April 2017

Five Reasons to Arrange Your Funeral Plans

Many of us give very little thought to our mortality, but should the unexpected happen, it may mean that you are leaving many of the decisions about your funeral to your grieving loved ones. If you are still unsure about making funeral plans, here are five reasons why it is worth some serious consideration.

Easing the Burden on Your Family

If your family are unsure about your wishes, they will need to make some difficult decisions. It is very common for there to be a lot of disagreements and confusion if someone has passed away without pre planning their funeral. By planning in advance, there will be no confusion during this trying time, as all your family members will have the assurance of knowing exactly what you did and did not want.

Taking Financial Responsibility

Another burden of arranging a funeral is the financial element. Funerals can be a costly process, but by planning in advance, you can ensure that the costs have been completely covered. Even if you have left money, your survivors may not be able to immediately access it, and most funeral service providers require payment on or before the funeral. A funeral trust or insurance ensures that your family benefits from the financial planning options you have arranged.

Money on a Runaway Train? First Stop – Financial Awareness

by Guest Contributor

Bankruptcy: A Love Story by Janet Lombardi

The following is a guest post by Janet Lombardi, author of Bankruptcy: A Love Story about financial awareness. If you’d like to contribute an article for Money Q&A, check out our guest posting guidelines. “I’ve got to get my finances together!” At some point, most of us have made this promise, whether it’s fueled by out-of-control credit card debt, off-the-leash student loans, or paycheck-to-paycheck living. I was aboard the runaway train myself several years ago when I secretly discovered my husband had been hiding hundreds of thousands in debt, emptied our accounts, let life insurances lapse due to non-payment, and other money chaos. Financial Awareness My memoir, Bankruptcy: A Love Story (Heliotrope Books), due out in June 2017, tells the … Read more

Investing 101 – Understanding How to Invest in Stocks

by Jeremy

Should You Wait for a Stock Market Correction Before Investing?

Stocks and bonds offer a way for anyone to invest their money. They are difficult to analyze but the concepts are easy to understand. Do you know how to invest in stocks? Investing in stocks isn’t as hard as you think it is. Here’s what you need to know about going long in stocks. For those who might not already know, we will take a minute to discuss these two options. A stock is an equity in a company. If the company gains in value, your piece of ownership increases in value and you earn money. Conversely, if the company lowers in value, you then lose money. A bond is a debt that a company borrows. Essentially, if you buy a … Read more

The Stock Market: An Average Joe’s Mini Guide to Investing with Great Success

by Guest Contributor

Tips and Hints for Your First Stock Market Investment

Lots of people have heard stories of people making serious money investing in the stock market. Yet they believe stories like that only happen to people who are already rich or financially smart. They think the stock market is too complex for them to understand, so they don’t tend to view it as an option for building wealth.

In reality, anyone at all can invest in the stock market. You don’t need to be rich to start. It’s possible to begin with small amounts of capital. You also don’t need to be a stock market expert to get started.

All you need is the desire to invest for your financial future and the willingness to learn some basic investing principles.

An Average Joe’s Guide to Investing in the Stock Market

Here is a quick guide to successfully investing in the stock market for the average investor.

Educate Yourself

Once you start learning the basics of how the stock market works, you’ll soon find it’s not as daunting as it first appeared. The more you learn about buying and selling stocks through your share trading platform, the more comfortable you’ll become with the process.

However, it all begins with education. There are plenty of tutorials and educational tools available. There are also lots of sites that allow you to learn about new price information or apps that let you monitor market movements in real-time.

How to Pick and Paying Off a Car Loan – What You Need to Know

by Jeremy

Most Americans have a car or want a car. The question is, “How will you be paying?”. Paying off a car loan should not be a difficult task. It starts with the type of car loan you choose when buying a car.

Not everyone can afford to buy a car with cash. The rest of us have to get financing, either through a financial entity like a bank or through the dealership we buy the car from.

Picking a Car Loan

Either of these options can be good for the buyer, but as is always the case with debt of any kind, it’s important to be able to pay it back as fast as possible. The folks at J.D. Byrider might give you an auto loan with excellent terms, but this is not true of every car dealer.

This is where the interest and fees come into play. Together, these two factors are the Annual Percentage Rate, or APR. That’s the percentage of your remaining loan balance that you’ll pay each year in addition to your premium payments.

Paying Off a Car Loan

Some people think that when considering a loan, the monthly payment is the only number worth considering (i.e. “If I can afford $450 per month, I can afford this loan.”) However, the interest rate is more important, because it indicates exactly how much the loan costs. It’s the amount of money over and above the basic loan amount which you also have to pay back.

Student Loan Hero Review – How to Pay Off Your Student Loans Fast

by Hank Coleman

How far would you go to pay off your student loans? While 40% of borrowers from a recent survey would reportedly be willing to take a year off of their life expectancy in exchange for debt-free living, such drastic measures aren’t necessary thanks to helpful websites such as Student Loan Hero.

Student Loan Hero was founded by a man who struggled, yet successfully paid off over $100,000 in student loans. Given the shocking statistics surrounding student loans, he wanted to help others pay off their loans as efficiently as possible, which led him to create the free Student Loan Hero platform.

What Is Student Loan Hero?

Student Loan Hero is a fantastic resource to start if you’re looking for ways to pay off student loan debt faster.

Here are some key features you won’t want to miss about Student Loan Hero:

Student Loan Hero’s Features

Student Loan Hero’s dashboard was clearly designed for ease-of-use, with a simple navigation toolbar at the top and useful visuals to help you chart your loan repayment progress. Student Loan Hero’s purpose is pretty straightforward: to help other people repay their student loans faster by offering a vast database of information (on nearly every student loan-related topic imaginable). And, the site also links to useful websites to help folks lower their debt loads or learn whether their loans are eligible for one of the many available loan forgiveness programs.

Student Loan Hero even covers topics like student loan default to help anyone bogged down with educational debt get back on their feet without serious detriment to their personal financial situation. No matter where you’re at in your student loan repayment process – just took out loans, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of debt, or on the verge of finally paying off your balances and need some more help – Student Loan Hero is a great resource for helping people with their student loans, free-of-charge.

Personalized Repayment Options

If you want to reduce your student loan interest payments, then consolidating multiple loans into one loan with a lower interest rate could be an ideal choice. Student Loan Hero lists several low-interest refinancing options from private lenders, with rates ranging from 2.10% to 9.85%, depending on your financial history and credit background.