Free Personal Finance Articles

Although our personal financial outlook is one of the most important contributors to our individual and family well-being and happiness, most of us never learned this in school. Our school system doesn't teach you just how important your credit score, personal financial statements and financial goal-setting skills are, yet these things are crucial to your financial "shape" and success. Continually work to improve your credit or establish credit by keeping accounts open and...

Let us take a look at the different types of income. They are: 1. Earned Income obtained from working for someone or a company. 2. Passive Income income generated from business. 3. Portfolio Income income generated from investments in paper assets. Let´s have a closer look: Earned Income Earned Income comes from having a job in a company or in someone else?s business. You get paid for your time and services rendered. In the previous section, we mentioned ...

Many people are using money transfer service because of the many advantages attached to it. Apart from the ease of sending money from anywhere in the world to receiving money in times of pressing financial difficulties, using a money transfer service has proved to be very safe and useful. Undoubtedly, the easiest way to receive and send money is by using a money transfer service. The method is very simple. If you want to send money, simply walk in and give the money you wa...

Are you still renting a home or apartment for yourself or your family? If so, you're losing money. Think about these three ways you lose money by renting: 1. You're paying for someone else's mortgage payment. You're missing out on the appreciation that the property gives to the landlord. Appreciation is a term used in accounting relating to the increase in value of an asset, which means in real estate terms, added value to the property. Over the past five years, houses...

Churches require a very specialized type of commercial real estate financing. Churches are certainly not a ?typical? business or small business, but churches nevertheless have very real and substantial financing needs. Before addressing possible solutions for the most common church financing needs, it is important to discuss the typical barriers to obtaining church loans. Historically church financing has been difficult to arrange for several reasons: (1) Church propert...

* How much of my profit should I put back into my business? Basically, the profit that you get from your business is considered to be your savings and may be used to fund other things such as loans and mortgages. However, in cases where you plan to expand your business, you can utilize the profit that you have earned. As to how much profit you will allot to your business, it will depend on the expansion you have planned. Things such as additional equipment (particularly...

Identity theft is a horrible problem. Those whose identities are stolen must go through so much legwork just to get their lives back on track. The worst part about identity theft is the fact that so many people believe that it could never happen to them. In all honesty, they could be no further from the truth. More than 500,000 American citizens' identities are stolen per year, and we've written this article to provide some tips when it comes to protecting your identity. -...

A payday cash advance is the perfect solution to many common financial problems. If you find yourself in a monetary bind, a cash advance is probably the best way to access cash in a very short amount of time. Short-term loans have many benefits, especially if you end up in a financial emergency. The Benefits * At times when you need money fast (today rather than tomorrow or in a few weeks time) a cash advance is the only way to go. Because payday loan companies don?t co...

Yes, this is a good idea! I know you want to know what is mad money? Well, a long time ago this term came about when a young lady went out with her friend to a party and her friend left her at the party with no way home. So, the young lady was mad with her friend that left her at the party and luckily for her, she had money stowed away in her shoe to take a cab back home. She thought to herself on her way home in the cab, that it was good that her mother had taught her to alw...

A legal procedure, in which some portion of a person?s earning is required to be withheld by an employee for the payment of the debt, is called as wage garnishment. Most of these garnishments are made by court orders. There are some other legal procedures also which include IRS levies or state tax collection agency levies. They levy for the taxes, which are unpaid. There are assignments in which the employees voluntarily agree that their employers will deposit a particula...

In today?s world, cash back is a great thing and this is no different when it comes to credit cards. Many people are taking advantage of this phenomenon and obtaining credit cards that also act as rewards cards. Cash back rewards cards work best for those who typically keep the balance paid each month and refrain from having any type of balance left on the card on a recurring basis. We all love making money and cash back credit cards allow us to do just that. Basically wha...

Many people do not consider the importance of a budget. They indulge in spending according to their earning and do not leave room for emergencies. This usually ends up in the incurring of debts and sometimes, personal bankruptcy. A budget helps to counter these consequences. The essential calculations in a budget are income and expenditure. The purpose of a budget is to ensure that the expenses do not exceed the income and also provide for savings for the future. A budg...

I've been receiving a great many letters lately that go something like this! "I'm about to turn 50 and I've just started planning for retirement! Any ideas?" Great question! Something you should have asked 15 to 20 years ago but never mind, better late than never. Most of the mail comes from self-employed people who broke the number one cardinal rule of self-employment - they didn't pay themselves first. They put everything back into their business. This predicament is ...

If you are considering the purchase of your first car or even your next vehicle if you?re not a first time car buyer, you may be concerned about the prospect of financing your vehicle. This concern is not totally unfounded. There are numerous pitfalls that can occur when financing a new vehicle, especially if you plan to use dealership financing. In order to avoid running into these problems, and possibly stalling your purchase read the tips below. First, understand exactl...

A 1. Account holder The person who has a personal loan account. 2. Advance The mortgage loan itself is called the advance. 3. APR (Annual Percentage Rate) An interest rate designed to show you the total annual cost of getting credit. It should include all the interest and charges payable by you as a condition of taking the loan. Where taking Payment Protection Insurance is a condition of taking the loan, this should also be included in the APR. The typical APR is ...

More and more people are shopping online each year. The growing popularity of online shopping is easy to explain ? online shopping offers greater convenience, and better prices than any other shopping method. If you follow the tips in this article, you can take advantage of great savings available to you online. Tip #1: Use Comparison shopping sites Comparison shopping sites, such as bizrate, shopzilla, http://shopping.com, Froogle, Yahoo Shopping, and many others, a...

Most people believe that you should not owe money in order to make money, but the exact opposite can be true in a lot of cases. There are certain techniques that a person can use to make a lot of money even though they are up to their nose in debt. This sounds like it is too good to be true but it is not. This is not any type of scam nor is it illegal. These techniques can be used by virtually anyone who has time and a little patience. Of course, an income is also helpful in ...

Your identity is extremely valuable. You need it to prove who you are for various purposes in your day-to-day life, such as opening a bank account, obtaining a loan, getting a credit card, purchasing goods or services, applying for a passport or driving licence, or claiming benefits. If a criminal gets hold of your personal details, they can do exactly the same things in your name without your knowledge. And it?s not rare for this to happen ? the problem of identity theft is ...

There are many reasons for refinancing your mortgage. Refinancing can reduce your interest rates, your monthly payment, or both. Often, refinancing is an effective way to consolidate debt and to reach your long term financial goals. However, there are many common mistakes when it comes to refinancing, some of them so serious they could cause you to lose your home. Identifying pitfalls is the best way to make a refinancing decision you will not later regret. When refinan...

The needs of people in retirement or about to retiree are different than those of baby boomers. Yet all you see in articles is advice for baby boomers on how to prepare for retirement. What about help for those age 60+ who have already cashed in their chips or about to do so? Good news. There has been increased education, albeit slowly, for financial advisors to help people in retirement. But be careful about the several designations you may see. The most widely held se...

It is important for everyone to keep in mind that retirement is an inevitability. Whether or not we are ready for it, there will come a time in our lives where we can simply no longer function at the level we need to in our jobs and will have to leave. Retirement is a part of life that will require careful planning in terms of finances; it is quite a prospect for most people to consider that they will have no job as a source of income during their later years, when in fact th...

According to new research, children attending private schools have more chance of outshining their state-educated counterparts when it comes to qualifications and eventually high paying jobs. They also stand an improved chance of winning Oxbridge places and are admitted with lower grades. There are around 2,400 privately run and privately funded schools in the United Kingdom. Children as young as two years old can be enrolled into pre-prep school nurseries before going on ...

Most people when asked today are either floundering in debt or asset rich and cash poor. This is because most of the funds and plans that people invest in are usually capital appreciation instruments. This means that you can make money due to the difference in the buying and selling price of the instrument. So while you are invested in the instruments, you do not make much with the exception of dividends issued either once or twice a year. This article will therefore intro...

Sweepstakes are very popular in the United States, UK, and other countries. They are essentially lotteries which are free to enter. In the UK, they are usually called prize draws. Sweepstakes Prizes The prizes you can win in sweepstakes are widely varied ? every from cars to vacations to guns to cameras. The prizes will often be related to the industry of the entity sponsoring the sweepstakes. The Economics Of Sweepstakes Who pays for sweepstakes ? and why? Usuall...

Where does the idea of sitting down a coming up with a personal budget rank on your list of ?things I can?t wait to do?? If you?re like most people, it?s probably somewhere between jabbing a fork in your ear and getting a root canal. Can?t say we blame you, devising a budget for yourself is definitely not the most stimulating activity in the world. But for financial well-being, it?s an absolute must. It needn?t be too painful though. With today?s technology, budget-making is ...

The medical industry, unlike virtually every other business, loves to keep their prices secret. They do this, very simply, so they can make more money. Only by shopping your medical care, demanding price transparency, negotiating for the best price, and carefully reviewing your bill can you be assured that you are getting a fair price, and not being ripped off. A dramatic example is the price hospitals charge of open heart surgery. The Valley Hospital Medical Center in Las...

Penalties imposed by banks on customers who exceed their overdraft limits continue to come under intense scrutiny, with overdraft penalty charges proving to be the bane of customers' lives and a major reason for the increased number of complaints received by financial institutions in the last year or more. Bank charges were the most frequent gripe of the 3,500 people who contacted the Banking Code Standards Board's helpdesk in 2005 ? with this number itself proving to be a...

Federal grants are given by the federal government (of course!) to many different areas of need, with one purpose and that is to stimulate productivity within the country and the world from which they are counting on reaping more profits. Instead of the government saying to themselves ?it is better to give than to receive,? they are saying instead??it is better to receive than give but the only way we are going to receive maximally is by giving first and hopefully in relative...

You open it, close it, and reopen it at least twice a day. One of your most important storage devices, your wallet, has evolved over the years to an important financial tool and a personal journal. Storing receipts, bills, paper money, coins, credit or debit cards, your driver's license and even your local supermarket membership card, your wallet is perhaps the most important piece in your pocket or purse. But keeping score of your week's spending and managing to stay unde...

If you need some extra money, then borrowing from your bank might be the answer. If you use a bank simply for savings and a current account, then perhaps it is time to look at other financial products that your bank can offer. If you want to borrow from your bank, here are some of the possible options and benefits. Why borrow money? People borrow money for all sorts of reasons, and in all different ways. If you are finding it hard to make ends meet at the moment then ge...