Finance Globe

Complicated finances are difficult to manage and could even be costly. Simplifying your finances might be a much-needed stress reliever. It would also make it much easier to manage your money. Organize your financial documents, getting rid of those that are outdated. In general, you should keep tax-related documents, like returns or W-2 forms, for three years, but you may need to keep certain documents up to six years. You don’t necessarily need to keep bank...

Continuously overdrafting your checking account, running out of money before you get paid again, and having to dip into savings or use your credit card to make ends meet are all signs of serious money problems. Left unsolved, money problems can lead to big trouble. Foreclosure, repossession, and bankruptcy all stem from seemingly harmless money problems – ones you thought you could get under control but somehow could never correct. Your financial well-being is too important...

If you haven’t embraced the capability of paying bills online, you may be missing out. Most companies make it easy to pay your bills over the internet within seconds. It can be so much faster than writing a check and dropping it off in the mail.How It Works Many banks have online bill pay feature that let you pay all your bills directly from your online account. Getting started can take some time – you have...

Sound decisions are the key to having a healthy financial life – to building wealth, paying off or staying out of debt, and to building a good credit score. Even the small, day-to-day money decisions have a big impact on your finances, so it’s important that you make the right ones. Always ask yourself whether you can afford a purchase before you make it. Affording something isn’t necessarily about having the money for it. You have...

If you’ve incurred unexpected financial emergency, but don’t have an emergency fund or sufficient credit to bail you out, you might be tempted to take out a title loan. Be careful, these loans are one of the most predatory types of loans on the market, even worse than the infamous payday loans. A title loan is like a mix between a pawn and a payday loan. You can take out a loan using your vehicle as...

Identity thieves will use any means available to trick you into your giving up your personal information. You may be familiar with phishing scams where scammers email you seemingly legitimate messages from your bank or other business. The email includes frightening language, e.g. your account has been compromised, that bait you into going to a fake website where the scammers capture your password, bank account information, and other personal information. Then, they use whatever information they’ve...

In the past few years, big banks have become so unattractive that many consumers switched to local banks and credit unions. Not everyone who dislikes their bank was willing to go through the trouble of moving their money elsewhere. According to a recent ConsumerReports.org survey, 63% respondents considered switching but didn’t go through with it because of the trouble it would take to transfer payments and deposits.Sure, switching banks is tedious, but in the end, you’ll...

One of the best pieces of financial advice is to budget your money. Budgeting is the foundation of financial health and the key to accomplishing most, if not all, of your financial goals. Unfortunately, when you’re budgeting for the first time, things may not turn out the way you think they should. It may be the budget itself or the way you’re approaching it. Don’t give up. The problem can usually be fixed. Confirm you've created...

It’s a basic fact of life that you’ll have to do things you don’t want to do. Wake up early when you really want to sleep in. Postpone vacation because you have other financial priorities. And, pay bills that you really wish you could just blow off. It’s easy to think that we can skip certain debts because they’re owed to big companies who won’t miss our pocket change. Maybe they won’t miss your money. But,...

Financial mistakes are bound to happen. Some are worse than others. According to a poll from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the biggest financial regret is habitual overspending. More than 2,200 people responded to the poll and 53% agreed with the top pick. Other responses: Inadequate savings, 18%Insufficiently preparing for retirement, 14%Not having a house, 10%Having purchased a house, 5%. A Few Consequences of Overspending One of the problems with overspending is that it keeps...