Sunday, October 28, 2012

Shacking Up and Doing a Budget





Shacking Up and Doing a Budget

By Keith Bunn Jr.
October 28, 2012

It seems to be the norm these days for men and women to live with each other instead of, or before, getting married. I can't tell you not to do that because I have. But I have been seeing a trend, especially after this past recession, that people are trying to get on a budget and live within their means, but when it comes to some of the men and women who are just living together, it is almost impossible to do that. And the reason for that is because they're not married. A lot of times I see the men and women in these relationships, acting like their married but when it comes to their money, they are still living like they're not, saying, "Its my money and I'll do what I want with it." and in a sense, that's true. It is their money, you're not married. Only after you get married does the money get pooled together and become "ours".

Now, if you're planning on getting married and this is a big issue for you, I suggest that you get premarital counseling with your pastor or marriage counselor. If your soon to be significant other won't do that, then that just might be a deal breaker for your relationship. 

I hope my posts inspire you to look at what you’re doing financially and if needed, make some changes that will cause you to win financially. I also look forward to reading your views on any articles or postings that I may post. For more money news, facts and ideas, follow me on Facebook, or Twitter. Thank you!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Loaning or Borrowing Money from Family and Friends



Loaning or Borrowing Money from Family and Friends

by Keith Bunn Jr.
October 21, 2012

Have you ever loaned money to a family member or a friend? What about borrowing money from them? We have done both and it didn't really do anything to help us, but boy did it add more stress to our lives. It added stress by having to ask for the loan and paying it back or for us asking for repayment after loaning others money, and it does strain the relationships we have in our lives by loaning and borrowing money. The bible says that the borrower is slave to the lender, and after being on both sides of that coin, we know that to be a true statement!
So if you truly cherish the relationships you have, don't jeopardize them by loaning or borrowing money. It's not worth it!!

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

What Affects your Credit Score, Good and Bad



What Affects your Credit Score, Good and Bad

By Keith Bunn Jr.
October 14, 2012

It would seem that even with what happened with the Great Recession of 2008, people are still worried about their FICO scores. But if you have read anything I wrote, you know that I believe, and a lot of other financial gurus believe, that the FICO score is a false representation of your financial wellness. With so many new, and not so new, products, systems, and businesses sprouting up, there really isn't any need for FICO anymore. For those of you who are new to my blog, let me explain...

FICO

The FICO score, or credit score, is and always has been, a measure of what your debt history is, what your debt levels are, how long you've been in debt, the types of debt you have, and what kind of new debt you got. Did you see a pattern there? It was all bases on debt! Not how much money you had in savings, not how long you've been with your employer, and not even how much you make each year. Don't you think that would be something you'd like to know if you were going to lend someone money? I would!

How to get a Good to Great Credit Score

So with that being said, the only way you can have a good to great FICO score is if you borrow money all the time without borrowing too much or too little and pay the lenders back with interest your whole life. That's it! That's all you have to do to get an 800 credit score. Get yourself some credit cards, use them and pay them back every month without missing a single payment. Get yourself a car loan and pay that back every month without missing a single payment. Borrow as much as you can without borrowing too much, and pay those loans back every month without missing a single payment. I just told you the secret to getting that awesome credit score you always wanted. Can you hear the sarcasm?

What can give you a Bad Credit Score

Well for one, if you get too much debt or not enough debt, your credit score will either be harmed or start to go away. Your debt levels are 30% of your overall credit score. Interesting isn't it? If something goes to a collection agency like your credit cards, car loans, phone bill, utility bills, something over due at the library, traffic tickets, etc... those can all put a ding on your credit score. What I find funny is, is that all of those things that were just mentioned, with the exception of the credit cards and car loans (phone bill, utility bills, something over due at the library, traffic tickets, etc...) won't help you get a good credit score if you pay them on time, but they will hurt it if you don't. Errors on your credit report can also harm your credit score. 79% of the credit reports out there have some kind of errors on them and 25% of those errors are bad enough to deny you credit.

I was just like you all many years ago, thinking that I needed to have a good to great credit score to win with money, but I think it is clear to me now that FICO doesn't work anymore. I think it is more important to not use FICO any more and use cash for the things that I want. Getting out of debt, and building wealth is what our future consists of now. FICO can go jump in a creek!!

I hope my posts inspire you to look at what you’re doing financially and if needed, make some changes that will cause you to win financially. I also look forward to reading your views on any articles or postings that I may post. For more money news, facts and ideas, follow me on Facebook, or Twitter. Thanks you!


Sunday, October 7, 2012

“I Don’t Have the Time”


“I Don’t Have the Time”


By Keith Bunn Jr.
October 7, 2012

Americans, we love our TVs don’t we? And we all have our favorite shows. I mean from sports to drama, to documentaries and sci fi, there is a show for everyone. For me, I like some of everything and I have my share of shows programmed to record on our DVR. 

As a kid growing up, we didn't have all the channels like we do today and no DVRs or VCRs either (VCRs came later in my teens). We had 3 channels at worst, 5 at best, and I have to tell you, TV watching has controlled most of my life. I have come to realize over the past few years that I watch A LOT of TV and it has robbed me of some precious time. Time that I can never get back. Time that I could have used to better myself in a bunch of ways. And it is this is the kind of behavior we are passing on to our kids. This is what I mean.

According to a survey done in the first quarter of 2012, by the Nielsen Company, which uses the Nielsen rating system to measure the audience size and composition of TV programming here in the U.S., Americans watch more than 34 hours a week watching unrecorded shows and another three to six more hours watching recorded shows. That’s a whole other work week just sitting there being absolutely nonproductive.
 
Now I don’t want you to get me wrong. In no way shape or form do I think watching TV is evil and I’m surely not telling you to stop watch it. I’m just saying that there are better things to do with just half of that time that is more productive and could better your lives in the process. What could you do with 20 extra hours a week that was more productive?

• Do a Budget: You knew that one was coming. Doing a budget can not only help you better your finances, but also, if you’re married, it can help with communicating with your spouse. And most people feel like they got a raise when they do one for the first time.

• Work: In the book “Debt Free U” by Zac Bissonnette, Zac’s research shows that if a student works just 20 hours a week while going to college, they will be able to pay for the in state school tuition without going into debt to do it.

• Read: Pick up a book and read it. Studies have shown that the average millionaire reads a non-fiction book a month, but it really doesn't matter what kind you read. Readers are always winners.

• Spend time with your Family: Sitting in front of the TV with your family for 20 hours or more is not really quality time spent with your family. You could go to sporting events, on picnics, play board games, etc… Quality time. 

• Overtime: Work some overtime to help pay down debts or save for something big that you would normally go on your credit cards. One month I worked 100 hours in just overtime. 260 hours total and I’m still here. 20 hours extra a week won’t kill you.

• Get in shape: A good portion of us (myself included) could use a little more activities in our live to improve our health. Even though going to the gym is a good idea, you don’t always have to do that to get in shape. Walking, jogging, and bike riding are all good for you and for most people, it’s free! 

These are just a few ideas I came up with, I’m sure there are a bunch more you can think of. Just be mindful of how you’re spending your time. Time management is like money management. The more you manage, the more you’ll have!

Questions

• How much extra time could you have per week if you cut your TV watching time in half? 

• Out of the examples above, which ones do you think you would be willing to do?

• How many more examples can you come up with to spend your time more wisely?

I hope my posts inspire you to look at what you’re doing financially and if needed, make some changes that will cause you to win financially. I also look forward to reading your views on any articles or postings that I may post. For more money news, facts and ideas, follow me on  Facebook, or Twitter  Thanks you!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Insurance Part 7: Identity Theft & Long Term Care


Insurance
Part 7: Identity Theft & Long Term Care


By Keith Bunn Jr.
October 2, 2012


To end this long series about insurance, there are just two more topics we need to talk about; Identity Theft insurance and Long Term Care insurance. Again, these types of insurance are critical in protecting both your good name and your money, both now and when you’re in your golden years.

Identity Theft Protection

The first thing I want you to understand is that if your identity is stolen and the thief racks up a huge bill, you don’t own anyone a dime! The thief does. Unfortunately, most of the time someone’s I.D. is stolen, it is done by someone they know. Sad, but true.

Identity theft is the fastest growing blue collar crime in the U.S. today, so if you don’t have Identity Theft insurance, you are looking at an average of 600 hours to clean up the mess made by the person who stole your I.D. With just a few insurance companies out there that offer Identity Theft insurance, which one should you get? What should you look for?

·         Credit Monitoring: I suggest that you don’t get one with credit monitoring, only for the fact that you can do that yourself for free by watching your bank/credit union accounts and getting your free annual credit reports from all three credit bureaus; Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. And I do suggest that you get a report from one of the bureaus every 4 months.

·         Clean Up: Since there is no way you can protect yourself 100% from being a victim of identity theft, you need to find an insurance company that offers a service that assigns someone to your case to clean up the 600 hour mess for you. Saving you the hassle and headaches of doing it yourself.

Really good banks and credit unions will contact you if unusual charges are made in unusual places, like buying a lot of car parts in Florida when we live here in Michigan (which did happened to us) and they will help you correct the issues, but by some chance that doesn't happen, there are a few things you need to do to work through this issue which I laid out in a blog called “What do you do if you’re robbed” In that blog, I give you a step by step process on what you have to do to start cleaning up your mess.


Long Term Care Insurance

Long Term Care Insurance is to cover the cost if you need to be put into a nursing home or need some kind of in home care. This is extremely important for you if you are 60 years old or older for the simple fact those types of care can easily and quickly drain any kind of retirement savings you worked so hard to build and possible leave a surviving spouse (normally the wife) with nothing when the one who needed the care passes. So what are the do’s and don’ts for this kind of insurance?

·         When should you get it: On your 60th birthday, you should get yourself and your family the awesome gift of Long Term Care insurance. Why 60 years old and not in your 50’s when the policy could possibly be cheaper? Because the chances of you needing some kind of nursing home care or in home care is less than 1% before the age of 60. But as soon as you reach 60 years old the odds of you needing that kind of care go up rapidly the older you get. In fact, studies have shown that the last 10 years of your life will more than likely be the most expensive times too.

·         Gimmicks: Again, beware of gimmicks that could be built into these polices like Return of Premiums. You don’t need crap like that. All you need is to protect yourself and your family of the high cost of that kind of care.
  
 In closing, I want to share with you a website that was just brought to my attention that could help you chose insurance companies or at least let you know if the insurance company your work is going through is good or bad in 4 areas of insurance; Auto, Home, Health, and Life insurances. The website is called Free Advice and what you do once you’re on their home page is go to the “Learn About” section, click “Insurance Topics”. In the orange bar on top on the right hand side, click “Insurance Company Reviews”, pick the type of insurance you’re looking for and click on it. From there, you will be asked what state you live in. Once you select your state, it will give you multiple choices of insurance companies offering coverage for the kind of insurance you are looking for in your state. What I like about this website is that it shows you reviews from people who like and dislike the companies and why. It also shows pie charts for different categories and gives percentages from different questions asked. It is really worth a look.

 I hope my posts inspire you to look at what you’re doing financially and if needed, make some changes that will cause you to win financially. I also look forward to reading your views on any articles or postings that I may post. For more money news, facts and ideas follow me on Facebook, or Twitter. Thanks you!