Money Questions and Answers

The Dangers of Leasing A Car In Today’s Market

For most people, leasing a car is a bad deal. Once again, I say most people, because there are certain circumstances when it could make sense, but that doesn’t usually apply to individual car buyers. Here are the main dangers of leasing a car in today’s market. Dangers of Leasing a Car Leasing Is More Expensive Than Buying Leasing is more expensive than buying, plain and simple. Your monthly payment may be a lot lower than your car payments if you purchased, but your total payment will be higher. If you plan to buy a car, you should be planning on holding onto it for as long as possible. You should aim for it to either die or be too costly … Read more

5 Reasons How Email Marketing Can Increase Sales for Small Businesses

by Collaborative Poster

The idea of sending out emails to prospective customers is one that many small businesses have discovered to be highly effective in driving new business through small business email marketing. But, there are others who have not yet realized its potential. In this blog, we’ll look at five simple ways you can harness the power of – one of the most cost effective techniques in any company’s marketing arsenal. 1. Make sure you do your best to avoid spam filters. These have become incredibly good at detecting what is seen as spam by many email providers. Be careful when writing your subject lines, headers and content, don’t include such terms as ‘free’, ‘discount’, ‘£££’, ‘massive savings’, or similar terms. Make … Read more

Three Tips for Making Extra Cash If You Don’t Have Time

by Guest Contributor

Time and money go hand in hand especially if you want to make money. Quick loans are being used as the top way to have the financial platform in order to be successful. Anyone who wants to earn extra money needs to think about how they will achieve this and specifically how much time do they have to achieve it. If you are one of the many people who do not have a lot of money at your disposal to make extra money, take a look at the top tips below on how to achieve a cash pile: Step 1: Devote weekends While it may be tempting to go out with your friends a lot on the weekends, you need … Read more

Should You Take A Lump Sum Or Monthly Annuity Payments?

by Hank Coleman

Should you take a lump sum or annuity payment?

Should you take a one time lump sum or annuity payment. Should you spread the payment out over the course of many years?

Believe it or not, you may actually get the chance to make a choice like this. And, you need to have all the facts and understand how your choice can affect your family.

Typically, we think of this choice when a new lottery winner is announced. We all tend to daydream about what we would do with a huge lottery win. It’s okay to dream of winning the lottery.

That dream should also includes how you would choose to accept the winning payout. Is a reduced lump sum payment better? Or, should you parcel out your winnings a little bit each year over the course of 20 or 30 years in the form of an annuity?

Now let’s flip this on its ear a little bit. Imagine the same questions with respect to a life insurance payout, your retirement nest egg, private pension plan, or an inheritance. Now, the chance of having to make this tough choice is a lot more realistic and likely than those dreaming of pocketing those lottery millions.

Benefits Of Taking A Lump Sum Payment

Should you take the lump sum or annuity payments over time? A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future. This is true thanks to inflation. It is not that a dollar is worth more because a dollar is always worth one dollar.

But, we can buy more things with money today than the same amount will buy us in the future. So, if you had the choice of a million dollars today, inflation alone would make you want to take it as a lump sum. You would not spread it out over years where your buying power will be reduced.

Three Reasons You Should Love Dividend Stocks

by Hank Coleman

I love buying shares of dividend stocks that pay a dividend. Dividends are a great way for companies to give back their earnings to the company’s shareholders. In classic finance theory, a company’s stock share price is derived from the present value of its future income…its dividends. Paid to Wait for Dividend Stock Prices to Increase There have been instances of good companies that have been caught in a value trap, and their stock prices have tread water for years. Microsoft is a great example that immediately comes to mind. Microsoft continued to trade in a very narrow range for years before breaking out earlier this year. But, the one good thing for investors was that Microsoft has initiated a dividend … Read more

When Does Your Frugality Become Unethical?

by Hank Coleman

What’s the meaning of frugal? Can frugality become unethical? Can we take things too far? Where is the line we cross when pinching your pennies is no longer morally acceptable? Are some cases of being frugal borderline illegal too?

Potentially Unethical Frugality

Using your employer’s internet for personal use
Personal phone calls on company time
Personal use of the copy machine
Taking home ink pens, paper, and other office supplies from the office
Eat the free samples more than once at the grocery store instead of a real meal
Taking toilet paper from a restroom
Taking home extras like condiments from a restaurant
Bringing home the extra shampoo and toiletries you don’t use from a hotel – even if you’re living in a hotel