Analysis Topic: Personal Finance
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Will You Still Work When Retired? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
You may have heard the popular legend about Eskimo tribes sending the elderly off to die at sea. As the stories go, when grandpa and grandma could no longer hunt or earn their keep, the younger folks would put them on an iceberg and ship them off. Fewer mouths to feed gave the younger generations a better chance at survival. I shudder at the thought.
Friday, July 05, 2013
Best Cash ISA Savings Account for Least Stealth Inflation Theft from UK Savers / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Mark Carney has just taken over from the Mervyn King as Governor of the Bank of England, or should I say SIR Mervyn King who as is always the case was rewarded with a knighthood for his failures at the Bank of England because rather than to be held to account for his part in the ongoing banking catastrophe that has yet to see any bankster's go to jail for the financial crimes of the century that literally brought the country to its knees as evidenced by the greatest drop in GDP since the Depression that followed the First World War.
Monday, July 01, 2013
Student Loan Debtors Bamboozled Again / Personal_Finance / Student Finances
By: Money_Morning
Tara Clarke writes: I know a lot of you out there don't have sympathy for student loan debtors who complain about their debt.
You see it as a matter of personal responsibility - they chose to sign a contract and so should suck it up and uphold their end of the deal.
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
How to Make the Most from the Changes in the U.S. Housing Market / Personal_Finance / US Housing
By: DailyGainsLetter
Moe Zulfiqar writes: The housing market in the U.S. economy has gained a significant amount of attention. Even my old friend, Mr. Speculator, who likes to make big bets for bigger gains, told me it’s a good time to buy a house, saying “the prices are cheap, and they are only going higher from here.”What’s certain is that the U.S. housing market has seen an uptick since the home prices hit bottom in early 2012; but is it on the path to real recovery, or is what we are seeing just a minor bounce?
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Friday, June 21, 2013
How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Variable Annuities / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
Last year consumers purchased $200 billion in annuities. On top of that, there are currently $2-3 trillion in annuities already in force. With all the variations, options, riders and strategies available, it's easy to feel lost. At Money Forever, we aim to simplify complex financial topics. To that end I’m going to share a case that jumped out at me as we researched our special report on annuities. The evaluation process used here translates to any sort of annuity you may encounter; its information you can keep in your back pocket and draw on when annuity salespeople try to overcomplicate products and make predictions sound like guarantees.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Are Annuities the Greatest Thing Since Sliced Bread? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
Well, no, but they do make sense for some investors as part of their portfolio. However, we have to shop wisely and not allow sales agents to push us into the wrong products just to fatten their own wallets. Unfortunately, that makes some folks shy away from something that could help them make their money really last a lifetime… or longer.
Friday, June 07, 2013
How to Get Out of Student Loan Debt / Personal_Finance / Student Finances
By: Money_Morning
Tara Clarke writes: Anyone wondering how to get out of student loan debt - or wondering if a slew of student debtors could try to do so - needs to read this.
Yesterday, I wrote about the case of Michael Hedlund, the failed law student who was able to discharge $58,000 of his student loans in a 10-year bankruptcy action.
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Thursday, June 06, 2013
Exposing the Secret to Wiping Out Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy / Personal_Finance / Student Finances
By: Money_Morning
Tara Clarke writes: Accepted wisdom says that there are only two (rather sobering) ways to relieve the burden of student debt: either pay it off, or depart from this earthly world.
Until now.
On May 22 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals wiped out $58,000 in student loan debt for a former law student in bankruptcy proceedings, sending shockwaves through the formerly impervious facade of student loan debt performance.
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Monday, June 03, 2013
Should You Buy an Pension Annuity? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
In simple terms, an annuity is a contact between a person and a company. The person gives the company a sum of money, and in return is promised a monthly payout, generally for the rest of their life. There are many cases where annuities make sense for retirees or folks planning to retire soon. At the same time, there are risks and situations where annuities are the wrong choice.
Monday, June 03, 2013
How 401(k) Fees Are Costing You 33% of Your Nest Egg / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
Gary Gately writes: If you have a 401(k) chances are you're getting ripped off and you don't even know it.
With all of the associated 401(k) fees, the truth is you could be losing as much as 33% of your retirement nest egg to the financial advisors who run your plan.
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Friday, May 31, 2013
Life Insurance - When Death Is the Best Investment / Personal_Finance / Insurance
By: Investment_U
Alexander Green writes: A good friend recently called me. He was excited.
“I just bought a fantastic whole life policy from a guy I know,” he said. “I can’t believe the benefits. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do this.”
“Really?” I said.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The Cold, Hard Facts Behind Funding Your Retirement / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
Many folks are afraid they simply won't be able to retire – or stay retired – when and how they planned. We can talk about retiring later, taking a part-time job, and cutting back on expenses, but those are only partial solutions. Of the seniors who are still working, very few are earning as much as they did at their peak. Their life savings still needs to make up the difference.
I receive a lot of letters from very concerned baby boomers and retirees who are watching their principal erode every year, but they don't know what to do about it. Unfortunately, some have unrealistic expectations.
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013
UK Savings Catastrophe - Best Cash ISA? There Isn't One! / Personal_Finance / Savings Accounts
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The consequences of the Quantum of Quantitative Easing (QQE) is one of systematic theft of wealth from savers / bank depositors by the government and banking sector, unfortunately this trend is intensifying and unlikely to change for at least another year as illustrated by announcements every other month such as the extension of the funding for lending fraud, that looks set to continue to bleed depositors dry in the run up to the May 2015 general election as an desperate, fractious Coalition government will first attempt to bribe the electorate by spending money the country does not have or in the final analysis given a poor standing in the opinion polls decide to follow follow Labours example of 2009 (Labour Governments Bankrupt Scorched Earth UK Economy for the Conservative Government ) by handing the next Labour-geddon government an even more scorched earth bankrupt economy.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Why Are So Many Seniors Still Working? / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Don_Miller
By Dennis Miller Go into any fast food restaurant or retail store and you’ll find a lot of seniors working for minimum wage. Here’s why.
When personal computers hit the scene, numerous retirement-planning programs quickly became available. You entered your personal financial information, along with yield and inflation projections, and the computer would tell you how long your retirement nest egg would last.
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Falling Choice in Cash ISA's Current Best Tax Free Savings Account / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: MoneyFacts
Moneyfacts research reveals a 23% fall in the choice of where to place your cash ISA this year compared to April 2012.
Not only have product numbers fallen but the rates last year were around a third higher than today, (one-year fixed has fallen by 32%/long-term fixed by 33%).
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Thursday, April 18, 2013
Retirement Nightmare: Underfunded Pensions Want to Chop Your Benefits by 60% / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes: Unions, employers and the federal government have finally come up with an answer for the nation's underfunded pension plans, many of which are headed for bankruptcy.
Take the money from the retirees.
The proposal would erase the guarantees created under the 1974 Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and allow underfunded pension plans to reduce monthly benefits for both future and current retirees.
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Saturday, April 13, 2013
A Second Passport for Ultimate Wealth Protection / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2013
By: Casey_Research
Louis James: Doug, a lot of our readers have asked about getting a second passport. I realize this is a large and complex issue – several issues, actually – but would you care to go over the basics of where to go and what to do? And for those not already thinking about this, why?
Doug Casey: Sure. We've talked quite a bit about the increasing urgency of getting some of your assets out of your home country, especially if it's the United States. We've talked about having stores of precious metals in safe places abroad, and setting up bank and brokerage accounts abroad as well. I've said that safest way to store wealth abroad is to buy property, which can't be seized by your home country without an act of war. The purchase of real estate solves several issues all at once.
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Friday, April 12, 2013
The Great Money Migration, Is Holding Cash Criminal? / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2013
By: Bill_Bonner
Back in the USA, stocks rose again yesterday. The Dow finished up 128 points. Gold fell $25 per ounce yesterday... and everybody seems to think it will be going down forever. (A word of caution: probably not.)
Last week, we went to São Paulo, Brazil. There, too, we found taxi drivers who knew a lot more about monetary crises than the typical US economist. Said one:
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Saturday, April 06, 2013
Best Cash ISA Savings Account for New Tax Year 2013-14 / Personal_Finance / ISA's
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The new tax year commenced today, which brings a small reprieve for UK savers to at least protect themselves from the 20% to 40% theft (double taxation) on savings interest payments, even though that it is highly unlikely that any accounts will be able to beat the real inflation rate which tends to be about 1.5% above CPI or currently about 4%.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
Wealth Management Retirement Strategies to Reconsider / Personal_Finance / Pensions & Retirement
By: DailyGainsLetter
John Whitefoot writes: From home repairs, to fixing cars, to crafts, publishing, and decorating—in a do-it-yourself culture, nothing is out of bounds. Thanks to low interest rates and underperforming assets with terrible returns, many who are on the cusp of retirement are looking after their own retirement plans in an effort to boost their retirement income. Meanwhile, those already in retirement are looking for ways to sustain their savings.
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