The Finance Center

National Finance Center For Professionals

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  • bankruptcy A fast bankruptcy process is available online

    Today, with widespread availability of treatment services bankruptcy form on the Internet, online filing of bankruptcy is now easier and much of the story is that the process is very easy and saves time. If you know the legal demands associated with the bankruptcy filing and you know what forms ...

  • Bank rates Where you can find the best bank rates

    What are the best rates and which bank will give you your money? Of course, today, with low interest rates that are available, there is a bank that will be the highest rate of for a possible and your savings account is very important. Some banks have higher prices than ...

  • online investing Online investing: easy and quick

    Compared to the past years, finding ways to invest your money has never been easier, faster and more informed thanks to Internet technology. You can make money immediately with up to the minute trading of securities with various services that give the opportunity to buy for only a few dollars, ...

  • Debt management How to choose between different debt management services

    Debt credit card and problems with returning because of unbalanced budget and instable financial management is a trouble of every third man nowadays. But networks of various debt reliefs that are often available on the market put an end to the concerns of those seeking help to get rid of ...

John Garcia February - 28 - 2011

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In 2006, my husband and I bought a house in the center of Guanajuato, a city in Mexico’s Central Highlands, where we live about one-third of the year. We didn’t buy the house because it’s a cheaper place to live; we were motivated because we’d been visiting this town for five years and fell in love with it anew every time we came. Despite the fact that we live pretty simply in the States, it’s less expensive in Guanajuato. Here are some of the ways we save.

Gerald Conrad February - 26 - 2011

Political unrest in Africa isn’t just having an impact on oil prices. Conflicts on the Ivory Coast have sent the cocoa exchange traded note soaring, too.

iPath Dow Jones AIG Cocoa ETN is up a whopping 17.1% year-to-date and cocoa prices are at 32-year highs. What gives?

The main reason for the spike is a ban on cocoa exports from the  Ivory Coast, which is contributing to a growing chocolate shortage.

Turns out the Ivory Coast is a big deal when it comes to chocolate.

Joel Rose for National Public Radio reports that the Ivory Coast produces about 40% of the world’s beans. Analysts think that processors and manufacturers are in pretty good shape, but more cocoa must come out of Africa to bring prices back to normal.

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Marie Conklin February - 22 - 2011

As many Americans know, you can retire and start collecting Social Security benefits anytime from age 62 to 70. Most people start collecting right away at age 62.

But what many people dont know is that you can raise your benefit substantially with one of the following three options:

1.  Wait until you are older to claim your benefit.

If you wait, you can raise your monthly benefit by more than 75 percent. For example, if you’d get $1,000 a month in Social Security at age 62, you’d get at least $1,333 at age 66, and $1,760 at age 70.

At age 62, you get your minimum. At 66, you get one third more and at age 70, three quarters more.

Remember, retiring and claiming are not the same thing. If you have enough retirement savings, you can delay claiming your Social Security by using a portion of your savings to live on. This

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John Garcia February - 21 - 2011

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Travel has always been a priority for me. I love seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and just getting away from the routines of my daily life. Even more important, my family and close friends are a pretty far-flung crowd. I have loved ones spread from Boston to Buenos Aires. We buy a lot of plane tickets in my family. We buy so many tickets that I should have become savvy about how we buy them much earlier than I did.

For years, I’ve mainly just flown with JetBlue. I use Farecast to see if there’s a better deal available elsewhere. If there’s not a significantly cheaper ticket on that site, I buy my ticket through JetBlue. They generally have low fares and a good frequent-flyer program. This is a pretty simplistic approach. Since I’d never researched it carefully, I didn’t know if I was really getting the best deals on my travel.

Now, my best friend is moving to San Francisco. (Yes, bet

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John Garcia February - 21 - 2011

Are you trying to get out of debt but having trouble paying down your credit card bills? If so, then there’s a good chance you are making some simple mistakes with your debt repayment strategy. Unfortunately credit cards don’t come with instructions, and barely explain how easy it is to build up a large balance. But if you go about it the right way, and you can avoid these common mistakes, then you have a real good chance of becoming debt free.

1-Don’t write down their goal

Big mistake! One of the most important things you can do when trying to reach a goal is to write it down on a piece of paper. So go grab a pen, or fire up your computer, and write down exactly it is what you want to achieve. It might sound silly – if you know your goal, why do you need to write it down? Well, w

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Greg Fowler February - 20 - 2011

Question: I have about $50,000 in credit card debts.  I got laid off two years ago, and it took me a year to find another job, which did not pay as well as my old job.  I live in Ontario, so I am wondering if I should file bankruptcy in Ontario, or is there something else I should consider?

Answer: Yes, there are other debt management options you should consider.  Bankruptcy should be your last resort, not your first choice.  Here are some options:

First, now that you are back to work, is it possible to repay your debts on your own?  If you can, that’s your best option, even if it takes a year or two to substantially reduce your debt.

Second, if you have high interest rate credit cards, a second option to consider would be a debt consolidation loan to consolidate your debts and reduce the interest you are paying.

Third, if the bank won’t give you a consolidation loan, another option is a consumer proposal.  In a consumer prop0sal you make a settlement with your creditors.  For example, the credit card companies may be willing to accept payments of $500 per month for 50 months, or $25,000 in total, and then right off the rest.  Whether or not they will accept that deal depends on your personal situation.

If those options are not possible then yes, filing bankruptcy in Ontario may be your final option.  You should consult with an Ontario consumer proposal administrator or an Ontario bankruptcy trustee to arrange for a free initial consultation to fully explore your options before you make a decision.

Gerald Conrad February - 20 - 2011

Fidelity has just opened up a new can of worms in the exchange traded fund .

Chris Flood for The Financial Times reports that the provider now offers customers on a total of 30 iShares ETFs. It’s taken by some to mean that iShares is playing a role in the price wars, even if it’s just behind the scenes.

Hannah Glover for Ignites reports that the provider is also taking the price war to the retirement mat, as the 401 platform will start seeing dissolving fees.

The new share classes targeting retirement plan sponsors should roll out soon. This is going to get good for investors – they can’t lose either way. In the end, the plan participants win as the fees are lower, regardless if they’re index funds or ETFs.

Marie Conklin February - 16 - 2011

New credit card rules went into effect in 2010, requiring that your monthly credit card statement include important information about how long it will take you to get out of debt if you only pay the minimum payment and what payment you need to make to rid yourself of the balance in three years. This information is included on your statement for your benefit; use it to your advantage to help you put together an actionable “get out of debt” plan for the next three years.

Gather Credit Card Statements

The first step in getting out of debt is to face the debt. Gather each of your credit card statements. Identify the monthly payment amount you need to make on each credit card to pay it off in three years and write it down. Add up each of the payments to get the total figure you have to deal with on a monthly basis to finally get rid of your credit card debt for good.

The second step in creating your debt payoff plan ising to terms with paying off your credit card debt. You have to

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