactions (in conjunction with the IRA administrator)
• You use a property management group.

In the first, you retain control over the property, such as finding tenants and negotiating with contractors. You can either contact the IRA administrator every time there is an expense or authorize the IRA administrator (like Trust Administration Services) to pay for expenses. On the other hand, an agreement with a property management group may add extra expense but it also simplifies the managing the property and makes it easier to comply with IRA regulations. The property management company pays expenses and works with contractors, finds tenants, receives payments, and signs contracts on your behalf.

Making Decisions

As you begin planning your self-directed IRA investments, be prepared to ask Trust Administration Services, a lawyer, or another advisor some clear questions so you get the best retirement solution:

• What are the financial requirements for the IRA funds and how do you meet them?
• What real estate is available for you to invest in?
• What is the best method to manage your property and pay for expenses?

Trust has been helping investors manage their self directed ira and retirement accounts since 1999. http://www.trustlynk.com

By Jayne S Rupple

Exchange traded funds are becoming more popular every day. Many of the large investing web sites have whole sections dedicated to the topic of exchange traded funds (or ETFs as they are commonly labelled.) Why all the attention to this new class of investments.

Some Advantages of ETFs

The most widely touted advantage of ETFs is that they generally are not actively managed, and so they tend to have extremely low expenses, since they don't need to compensate a fund manager. For those looking to invest in a fund that primarily tracks on of the major indices, this is a great way to get the same returns with no lost performance from paying fees.

Exchange traded funds are not offered through a mutual fund company, but instead are traded on the stock exchanges. This has some advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that they can be traded any time during the trading sessions of the stock exchanges, so you don't have to wait for the market close to get in or out of a fund. One disadvantage to this is that you get a bid/ ask spread on a trade, that is the price to buy or the price to sell are not exactly the same. This is known as slippage, and can have noticeably negative impact on your returns if you are trading in and out of the market frequently.

Finally, there is a large variety of fund investments. You can invest in the major indices, or you can pick a smaller, more targeted sector, like the financial stocks or real estate stocks. You can target a region of the world, or a specific country like Germany or China. For a truly diversified portfolio, you can even allocate some of your funds to commodities like gold or silver, as there are funds that track the prices of these as well.

We provide information on the best ways to manage your exchange traded fund investments, including finding the best ETFs. Get more information regarding exchange traded funds.

By Jim Dew

The financial industry must continue to ask itself, "Why does the public needs us?"

I know this question makes many financial advisors feel uncomfortable. But if we do not continue to ask ourselves this question, we could find ourselves out of a job. Why?

Whether we ask ourselves this question or not, others are asking it.

This perennial question of, "Why does the public need stockbrokers and financial advisors" has been raised again by three professors in their paper, "Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Brokers in the Mutual Fund Industry."

In this paper, professors Bergstresser, Tufano, and Chalmers uncovered why consumers pay advisors to choose mutual funds for them. What they found does not reflect well upon the financial advisor community.

Do Financial Advisors Help Clients Choose Better or Better Performing Mutual Funds?

Most financial advisors tell clients that their chosen funds will perform better than direct purchase mutual funds. Unfortunately, Bergstresser, Tufano and Chalmers found the reverse to be true.

They found that investors suffer by paying on average 3.6 percentage points in front-end load fees, as well as higher annual marketing costs in the form of 12b-1 fees. They also found that the financial advisor recommended funds underachieved as compared to the direct purchase mutual funds.

In a recent year, not only did investors pay about $15 billion in sales charges and 12b-1 fees, but they spent an additional $24 billion on management fees. Think about this, these investors spent nearly as much paying advisors to find the funds as they did to the money managers to manage the funds. With this being the case, financial advisors had better do a great job finding funds for their clients.

Did they?

Investors who bought directly from the mutual funds earned almost a half a percent higher than those that had advisor recommended funds. If you took out index funds, the gap was almost two thirds of a point.

But wait there's more!

These differences were calculated before accounting for 12b-1 fees. When included, funds bought directly beat advisor recommended funds by almost a full one point.

So Why Do Investors Use Financial Advisors to Pick Their Mutual Funds and Investments?

The average mutual fund investor is higher educated and wealthier than the average consumer. So it can't be because they don't think they're capable of doing it themselves.

I believe one of the authors of the study to be charitable when he hypothesized that advisors bring a service to their clients by taking the emotion out of investing. Though when you look at the data, it appears that investors using advisors chase short-term returns as much a self-directed investors. And yes, it was found that advisors are as likely to chase short-term returns as anyone.

This study uncovered yet more unflattering details. It found evidence that brokers usually recommend funds with higher loads. So not only do advisors generally not pick the best mutual funds, they also recommend underperforming funds with a preference to higher sales loads. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why too many advisors do this.

The question is, what as an industry are we going to do about it?

What You Can Do as a Financial Advisor to Change How People Perceive You

Every change starts with one person.

How much research are you doing for your clients? Whether consciously or unconsciously, are you recommending funds with higher fees? Are you providing service equal to the amount of extra fees a client pays for the funds you recommend?

Only you can answer these questions

We are in the information age.

Studies like "Why does the public need stockbrokers and financial advisors" are going to come around, become distributed and get publicized more often. You might as well get used to it.

As financial advisors we need to step up to the plate and start doing the right thing by our clients or we're going to find ourselves out of business, one advisor at a time.

The public does not mind paying fees. What they do mind is an advisor not disclosing the fees. If we think we are worth the fees, then as financial advisors we should feel no need to hide the fees. Instead, we should fully disclose them and explain to our clients why our advice is worth it.

The public knows that we do not have a crystal ball that enables us to find the best performing mutual funds going forward. But the public does become suspicious when all the funds we choose have higher than average expense and sales charges.

There is an ever so slowly growing trend toward full disclosure vs. casual disclosure by advisors in the financial industry. Another movement gaining speed is that of formal fiduciary relationships with clients. Both these movements assure a long and profitable partnership between advisors and their investor clients.

I hope you join me as part of this trend of full disclosure and fiduciary responsibility, for everybody's sake.

About the Author:
By becoming an expert, Top Financial Advisor Coach, Jim Dew MBA, ChFC made over $3MM last year helping financial advisors just like you grow their businesses exponentially. Now, you can take his free quiz and receive an individualized report back within 24 hours detailing your strengths and weaknesses. Then use this report to boost your marketing and profitability to the next level. Take the quiz now at 300financial.com

By Francisco Segura

Asset alone comprises of the fixed assets and the current assets. New software has been developed to track the assets. It is known as the asset tracking software. The asset tracking software�s are used by the entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is a person who takes down the risk of a particular business considering the market conditions and such other conditions affecting the market. He is the person who carries on the proceedings of the business single handedly. He is the main owner or the boss of his business. He is the person who takes the decision of the business proceedings.

An entrepreneur should have many qualities. He should be a risk taker. He should take certain amount of risks in the business but the risk should be calculative. A gambler also takes risks but he is not considered as an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur should be imaginative person. He should imagine the type of goods he produces and the sales strategy etc. he should also be an energetic person. If he has a lot of work load, he should have the capacity to work for more than twenty four hours a day. Thus he should be a type of workaholic. He should be able to face any kind of problems in critical conditions and solve it. He should solve it by keeping a cool mind.

He should or will purchase different kinds of assets. For keeping a track record of such assets he can use the asset tracking software. The asset tracking software is software useful not only for large scale or big industries but also for small scale industries. They can maintain a complete record of the assets purchased and used during an accounting year just with the use of the simple asset tracking software. They will now be able to value the assets comfortably. Thus it will be easy for the entrepreneur to value the assets he has and maintain a record of such goods.

The person using the asset tracking software does not have to worry of the valuation of the asset. It will be done by the magical software introduced for this purpose only. Thus the asset tracking software helps to analyze the position of the asset during any period of time. The business class can now carry on their work easily without worrying about their asset management. They can now concentrate on other important aspects such as production, marketing and sales. The commercial organization can make the best use of such technology to achieve higher returns. They can flourish their business in all parts of the business with the help of the goodwill they attain. Thus each and every business group should use such type of software�s for their progress.

Thus the entrepreneur should use such kinds of original software�s and work with smartness, as smartness is also one of the important qualities of a successful entrepreneur.

Francisco Segura owns and operates http://www.assettrackingsoftwareguide.com Asset Tracking Software

By Stephen Edge

Napoleon called China the "sleeping dragon", and prophesied "when it awakes, the world will shake". Could he have known the magnitude of his prediction in 1803? Today, in the year 2008, that mighty dragon rises. China's economic expansion has made headlines, seen unprecedented direct investment and pushed it to trade barbs with the US and Europe over its boundless trade deficits. Its stock markets, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, have risen to new heights this summer. China's financial future will finally, at least insiders agree, be made available for trading on the new China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) at the end of this year. The Shanghai Shenzhen 300 Index (CSI300) future is seen as the next step in the development of China's capital markets.

Currently investors can only profit when the stock index goes up. With the introduction of index futures, investors will be able to make money when the index falls. Additionally, fund managers will be able to hedge their portfolios more effectively. Leo Melamed, the legendary "father of financial futures" and founder of the worlds first financial futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), said in a speech at a financial innovation forum recently held in China "The Chinese stock market seemed to grow too fast. I'm not sure if it is overheated. But how high the share prices are is not directly related with the kickoff of the index futures, because the derivative is itself a hedging tool."

Last June the CFFEX announced that the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) had approved the trading rules of the CSI300, a crucial step toward the launch of the mainland's first index futures market. The approved trading rules cover trading practices, clearing procedures, member rights and obligations, risk control, information management, hedging operations and the investigation of and penalties for irregular trading.

Each tick of the CSI300 Index future equates to 300 yuan with the margin level for trading set at 10 percent of the contract value. Based on the CSI300s recent level of 4400 the value of one futures contract would equal 1.32 million yuan making the margin level for each contract at 132,000 yuan. The minimum price movement, or tick of the CSI300 is set at 0.2 points while the daily price range limit is set at 10 percent of the settlement price of the previous trading day.

Trading system vendors have already begun developing trading platforms to take advantage of the impending arrival of index futures. In February, the CFFEX held a meeting for major brokerages and financial technology vendors to talk about system upgrades and risk management. "Index futures are a little bit different from commodity futures," says Chen Jun, spokesman for SunGard Kingstar. "They require more risk management and concurrent performance because of huge turnover volumes." SunGard Kingstar is a Shanghai-based financial software vendor recently acquired by SunGard Data Systems. Chen says that Kingstar took notice of the different demands when clients were running simulated index futures trading in early 2005, in preparation for the new regulations. To handle these demands, Kingstar developed the V6 futures trading platform, which comes with an enhanced risk management function, more capacity, higher speeds and can be used for both commodity and index futures trading, he says.

As the giant dragon continues to rise from its slumber there will undoubtedly be more stock market volatility and political maneuvering ahead. No one can tell just how far the China markets will go but one things for sure the addition of another mature financial market can only increase global portfolio diversity and reduce risk, at least on paper.

Visit http://www.AsiaEtrading.com the electronic trading resource for Asia. Are you Connected?