Category: Financial Planners

By Kurt Lehmann

If you’ve ever written a bad check (whether it was on purpose or accidental) or have had problems with banks, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re on a list maintained by ChexSystems. This list can cause you a lot of problems when it comes to getting a new bank account or doing other banking tasks. ChexSystems is a Consumer Reporting Agency, like TransUnion, Experian, and others. It provides a list of customers that it considers to be high risk to banks across the country.

Not everyone on this list really is a big risk, though. Some people end up on it because of errors in data, theft of their identities, and many other mistakes. Once you’re on the list, however, it becomes very hard to get a new bank account. Most banks use ChexSystems data to decide whether or not you’ll be allowed to open an account, whether or not that data is accurate. If you’ve been trying to find a bank that doesn’t use the ChexSystems database in your area, you might have gotten frustrated, and resigned to going through life without an account. However, don’t give up hope yet. Debit cards and Internet bank accounts are still an option.

If you’re tired of constantly carrying cash, getting money orders, and using check cashing services, getting a debit card account could be the answer you’re looking for. You can use these cards just like regular credit cards – at bookstores, gas stations, the grocery store, restaurants and online. Anywhere a Visa or MasterCard is accepted, you can use your debit card, including for getting cash from the ATM.

A debit card automatically deducts the amount of the purchase from your account, meaning that you don’t have to pay interest or deal with credit. Since the transactions show up on your bank statement, you’ll be able to track your spending. If you want, you can choose to have your paycheck deposited directly into your debit card account. That way, you won’t have to use check cashing stores to get your money.

The biggest difference between a regular checking account and a debit account is that you normally don’t get a checkbook with your debit card. You’ll be able to pay your bills online via Echeck, or automatic debit. Many people prefer to use online banking services (such as those provided by debit card accounts), because they are free — you don’t even need to pay for a stamp and an envelope! Further, using online banking makes it even easier to keep your account balanced, so you avoid further banking problems.

This means that you still get most of the advantages of an ordinary checking account. There are still plenty of banks that permit opening a debit card account for people who are on the ChexSystems list. That makes this an excellent option if you’re on the list and can’t find a local bank that doesn’t use it. A debit card account is a great alternative to an ordinary bank account.

About the Author: Kurt Lehmann is a financial services expert, researching and writing about topics including

ChexSystems

,

Payday Loans

, and

Second Chance Checking

.

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By Floyd J. Tapia

Millions of dollars have been enjoyed by numerous companies for simply approving home sales for less than the owed balance. This is also known as a type of short sale.

The United States Treasury department has been paying $1500 for each loan file that is modified. These companies also handle the collection of mortgage payments and requests for assistance.

These companies or servicers can also get $1,000 for each loan modification completion under the government’s modification program and additional stipends over a period of three years if borrowers stay current on their new mortgage payments.

But the problem has become that there will not be enough time nor man power to save the millions of homes where loan payments are in arrears more than 90 days nor do St Louis finance professionals feel there are enough incentives to accomplish this task.

The payouts provided by the Obama administration’s bailout programs don’t come close to what servicers will earn by choosing to foreclose instead.

In fact, “the incentives being offered by the government are small compared to the counter-incentive of foreclosure” so says chief economist Diane Swonk from Mesirow Financial.

Many feel that since the lending industry has its own set of incentives, you can’t tell people to do something that’s not in their best financial interest, especially in an market that is still struggling.

Now it seems, according to Swonk, that free enterprise even in a downturn economy such as ours can rightfully advocate greed over doing what is morally right and in the best interest of the St Louis mortgage owner.

And yes, this has become a double-edged sword so to say. The second quarter of 2009 showed that modified homeowners has missed at least one loan payment as reported by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

The statistics go on to show that a total of twenty-four percent of St Louis home loans modified in that same period were 90 days or more overdue.

Some now say that loan modifications do not work while others insist that we need more time to see how this plan unfolds before throwing in the proverbial towel.

Marie McDonnell, owner of Truth in Lending Auditing & Recovery Services in Orleans, Massachusetts suggests that these servicers are not really losing money when a re-default occurs.

If the homeowner fails to meet the terms of their new loan modification and the property isn’t approved for a short sale under the HAFA program, then servicers can proceed with a foreclosure and recoup all their money when the property is sold.

And since there is more money to be made with a foreclosed property, the majority of servicers will go the as many say the immoral route and not help save the homeowner’s property.

Once a loan is 90 days or more overdue, servicers can charge processing and foreclosure fees along with markups for attorneys, appraisers and other associated services.

Keep in mind this does not include any and all monthly late fees that can run as high as 5 percent of the mortgage payment.

Let’s talk about numbers for a moment. A $195,000 home going into foreclosure could bring approximately $11,000 in income for these servicers.

Rumors have it that on the average, servicers can easily make 10 times the amount more than any of the government stipends being offered by simply foreclosing on the house.

The sad thing is mortgage investors will take a loss from a foreclosure or a short sale, but not the servicers. As mentioned earlier, they get paid regardless because they are first in line to be paid from the proceeds of the home sale.

This unfortunate situation was only made worse when politicians rejected new legislation designed to allow bankruptcy judges to reduce mortgage balances and interest rates to help such homeowners.

The provisions know as the ‘cram-down’ law would have allowed judicial modified loans which in essence would have given better terms to the consumer to make it easier to continue with their mortgage payment.

This new legislation would have prevented servicers from using greed and financial gain in deciding who gets a loan modification and who goes into foreclosure. One has to stop and think was there any real hope for stopping this mortgage crisis in the first place.

About the Author: When a consumer wants to know more about a St Louis mortgage home loan, they visit Floyd J. Tapia’s site at http://www.LibertyLendingConsultants.com/St-Louis-Commercial-Loans for a business or commercial refinancing loan. And to choose the best St Louis refinancing loan, you can also give Floyd a call at 314-334-0210 or 877-334-0210.

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By Nelson Berry

There are rich people, and there are wealthy people. If I were you, I would choose the latter.

The rich people are, well, rich. They are blessed with a lot of money, drive fancy cars, live in stately homes, and travel around the world. They obtain their riches in different ways, but usually they are fast money. They won a lottery, inherited a multi-million-dollar account, or just happened to be born rich.

The wealthy people, on the other hand, have the money and the attitude. They have comparable bank accounts with the rich, but they do not just settle for what they have. They make their money grow into several folds and make their richness more sustainable. They do not choose to go for easy money, as it disappears as fast as it comes.

How to Become Wealthy

You may think, I need to have lots of cash first before I become wealthy. Not really. Have you heard of self-made millionaires? A lot of them started out from nothing. Simply put, even if you are not rich, you can become wealthy.

You can do that by following their common principles:

Live within your means.

The wealthy reward themselves, but they are not extravagant. They are not willing to spend a lot as they are aware that real money does not happen too quickly.

You must be very stable at all times, and for you to achieve that, you do not spend more than what you can afford.

Save.

The wealthy people love to save their money. They want to make sure they have something to use when times get tough. Moreover, they save even before they shell out cash.

You can do the same too. Instead of saving up whatever is left of your income, you reduce your salary to your desired savings. Whatever remains is the money intended for your expenses.

Diversify.

Here is a very interesting tip. The wealthy people are never satisfied with saving. They are not happy with earning small interest in banks. In order to multiply their money several times, they diversify their investments.

They create mutual money, bond money, and stock money. They purchase real estate properties and certificates of deposit. They open up a wide variety of businesses.

They do this because putting all their eggs in one basket is dangerous. What if the bank closes? Then all their earnings are forever gone.

Contrary to popular belief you do not need to have a lot of cash to start investing. In fact, it is recommended you start small and increase your investments as you go along.

Visualize.

They are wealthy because they act like one. They visualize themselves as entrepreneurs, investors, and builders. They see themselves as successful in their pursuits. And because of these visions, they are willing to take calculated risks.

To attract extra money and become wealthy, visualize too. You can use a subliminal message video download to help you out. You imagine yourself leading a team or acting out your plans.

About the Author: Nelson Berry is The Pioneer of

Subliminal Messages

Online. Click

Here Now for 4 Free Subliminal Messages

Video Downloads (valued at $160)!

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By Alan Sharpe

One of the shortcomings of direct mail fundraising is that donors are usually thought of as numbers and not as people. Each donor or member in the database has a unique donor number that identifies that individual. You and I are tempted to examine each donors giving history in terms of frequency, recency and monetary value, all measured with numbers (years, months and money).

We then lump donors in categories and give them impersonal labelssuspect, prospect, major donor, lapsed donor, lybunt (a donor who gave last year but unfortunately not this year).

So the temptation when raising funds with appeal letters is to think of donors in terms of what they can do for the organization monetarily. To think of them as numbers. And yet donors who feel treated this way will not remain your donors for long. Todays donors give to charitable organizations for specific reasons, not simply because they have money to give.

The secret to building long-term, profitable, mutually beneficial relationships with donors is to think the way donors think.

Donors give for dozens of reasons. Some of them rational. Some of them irrational. But behind most decisions to support a worthy cause with a financial gift is a classic motivator. Once you understand what motivates donors to give, you are in a better position to ask them in the right way for the right amount at the right time for the right cause.

Here are three of the main reasons that donors respond to direct mail appeals:

You thanked the donor for the last gift

There are two times to thank donors. One is immediately after you receive their gift. You thank them by mailing a gift acknowledgement letter, note or card. (Or you phone them, which is even better.) The second time is in the next appeal letter that you mail. Somewhere in that letter, preferably somewhere in the first few paragraphs, thank your donor for the last gift you received from them. Like you, donors who feel appreciated are more likely to give again.

You asked them for a gift

This sounds like a self-evident fact, but its one of the basic tenets of fundraisingpeople give because they are asked. Which means people dont usually give unless they are asked, and until they are asked. Many development officers can tell stories of major donors they have approached who, when asked for the first time for a large donation, gave immediately. They would have given sooner. But they were not asked sooner. Your donors expect you to ask for a donation. If you do not ask them for a donation, they assume that you do not need their donation. And if you dont ask, be sure that someone else will.

You showed the donor a way to make a difference

You dont get prospects to come over to your side by explaining the many reasons you deserve support. You get prospects to join you by offering them an exciting, interesting problem to solve, says Conrad Squires in his book Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters. Amen.

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc.

About the Author: Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor, coach, author and newsletter publisher who helps non-profit organizations to raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using cost-effective, compelling, creative fundraising letters. Sign up for free weekly tips like this at

RaiserSharpe.com

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By Jim Vrana

Credit card debt; almost everyone has some. Unfortunately, too many people are overwhelmed by it. This is a burden that always seems to be with us, no matter how hard we try to overcome it.

We are not born with it. But we catch it, and we can’t seem to shake it loose. In this sense, it is like a disease. A financial sickness with very few remedies. Sure, there are medicines for it. Just keep making your minimum payments and the keep the collectors off your back.

Like most medicines, this attacks the symptoms, but does not provide a cure for the disease itself. You keep taking your medicine, month after month. But the illness will stay with you, eating away at your financial health. With this disease however, it possibly may not die with you. The credit card companies may attempt to collect from your heirs or your estate when you pass on.

The only debt cure is to eliminate the disease itself. Like any illness, you also will want to take the proper steps to ensure that the disease does not come back. Cut it away, and keep it away, before the stress it creates manifests into actual health threatening effects.

Understanding all of the options to rid yourself of this disease can be very confusing, and be very stressful itself. Choosing the best plan of action is a personal decision based on what you believe, what you can afford, and how much time you want to allow yourself for relieving yourself of the burden.

Be sure to get educated on exactly what the long term side effects are for each debt cure. Understand that the only debt relief program with no side effects is to write a check and pay off 100% of the balance. Of course, the debt sickness would not be there if you could do this.

Can you just eliminate the debt? Surgically cut it out of your life and be done with it. If a person is willing to keep an open mind and become a bit educated, the answer is “Yes”.

A true debt elimination program will allow someone to legally discharge 100% of their non-secured credit card debt. A person can take advantage of this program just once. So once you are cured, it is up to you to be sure the disease does not return.

The eliminated accounts can no longer be used. The ultimate goal is to learn how to live without credit cards altogether. Conventional wisdom tells us that we cannot live in today’s society without credit cards. This is just not true.

An elimination program is not a quick fix. A good program will have you debt-free in 6 – 12 months, and will also include an education on the credit card system, so that it is understood just how and why an elimination program can work.

Student loans, medical bills, and any secured loans are not applicable to be eliminated. Only major credit cards, signature loans, and unsecured lines-of-credit are applicable. For these types of debts, a true elimination program may be the financial re-start people are looking for.

About the Author: Billed as The True Debt Advisor, Jim Vrana’s mission is to educate and empower people to overcome their financial challenges. The time-tested legal procedures used to eliminate credit card debt have been used by thousands of people with tremendous success. Contact: Jim Vrana True Debt Advisor (800) 637-1785 TrueDebtAdvisor.com

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