Do you know your challenges and goals?   Do you know what will be demanded of you at the different stages of your life?   A lot of folks are not sure and need some guidance.

Sometimes having a guide to walk you through each stage can be helpful?  The Financial Stages of Your Life Guide will help direct you through the financial challenges that you will face during each phase of your life.   Here’s a review of what the guide can offer you:

The Financial Stages of Your Life Guide

20’s : Getting Started

Your young and wild.   You can do anything, Your invincible.  Now what?

• You transition from education to establishing a career.
• You start looking around to see what the world has to offer you.
• You start working.
• You start developing credit.
• You start interviewing for jobs.
• You start sending applications out for an apartment.

30’s – 40’s : Accumulation

You have begun to settle down.  You have to be responsible now.  There are people counting on you.  What do you do next?

• You get married.
• You start families.
• These are your professional years.
• You develop your careers.
• You start accumulating assets and building equity.
• You apply for mortgages.
• You start your 401k retirement accounts.
• You buy some life insurance policies.

50’s : Final Working Years

Your children are becoming little adults, so now you can focus on your financial goals.  Learn how.

• These are the beginnings of your final working years.
• You accumulate as much as possible for retirement.
• You apply for student loans for your children.
• If you still have outstanding balances on your own student loans you start paying extra on those loans.
• You start to consolidate other outstanding debt.
• You pay off as much debt as possible.

60’s : Begin Retirement

• You start the transition from working years to retirement years.
• You start to ask yourself some serious questions about your future.
• Have you saved enough money for your retirement years?
• Will you have to continue to work during your retirement years?
• If you have to work part-time, what would that look like?

70’s

Ahhh -  Retirement.  Job well done.  You have worked your entire life for these years.   Relax and enjoy them, you’ve earned them.

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How You Start Your Credit Repair:

• Credit repair should start with your financial habits. If you always pay your credit cards late or fail to pay your credit cards at all, stop it, change it, you are only hurting your future.  
• Your next move is to order a copy of your credit reports as soon as possible.   You can get free credit reports from each of the 3 national credit reporting agencies once a year.
• A good credit score is above 750.  
• Where you live, work, the car you drive and the insurance you pay are all impacted by your credit scores.  

Let’s review what your future will look like if you do not take the necessary steps to improve your credit scores.

Your Future Without Credit Repair Help:

A Place To Live

• If you have bad credit scores then creditors and landlords grade you as a risky customer.  When you carry the label of risky, everything becomes complicated.  You could have a hard time finding a place to live.   
• Creditors and landlords review credit scores before doing business with you.  
• If the landlord denies your rental application or a mortgage company tells you that you do not qualify for a loan because your credit score is bad, credit repair help is suddenly urgent.    Make any necessary credit repairs before it gets to the point of urgency.   
• A credit score above 750 is considered by creditors and the credit reporting agencies to be a good credit score.
• If your credit scores are below 750, seek out credit repair services as soon as possible.

A Car To Drive

• Your car loan application may be denied.  No loan, no car.
• To get a loan approved you may be required to have a co-signer.  
• Your loan may be approved but you will be charged much higher interest rates.    Do not let credit go that far, take the time to get some credit repair help; get your credit scores above 750.

Insurance For Your Home & Car

• Insurance companies will increase your premiums if you have a bad credit score.  Even if you have never filed an insurance claim, the insurance company may still charge you a higher premium if you have low credit scores.  
• The industry considers a score that ranges from 300 – 750 to be a bad credit score.
• Again, a good credit score is above 750.

Where You Work

• More and more employers are reviewing the credit scores of the applicants they interview.   Since unemployment is so high right now, employers can be very selective.  
• If your credit scores are below 750, to help your employment opportunities, look into some credit repair services to help raise your credit scores about 750.  That one action alone could make all the difference if you are selected for an interview.

Bad credit can affect your employment, where you live, your ability to get loans and what you pay for insurance. What other reasons do you need to get your credit repaired if you have bad credit?  

If you even think that you have bad credit, don’t wait, get some credit repair help.  Order your credit reports as soon as you possibly can.   Again, you can get free credit reports once a year from each of the 3 national credit reporting agencies.   

Having good credit scores can make a big difference in where you work, where you live, what car you drive and what you pay for your auto and home insurance.

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You need credit repair because you will pay more for goods and services if you have a poor credit rating. With bad credit you will have a difficult time getting ahead financially.   A good credit score is above 750 according to the 3 national credit reporting agencies.

Why You Need Credit Repair:

Loans

• Your application for an auto or student loan could be declined if you have a poor credit rating.
• You may not qualify for a mortgage loan with low credit scores.
• Without credit repair if your mortgage loan does get approved, it may be approved with a higher interest on the loan.

Employment

• More and more employers are reviewing credit scores before deciding on hiring someone.
• You could have a more difficult time getting a job without repairing your bad credit.
• You could be the perfect candidate based on your resume, but could lose the job offer due to poor credit.

Insurance Premiums

• Insurance companies take bad credit very seriously.
• If you have a bad credit rating and do not get credit repair help, you could find yourself paying higher insurance premiums on your auto, home, boat and personal umbrella insurance policies.
• Insurance companies believe that a poor credit score is a reflection of someone who could often be late on their payments and perhaps file more claims.

Utilities

• Utility companies can and do charge higher rates for their services if someone has a bad credit score.
• The utility companies labels someone with a bad credit score as risky.
• Someone with bad credit may be a late or non payer.

Interest Rates

• You will definitely pay higher interest rates on your credit card balances and your loans when you have poor credit.
• Creditors need to cushion loans and credit cards to offset late-pays and non-pays.  They build the cushion by raising the interest rates for individuals with bad credit.

Your credit report tracks your financial life.   Since your credit reports can affect your ability to get loans, good insurance premiums and sometimes employment, you need to take all steps necessary to get credit repair help.  Find some credit repair services to help you improve your credit scores.

Credit repair starts with reviewing your credit reports.   A credit report shows your payment history, late pays, charge offs, loan defaults, collection accounts, tax liens, bankruptcies and foreclosures; all of which affects your credit scores.

If you already have bad credit, do not despair you can repair it.

1. Start by ordering a free credit report once a year from the 3 national credit reporting agencies.
2. Review the credit report for errors.
3. If there are errors notify the 3 credit reporting agencies immediately.
4. Notify the credit reporting agencies in writing, they have 30 days to reply.
5. The credit reporting agencies just report the information they receive, they are not obligated to correct it.
6. It is up to you to correct inaccurate information on your credit reports; that’s all a part of you taking responsibility for your credit repair.

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3. Steps To Credit Repair & Improved Credit Scores

What’s a Good Credit Score?

Credit Scores Above 750|Good Credit Score

• A credit score higher than 750 is evaluated by the industry as a benchmark for a good risk.
• With a score above 750 you don’t need credit repair help, but work on maintaining or improving that credit score.
• A credit score of 850 is considered perfect, strive for 850.
  

Credit Scores Below 750|Bad Credit Score

• If your credit score is less than 750, creditors consider you a risk.
• A credit score from 300 to  750 is considered poor.
• Any score below 750, needs credit repair help.

Steps To Avoid Credit Repair:

Step #1 -  Pay Your Credit Cards Off Every Month.

• When you pay off your credit card balance every month, instead of just paying the minimum amount due,  creditors consider you to be financially responsible.
• You are showing creditors that you can manage your money.
• Only charge to your credit cards that amount that you can afford to pay off every month.
• When you keep current with your payments, creditors will grade you as a good risk.
• As a good risk, you avoid credit repair.
• If you improve on this one financial habit alone you can actually raise your credit score.
• It’s a lot easier to maintain good credit than it is to go through the credit repair process.

Step #2 -  Do Not Max Out Your Credit Cards.

• By maxing  out your credit card balance you show creditors that you spend too close to the edge.
• This is true even if you can pay the balance off every month.
• Lenders look at credit card holders who max out as too risky.
• Creditors have statistics that show most “maxers” usually have a difficult time making regular payments.
• Your payment history will make up the largest portion of your credit scores.
• By spending up to your credit limit every month you actually lower your credit scores.
• Maxing out your credit cards may lead you to needing credit repair help some day.

Step #3 -  Make Timely Payments.

• Always make your payments on time.
• Payment history makes up the largest percentage of your credit score.
• Paying on time helps avoid credit repair.
• By paying on time, you not only avoid  the high expense of late fees, you also keep your credit scores high so there will be little need for credit repair.

If you need credit repair – where to start:

Your Credit Scores

• Know your current credit scores, don’t be afraid of it, know it.
• Order your credit reports so you have a base to start from.
• You can order a free credit report, once a year from each of the 3 national credit reporting agencies.
• Next, check the report for errors.
• The credit reporting agencies are required to just report the information they receive.  They are not required to correct any errors; that is your responsibility.
• Notify all 3 of the credit reporting agencies in writing, they have 30 days to investigate your claim.
• Work on improving how often you use your credit cards.
• Keep your debt low; if you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.
• Spend frugally.

Getting credit repair help is sometimes necessary, and that’s okay.   If you never understood the real impact of late pays, making minimum payments or maxing out your credit cards, you may find yourself in need of some credit repair help; be okay with that.

Do not despair if your credit scores are low.  You must start somewhere, just make sure you start.

Lenders, landlords and employers take credit scores very seriously and so should you.    They are all starting to look at credit scores to determine whether they do business with you or not.  Don’t be locked out of opportunities, repair your credit so that opportunity opens up for you.

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When someone talks about 401k advice they generally think of advice about what kind of investments you make within your 401k account.

This type of advice usually centers around whether you invest in money markets, bonds, stock investments or mutual funds.

The secret to 401k advice is learning how to manage the administration of your account because that is just as important as where to invest your money. Managing your account means making decisions about your options; but first you have to know what your options are.

When you change employers, what can you do with your money?  If you become unemployed what can you do?  When you retire, what options are available to you?

Should you keep your 401k assets in the old employer’s plan or is it better to make a 401k rollover to IRA transaction or a 401k transfer to another 401k account?    The best way to handle your 401k account all depends upon how much control you want over your investments.  You do have a few decisions to make so let’s break down your options.

The Secret to 401k Advice:

401k options when changing employer’s:

Leave the money in your old employer’s plan.

• You may have less control this way.
• You remain subject to the rules of their plan.
• If there are changes, you may not hear about them.  Since you are no longer at the company, you may not get the emails, or internal memo’s.
• Managing your account without being in direct contact is the more difficult way to handle things.

401k transfer to your new employer’s 401k plan

• Before you take your money with you to your new employer’ plan make sure they accept transfers, not all plans do.
• Analyze the investment options; make sure your new employer’s 401k plan has the same types of investment choices your old plan had.
• You may not like the new investment options in your new employer’s 401k plan.

401k rollover to IRA.

• Sometimes retirement assets in an IRA can be easier for you to personally manage than if those assets remain in a 401k plan from a previous employer.
• In an IRA your assets are not protected from creditors in case of a personal bankruptcy.
• Your assets are protected from creditors if kept in a 401k plan.
• An IRA account may offer more investment choices than a 401k plan.
• An IRA account is more mobile than a 401k account.
• It is easier to move your account balance in an IRA around to different financial institutions if you choose to.
• Be mindful of the fact that you cannot take loans against an IRA account like you can against a 401k account balance.
• The fees in an IRA account can sometimes be higher than a 401k account.

Your options if you become unemployed:

• If your retirement assets are still within a 401k account, you can take loans against the balance.
• Not all 401k plans are set up to allow for loans, check with your 401k plan administrator.
• The interest rates on a 401k loan are required by law to be reasonable.
• If the loan is not paid back, it can be considered by the IRS to be a distribution and subject to tax and penalty rules.
• If you transferred your assets to an IRA, you cannot take a loan against the account.

Your options if you retire:

• You can rollover your 401k account balance to an IRA.
• You can take a lump sum distribution from your 401k, but that may push you into a higher tax bracket, so be careful.
• You are not required to take distributions from a qualified plan (a traditional IRA or a 401k account) until age 70 1/2.
• You can begin taking distributions as early as 59 1/2.
• Check with your financial adviser on what option works best for you.

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Did you know that not all employers offer employee benefit packages?  Most of the time, the reason benefit packages aren’t offered is not because the employers don’t like their employees; but instead due to the high costs.

Most people don’t know how much their employer really pays to provide benefits.   Benefits are expensive; and those costs keep increasing, it’s rare if the cost of an employee benefit decreases.   The increased costs are forcing many employers to cut back on employee benefit packages.

Most of the costs associated with benefits are paid for by the employer.   Some employers do defray some of the costs to employees, but usually just a fraction of the total costs.  So if your employer offers an employee benefit package, hug your boss or company owner.

Employee benefits are sometimes thought of as the “extra’s” provided by your company in addition to your regular wages, salary or commissions.  Here’s a short list of the employee benefits that may be offered by your employer – - at comparatively little or sometimes no cost to you.

Hug your boss, if you get these benefits:

Retirement Benefits

• Group Qualified Retirement Plans; which is your 401k plan.
• Sometimes your employer may give you free money.
• The free money is from your employer matching your personal 401k contributions.
• Sometimes your employer may have set up the 401k plan so that you have ability to take out loans against your 401k account balance.
• Non-Qualified Retirement benefits; which would be deferred compensation plans.
• The difference between a Qualified and Non-Qualified Retirement plan is the tax deferral option.
• Contributions are made to Qualified plans on a tax deferral basis; Non-Qualified contributions are not tax-deferred.
• Company Stock Options.

Insurance Benefits

• Health Insurance benefits.
• Sometimes you employer is so generous that you just have to pay a mere fraction of the cost in the form of a deductible or co-pay.
• Dental Insurance benefits.
• Again your employer may be so kind as to have you just pick up the deductible or co-pay.
• Life Insurance benefits at discounted premiums.
• Disability Insurance at discounted premiums.
• Long -Term Care Insurance at discounted premiums.
• Wellness Programs; which sometimes includes membership at the gym.
• Group Auto Insurance – insurance sold at discounted prices.

Time Off

• Vacation time
• Sick days
• Holiday time

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Most employee benefits packages are usually customized, so not all packages will include all of the following special benefits.   Check with your plan administrator for what is included in your employee benefits package.

Severance Packages

Day Care benefits

Tuition Reimbursement

A Company Car

Paid Vacation Days

Paid Holidays

Paid Sick Days

Unemployment Compensation

Workers’ Compensation

Group 529 College Funding Plans

Compensation Bonuses if you are in a sales position.

Every once in a while it helps to take a look behind the scenes of what employers deal with and have to make decisions on when it comes to your employee benefit package.

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