Author: yesi

Mastering Your Credit Scores

Your credit score can impact nearly every aspect of your life. It can control whether you can obtain a mortgage, auto loan, or even a job. With this said, it is vital that you understand how to improve your credit score. Federal law requires that everyone have access to one free credit report per year. The reason this law exists is to allow individuals to verify that their credit reports are accurate. If there is inaccurate information listed on your report, by law you have the right to dispute the inaccuracies; the credit bureaus have 30 days to investigate and respond to the disputed items. If the creditor who put the disputed item on your credit report cannot provide proof that you are responsible for the debt, it should be removed. To obtain a copy of your free credit report you can call 877-322-8228, or mail a request to annual credit report request service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

After you have received a copy of your free report and have reviewed it for any inaccuracies; you will need to dispute them directly with all three credit bureaus. The bureaus include TransUnion, Experian, Equifax. Once you have verified the information on your credit report is accurate, you can then use the following suggestions to help you increase your scores.

• Make Your Payments On-Time – The single most important thing you can do to improve your credit score is to pay your bills on time. If you have had late payments in the past because you simply forgot to make the payment, you may want to set up automatic payment arrangements to pay your bills. This will ensure that your bills are paid on time.

• Credit Card Balances – Credit cards (revolving credit) account for 30% of your score. To maximize your score, you should always keep your revolving card balances below 30% of their available limit.

• Credit Availability – Your scores are calculated based on your unused available credit, how much credit is open, and the length of your credit history. The length of your credit history accounts for 15% of your score. Based on this factor, it would be in your best interest to keep your revolving cards open instead of closing them, because closing old revolving cards would significantly shorten the length of your credit history. To keep a revolving card open, you should use the card at least once every six months. This will keep them from being inactivated.

• Lack of Credit – Unfortunately, if you have very little credit because you pay cash for everything; you probably also have a low credit score. Scores are only determined by the activity reported on your credit report; cash purchases have no bearing on your current score. Therefore, you want to have at least one installment loan and two revolving accounts open at all times. If you are having trouble getting credit, you could apply for a secured card from a local bank or credit union, or you could ask a relative or significant other if you could become an authorized user on one of their revolving cards. Becoming an authorized user will give you an instant payment history. Just make sure that the account you are going to become an authorized user on does not have late payments, or has a balance near the accounts limit.

• Judgments and Collections – If you have a judgment or collection that originated years ago, when you pay or satisfy the derogatory item it may temporarily lower your credit score. Keep this in mind if you plan to apply for credit. You may want to delay paying off old collections right before applying for a mortgage or auto loan.

There are many other ways to help increase a credit score; but keeping your payments on time, managing your debt properly, and having a reasonable amount of available credit are the easiest ways to ensure an acceptable score. Just remember, derogatory credit will immediately lower your scores, whereas making your payments on time and keeping your balances low may take as long as six months to recover from one negative item reported on your credit report.

Dollars and Sense: How Bankruptcy Lawyers Will Help You Out of Your Sticky Financial Situation

The word “bankruptcy” tends to strike fear into our hearts, especially if we’re going through financial trouble. But most people can’t see themselves ever filing for bankruptcy. The process seems like it’s made for failing businesses, government bodies, and other organizations. But personal bankruptcy laws exist to protect citizens who find themselves struggling with severe debt. If your finances drop into the red zone, taking the following steps will get you back on your feet:

Assess the Damage

Look closely at your financial portrait. If you owe large sums to multiple creditors, if collectors are calling your house, or if you find yourself paying for essentials with a credit card, you should start to consider remedying your situation. Begin by tallying up your financial assets – bank account balances, retirement funds, stocks and bonds, real estate, vehicles, and anything else of value. Once you have a grand total, compare it to the amount you owe. If your assets are worth less than your total debts, you should seriously consider filing for bankruptcy.

How Do I File?

You may voluntarily file for bankruptcy as soon as you determine it’s necessary. Alternatively, you may be compelled by your creditors to file. However your legal process originates, don’t try to navigate it by yourself. Get in touch with bankruptcy lawyers who will look closely at your circumstances and advise you on how to proceed. There are two different claims you can file, so an attorney will help you determine the legal route that best serves your interests.

Filing a Chapter 7 Claim

A Chapter 7 claim is fairly straightforward. If approved, this claim liquidates your assets and uses them to pay off a large chunk of your debt right away. In other words, it turns most of what you own into cash, and then distributes this cash among your creditors. It sounds scary, because you lose most of your holdings. But it’s not the end of the world – many people bounce back and rebuild their assets without all that debt holding them back. Especially with trusted bankruptcy lawyers on your side, this process can lead to a much-needed fresh start.

Filing a Chapter 13 Claim

Since they involve seizing most of the filer’s holdings, Chapter 7 claims aren’t great for people who own businesses, property, and other major assets. When you have large properties that you don’t want to lose, a Chapter 13 claim is the better choice. It allows people with consistent, predictable annual incomes to pay off debts over a three- to five-year grace period. Once a judge approves a Chapter 13 claim, creditors must stop contacting the debtor. The debtor then continues to work, paying off his or her debts as best they can during the grace period. No property or other assets are liquidated in this process.

Bankruptcy lawyers will tell you: filing isn’t so scary, and can drastically improve your situation. If you’re letting unpaid bills stack up and trying to ignore them, know that you can pursue legal options to relieve the stresses of debt and protect what you own.

How to Prepare a Bill of Sale Properly

You can prepare a customized bill of sale in five minutes. Learn how to do it properly and how to avoid common pitfalls.

How to prepare a Bill of Sale and how to avoid common pitfalls

A bill of sale form is used to transfer the ownership from a seller to a buyer. The four main bill of sale forms are for: auto, boat, personal property and business.

The Internet made all these forms readily available at a reasonable price.

In five minutes or less, the user can prepare a bill of sale as follows:

Purchase the form and download the form.
Open the downloaded form and print.
Use a pen; fill in the blanks by following the instructions.
Done.

The common pitfalls and their repercussions:

Using a free form download from the Internet. Such forms almost always contain errors and are incomplete.
Using a handwritten bill of sale. Such forms almost always contain errors and are incomplete.
Failing to detail and describe what is being sold. It is important to have what is being sold detailed and described.

Avoiding the three pitfalls listed above can help both the seller and buyer avoid both headaches and expenses down the road. The following are few common examples:

In the event the buyer is unsatisfied with their purchase as they may deem that what they received was not as described. A proper bill of sale including the condition of the item being sold thus resolving such issues.

Using an improper form that does not detail important information. This causes that buyer issues down the road when attempting to resell what was bought. As an incomplete form may lack a vehicle VIN number or boat identification Hull number.

The seller also needs to protect themselves as exemplified here. When selling a car, it is important to include the “Odometer Disclosure Statement”. This provides the seller legal protection in case the buyer alters the odometer in the future when reselling to obtain a better price. In such a case, it is impossible to ascertain who changed the odometer reading. The seller by using a proper form protect themselves from dealing with such possibilities.

There are just few examples. There are many other scenarios.

Is a professionally prepared Bill of Sale a must?

Yes. For a small price, this provides legal protection for the both the seller and buyer and saves them costly expenses and headaches down the line.

10 Tips to a Better Forex Trading Strategy

Over the past decade,Forex trading has grown rapidly thanks to its expansion on the internet. What was once considered a side trading strategy by those who delved in stocks is now open to millions of people who can trade on a daily basis.

The low initial cost and promise of quick results have certainly lured people of many different backgrounds and experiences into this form of trading. However, as many find out it is not as simple as they may have heard or have been promised. This is because proper Forex trading strategy is not based in short term gain, but in long term results which may run counter to the expectations of those who believe they will make quick cash.

The following are ten solid tips into creating the proper Forex trading strategy that will help deliver the results:-

Forex Trading is a Long Term Wealth Building Tool:

For those who are new to this form of trading, this is not a “get rich quick” scheme. In fact, effective Forex trading strategy is based on risking a little bit of money each day and not trying to “win big” off of a few trades. The weighing of the risk and reward is very important to employing the best strategy that will result in getting good trades. In other words, do not risk more than you can afford to lose.

Trade from Logic, Not Emotion:

A “good feeling” or “gut instinct” is exactly that, an emotion-based response that actually has no bearing on whether a trade will turn out good or not. Those that excel at Forex trading strategy base it on research, current events and trends while leaving their emotions out of the equation. The good feeling is simply not enough to risk any money on a trade without the proper research and backing.

Use Limited Leverage:

The ability to trade on margins is one of the most attractive features in Forex trading strategy. In fact, many Forex trades are accomplished with a high degree of leverage which means that only a small amount of money is actually put up front. However, if the trade goes badly then you will owe more than what was initially placed up to your entire investment depending on the margins. This means that careful management of the margins is in order, so limit the amount of leverage used on your trades.

Carefully Consider All Decisions:

Despite all the planning, there are a lot of random events that may occur which will create results that you may not expect. However, this does not mean that you should make decisions too quickly or not consider all the possibilities. Too many traders will simply go by their gut feeling and not do the proper research in order to get the best results. For example, it is always a good strategy to have a “stop losses” order in place just in case the trade goes against expectations.

Understand the Market:

It pays to know how the market in general reacts on a day to day basis. While some might say that “history never repeats”, it is helpful to understand the conditions which created favorable trades on your behalf. Good Forex trading strategy includes a good understanding of the market itself and how it reacts to daily events.

Always Use Stop Losses:

Stop losses exist because one of the worst traits that many Forex traders develop is the belief system that things will turn around for a trade no matter how bad the losses. By putting in a stop losses order, a trade that goes horribly wrong will only cost a small amount of the investment because it was stopped at a pre-set amount.

Keep a Checklist:

It always seems to be the little things that matter when it comes to successful Forex trading. When creating a winning strategy, develop a checklist that you can mark off once each step is accomplished. In that manner, you can better follow your strategies for creating the best trade possible.

A proper checklist should include the following:

Time of Day
Technical Indicators Used in the Trade
Buy or Sell Signals that have been Noticed
Risk/Reward Value
Daily Stop Limit

Be Methodical and Disciplined:

Once you have developed a disciplined Forex trading strategy that works, stick to it. A well tested plan will pay off more often than not which means that you can increase your overall success rate. The secret behind creating a healthy income stream with Forex trading is consistency in the approach. This means that each trade needs to be well thought out through good analysis and research.

Keep a Diary:

In other words, learn from your mistakes. Successful Forex traders keep a diary of when, where and why they took each trade while writing down all the pertinent details. From that information, a trader can then discover their winning strategy and then pursue it on a daily basis. Keeping a detailed diary, especially in the first few weeks of trading is a very valuable strategy.

Forex Trading is Money Management:

The difference between long term success and failure is how the money is managed. By risking a set percentage each and every time, a trader will limit their losses when they occur and thus keep more of their money in the long run. By effectively managing your money from day to day, the trading will limit the losses and the winning results will start to add up over time.

The most successful Forex traders are those who base their strategy on winning more trades than losing and building up their investment over time. Keeping up your motivation and following a daily plan will help anyone execute the best Forex trading strategy possible. This means additional research and looking for signals which indicate the best circumstances to make a trade. Once a proper trading strategy has been developed, you can use it over and over again with success to build up your investment.

3 Effective Ways to Avoid Inheritance Conflicts

These issues come up mostly while talking with those who have gone through conflicts in their families during property division process in any of their estate settlements. In most of the cases there are references to the input from one of the members of family “once removed”, and not necessarily the ones who are the so called immediate heirs. These other people who are usually spouses or grandchildren don’t always have the similar emotional connection when compared to the ones who are immediate heirs. In most of the cases this may be unintentionally done. But, when children or spouses have things they want and they make demands, they often end up creating situations that finally result into conflicts.

Here are 3 ways that can help in avoiding such conflicts.

Understanding the Personality of other Heirs: It is very important that you try and understand what kind of people the other heirs who are also involved in the settlement issue are. Analyse their basic traits and find out the way to communicate with these heirs. This approach often resolves most complications even before they arise and clears off lot of misunderstandings. Personality difference is often the main cause behind a conflict concerning settlements. It will become more and more difficult to avoid conflict or maintain peace without understanding the differences.

Keep the Home Untouched before Formal Division: It is very important that you don’t claim your right on something that logically belongs to other heirs. It can also mess with their emotional sentiments and can further complicate the case for you. This is why it is important that the house remains untouched or undisturbed till a legal division is announced. An in-depth scrutiny of the property is important before there is any legal division and you can contribute to the process by not disturbing anything. Without the consent of other beneficiaries or heirs if you remove items from an estate or a home it is very much possible that the issue will get complicated. Very often we see people making this mistake of just going into a property and picking what they want without any consent with the concerned people and such actions are often justified by them through some facts or instances of the past. That being said, legally it will only complicate the case.

Only Beneficiaries or Immediate Heirs should be Part of the Property Division: Property division is a sensitive case and hence it should not be made a mass trial. Only immediate heirs or beneficiaries should become part of the process and other outside influences like children of heirs, grandchildren, in-laws, spouses etc should be kept away from the process. This is particularly more important at the beginning of the division process.