March 2012

Not Living At Home? You May Need Vacant Home Insurance

I didn’t realize that my wife and I may need vacant home insurance after deciding to become landlords until a family member mentioned it. You are at risk of violating your homeowner’s insurance policy if you move out, no one is living in your home, and you do not have the right insurance coverage.

You run the risk of having a claim denied because you did not keep your insurance company informed of changes to your situation.

What Is Vacant Home Insurance?

Vacant home insurance is just what it sounds like. When you move out of your home and it has been vacant for over 30 days in most cases (60 days with some insurers), you need to have a different type of homeowner’s insurance policy protecting your structure.

Vacant homes are often the target of vandals, thieves, and other criminals. And, vacant homes are also subject to burst pipes, flooding, and possibly fire without you realizing it because you are not there to check on your property.

Vacant home insurance is often a higher cost than your typical homeowner’s insurance that you have been paying while actually living in the home. Do not make the mistake of not informing your insurance company of the change.

Doing so can be grounds for denying a claim if you have to file one. Or, you could even face a cancelation of your homeowner’s insurance policy.

My Favorite Financial Tools That I Use

by Hank Coleman

For the past few months or so, I have been trying to compile a list of all the resources that I use and would recommend to others. I have written here on Money Q&A that I’m a huge fan of Lending Club. These are my favorite financial tools that I used. I’ve been investing in peer-to-peer lending notes for years now. Sometimes I have picked poorly, but lately, I am on a tear earning over 10% annually thanks to a safer more conservative portfolio of A and B rated loans. I’ve also been investing with Betterment.com now for over six months, and I have been really impressed with there services. I joined right as the market was rebounding last October, and … Read more

Reader’s Question: What Is The Savers Tax Credit?

by Hank Coleman

Here is the next installment in our the Reader’s Questions Series which highlight questions emailed to me by you, the readers of Money Q&A. Be sure to find out at the end of this article how you can receive a free copy of Dave Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover if your money question is chosen to be featured on a future week’s blog post. If you’re not familiar with Dave Ramsey’s book, you should run right out and get it. It is one of my top ten best personal finance books that everyone should read. Now….on to our reader’s question.

What is the tax credit for investing in a Roth? And, how do I claim my Roth contributions on my taxes especially if I have already filed my taxes for this year?

What Is The Tax Credit For Investing In A Roth IRA?

It is called the Savers Credit. It used to be called the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit. Tax credits provide refundable credits that offset your taxable income. Tax credits are different than tax deductions. Tax deductions reduce your taxable income.

Tax credits reduce your taxes typically in a dollar for dollar fashion and can be very specific on who qualifies, what events trigger it and can even be a one-year event that benefits people. The beauty of tax credits is that you do not have to have a taxable income in most cases to earn the benefits or the tax credit also simply just add to your income tax refund.

The Best Investing Advice I Ever Received

by Guest Contributor

The following is a part of Yakezie’s blog swap from Dannielle. She blogs about personal finance and Barbados at Odd Cents. You can check out my post on her site this morning as well about the best investment advice I ever received – Start Early!

For someone that’s now getting acquainted with the investment world, I’ve been trying to get as much advice as I can. In the last six months, I’ve attended seminars, done research online and asked friends for specific investment advice. As a result of my persistence, I’ve received several helpful tips which I’m very excited to share.

Take Advantage Of A Disaster To Invest

The most recent bit of advice came from a post entitled Taking Advantage of Disaster to Invest on Bucksome Boomer. The post advised to buy stocks in companies which are going through a disaster. Kay Lynn, the author, recently bought stocks in Carnival Corp which owns the Costa Concordia ship ( the cruise ship in the horrific Italy accident). The accident caused share prices to drop significantly and opened up opportunities to buy shares at a “reduced” price. In a short space of time after her purchase, the stock prices were on their way back up.

Obtaining A Merchant Account For Your Online Store

by Guest Contributor

A merchant account is an arrangement a merchant makes with a bank or other merchant account provider in order to facilitate payments with a credit or debit card. Obtaining a merchant account is a necessary step for an online store wishing to accept payments online rather than having payments mailed to them.

If you have an online store and want to accept credit or debit card payments, efficiently, you will need a merchant account. You can compare merchant service providers online, which will help you find the best providers for you and your business.

One would think obtaining a merchant account would be relatively simple, but the process can seem difficult and overwhelming if you are new to the business sector. The main reason you will need a merchant account is to have the ability to accept credit or debit cards on your online store.

There are some ways to get around needing a merchant account including going through a separate payment gateway that does not require one. However, going through a payment gateway without a merchant account will cost you much more in fees and charges.

Obtaining a merchant account can take anywhere from a few days up to six months depending on which merchant account provider you go through, which paperwork is needed and if there are any mistakes made on any of the paperwork or if they are hard to verify. If you are unfamiliar with this process, you will want to start as soon as feasibly possible, especially if you go through a bank as they are notoriously slow.

Five Creative Ways To Fund Your New Small Business

by Guest Contributor

This is a guest contribution from Bill Hazelton, CEO and Founder of Credit Card Assist, a leading pro-consumer, credit card information resource.

It takes a lot of guts to run a small business these days. You need to be your own boss, your own IT team, your own cleaning crew and, most importantly, your own accountant. Typically, money is always tight in the first year (or few years for some), and things will only get tougher if you can’t find sources of financing to support your early growth track. The problem is that ever since the economic implosion that started back in 2008, the banks have severely tightened their lending criteria. So, what does a small business owner have to do to find funding for his or her business? Get creative.

To successfully fund your new business these days, you’ll have to think outside the box, over the box and sometimes even on top of the box. We’re talking Zappa-style unorthodox here. If you’re not exactly the creative type though, it might be difficult to conjure up creative financing ideas. In order to help you kick-start the thought process, we’ve come up with a list of 5 creative ways to fund your small business.