You know when you are retiring so why aren't you ready?

By Steven Thompson

When you think of retiring, you need to consider not just how much is there in your retirement account. Preparing for retirement entails more than just saving money in the bank or financial institution. There is more ways than just putting your funds on a retirement saving account.

One should start preparing for retirement early in life. Starting late on investments could mean that it will take years more to enjoy the fruits of your investment or you would have to shell out more money enjoy the profits sooner.

A very real fact with getting older is that your health begins to falter. Any sound retirement investment will have to have a plan that would ensure that you are covered at least for the medical needs as you can foresee as possible. After all preparing for retirement means a lot of foresight. Making sure that you are healthy enough to enjoy your old age is a top priority.

It is never to early to have a retirement plan. It will be easier to obtain if you have more time than having to think about it later and have less time.

Insurance policies are also great as supplement to your medicare or social security fund. It happens too often that medicare and social security funds are not enough especially with major health problem expense or that they don't cover some of the finer medical needs. You can also find insurance policies that double up as retirement savings investment.

In order for you to enjoy better living conditions or at least maintain the sheltered lifestyle you were used to, then you should have prepared a sound retirement plan on your own. Also be disciplined to safeguard your retirement money for use only at retirement.

When creating your retirement plan, be sure that you got your medical expenses covered. After all, it is a fact of life that one's health begins to falter with old age. Also be sure that you have enough money for you or your spouse as well. It is better to have each spouse surviving on his or her own retirement package than having to divide it up.

About the Author:

Today more than ever you need retirement planning information that is honest and accurate. No matter how near or far away retirement is you should be planning for it. Early retirement is easy providing as you prepare for it in advance.

What is a Government Grant?

By Fiona Fidelis

Many people are feeling a crunch on their wallets these days " expenses are going up, but the money coming in is not. People dont know what to do " yet each year theres approximately $300-$460 billion in free government grants; most people dont know about these grants, and continue to linger in financial uncertainty. These grants are available to do anything from paying off debt, going to school, or starting a new business. Best of all, these are not loans, so you dont need to repay them. So how do you get access to this money?

There is no easy way to get grants on your own. You have to do a lot of searching around online, and find grants that are suitable for your specific needs. However, there are quite a few online grant money kits available that make your search a lot easier. Most kits include the same information: a CD to get you started, resources for thousands of different grants, and help filling out the application. While the grant kits help greatly in making the application process simple, dont expect receiving thousands of dollars simply by purchasing a kit.

Are these grant kits legitimate? Many people ask this question, and usually its a fair one. There are many grant kit scams floating around, but legitimate kits will work because they help you apply for money that is already budgeted by the government to give away through various organizations. They are true, legit sources of money, but you should never pay anything for them beyond shipping costs.

Still, its helpful to know what grant kits are reliable. The grant review website is a website that keeps an updated list of trustworthy, free grant kits. You only need to pay for the shipping and handling costs, and in most cases youll pay under $3. The information is guaranteed reliable, and is reviewed on a regular basis to make sure the kits are up to date.

Grant money is readily available to any individual who applies for it. While big banks and corporations are getting bail out money from the government, you can get a piece of the money by obtaining a grant kit and sending out applications. Theyre a great way to get money to pay off debt, go back to school " or go on a dream vacation.

About the Author:

Free government grants is a useful commodity to have, especially for the millions of people all over North America who are in dire straits financially. Receiving a free gov't grant could mean the difference between something frivolous as having extra money to shop or something more serious such as being able to pay for the roof over your head.

Implement These Tips To Get Your Loan Modification Approved Fast

By James Drake

In this article, we'll deal with a few tips to improve your chances of getting a mortgage loan modification You can increase your chances of success by using some of these little known secrets Let's discuss a few of these tips.

To get your mortgage loan modification approved, you need to show financial hardship. This requires you to write a 'hardship letter' to your lender. This letter shows and explains your financial problems. You also need to tell your lender what steps you've taken to improve your situation. Finally, write that you are committed to remaining a home owner.

Set up a new budget, so you free up money to make monthly payments. If you know your expendable cash flow, you can determine a realistic monthly payment. Reassure the bank that can pay that amount now and will be able to keep it up in the near future.

Fill out the required financial statements to let your lender know about your financial position. Don't leave out information and be thorough. Offer your financial statement and a financial statement for the future to make the lenders job easier.

When doing mortgage loan modification, plan ahead and do your research. The second you know the approval criteria, you drastically increase your chances of success. When you want to apply for mortgage loan modification, time is not your friend. Saving your home begins with doing the necessary research.

About the Author:

James is a broker writing about loans and mortgages. He also writes about mini lening and goedkope mini lening in Dutch.

A Life Without Debt For Everyone

By India Moon

Have you ever given any consideration to a life without debt? Can you even imagine how you would function without credit cards, without a mortgage and without owing money to anyone? What would you do if you wanted to hire a car or stay in a hotel or buy concert tickets?

Listening to the news about the recession and the financial woes of our country and the world is pretty scary. Hearing about the job losses, the foreclosures on homes, the companies that are closing down is enough to make anyone feel very worried about their financial future. And for those of you who have already lost your retirement savings on the share market, you already know what it feels like.

Lets stop talking about the negatives. Most of us are sick and tired of the bad news. In this country we are lucky to have choices, we can decide to make each day a good one. Lets find something positive and make some new goals that we are excited about. How about making a goal to start living your life without debt? Would that excite you? How would you start? If you are not quite sure I can give you some tips.

Get rid of the credit cards right now. Check out the banks to see what is the best and cheapest debit card you can find. Debit cards do not put you in debt. You are only able to draw on the money in your account. Bank account empty, debit card charge won't go through. Yes you can use debit cards to pay for your rental car and to book your hotel and they also work at the shops too.

Now you need to pay off those credit cards as quickly as possible. The easiest way to get them paid off is to pay only the minimum payment each month on all of your credit cards except for the one with the least amount of debt.You must find extra money, more than just the minimum to pay off this one each month till its paid off. Choose the credit card with the next least amount of debt, add the money you were using to pay off the finished credit card, to the minimum due on the next one and use all that money to pay that credit cards down. Keep on like this till all your credit card debt is gone.

Make a plan and stick to it. Have the whole family help to create a budget. When shopping pay only by cash or debit card. Start an emergency fund, and save for future purchases.

Living without debt will be so very wonderful for you. It takes away all the stress. It gives you feelings of security, knowing that you are rowing your own boat and are not owing anyone money. You will never be vulnerable again in times of boom or bust financial markets. It becomes a way of life that is so great that I don't think you would ever want to go back. Enjoy!

About the Author:

India Moon has been helping people get out of debt for more than for 10 years. For freestrategies and tips please make sure that you check out help getting out of debt Click here for even more Free Debt Help

Why Your Individual 401k Might Not Be Enough

By David C Lewis, RFA

Employer 401k plans are a popular tool used for retirement planning. One of a few problems with 401k pans is the investor's reliance on employer matching for the plan. This may cause an employee to rely too much on the employer and not contribute enough to savings. Most Americans have no idea how much money they should be saving. If you have never used one, a retirement calculator will probably leave your jaw on the floor in amazement. Planning for retirement is a difficult task and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Because there are so many variables in preparing a financial plan for retirement, the process can be difficult, at best, even when you are using a professional advisor. Some of these variables are: the age at which you retire, the age at which you start your savings, the amount you save for retirement, how much your retirement savings earn over the years and into retirement, how much debt you have, if any, at the age you plan to retire, and the quality of your health entering retirement and how long you live after retirement.

You also need a way to account for fiscal irresponsibility on the part of Government (i.e. inflation) and what that will do to your retirement savings. On the internet there are dozens of retirement calculators available, sponsored by retirement organizations, investment companies and other businesses in the money management business that can help you do this. What most of the calculators will show you, is that for most people, even relying on Social Security, you will need a lot of retirement savings to maintain a near pre - retirement standard of living.

History shows us that the economy will continue to grow, and with an inflation rate of about three to five percent, your investments are both growing and losing value at the same time depending on both of those rates.

Your parents and grandparents may have grown up in a time when a $50 a week wage was normal. Now, however, that's completely unrealistic. More than 50 years later, there is no way you could expect to live off $200 a week.

Average Americans making $500 to $1,000 per week today will see the same kind of results that their parents and grandparents are seeing now, unfortunately. The retirement calculators are showing that they should have a retirement nest egg of close to a million bucks if they want to retire comfortably for 20-30 years.

An online calculator calculated that an adult starting with $100,000 and adding $4,000 year to that would enter retirement with almost $900,000 but end up broke by age 85.

Part of managing your income is setting aside savings and investing a part of it (note, not ALL of it) for your future. Even though it's difficult to forecast the future, it is necessary due to the nature of human beings and the requirement of long-range planning. There is a wealth of assistance available on the internet to get you started, and professional advisors ready to help when needed.

About the Author:

More Info: There is only so much information that can be covered in one article. If you would like more detailed information about any aspect of financial planning, please visit David's website.

Is Diversification Still the Best Way to Go?

By Jan Shimano

Not being an experienced investor, I have been very concerned lately as I watched my investments dwindling before my very eyes. I decided to do a little investigating with the hopes of coming up with some answers.

I always find it interesting that when you diligently look for something, the answer invariably appears, and so it was with my search. I was led to a book written by Robert T. Kiyosaki called Rich Dad's Prophecy. I had read Rich Dad Poor Dad a few times, but that was the only Robert Kiyosaki book I had ever read. I immediately purchased a copy and what I learned was one of the biggest eye openers I have ever experienced.

The cyclical nature of the market is well known. We expect it to go up, down and sideways. However, if we were to graph it out over many years, we would normally see an upward motion, with periodic small dips. These days it's quite a different picture. The graph is headed down on a very steep curve.

A major part of the problem is that by the year 2016, the first of the 75 million baby boomers in the U.S. will be turning 70. A large percentage of these people have money stashed away in a 401k plan. When these baby boomers reach age 70 1/2, they will be obligated under law to remove all their money out of their 401k plan. They are going to have to liquidate their assets. Just think about that for a moment!

There are going to be literally millions of people selling off large holdings, because they have to. Can you imagine what that is going to do to the stock market. For the market to go up, we have to have more buyers than sellers. For it to remain the same, there would be about the same volume of sales to purchases. So, with way more sellers than buyers, the market is going to take a huge hit, and there doesn't appear that there is anything that can be done about it. I suppose it's possible that the Government will step in with another law allowing people to keep their money in their retirement fund longer. However, this will just delay the inevitable.

Most people understand that they are in a difficult financial situation, but they fail to realize the full impact. They are told that the best thing for them to do is to diversify, hold tight and ride out the storm. Many of them follow that advice and are unaware of what Warren Buffet said about this. He is quoted as saying ...."Diversification is a protection against ignorance. It makes very little sense for those that know what they are doing".

We still have a few years before 2016 is upon us, so there is still time to get a firm handle on your finances and make some intelligent decisions. Educate yourself on financial matters and take action now to accumulate additional funds to see you through to your retirement and beyond. The experts tell us that having a home-based business is the best way to do this. The prediction is that there are going to be millions of new millionaires created during the next 10 years. You can be one of them...there are many great opportunities out there....find the one that resonates with you and run with it.

About the Author:

Jan Shimano was District Manager for Health & Welfare Canada for a number of years. She was also self-employed as a Nutritional Consultant. She is presently a Business and Health Coach and runs her own internet marketing company from her residence on Vancouver Island. Jan also invites you to visit her on YouTube at www.youtube.com/1jinny

Sham Trusts Explained

By Janet X

Unfortunately, most people think that once assets are placed in a Trust they are protected forever! However, this is simply not the case. If a Trust is found to be a "sham", then asset protection can be lost. So what is a Sham Trust?

The concept of Sham Trust has evolved over time but for our purposes, it can be thought of as something that isn't genuine, a disguise or a faade.

Professional Trustees often 'rescue' a Trust from the sham stigma. They do this by faithfully and properly carrying out the work of being a Professional Trustee. This means they review the activities of the Trust and ensure that all administration work has been correctly carried out.

Why is this so important? Trustees have a legal duty to discuss, agree and document the activities the Trust is undertaking. When this doesn't occur, the door is opened for a creditor or even a beneficiary to allege that the Trust is a sham, and if the allegation is successful, asset protection can be lost and the trust assets can be "up for grabs".

Sometimes a Trust can be a sham at its very beginning. This occurs when Settlors and Trustees create a trust and transfer assets to the Trust, but in reality never intend for the Trust to do anything or to operate properly. Usually, what is really happening is that the Trust has been set up to conceal the real intentions of the parties or to conceal a transaction.

Emerging Sham Trust

A common type of Sham Trust we see today is called an Emerging Sham. This is where a genuine Trust is established but it becomes a sham over time. For example, the Trustees start out practicing good behaviour, but then stop meeting, discussing and documenting what activities they will undertake on behalf of the Trust.

What then happens is that records documenting Trustee discussions or decisions are not kept and frequently, the Settlor starts to treat the Trust assets as if they were his very own property. A regular example of this is where the Settlor withdraws money from the Trust's bank account for his own personal use (or worse, for someone else's use) without the agreement of his fellow Trustees or without documentation.

It's important to note however that a lack of documentation won't of itself make a Trust a sham, but it does assist a Court in finding that a sham exist.

When a Trust is found to be a sham, loss of asset protection can result.

If you are considering setting up a Family Trust or wanting to review your existing Trust, ensure your accountant or lawyer has the specialist expertise to protect you.

About the Author:

Janet Xuccoa BCom LLB, is a director from Gillgan Rowe + Associates. She is a recognised Family Trust and LAQC expert in New Zealand where she leads the Trusts and Estate Planning division. Want to protect your assets and grow your wealth? Get your Free Family Trust Report: "The 9 Deadly Sins of Setting Up a Family Trust