Estate Planning

You Can't Take It With You

You're gonna die. Someday. It's an inevitable truth, yet many of us spend a good portion of our lives denying it. Unless you stumbled onto this page in error, your willingness to read about estate planning suggests you're not as deluded about your mortality as the rest of the sorry bunch. Good for you. Because estate planning is important business when you have anyone important in your life and own any "thing" of value, sentimental and otherwise.

Estate planning is so much more than planning for death. There are actually three separate plans in an estate plan. The first is for accumulation of assets. If you don't have any assets, there's little need for further planning, after all. The second plan is to preserve assets once they are accumulated. Finally, the estate plan should include a plan for distribution of your assets to your heirs. And we're not talking fighting over the antique china at an estate sale.

If you're not sure this information applies to you, consider these reasons for estate planning:
It can help you avoid or reduce federal and state estate taxes, so more of your estate is passed on to your beneficiaries.

It allows you to say who gets what (to avoid family fights over your marble bust and other treasures, for instance).

It helps you to provide for your spouse and other remaining family members, and especially for any special concerns such as care of minors or handicapped family members.
It avoids delays in the distribution of your estate.

It reduces the cost of administering your estate (and you know how much it costs to shuffle paperwork nowadays).

Getting Married - Money Mismanagement? Not For This Mr. And Mrs.!

For love? Or for money? Whatever your reasons for tying the knot (and being hopeless romantics, we hope it's for love), money and finances are a big part of the equation when two people say "I do."

Uttering those two words is more than a pact to love and cherish one another. Read between the lines and your partner may be saying "I do have a lot of debt I'm bringing to this marriage, honey bunny." Or, "I do think a prenuptial is a crummy idea, my little love nut." Or how about, "I do not give a rip about saving for our future, I want a big house now!")

Fortunately, we do have some solid info here that can help you go down the aisle and into a lifetime of wedded bliss with a clearer understanding of what you're getting into, as well as a financial plan of attack to get you started on the right foot (or left foot, for you southpaws) with your money and your financial decisions.

Here Comes the Bride (With a Big, Fat Stack of Bills to Pay)You might think you're planning a wedding, but you're really just part of a sophisticated highway robbery. The average wedding costs $19,000 and here's where the money goes.

The list doesn't include your honeymoon or costs associated with a rehearsal dinner, but it does assume you'll spend about 42 bucks a head to feed 200 guests. In other words, your numbers may not match this "typical wedding," which is good because your wedding will be anything but typical! Our wedding budget worksheet is an essential wedding planning tool. Or maybe our compatibility quiz will reveal that you don't need a wedding budget, after all.

Home Sweet Home - How To Make All The Right Moves With Your Home

How To Make All The Right Moves With Your Home
Like the early settlers of this great nation, most of us yearn for a corner of earth to call our own. Yet we aren't satisfied with just owning a piece of sod -- we want a roof over our heads and indoor plumbing to boot. And why not? If a home is where your heart is, let's explore the ownership thing.

The quest for home ownership--as old as the hills as it may be--is a reasonable goal for most hardworking Joes and Joannas. There are many options (from ramshackle shack to California rambler) in the spectrum of homeownership, and a number of ways to finance the one that fits your dreams. So whether you're a first-time home buyer, looking to upgrade your digs or ready to bail, you've come to the right place to get a thumbnail sketch of the art of buying or selling a home.

If all you want to do is crunch some mortgage numbers, check out our Mortgage Payment Calculator and Home Affordability Calculator, which helps you factor in things like homeowner's insurance, association dues and real estate taxes.

7 Quick Tips To Guide Your Home-buying Journey:
Put the word out. Let people know what you're looking for in a home. From the dry cleaner to the gas station attendant, everyone knows someone who owns a home and might be ready to sell.
Get your finances in order. We've mentioned it before -- a good credit history (at least two years' worth) and prequalification can help you land a home faster (and before the other guy can steal it away from you).
Shop for a loan. The business of home mortgages is highly competitive. Examine the points, fees and rates of different lenders to get the best loan you can. One caveat: If your credit is shaky, you may not be able to be as choosy as you'd like.
Zero in on what you want. Don't hit the pavement until you know what you're looking for. You can waste a lot of your time (and your real estate agent's) by looking at two stories when you know you're looking for a walkout rambler. Make a list of features you won't negotiate on, and carry it with you.
Look for the diamond in the rough. A home in a good neighborhood that needs a little spit and polish is probably a better value than a charmer on the freeway and next to the airport. Look beyond weeds and broken windows to find a deal, or be willing to pay more for a home in "move-in" condition.
Pay for a home inspection. Here's an investment that's worth every cent. A home inspection done by a professional can help you avoid the harsh reality of a leaky roof or a faulty furnace. When an inspection turns up something like this, the seller can be asked (or even required) to make repairs before the sale can go through. Or you may decide to back out altogether.
Don't let your heart rule. Try to be objective in your home buying decisions. What we mean is, try to ignore the simmering potpourri that reminds you of growing up with ma's good cooking. Is the roof in good shape, the neighborhood sound and the price right? Cinnamon sticks are a dime a dozen (or thereabouts). Like a good book, you need to dig in to find the true value of a home (or uncover its flaws).

Identity Protection

It's Not "If" But "When" You'll Be Robbed

Take this quick quiz to determine whether you are a candidate for identity theft.

Are you awake or sleeping?
A. Yes
B. No

If you answered the question with "A" or "B," you are in an ideal position to have your personal identity stolen. Identity thieves don't sneak into your home in the dark of night and scrape your identity from the drool on your pillow. They don't rely on high-tech tactics or only target your wealthy neighbors. Identity thieves--like most crooks--aren't nearly that ambitious. They do things like learn your dog's name because it's a common password choice and watch the keypad when you're using a calling card on a pay phone at the mall. They make your name their own after finding your bank statement in the garbage. They use your credit record to open accounts and spend until they have robbed you of your future buying power.

Most the time, identity thieves drag your name through the mud before you realize it was raining. By the time you report your losses, the crooks are long gone. They commit crimes simultaneously in multiple jurisdictions, making it difficult for authorities to make a case against them.

The good news? If you've been a victim of such theft, you're not alone. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it's the #1 (and fastest growing) financial crime. We've got information in this topic you may find helpful, either to take steps to minimize the risk that you could become part of that statistic or to help you put your finances back in order once they've been stolen.

Kids & Money

Will It Motivate Them Or Corrupt Them?

Like it or not, we live in a capitalist society. (Most of us seem to like it just fine.) A lot of our values are reflected in the way we earn, save and spend money. So if you want to teach those values to your kids, you need to teach them about money how it motivates people, how it requires making choices, and how it can lead us astray.

We recommend focusing on the basics: live within your means, save part of what you earn, and consider sharing some of your money with others.

Like most of life's lessons, these are best taught through hands-on experience. Your kids can't just hear about making choices. They have to feel the frustration of wanting more things than they have the means to buy, and they have to go through the process of making those choices for themselves. That's why an allowance is an important instructional tool. (And you thought it was just a drain on your bank balance.) But it's not your only instructional tool. We'll cover a few more along the way.

It's not our intention to turn your kids into CPAs (although that's not necessarily a bad thing; of course, it's not a guaranteed good thing, either). We just want to point out how many ways money intersects with their lives. And when it does, we want to help you make sure it's not a serious collision.

Money & The Single Person

Hey, You're Not Alone Out There

The single life comes in many varieties among people of all walks and ages. Single may be:

• Never married
• Separated
• Divorced
• Widowed
• Non-married partner
• Single with kids
• Young & single
• Senior & single

In America there are approximately 185 million people over the age of 18, if you believe the 2000 census figures from the Census Bureau. The odds are 2 in 5 they have no present marriage partner. Among all singles, 52% are women, 48% are men. Going solo can be fun, depressing, active, lonely, freeing, boring, or, more likely, all of the above, just like every other state of existence.

Being single may be a choice you've made, or someone's made for you, or simply a matter of destiny. No matter how you happen to be single, money is an issue. In fact, it's several issues, ranging from insurance needs to retirement decisions, and even the matter of a will. So whether you choose to be single or not, you should choose to make smart financial decisions. And you've chosen just the right place to begin.

Debt Is A Four-letter Word

During the lucrative 1990s, credit card companies convinced unsuspecting consumers to spend, spend, spend. But buy now, pay later turns out to be a myth most of the time because "later" never seems to get here. And it's only getting worse. Double-digit interest rates on credit card debt and late fees conspire to put balances through the roof.

We won't burden you with statistics about the average debt carried by individual consumers (but we do have some pretty graphic info on average household debt later in this topic). If you're anything like us, you are reminded of that every time another bill arrives in the mail. Scary statistics tend to send self-respecting consumers to the shopping mall. We will give you a chance to glimpse your own situation using our Credit Card Payoff Calculator. Simply punch in a few numbers (actually punching them in may make you feel better) to sneak a private peek at how long you'll be paying what you owe. Assuming you don't charge anything else in the meantime.
Maybe you're bold enough to skip right to a Debt Quiz from Profina Debt Solutions, a non-profit organization that helps everyday people figure out what to do to solve their debt problems. The quiz is quick and easy, and your answers may even reveal that things aren't as bad as they seem.

We don't pretend to be debt counselors, and we can't pay your bills for you. What we do offer is some solid advice for people with moderate debt. We've got some tips for steering clear of near-miss debt trouble. If you keep reading this topic, you'll pick up some debt "Warning Signs" or use our "Action Plan" to get started in your personal debt reduction program.