|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| New Rules |
It took an act of Congress last year to make some changes to the ways credit card companies do business, but the time is finally here. The changes stemming from the Credit CARD Act of 2009 will go into effect in February.
Some of the new rules and laws that plastic companies must abide by include:
- Not giving credit cards to people under age 21 unless they can prove they have the means to pay their debt, or a parent or guardian co-signs on the card. (Warning!)
- Customers must be more than 60 days behind on a payment before their interest rate can increase. If that happens and the customer makes the minimum payment on time for six months, the old rate must be restored.
- Consumers must be given notice 45 days in advance of their interest rates rising, as well as an explanation for why it is happening.
Remember something: Lots of money is at stake here, so don't expect credit card companies to go quietly. They'll find ways to get around the rules. There may be a limit on how much interest they can charge, but what if they start creating all sorts of fees that get around the new law? If you save $100 on interest but pay two new fees that total $100, mathematically you are no better off. Thus, the law does nothing to help you.
If you think that the government has finally delivered the solution and you can rest easy with your credit cards, you're dead wrong.
Washington isn't going to get you out of credit card debt by changing the way plastic companies charge you fees. Government rules can't change your behavior. Only you can do that. If you stop using credit cards and get on a budget, then credit card companies can charge as high a rate as they want—it won't make a bit of difference to you. You'll sleep much easier at night knowing that you're not paying.
Sources: Associated Press, MSNBC |
| back to the top | |
| |
In This Edition |
|
This Year's Goal? A Legacy Drawer |
|
 |
It's the only time when you can work for one month and give your family security for years to come. It's the Legacy Drawer.
Read below | |
|
|
|
Keep At It and Cash In |
|
 |
One guy took advantage of the recession and kept the faith. We could all learn a great lesson from him.
Read below | |
|
|
|
Keeping Intensity During Step 3 |
|
 |
It's great to be out of debt and onto Baby Step 3. But if you're not careful, a lack of focus may jump up and bite you.
Read below | |
|
|
|
So Long, Sallie Mae! |
|
 |
Shannon spent an absurd number of years paying on her student loan. So imagine the thrill she gets when she calls Dave and yells that she is debt-free this year!
Read below | |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
| This Year's Goal? A Legacy Drawer |
 Setting goals is the big thing this time of year. It's important to lose weight or get out of debt, but those things only last as long as you do. This year, get your affairs in order for the sake of your family by creating your Legacy Drawer.
The Legacy Drawer is the file you keep with all the important documents your family will need if something happens to you. It contains things like your will, insurance forms, tax returns, mutual fund statements and funeral instructions. All these documents are arranged in such a simple way that a seven-year-old child could open the file and find what they need within 30 seconds.
The point of a Legacy Drawer is to allow your family to grieve, without them having to also deal with the confusion of finding everything with your name on it. When you're mourning someone, it's no time to have to search for the insurance policies. Family members shouldn't have to fight over who gets what from your estate. That is cursing your family.
Read what one of our members learned the hard way about the importance of the Legacy Drawer:
My husband and brother-in-law are now going through mounds and mounds of paperwork to settle their father's estate. Nothing is in order, and some paperwork is 20-plus years old. It's unknown how much insurance there is. My mother-in-law doesn't really know the answers as my father-in-law handled most of the bills. It's been a paperwork nightmare and could take weeks or months to figure out.
This has been a huge wake-up call for us to complete our Legacy Drawer. In the long run, this will make it so much easier for our loved ones. —debtfree2011abc
You can put a Legacy Drawer together in less than a month. After that, you don't have to think about it anymore! It's important to get this taken care of. Make 2010 the year you secure your family.
Start building your Legacy Drawer now. |
| back to the top |
| Keep At It and Cash In |
 You probably don't know the name David Tepper. He's the guy who made $6.5 billion last year.
“What?!” you may ask. Yep, it happened.
Tepper is the founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. Last year, while the rest of the country was panicking about the stock market going crazy, real estate crashing, and the news media screaming that we're all going to die, he was looking for deals. And finding them. Lots of them.
He started buying stocks. He bought bank-related securities, as well as bonds for five cents on the dollar. He even purchased shares of Citigroup and Bank of America when the government started to buy them. Because he researched the situation and paid attention to what was happening (clue!), he knew the banks would not be nationalized.
And then what happened? The market started to recover. Assets that he acquired were shooting up as much as 330%. Months went by and the market kept rising. By the end of September 2009, Tepper found his firm had gained $6.5 billion.
Here's the key, though: Tepper didn't buy into all the talk that we were headed for a second Great Depression. The market was down, but he knew it wouldn't stay down (certainly not forever). He had the wisdom to buy when prices were low and the patience to wait for recovery. When that would happen, no one knew. But he knew it would.
The point of all this is not that you should buy single stocks and hope to hit the jackpot. The point is, when you invest in good growth-stock mutual funds and paid-for real estate, you think long term and don't panic when things look rough. They will recover, and you'll be much better off for waiting out the storm.
No, you probably won't make several billions of dollars in the process. But if we're 1,000 times wrong, and you only end up with a few million, could you live off of that?
Source: Business Week |
| back to the top |
| Keeping Intensity During Step 3 |
 When you get out of debt (which many people are planning to do in 2010) and that rush of relief hits you, it's a feeling like no other. You finally have a sense of peace about your money and can cruise right through Baby Step 3.
Or can you?
Two of our most popular members, Brian and Libby, bring up a good point in one of their forum threads. You may get into a groove while paying off your debt, but once you're debt-free, new issues can eat away at your intensity. It's important to keep up the momentum that got you where you are.
So what do Brian and Libby say are some of the things that may come up as you hit Baby Step 3?
Delayed Expenses
The first major reality check comes when you realize that you may have some expenses to catch up on. During Baby Step 2, we become experts at finding ways to delay expenses with quick fixes. When you start to plan for Baby Step 3, you become aware of the expenses that are still hanging out there, and some of them have become urgent.
Delayed Sinking Funds
Perhaps you didn't need to replace your car while working your debt snowball, but it is now on its last legs. It is important during Baby Step 3 to keep up the gazelle intensity, but finding the balance between planning for expenses and funding the full emergency fund can be a challenge.
The Never-ending Baby Step 3
Murphy does not take your plans into consideration during Baby Step 3. You may be making excellent progress on the emergency fund when Murphy pays a visit. It can be de-motivating to fund and re-fund the emergency fund.
Gazelle Intensity
You just finished Baby Step 2 and are doing well, but what happens when your target changes? Gazelle intensity is different in Baby Step 3 because the stress of debt has been removed. This opens the door for justifying expenses. "I'm debt-free. What's $5 on a Starbucks?" Saying no to yourself can be more difficult when the cheetah is off your back.
Once you are debt-free, it should be much easier to sock money away in a simple money market account for a rainy day. Keep up your intensity for just a few short months and finish off that third Baby Step! |
| back to the top |
| So Long, Sallie Mae! |
 Think back to 1994. The hot topic of the Winter Olympics was Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. The top grossing movie that year was Forrest Gump. Seems so long ago, doesn't it? Well, it does for Shannon. It was the last time she wasn't paying money to Sallie Mae. But this year, all that changed!
After almost 14 years of being in debt with a student loan, Shannon got intense in 2007. She was making $45,000 a year, so why not have something to show for it? She sold a car and got on a plan. Just before she rang the bell to celebrate the new year, she rang the bell on her time with Sallie Mae. After 27 months of sacrifice, Shannon was free of $38,000 of debt! |
back to the top | | | | |
The Keys To Achieving Your Goals in 2010
from daveramsey.com on 08 Jan 2010
Another year and another set of resolutions. If you're like most Americans, you'll probably forget your goals by mid-February. So how do you make your resolutions actually happen this year?
First, keep in mind that goals are dreams; but don't stop at just dreaming. Turn your dreams into bite-sized pieces that will gradually create a big event in your life. If you're waiting on an outside variable to change your life, you have a long wait. You have to do something. It's your responsibility to fix your life, not someone else's. It's time to sit down, make some goals, and take control. Use Dave's online goal tracker now.
Goal setting is how you win. Once you've made your resolutions, they will drive you forward. The goals will motivate you to seek activities that will help you succeed. It's not always fun, but those exercises bring you closer to your goal and make you a winner.
If you want to actually achieve your goals this year, then consider the following:
- Be specific.
When setting goals, be specific in what you want to achieve. Vagueness will only cause you to feel overwhelmed, and you will just give up.
- Make your goals measureable.
In order to know if you achieved the goal, it must be measurable. For example, if you want to lose weight, don't simply write down "lose weight" as a goal. How much weight do you want to lose? Or don't just write "spend more time with family." How much time do you want to spend with your family every night?
- Are they your goals?
Only you can set your own goals. If your spouse, co-worker or friend sets a goal for you, you're not going to achieve it. Taking ownership will give you more incentive to meet your goal.
- Set a time limit.
Setting a time frame will help you set realistic goals. For example, if you want to save more money, list how much money a month you want to put into your savings account.
- Put them in writing.
Putting your goals in writing will make you much more likely to achieve them. Write down your goals and review them often. This will give you motivation to make them a reality.
This is the process to succeed. Successful people reassess their lives and then start living intentionally, in writing, on paper, on purpose. Make your resolutions a reality in this year!
What are your goals for 2010? Leave a comment below.
Check out Dave's resources to help you achieve your financial goals.
If it’s on the market,
it’s on MyTulsaHouse.com and CBTulsa.com!
Welcome to MyTulsaHouse.com, the online link to Coldwell Banker Select and your complete resource for Tulsa real estate services. Thousands of unique visitors a month come to CBTulsa.com for home buying and selling, MLS property listings (Multiple Listing Service) and a variety of helpful Tulsa relocation services.
The CBTulsa.com property inventory is updated daily: if it’s on the market, it’s on CBTulsa.com. Take your time and browse through the most informative and up-to-date property listings in Tulsa and the surrounding areas. Inside you’ll find home photos, virtual & audio tours, e-mail & print flyers, open house schedules and much, much more.
Once you find what you’re looking for our talented team of full-service Tulsa real estate agents are available to provide their services with the same ease and convenience that make us the premier Tulsa real estate destination on the internet.
http://www.cbtulsa.com/default.cfm/Page=/ForSale.htm
|
|
