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The financial planning section of this publication is really the foundation on which this e-zine was built. Many of us live in the "today" and often worry about tomorrow when it's here - but that's sometimes too late. If there was one piece of advice we would want our readership to come away with, it would go something like this: putting in a little time today to plan for your financial future is an investment in yourself.
When it comes to financial planning, we've subdivided this section into the seven significant financial events or decision you might face in your lifetime:
Buying or Leasing a Car
For most of us, a car provides essential transportation whether it is back and forth to work or a visit to a friend's home. With the average new car costing close to $25,000, spending this kind of money is a pretty significant financial commitment for many. New car dealerships and manufacturers themselves realize that creating options for consumers not only helps sell more cars, but results in higher customer satisfaction.
We've tried to lay out the many of the options you've got when it comes to buying a new car. In fact, leasing a car is increasingly popular and we've explained why. So whether your decision is to buy a new car, buy a used car, or even lease a car, we've covered all of the possible choices you have today.
College Loans
If you think buying a car is expensive, going to a private college is like buying a new car for four consecutive years! Here we help you through the process from start to finish. We've got lots of helpful information; whether it's choosing a college, applying for a student loan, or understanding the differences between government loans, grants and work study.
We'll explain the difference between private student loans and Stafford loans. We'll also tell you how organizations such as Sallie Mae can help you keep your college loans organized. Finally, if you're already out of school and considering consolidating your student loan, we can help there too.
Buying a Home
For most of us, buying a home is the largest single purchase we will ever make. That's why we offer home buying tips and a four part series dedicated to the first time home buyer. We also realize that as time goes on your individual financial situation may change and you might be considering refinancing an existing mortgage or even buying a second home.
We've also acknowledged the growing need and use of prefabricated homes. If you haven't looked at these homes lately and still have the image of mobile homes of yesterday, we think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what these manufacturers have to offer today.
Debt Consolidation
Owning a credit card can be a wonderfully convenient thing for many consumers. But recent credit card debt statistics point to a growing problem that consumers have keeping their debt under control.
To get you back on track, we'll walk you through all of the options you have to eliminate that credit card debt. We've got a two part series on creating a household budget, and if you considering debt consolidation, we'll explain some of the services offered by that industry such as debt counseling, debt settlement and debt consolidation loans.
Buying Insurance
In our buying insurance section of this publication our goal is to help you make informed decisions about your insurance needs. This topic is fairly broad and includes articles on life insurance, car insurance and even homeowners insurance (for that expensive home you just bought).
We can help you understand the different kinds of low cost health insurance you might qualify for if you've reached retirement age or can demonstrate financial need. In fact, we've concentrated on helping the senior community with our publications on Medigap insurance and Medicare.
Taxes
If you're lucky enough to be in one of the higher tax brackets, then you know that finding all of the tax deductions that you qualify for plays an important role in keeping your total tax liability down. Although we've covered specialty tax topics such as capital gains and inheritance taxes, our real focus has been on filing your federal income taxes.
If you're thinking about filing your taxes online using efile providers or can't seem to find a tax form, we can help. If you're looking for more general information concerning things like state tax brackets and sales tax, we've got information that covers all 50 states.
Retirement
We think that taking the time to plan for you retirement days, even if that's still years away, is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. In fact, if you've got age on your side you can put surprisingly little money aside each year and still wind up with a sizable retirement fund.
In our retirement section, we've focused on the most common retirement plans available including Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs 401k plans and 403b plans. We've even got some information on the proposed Roth 401k. Emphasis in this section has been explaining the rules, in plain English, concerning contributions, limits, hardship withdrawals and rollovers.
Financial Dictionary
Finally, we've supplemented our financial planning section with a financial glossary that helps define some of the more confusing terms you'll encounter in this area. For example, when you're buying a home the real estate agent will talk about closing costs and your attorney will mention a deed. It's nice to know what everyone's talking about when you spending so much money.
We've also defined terms that you'll come across whether you're buying a car, purchasing insurance or applying for a student loan. Our financial dictionary contains 100 of the most common terms you find in these areas.
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