POSTS TAGGED : personal finance

Beginner’s Banking: A Pragmatic Guide to Personal Saving

For many people, the most difficult thing about saving money is simply getting started. When you are used to managing your money a particular way, reducing your expenses and prioritising your savings can seem daunting. However, whether you earn a little or a lot, there are many different strategies you can use to ensure that you grow your savings steadily over time, giving you more financial peace of mind.

Personal saving

Before you start making changes to how you manage your finances, it’s important to set yourself up with a personal savings account. This can be done at your local branch or you can choose to go online and register with a digital bank.…

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Putting Interest To Work for You Rather Than Against You

Many people are paying hundreds or thousands of dollars more than their original loan amounts because of interest. Unfortunately, many of those people accept interest as the cost of borrowing and using another person’s money. If all of those borrowers understood how interest works, they could be making money rather than paying more and more to lenders.

Calculating loan interest

Understand What Interest Is and How It Works

The first step to reversing this cycle is understanding what interest is and how it works. Lenders calculate a percentage of the money they loan. The borrower pays that percentage, in addition to an amount of the principal, each month.…

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How to Win with Debt Relief Programs

If the word “debt” gives you an uneasy feeling, it’s time to do something about it. No one should have to live with that pit in the bottom of their stomach. So what can you do if you’re drowning in debt?

Meeting with credit counselor for devising debt relief program

Here’s how to win with debt relief programs.

Talk to a Credit Counselor

If you want to have the best chance of being successful with getting out of debt, talking to a credit counselor should be your first step. Credit counseling is designed to help consumers struggling with their debt understand what options are available. Many credit-counseling services operate as independent non-profits.…

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This is Why Malta Pension Plans May be a Better Option Than IRAs

Retirement investment often hits the headlines, but not always for the right reasons. With the average American living longer today than ever before, this article explores the benefits and pitfalls of IRAs, and why you may be better off with a Malta Pension Plan.

Pension planning

IRAs are a tax advantageous investment vehicle for retirement savers

Investments held within an IRA may encompass a range of different financial products, such as stocks and shares, ETFs, mutual funds, and bonds. Both traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs may be self-directed, enabling the investor to make all of their own investment decisions and providing them with greater access to a broader range of investments.…

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5 Personal Finance Tips for Doctors

When you have a healthy six- or seven-figure income, it’s easy to feel like you have all of your money challenges figured out. But in many ways, more money means more problems. And if you don’t get the basics right, you will fail. Yes, even as a doctor.

Growing personal finance

Here are some simple yet powerful personal finance tips curated with you in mind:

1. Build an Emergency Fund

The very first step to financial stability is to establish an emergency fund. This emergency fund should include enough cash to survive without an income for roughly six months. In other words, if your monthly expenses are $10,000, you need at least $60,000 set aside in a cash savings account that’s separate from your spending account.…

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Do US Taxes Differ for Expats Living Abroad?

Are you a US expat living abroad? If so, do you have a handle on the tax implications of being an expatriate? In other words, do you have to pay taxes when living outside of the USA borders? Or, at best, do you need to submit an annual tax return to the IRS, indicating gross income earned for the tax year, irrespective of where in the world you live and work?

Doing taxes

It seems to be common knowledge, or perhaps an urban legend, that all US passport or Green Card holders have to pay taxes in the country of their residence and the United States?…

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What is a Credit Report?

Yeah, you remember that whole permanent record thing with which teachers and principals used to threaten us when we were in grade school? Well, that’s largely a mythical thing about which no one in the world of work cares.

Credit report

However, there is in fact a permanent record about which everyone cares when it comes to your personal finances. Moreover, the information it contains can determine whether you get a place to live, a car to drive, insurance and in some cases, even a job.

That’s what a credit report is — and how it can influence the quality of your life.…

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Why Most People Fail At Trying To Grow Their Personal Finances

Every person must have a good handle on his or her finances to be able to navigate life easily and with a positive outlook. It’s equally important to have a strategy that causes those finances to grow. Unfortunately, many people fail at giving their personal finance growth any momentum.

Growing personal finance

The following are some of the most common reasons that people fail at trying to grow their personal finances and what they can do to fix it.

1. Lack of Discipline

The most common reason that people fail at making their finances grow is a lack of discipline. Growing money takes a determined mindset.…

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Asset Protection Protocols You Should Always Follow

Typically, you’ve spent many years building your wealth for your family’s future. Whether you have personal assets or businesses, you always want these things to go to your loved ones in case of incapacity or death. However, this isn’t always the situation. There are instances when you need to prepare for the unexpected, and these can include lawsuits from the creditors and other adverse judgments. This is where the legal concept of asset protection comes into play.

Asset protection legal concept

In simple terms, asset protection is the process of protecting one’s assets from unfortunate situations, including seizure, lawsuits, judgments, and other relevant losses. It’s composed of many strategies that can guard an individual’s wealth without violating the law on concealment, fraudulent transfer, and contempt.…

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4 Steps to Prepare Your Personal Finances for Starting a Business

Starting a business is a dream for millions of people, and yet very few actually succeed. Those that put in the planning and effort before launching are those most likely to thrive.

Preparing personal finance for starting a business

It might surprise you, but part of planning for your business success includes some attention to your personal finances. Getting those squared away can have a positive impact on your business.

How Your Personal Finances Affect Your Business

It seems like your personal and your business finances would be two separate things, right? In fact, because your business is new (or nonexistent), many lenders and vendors will look at your personal credit scores to determine your creditworthiness.…

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