The Finance Blogger

Even rich people, with huge financial cash flow’s can ruin their lives and not have enough money left over for retirement, let alone avoiding bankruptcy. With large incomes the assumption is that the money will continue to flow forever. The reality is that they often overspend, change jobs or worse yet lose their jobs. There also can be a downturn in the market affecting their cash flow if they derive their income from investments. We put together a list of areas about how rich people ruin their financial lives that we all should pay attention to including those who make six figures incomes.

How Rich People Ruin their Financial Lives

These are a list of the things that most people should do, but often do not, regardless of the level of income that you make.

Establish a budget and track spending – to help understand where your money is going and how it is being spent. Add some control on how you spend money.

Plan for social security – when your income drops or stops all together.

Develop a long-term investment plan and budget – with goals and targets. Add in stress tests to help decide what action you should take.

Assuming the big income will last forever – is usually a mistake, nothing lasts forever.

Not developing a tax strategy – will help minimize the amount of taxes you pay leaving more for you to spend

Wasting money on too many toys and bad investments – leaves little for savings and retirement.

Not increasing savings as income grows – helps to maintain your standard of living when the income stops or you retire.

A friend of mind had never been a stock market guy. EVER! He always had been very leery of the whole deal. But, this fella William O’Neil is starting to change that for him. His book is really good. Thought you may have heard of him. Playing in the Stock Market can be like gambling, however you can educate yourself and increase the odds of success. However there is still a large risk which you have to be prepared to accept.

My response to him was as follows and maybe it will help others which is why I posted here!

Playing in the Stock Market

I have been in the stock market for many years and have done very well.

Based on my experience you have to decide what kind of an investor you are. – speculative, growth, income, low risk income. They all come with different levels of risk and it depends on how risk tolerant you are.

I stay away from mutual funds, MER’s are too expensive and they get paid regardless of how they perform.

I guess I am an income guy, which means I invest in Blue chip Canadian stocks that pay a dividend each quarter. They have a long record of paying their dividends and have a history of increasing their dividends on a regular basis.

Make sure you are diversified with no more than 5% of my investment in any one company. Part of managing risk.

The blue chips also have a slow growth element in addition to paying dividends. I use yahoo to track my progress. There are lots of ups and downs. When it goes down 10 or 15% it is pretty hard to handle. But if you are well invested, hang on because they will come back and you still get your dividends.

This guy is talking more about speculation which takes lots of time to manage. It is gambling on the stock market!

I would develop your own strategy and stick to it based on your risk tolerance. Review and adjust your strategy every 6 months. Decide if you want to take the dividends in cash or re-invest in the same stock or buy something else with the cash.

Millennial’s have a reputation for having the following issues – stagnant wages, increasing student loan debt, fear of the stock market and they have a tendency to overspend on their social lives. Are you smarter than a millennial about finances? Other generations have their own issues with managing their finances. At the present time baby boomers are overly concerned about retirement and whether they will have sufficient money set aside to live a high quality of life during retirement. We decided to compare both ends of the spectrum.

Are you smarter than a millennial about finances?

Millennial’s are demonstrating that they are good in several areas the baby boomers have not excelled in. For example they are creating budgets, tracking to those budgets and following the budget. This is something that boomers are not known for doing.

They are also setting savings goals for everything from retirement, two non-retirement items such as travel, a home, and other things they deem important in their lives.

They are also not afraid to ask for help. If they don’t understand something they will seek advice, usually online and from other millennial’s. The baby boomers on the other hand have traditionally been very independent and avoid seeking advice from professionals.

Baby boomers have a tendency to set retirement goals. They plan to retire in a given or specific time frame in their lives. Millennial’s on the other hand are more focused on ensuring they have sufficient money for retirement. They are willing to work longer to achieve some of their goals.

Bottom line, is that millennial’s are still young and untested as far as life’s challenges are concerned. The big question will they be forever different than baby boomers. Or will they gradually follow the same path as their baby boomer parents and grandparents?

You have just received some money and you want to know how to invest a financial windfall. Develop an investment strategy based on your risk tolerance. Not everyone can tolerate the wide swings in the stock market. If you are the type to lay awake at night and worry about the value of your investments as the market response to various world events you probably should not be in the stock market. At the very least you may want to invest in solid blue-chip stocks that only pay dividends and have little opportunity for growth or decline.

Your growth and income requirements over the lifetime of your investments should also be considered. It is much better to start when you’re going towards saving for retirement. However if you have only 10 or 15 years to retirement you may want to be more aggressive with regards to your investment strategy.

How to invest a financial windfall

The following broad guidelines should also be considered as part of your investment strategy for your financial windfall.

Diversify across industries and within industries. You might be familiar with one industry or you got a hot tip from a friend. Ignore these temptations and focus on protecting your investment by investing across industries as well as within those industries. Never replace all of your money in one company or investment.

Diversify between the stock market and the bond market. The bond market is actually larger than the stock market in terms of total amount of money invested. You should consider investing in bonds to receive a steady income of interest payments.

Invest money in bonds using a bond ladder approach. When you invest in bonds, they should have a laddered maturity dates. In other words you want each one to mature in a different year so that you never have all of your money maturing in a low interest year.

Save some cash for a rainy day and for emergencies. Your windfall is a great opportunity to make sure that you have some cash set aside for emergencies. There may come a time when you need some cash to cover the debt or emergency expense. This emergency fund will come in handy.

If you have not already got the message, never put all of your eggs in one basket. This is the most important advice in this entire post. You have just received at financial windfall. You want to make sure that it continues to provide you with income investment equity for a long period. The best way to do this is to make sure it is invested diversely.

We all will in up in debt at sometime in our lives. For most it is the usual mortgage, car loan and a couple of credit cards. For many it is much more and they cannot seem to be able to repay these debts. Turning to a debt settlement company is one solution. However Debt Settlement is not for the Faint of Heart and also comes with considerable risk as well. It is important to know what the process is to really understand why it can be even more stressful than dealing with debt.

Basically you stop making payments to the companies you owe money to. It is important to place the usual payment amounts into an account that you cannot touch. You will need this money later. After a few months your account will build and if you let this process go long enough, you may have sufficient money to pay half or more of the debt. This is when your debt settlement company will begin negotiations. Their objective is to have your debters write off as much as 50% of your debt.

Debt Settlement is not for the Faint of Heart – Risks

There are numerous risks associated with this approach. For example, your credit rating is going to tank if you follow this approach. Future loans etc will be impossible to obtain. There is no guarantee that the debtors will accept this negotiation. They may play hardball and demand payment in full. Now you owe all of the accrued interest and payments along with whatever fee you agreed to pay the debt settlement company!

You may also still need to declare bankruptcy and they may not be able to manage all of your debt. Some debt may remain and you may find that you need to declare bankruptcy as a result. Both are bad situations to find yourself in along with the waste of time, money and damage to your credit rating.

The best solution is repay all of your debt and don’t get into this situation in the first place.

Many people often turn to credit when times get tough. Unfortunately, just like your bank account, your credit score can suffer during uncertain economical times. First come the bills, then your income takes a hit and you take on more debt. If you are the type to spend more than your income, debt can only increase. There are time proven methods to avoid getting into debt and how to improve your credit score. Here are four ways to help you recover your score:

How to Improve Your Credit Score

Get a line of credit – It may seem counter intuitive when your credit score is already hurting. The easiest way to establish credit is to use credit wisely. If you have either no score or it’s very low, a store credit card may be the way to go as banks often approve applicants who applied through an organization rather than on their own. Just be careful of higher than normal interest rates. Typical store cards run at 29% compared to 19% for regular credit cards.

Always pay your bills on time – Think of your credit cards as tools to help you build or improve your credit score, in addition to the convenience they provide. Don’t make any purchases you won’t be able to pay for at the end of the month. Late  payments will negatively impact your credit score and cost a lot of money in interest charges. If you were unable to pay off the card in full on the due date, then at least pay the minimum amount. Paying on time is the number one indicator of a responsible buyer.

Don’t go over the limit on your credit card – Also, try to keep your balance as low as possible. One factor that influences credit score is utilization. This is the ratio of credit balance to credit limit. The higher the ratio, the more negatively it impacts your score.

Keep an eye on your credit report – Check your credit report for inaccuracies or signs of fraud. You can request a free copy of your report either by mail or online through a credit reporting agency. If you choose the mail route the report is free. However it doesn’t include your actual score, just the report itself. You can also obtain the online version of your report and your score, but a fee will be charged.

If you are wondering how to apply for an unsecured $30,000 consolidation loan, it is actually quite easy. First of all you need to gather all of your personal financial information together, since the loan officer will need this. Next you need to decide which lenders you will apply to. You should apply to at least 3 to compare interest rates and terms. This is one of the best ways to secure a competitive rate in addition to maintaining an excellent credit rating. Apply at the bank you normally deal with as well as at several online companies that provide loans. Stick with well known lenders to avoid any scams that may be offered.

How to apply for an unsecured $30,000 consolidation loan

You will need evidence of all of your current mortgages, loans and credit cards along with the balances on each. You should also have a pay stub with you that shows your gross pay along with any deductions that are automatically taken from your pay. Finally you will need a copy of a recent bank statement that shows your regular withdrawals.

The bank statement is needed for several reasons. It should be the account that the loan payments will be with drawn from and will show the account number, bank number and branch number. It will also show if you have any checks written when there was insufficient funds in your account. They are looking for a good record of managing your finances.

BY applying to several lenders, and also letting them know that you are comparing, you should get a competitive rate. This is by far one of the best ways to get a competitive product.

There will soon be more millennials than there are baby boomers. We all know how big an impact that baby boomers had on the economy and life in general. With so many millennials involved in the market, looking for jobs, buying homes etc we thought we should look at the financial mistakes millennials should think about. After all when they reach baby boomer age, they should be enjoying life and living off their savings. So what are these mistakes that they should avoid. let’s look more closely.

Financial Mistakes Millennials Should Think About

Not Beginning to Save for retirement early enough – most people are not aware that if they saved 10% of a $30,000 salary beginning at age 25, they would have $625,000 saved by the time they are 65!. This assumes a 6% income level on the investments average. This is an amazing number and does not take into account raises and other savings that could be added. If you delay beginning to save by 10 years, the amount saved shrinks to $370,000.

Taking on debt that could be avoided – buying an expensive car, various toys, party lifestyle, a larger home than what you can afford all contributes to too much debt and to too much interest that must be paid. Money you will never see again, especially in retirement when you need it.

Believing that Investing is complicated – investment analysts and advisers try to make it sound complicated. Of course you need them to help you figure out how to invest. By investing in dividend paying stocks that routinely increase their dividends year over year you can do well and keep it simple.

Paying too much for financial help – By following the above, you can also avoid paying too many trading fees based on recommended changes from financial advisers.  Also mutual funds with high fees should be avoided.

Not monitoring your progress – Most of all set an investment strategy that makes sense for your risk tolerance level. Implement the strategy and then monitor on a regular basis. Make changes only after solid investigation if it makes good long term sense. Invest diversely and avoid chasing get rick quick schemes.

When you are dealing with a lot of debt it is really difficult to think about monthly budget ideas for debt management. But this is really the best time to get your cash flow under control. If you are dealing with debt and trying to figure out how to manage the debt you have a monthly budget is a good place to start. How do you get control of your debt? How do you manage your budget? The best way is to begin by listing all of your income and then all of your regular expenses. Your expenses should include your monthly payments for rent, utilities and of course your monthly debt payments.

Monthly Budget Ideas for Debt Management

Once you have a handle on your cash flow and know what your budget is each month, it is time to make some decisions. What areas can you curtail to help deal with your debt? Can you refinance your debt with lower interest rates and lower monthly payments?

The important thing is to analyze every aspect of your cash flow to determine what sacrifices you can make to get your cash under control. If this does not work and you are still unable to meet your debt payments, drastic action needs to be taken.

Can you sell something? Can you refinance your debt? Or perhaps can you get another job to increase your cash flow on a temporary basis? Worst case is to apply for some level of bankruptcy? This will have a big impact on your credit rating.

You may also want to sit down with a financial advisor to help find ways to deal with your financial situation.

If you are nearing retirement how much life insurance do you need? This is one of the big questions that many retiree’s ask themselves. There are good reasons for having life insurance. However if you do not fit into these, you may not need life insurance. We have been wondering about this question for some time. There is no single answer for everyone. Instead it depends on your personal situation, your risk tolerance etc. Some people just do not care. Others cannot afford to pay for life insurance. Many have not really thought about the question and have no life insurance.

This post attempts to list some of the reasons a consumer should consider life insurance coverage. It also assumes that the average consumer can afford the monthly payments and feels that they want to take responsibility for their family, debts that they may have and of course providing for their loved ones.

Nearing retirement how much life insurance do you need?

Fundamentally, life insurance is purchased to provide cash after you have passed away. The reasons vary, but it really comes down to this one issue. If you have a lot of debt and want to have this debt disposed of when your gone, life insurance can solve this problem. Car loans, mortgages, personal loans and credit card debt can all be paid off by life insurance. Add up your total debt and arrange for enough life insurance to cover this amount. Your family will not have to sell your assets to pay for your debt that remains after you are gone.

Another reason many people have life insurance is to provide income for their dependents after they are gone. You might need to have a great deal of insurance coverage if you want to replace your income with income from investments. For example a one million life insurance plan will generate $50k at 5% if it is fully invested. Depending on your age you could also draw down on the principle.

Combine your debt repayment needs and your income generation needs to determine the total amount of insurance that you require. Every year re-evaluate your needs, especially nearing retirement how much life insurance do you need?

You have saved for retirement for the past 30 years and now it is time to spend it. Most people are reluctant to spend retirement savings, even if they have a pension. Part of this phenomenon is habit and part of it is worry about the future. Most people worry about this issue and do not spend the money. They put off travel, trips to family and even avoid doing some of their favorite hobbies. You could end up with a nest egg to pass along to your family. But would you not rather enjoy yourself and spend some of the money? There is an approach to dealing with this issue which will help to meet your concerns and also allow you to enjoy life.

Reluctant to Spend Retirement Savings – Plan

The first step is to develop a budget that takes into account all of your current retired income and expenses. These are your day to day expenses that you need to live on. Next plan for larger expenses. For example repairs to the house, replace the car and emergency health issues.

Once you have this plan, you will have some idea of how much money you will need to maintain your lifestyle. It will also tell you how much of your savings you will need to draw down each year.

Now that these numbers are known, further plans can be developed. You will be able to determine if you need to keep working to fulfill your dreams for example. Trips can be planned. Projects you have put off can also be considered.

While this planning activity may not be your favorite thing to do, it will answer a great number of questions. Most importantly knowing these answers will allow you to sleep better at night.

We have a lot of monthly payments to make and as a result my monthly debt load is out of control. My wife and I would like some suggestions regarding what we can do about controlling our monthly payments so that we have some money left over at the end of the month. We have the usual utility payments, cell phones, cable, heating, and water. We own a house so we pay a mortgage and taxes. There are two car loans and then there are the credit cards. We have not been able to pay the balance in full on several cards and as a result we are paying a lot of interest on the unpaid balance. We have no money left at the end of the month for social activities, our savings etc. Please help.

My Monthly debt Load is out of Control – Tips

Without knowing what the actual numbers are e.g. income, all values of what the monthly payments are and how much is owed, we can only provide general suggestions. Readers can determine if any or all of these ideas apply to them and whether these solutions would contribute to getting a better handle on the monthly costs. Here is our list in no particular order:

• Consolidate your credit card debt into either a low-interest personal loan or on to a refinanced mortgage
• Pay off the credit card debt as quickly as possible
• Examine each utility payment to determine if reductions can be negotiated or fewer services subscribed to e.g. reduce water consumption, reduce services on CATV or mobile phone services
• Cut back on meals out
• Take your lunch to work
• Plan your trips to reduce the cost of gasoline
• Reduce to one vehicle
• Perform your own maintenance e.g. lawn care, snow clearing, window washing etc
• Cancel a trip and focus on paying off debt
• Cut back on trinkets
• Track all expenses and review them each week
• Classify all expenses as necessary or items that you want but do not need

Focus on the big-ticket items first to maximize your results. After that, you can decide if the smaller items are worthwhile to be considered. Once you have paid off some of your debt and freed up cash flow, this money can be used to reduce other debt items more quickly!

A personal loan can either be secured or unsecured. Before we talk about tips for consumers applying for an unsecured personal loan, we will define the two different types of personal loans. A secured personal loan is one that the consumer offers a security usually equity in a home for the loan. The lender has the right to sell the home if the consumer does not repay the loan or misses payments on the loan. An unsecured personal loan is one where the consumer does not offer any security. Other than their own promise to repay the loan based on their credit rating, income, etc.

Tips For Consumers Applying For An Unsecured Personal Loan

If you are applying for either type of personal loan, the following tips may help you in your quest to be approved.

• Have a pay stub available which shows your income and deductions
• Make a list all of your major assets
• List all of your debt including car loan, credit card debt and mortgage
• List all of your payments for the above as well as utility, rent and/or mortgage payments
• Know what your credit rating is and why it is at the level it is at
• Be prepared to defend your credit rating if it is not as high as it should be
• Be able to explain what the personal loan is for e.g. consolidate credit cards, renovation of a home, trip, etc.
• If your debt payments divided by your monthly income is more than 35% many lenders will shy away from approving a personal loan. Be ready to explain how you will deal with this
• If your spouse is co-signing for the personal loan, have all of her or his information available as well

These tips for consumers applying for an unsecured personal loan will help you prepare your application.  And also be approved for a loan. Even if you have a bad credit rating, having all of this information ready shows the lender that you are serious. You are ready to make a commitment to repay the loan.

Approval for a loan without assets can be a little more challenging, however it is not impossible. Many people everyday find approval for a loan. If you don’t have assets for collateral for taking out a personal loan based on a proven income level. They also take into account their other debts and of course their credit rating. Assuming a good credit rating and little or limited assets, they will be approved for a loan. The interest rate is slightly higher than a loan where there are assets for collateral such as a home etc.

Approval For a Loan If You Don’t Have Assets For Collateral

If your credit rating is medium to bad, it will be much more difficult to find someone to lend money to you at an interest rate that is competitive. For people with bad credit ratings, the payday loan people step in and charge very high fees and interest rates. Not a good idea to go in that direction.

The best most competitive loans are always available to consumers with assets to use to pledge against the loan. Note that if you fail to repay the loan, miss payments etc, you run the risk of the collateral being seized and sold to cover the remaining debt and any legal costs associated with the process.

Never miss a payment to protect both your collateral and of course your credit rating. You have worked hard to achieve both and a missed payment can easily and quickly jeopardize both. Collateral can be a home that is worth more than the existing mortgage on it. It can be a cottage or even a car although both are considered more difficult to use as collateral compared to a home.

Personal loans that are unsecured are typically the product that most banks and lenders offer to customers that do not have any collateral to provide.

A recent conversation about transition from a career to retirement with my doctor revealed that although he was thinking about retirement he really had no plan. He is 54 and is the only plan is that he wants to work until he is 65. Obviously money is not the issue for him, but what he will do in retirement is an issue. He is only now beginning to think about it. Some would say that he has lots of time, over 11 years to get ready. And yes this is true. But depending on what he wants to do in retirement, he may need to start the planning now. He may need to begin the transition very soon.

He mentioned that he would like to do more research and possibly lecture. Neither of these issues is being addressed at the present time. His health is good, although these days one never knows what is around the corner. My main message to him in our short conversation was that he needed to develop a transition from career to retirement that works for him and helps him achieve his goals.

Transition from a Career to Retirement

Everyone is different of course and has a variety of interests. Whatever you would like to do in retirement should be carefully thought about and then a plan developed to help you get there.

In the doctor’s case he would like to do research and lecture. This is his goal for the time he retires. Note that this is, in addition, to travel, spend time with the family, etc. Now that he knows what his goal is, the next step is to map out a step by step plan that takes him in the direction he wants to go.

Perhaps he would benefit from attending school and training. Maybe getting involved with a research group,  finding sponsors for the type of research that he wants to do. Once he has done some of this research there is no doubt he will be asked to guest lecture from time to time. There are a lot more details to be worked out but hopefully, you get the message, start now and plan.

Establish a goal for when you want to retire in terms of what you would like to do and then set up a plan to achieve this goal. If it is a worthy goal, you will have to be prepared to work hard to achieve it.

This list could apply to any stage in life. But this post is focused on seven habits of highly successful retirement investors. We put together this list based on our own experience and from reading about what it takes to be a successful investor. It worked well for us and we know it will work for you as well. Is it difficult to understand, no? Is it difficult to apply all of the time, yes? As long as you do not make big mistakes and you apply these rules the majority of the time you will probably do alright from a financial perspective.

Seven Habits of Highly Successful Retirement Investors

Avoid Emotional Spending – always take a day or two to think about your spending. Many people purchase on a whim and regret their purchase later. By waiting a day you give yourself time to consider the purchase from all perspectives including whether you can afford it.

Don’t Lend Money – to friends and family unless you can afford to lose it. Most people want to help family members out, but it often ends badly.

Don’t always pick up the Check – it is nice to be the generous guy in the group, however, it is expensive and people tend to take advantage of you after a while.

Avoid Comparing to Other People – focus on your own situation and life. It is impossible to compare with other people since they lead profoundly different lives.

Don’t spend all of Your Income – save for retirement, for emergencies and for those special things that you want from time to time. Living within your means with these saving ideas in mind means you can whether the emergencies that always occur in our lives.

Don’t rely On Credit Cards for Cash – cash from credit cards is almost as expensive as payday loans. Interest rates at 20% or higher make this one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. If you must borrow, get a low-interest loan instead of using credit cards.

Always track your Expenditures and Income – if you track it you will know where your money is going.

Highly effective investing characteristics are not usually the strengths portrayed by our politicians and yet many of us rely on our governments to provide us with a security blanket if we get laid off, get sick or get ourselves in trouble financially. Personally I would rather depend on myself to embrace the techniques of highly effective investing to make sure that my investments do well and  provide the quality of life I am most interested in for my retirement lifestyle. The following is our list of techniques to consider.

Highly Effective Investing

Develop your strategy and document – this strategy. Review it with your investment advisor, spouse and close family members.

Check your direction regularly – and make adjustments as needed based on equity changes, life events, emergencies and income requirements.

Diversify – never put all of your eggs in one basket. You will be disappointed. If you make the wrong decision, who knows what will happen. Diversify across companies, industries and investment vehicles such as equities, bonds and mutual funds.

Maintain balance – across industries. Investing everything in one area creates too much risk, especially if there is a downturn and you need the money.

Invest for long term – in high quality equities that pay good dividends, increase their dividends at least annually and have a history of growth.

Avoid buyers remorse – Sometimes you will make a bad decision. Or perhaps events beyond your control will mean that a single investment does not work out as you expected. Make whatever decisions you need to and move on. Focus on the future and what you can do to recover.

Keep your cool even if the market does not – the market will swing, sometimes as much as 10% or more. As long as your in good quality investments as we mentioned above, the market will recover and besides you will continue to collect interest and dividends.

The number one financial regrets of older consumers is not traveling enough while they were younger or while retired. Tied to this regret is not saving enough for retirement. Also for emergencies that we all must face from time to time. It is hard to know which would one of these is more important. Clearly if you did not save enough for retirement to do the things you would like to do, traveling is out of the question. So many people have all of these great plans for retirement. They include travel to many exotic locations. But then they find out that they just cannot afford them. This is when they truly experience regret.

Financial Regrets of older Consumers

Start saving early to provide the financial freedom and flexibility to do just about anything you want to. Someone who starts early to save for retirement and puts together a sizable nest egg has a lot of flexibility in what they can do while retired as well as retiring earlier than many other people.

Financial freedom allows consumers to pursue interests in retirement including travel. Someone who saves a million dollars by the time they are 50, can retire early. They can continue working, purchase various toys that they enjoy, or even continue working. Once they are retired, they should be able to balance their lifestyle to the amount of income and savings they have.

Plan your retirement, the type of retirement you want to have and learn just how much money you will need for that lifestyle. Set your objectives and start early. Adjust your interest change and you get older. All the time you are aiming for a retirement that is absent of regrets and provides you with the flexibility to do just about anything you would like to consider.

Many people wonder what they will do in retirement and how to fill your days in retirement. This is a pretty common question for many people, while a few have no problems what so ever. For those of you who are looking for ideas, and have the time to prepare for retirement, the following list will help you. If you are already retired, some of the items on this list will still be interesting and helpful. The bottom line is that you have to work at it just like anything else in life unless you are lucky enough to have already found your passion.

How to Fill Your Days in Retirement

Need a plan – a plan really helps. The plan should include where you are going to live, your finances, your interests both social and hobbies as well as even volunteering or part-time work, travel and family. Make sure you ask for ideas from your spouse and include them in the planning process. Be prepared to make changes as circumstances change and also interest levels also change. Write it down!

More important than finances – While your plan has to compliment your financial situation, it can also be more important than finances. If you are bored, have no interest in life or no purpose, it could be catastrophic for you in terms of long term health. Write your plan down on paper. Review with your spouse and family and be prepared to adjust it as life events take place.

What are your interests – list your current interests and those you may be interested in the future. Some should be personal while others should include things you and your spouse can do together.

Match your income level

Also, review your interests and plans. An around the world cruise might not be within your financial means. While traveling by car on a road trip is. Build a budget that takes into account regular living expenses as well as your interest areas and make adjustments as need to match your income level.

Develop multiple activities – being interested in a number of diverse interests will inspire you and also make life more interesting. Diverse interests expose you to new ideas as well as many different people who lead to an interesting life.

Adjust for stages in life – retired and healthy vs. retired and dealing with medical issues leads to many different scenarios. Make adjustments to your plan that reflect your life and your capabilities. Continuously challenge yourself.

Join for social activities and maintain friendships – One of the most important elements to living a longer life and enjoying yourself is to be active in social activities. Maintain friendships and meet new people.

All of these ideas should be considered as part of your plan to plan for your enjoyable retirement.

There are not many Banks That Lend To People With Bad Credit. They are in the business of managing their risk profile and let’s face it with a bad credit rating you are already at a high risk level as far as they are concerned. They are in the business to make money and losing on someone who does not meet their obligations does not contribute to profit expectations. In addition, loan managers who want to advance within the company are not going to want a bad credit risk staining their reputation and preventing them from getting promoted. So what do you do?

Banks That Lend To People With Bad Credit

The first thing is to repair your credit rating by paying all of your bills and loan payments on time all of the time. Never miss a payment. This is like a red alert on your credit score if do. Always keep your debt payments each month to less than 35% of your total gross income.

When you approach the bank for a loan, know your numbers. Know your credit score and how you can improve it. Also know what your debt ratio is. If it is above 35%, forget taking out a loan unless you’re consolidating to reduce the monthly loan payments.

Focus on establishing your credibility regarding meeting your monthly payments for the new loan and also your existing debt. Your making a sale to a bank lender and you are selling yourself so do a good job.

For post about bad credit home loans and how to manage bad credit, click here.