How to Manage Your Finances After a Workplace Injury

Any serious injury is bound to have some financial consequences, no matter how well prepared you are. Workplace injuries are no different. Aside from having to pay medical bills, you may also be unable to do your job for a while, which could lead to a loss of income. Dealing with an injury is stressful enough, and it’s made much worse by the fact that so many people have financial stress on top of that. This post is here to help you gain a bit more insight into managing your finances after a workplace injury.

Worker’s compensation

While an injury at work is always a bad thing, there may be one benefit: worker’s compensation. Since most companies don’t want to be held responsible for an employee’s injury, as it could damage their reputation, they often decide to offer a monetary settlement. Depending on your situation and the nature of your injury, this settlement could cover a huge portion of your expenses, and even if it doesn’t cover everything, every little bit helps. There are, of course, certain factors that need to be taken into consideration. For example, are you still eligible for worker’s compensation if you got injured on a break? You can click here to find out.

Medical insurance

If you have medical insurance or some other form of medical aid, it is important to put in a claim as soon as possible, and also include any relevant evidence or documentation your insurance company may require. Some injuries are only covered by private healthcare, meaning without medical insurance, you may struggle to get the help you need. However, there may still be options for those who don’t have health insurance, so it’s important to investigate all possible avenues before you make serious decisions about treating your injuries.

Use your leave

All employees have sick leave, but often, a workplace injury may require more time off, which means it is possible that you can use up all of your sick leave. If that is the case, what happens next? You should try and use any other types of paid leave that you can, such as your annual leave. If possible, you should avoid using unpaid leave, as this will mean a lower income during an already financially straining time. How much paid leave you have will depend on where you live, as well as how much of your leave you used prior to your injury.

Dip into your savings

Hopefully, you have an emergency fund or other type of savings account set up. Ideally, you would not need to dip into this after an injury, but if you have no other alternative, you will need to. Of course, you need to only do this if you have considered all of your other options, and you should try to use as little of your savings as possible. You don’t want to come out of this with no savings. That being said, your emergency savings are there precisely for emergencies, so if you need to use them, you should.

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Adulting: Money Management Tips for Young Adults

Being a young adult can be a complex stage in life. At this stage of life, you’re trying to navigate through relationships and maintain a particular lifestyle. More so, in this phase, managing money seems like an impossible task. Unfortunately, most schools don’t teach kids about personal finance. This makes many young adults clueless about managing their money, staying out of debt, and applying for credit. 

A short study conducted by financial advisors shows that one out of five young adults isn’t confident in managing their finances. 85% of them say they wish they would have been taught about money management in school. Luckily as of 2020, states are coming up with methods of doing away with this bad personal finance culture.  21 states have made it mandatory for high school students to take up a private finance course while 25 of them require them to take up an economics class. This should at least help a portion of the next generation. 

However, in as much as all this is taught, all this education trickles down to self-control. Whether you are in your 20’s or 60’s, you still have the chance to improve your financial habits. Some of the most important lessons to help you through include:

1) Budgeting

Sitting down and creating a budget can be underrated. More so, sticking to the budget can be the hardest. However, you can solve this by setting reasonable short-term and long-term goals. Short-term plans can include paying house rent or buying books, while long-term plans can include paying off your student loans. 

However, the 50/30/20 approach comes in handy in planning:

• 50% representing monthly utility bills essentials like rent, bills, and groceries
• 30% representing lifestyle expenses like clothes, takeout’s, etc
• 20% representing your savings

Having a budget gives you better money habits as you are in control of where your money goes.

2) Set Up An Emergency Fund

An emergency fund gives you the discipline of not spending unless you have to. Having money in savings accounts helps you out, especially during financial hardships.

Suppose you treat this as a non-negotiable monthly expense? In that case, you will have saved up not only for emergency periods but also for retirement, vacations, or even for the down payment for a home. Just ensure that whichever savings plan you settle for allows you to withdraw cash as quickly as you can for your emergency.

3) Pay-off Your Debts

Lots of young adults find themselves buried in debt due to various reasons. These may range from payday loans to student overdrafts. However, a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer will help you identify which debts should be prioritized. Always pay the high-interest loans first but if you’ve acquired payday loans, pay these off first. Be aggressive about paying off your debts to maintain a good credit score. 

Always spend money on credit that you know you already have, and ensure that you clear it before the end of the month before it accrues any interest.

4) Track Your Spending Habits

Ever lost track of how much you’ve spent? Look at your bank account towards the end of the month, and you’ll be shocked at what’s left! One way you can curb your spending habits is by withdrawing cash at the beginning of every week. This helps keep track of what you’ve spent and what you’ve got left. 

5) Smart Shopping

Be smart about how you spend your money. Make a weekly plan by having a list of groceries or household items that you need and stick to the list. 

There’s no shame in comparing different grocery and clothing outlets, electricity and gas bills for other estates, your car and house insurance. You can save lots of money by choosing various service providers. 

6) Unsubscribe From Services That You Don’t Use

It doesn’t matter whether you have been to the gym only once. Canceling unnecessary subscriptions can save you lots of money. You can direct the funds into your savings or use them for other things.

7) Health Insurance Plan

This a must-have even if you’re in perfect shape. The best option will be to stay under your parent’s health insurance plan if you’re under 26.  When you’re over 26, look for quotes from different insurance providers and settle for the lowest rates based on your income. 

Choose a more expensive plan as it will be cost-effective for you if you already have health issues. If unexpected problems arise, a health insurance plan comes in handy to cover your expenses without interfering with your financial goals. 

Final Thoughts

It’s never too late to change your financial habits. You don’t have to feel embarrassed about your old habits. These tips act as a stepping stone to better personal finance habits. Start today! 

About the Author

Veronica Baxter is a writer, blogger, and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area.

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Top Tips to Consider While Applying for Personal Injury Loans

Are you looking for the best ways to grab a personal injury loan for yourself? Getting an injury loan can be quite beneficial as it can help you get proper treatment for any health conditions you are suffering from and to pay for any medical bills and inherent costs relevant to your treatment phase. If you are short of finances, this is an ideal way to get the best treatment.

What’s A Personal Injury Loan?

With a good lending firm, expect to receive a good percentage of your claimed damages up front. A personal injury loan is a small amount sanctioned to you in consideration of your claimed damages. An expert attorney specialized in this area such as Benenati Law Firm can help you file for a personal injury claim. You can show the details to the financial firm to give them an idea of what you will be paid for your claim. Based on their evaluation, they loan a certain amount, typically around 10% of the amount they believe you will settle for. The insurance firm will analyze your claim and suggest a certain amount after vetting your evidence and supplementary material. They will interact with your loan lender and apprise them of their findings.

With a good lawyer to support you in filing a personal injury lawsuit and getting your loan application accepted, receiving a quick advance finance for your claim is hassle-free. You will be contacted by the loan company once they have evaluated the details shared by your insurance company. Essentially, your loan application has high chances of acceptance if the lending firm believes that your settlement amount is enough to repay the loan. In such a case, your good relationship with your insurance adjuster can benefit you; you can convince them for maximum recovery.

Disadvantages

Injury Loans like ADHD are famous these days. However, there are certain drawbacks of this loan. For example, the sanctioned amount is generally meager, only around 10%. This might not be enough to get complete medical coverage for your injuries and the health conditions you are suffering from. In addition, because personal injury finance companies are not monitored by state and federal law, chances are high they will charge you above average interest rates, at times as high as 50% per year.

If you want to consider getting a loan, do keep in mind that these lending firms will normally charge a flat fee including percentage/interest charges to design your loan. Talking about the payoff, this can prove to be a real stressor, especially if you have not factored in the high-interest rates and processing fees.

Tips

∙        Go for firms that offer the lowest interest rates and take care to consider any hidden administrative fees, and other rates. Learn about the compound rate and calculate it yourself.

∙        Avoid loan brokers. They will charge higher fees, so it is good to hire an experienced personal injury loan firm. Check if the company can make the loan directly to you or they will send your case to another loan company for a referral.

∙        You should keep a check on the loan payment, your settlement amount, and what will you be paying every month to clear the debt.

∙        Have your lawyer study any contracts or loan agreements before you sign them.

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How a Lawsuit Can Derail Your Financial Plan

You may be surprised to find out that there are many things that can derail a long-term financial plan.  You know about having an emergency fund, and planning for a layoff.  But have you ever thought of the risk a lawsuit would pose to your financial health?  Probably not!!!  Thus, anyone who has worked hard to build up a sizeable net worth should consider finding appropriate ways to ensure their assets are protected against potential lawsuits or legal actions.

Planning for ways to protect against a financial lawsuit is all the more important for readers that are living in the US.  We are, in fact, the lawsuit capital of the world ! If you have not considered how to properly protect yourself and your financial assets from a lawsuit, then you are flying blind!

Check out the following types of lawsuit protection and consider what you can do to protect your assets:

Types of Lawsuit Protection

Financial protection from a lawsuit can come in many shapes and flavors.  Here are a couple examples of lawsuit protection or legal protection that can help you to shield your assets – these are listed in question and answer form:

Do I Need Umbrella Insurance?

umbrella insurance is “extra” insurance that covers you above and beyond the typical insurance coverage you would receive with a home owner’s policy or your car insurance. Typical umbrella insurance plans cover your from where your car/home insurance stops up to one-million dollars, or more.  Check with your home or auto insurance company to see if they offer this important type of coverage.

Most car or home insurance stops somewhere close to $250,000 for medical damages to someone else.  What happens if someone gets hurt on your property or by your car and has higher medical bills?  If you have a high net worth, guess who the insurance company is coming after?  Nothing is more depressing than working your whole life to build up your assets only to see them taken away in a lawsuit!

Do I Need Prepaid Legal Protection?

if you do get into trouble and find yourself the target of a lawsuit or legal action, having pre-paid legal protection from a company like LegalShiled.com can be a god-send. Prepaid legal protection is basically like having “lawsuit insurance” in that your legal fees are pre-paid using a monthly fee.

Think of prepaid legal protection (from a company such as LegalShield ) basically as Tripple-A but for legal coverage instead of vehicle coverage.  Think of the peace of mind you would have knowing you can pick up the phone and ask for legal advice whenever you need it!

How do Retirement Accounts Protect my Finances?

the use qualified retirement financial plans such as an IRA, 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), etc. can help protect your assets.  These special types of protected retirement accounts are normally exempt from many types of cases or lenders and legal proceedings.

How Can I Protect Real Estate from a Lawsuit?

US real estate law is setup to protect the primary residence in a great number of cases involving financial bankruptcy. In other types of lawsuits, maybe not so much…  If you want to get really fancy to help protect your real estate assets, check out details around titling your primary residence as “tenancy by the entireties.”

Tenants by entirety (TBE) is a method in some states by which married couples can hold the title to a property.  For one spouse to modify his or her interest in the property in any way, the consent of both spouses is required by tenants by entirety.  This can help save your butt if things go south in a lawsuit where both spouses are not implicated!

Will a Trust Protect My Assets from a Lawsuit?

As your financial assets continue to grow, you may want to consider an irrevocable trust at some point.  What is a trust?  The basic definition of a trust is: a trust is a fiduciary relationship in which one party, known as a trustor, gives another party, the trustee, the right to hold title to property or assets for the benefit of a third party, the beneficiary.

Trusts are established to provide legal protection for the trustor’s assets, to make sure those assets are distributed according to the wishes of the trustor, to save time, and to reduce paperwork.  A trust can be a good tool to help protect your assets from creditors and lawsuits.  It basically “locks” away your money as property of the “trust”, and not the person.  The disadvantage of a trust is that they will require money and time to setup.  Trusts can also be very difficult to unwind.  If you’d like to learn more about irrevocable trusts, then check out this link: what is a trust?

How Does Business Ownership Protect my Personal Assets?

Business ownership can go a long way towards ensuring your personal assets are protected from a lawsuit.  If you were to start a business as a sole-proprietor, then creditors or others can sue you for the amount of money in your business as well as come after your personal assets!  Not good!

However, if you setup an LLC or setup a corporation, then these entities will shield your personal assets from any sort of business liability.  A LLC or corporation basically creates an impenetrable wall between your personal and business assets.  This can be a godsend if you own a business and find yourself the target of a lawsuit.

Final Thoughts

Asset protection is a crucial point in financial risk management.  Learning tips and tricks to protect your financial assets from a lawsuit can save you thousands of dollars if the unfortunate were ever to happen to you.  Nothing is more disheartening than working a lifetime to build up your net worth only to have it taken from you in legal proceedings.

As you can see from reviewing the list above, a lot of this is complicated stuff!  The normal everyday-Joe would not be expected to understand these financial tips fully or put all of these ideas into practice.  This is why prepaid legal services like LegalShield.com can be so helpful.  Life can be very unpredictable, and laws can be confusing.  LegalShield has done the hard work for you and assembled a team of legal professionals that can help you in all walks of life.  Wouldn’t it be great not to stress about the complexities of entering into a lawsuit?

If you ever do find yourself on the wrong end of a legal proceeding, having a prepaid legal team at the ready can mean the difference between winning and losing a case.  People can sometimes act hastily when they find they are the target of a lawsuit and say or do things that can be damaging to their case.  The team with LegalShield will audit your case and examine all of your choices with you.  This could be as simple as assessing a report, composing a request letter, or influencing a phone call all to benefit you.

Remember, a lawsuit can not only derail your life, but also your financial planning. Check out the LegalShield.com website today and consider whether you’d like the comfort of knowing you have an expert team of lawyers on your side!

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Best Life Insurance Plans – Which one should you Choose?

A life insurance policy is as important as having savings. Life insurance is something that is becoming increasingly necessary to have yourself insured under because of the unstable economy and lives of people all around the world with the ever rising prices with the number of rising crimes and accidents that are costing livelihoods.

Life insurance coverage is a policy that provides for you and your family in certain situations. There are many different types of life insurance policies that offer different insurance coverage as well as investment opportunities. In case of the unfortunate death of the insured person, the nominees or the family of the insured are the ones that will get the benefits of the life insurance policies.  This will ensure the continuation of the daily functioning of the family though financial aid.  The whole idea is to help in maintaining the same lifestyle as the family has with the income of the policy holder, when they were alive.

One should choose the best life insurance plans tenure very carefully. Insurance plan tenure can be for as many years you choose it to be – 5, 15, 10 or 20 or even 25. You should choose a tenure which will last as long as you will have dependents that depend on your income for food, clothing or shelter. If you have a child who will most probably start earning their own income in 10 years and you are going to take up a life insurance policy, you can take up a 10 year term after which your child will not depend on you for finances anymore and can fend for themselves.

Which life insurance plan should you choose?

• Choose the one which has a good market share

Now, a high market share determines how well an insurance company is doing. It shows that the majority of the market is buying the product or service from that insurance company. And this happens over a period of time by gaining the trust and loyalty of the customers by delivering as promised and giving them all the benefits and covers at premiums which are affordable. So, life insurance plans by insurance companies with a good hold on the market are the companies from which you should be choosing your life insurance policies from so that you have a certain sense of guarantee and security. The best life insurance plans come from the insurance companies with the highest share in the insurance sector market.

Let’s look at one of the most populous countries in the world for an analysis – India.  There is no larger life insurance company in India than LIC.  LIC is on the top with a market breaking 70.5 % market share (2015-16) making it the top major player among its other insurance company counterparts. Following are few of the insurance companies with the highest market shares and you can see that only LIC – Life Insurance Corporation of India has made it to double digits. You should choose a life insurance policy from any one of the following insurance companies as they are the top 6 major players in the insurance sector with the highest holdings in the market. There are a lot more but they all fall in the 1 % or less category.

• Choose the one that is offered by a company with a high claim settlement ratio

A company which has a high claim settlement ratio has settled a lot of claims which were made. There are always some reasons due to which an insurance company does not necessarily settle claims because of various factors.  Such as the reasons are not covered in the policy or the policy holder provided wrong information which might have led to the termination of the insurance policy or the cancellation of the claim settlement. A company with a high claim settlement ratio has made sure that all the families, nominees and the policy holders that are eligible to get the claim are given the settlement. You should choose a life insurance policy from such a company so that the chances for the settlement of your claims are also high enough. The best life insurance plans are those which cover for you when you claim for the right reasons.

• Choose the one which gets you the maximum benefits

You should choose a life insurance policy which will provide you with with the maximum amount of benefits for a premium rate that seems reasonable and not too much for what you are getting. The best life insurance plans will be those ones that offer all the benefits needed at reasonable prices so that taking up the life insurance seems worth it. The benefits that are given should be worth the price of the premium rates that policy holder has to pay. Choose the best life insurance plans to get the maximum benefits.

Few of the best life insurance plans you should choose from

LIC New Jeevan Anand

If you are in India, then the New Jeevan Anand offered by LIC is one of the best life insurance plans and is a type of life insurance which is an endowment policy. This plan will provide coverage to the insured and their family throughout the life of the policy holder or till they are 100 years of age. The sum assured is paid regardless of whether the policy holder survives the tenure or dies during the term of the insurance policy.

iTerm Plan by Aegon Life

Choose the iTerm plan which is one of the best life insurance plans as it gives a good coverage at very affordable premium rate prices. It can be bought online which eliminates the hassle and the manipulation of the middlemen like the insurance agents. This plan also offers five riders, which are optional, that you can choose from to customize your plan according to the requirements that you have.

Final Thoughts

Get the best life insurance plans and live a financially hassle free life. The best life insurance plans are waiting for you and provide you with good benefits.  If you have dependents, then you definitely need to strongly consider getting a life insurance plan today!

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4 Tips for Handling Finances for the Newly Disabled

No one plans to become disabled. This isn’t something many people generally envision for their lives, but what is done is done. You have found that you are now disabled and you need to do everything you can to create the best possible strategy for surviving financially. Can you do this? It might not feel like it now, especially if this is all hitting you at once. However, many people do it. You just need to know about some of the things you can do to improve the situation.

Apply For Social Security Disability Insurance

You have worked for many years of your life and during that time, money was taken from each pay check for social security. This is something that you paid into and now that you are disabled, you are going to want to make claim to your fair share of that money. You can do this by filing for SSDI. Now, the thing is, you are going to want to file for SSDI as soon as you can. The closer it is to when you first became disabled and stopped working the better, as they use your most recent work credits to determine part of your eligibility.

Also, it is important to note that the entire process can take a good chunk of time. While some people are lucky enough to be approved right away, others find that they are denied at first. This can be disheartening, but it is something that a lot of people go through and you simply need to quickly file an appeal, which may then lead to your approval for SSDI if you have the medical documentation proving you are indeed disabled.

Apply For All Of The Government Assistance You Can Get

Locate your local government assistance office and apply for everything that you believe you qualify for and can make use of. Things such as SNAP benefits, medical coverage, energy assistance, and cash assistance can be a great help during this time. Until you receive your approval for SSDI and begin to receive your monthly payments. You may be able to apply online or you can go to the local office to apply in person. Either way, you want to promptly turn in your application, because it can take a few weeks for your case to be processed.

Consolidate Your Debts

Once you have been approved for your SSDI, you might want to think about applying for a loan consolidation if you have a few personal loans and credit cards that you are unable to keep up with. Even though you will have a monthly income, it is going to be a fraction of what you used to make when you were working full time. Therefore, you might have to find a way to lower your bills. Just make sure that you are working with a quality consolidation company and that you are not going to pay too much in interest. In the meantime, until you are at that point, you will want to do your best to stop using your charge cards.

Consider Working Part Time In The Future

After being approved for SSDI, you will find that you are in fact allowed to go back to work, but only part time and you must earn under a certain dollar amount. The exact amount that you will be allowed to earn may change every year based on current laws, but the social security administration will be able to help you by providing more details. By working a part time job, you will be able to supplement your SSDI income and that might just be enough to be able to handle all of your monthly bills and even have a little left over every month so you can treat yourself to something nice.

Final Thoughts – 4 Tips For Handling Finances For The Newly Disabled

It is going to take some time and planning, but know that even though you are now disabled, you will be able to keep your finances in order.  Follow these 4 tips for handling finances for the newly disabled and you will be able to your financial life back on track.

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How to Choose a Life Insurance Plan

There are several different life insurance plans available, and it may be challenging to choose the right one for your lifestyle and specific needs. I have written posts before such as ensure you are not over insured.  It pays before you decide which type of life insurance to choose to decide an amount you want to be covered for.  One you have that figured out, it can be a good idea to reach out to someone for help if you are unsure how to proceed.  For example, consultants such as Chris Pivik can help you understand the medical issues for choosing the right life insurance policy that will give you peace of mind. The main aim is that your family should not experience financial hardship after you die. Some policies are valid for a short time and other build up cash value. Here are some guidelines that explain the different options and may help you make an informed choice.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is for a limited time such as 10 – 30 years. The amount you pay each month, your premium, will not change throughout that time. At the end of the term, the policy becomes invalid. However, you may be able to extend it, but for an extension, you may have to pay a higher premium.

Term life insurance is the most cost effective insurance policy if you only need it for a specific time period. For example, if you want your children’s college education to be guaranteed, you may take a 20-year term. It is also a good option if you need a large amount of insurance, but have a limited amount you can pay per month. Because this type only pays if you die within the time limit of your policy, the risk is lower than for a permanent policy. This is why the premiums can be lower. Remember – term life insurance does not build equity or give a cash savings!

Permanent Life Insurance

A permanent life insurance policy, also called universal or whole life insurance, will be valid as long as you live. It will pay a benefit if you die next week or in 100 years. Whole life insurance also provides a savings element that will grow over the years and could be used as collateral for a loan. The savings is tax-deferred, which means you only pay taxes on it when you use it or on a predetermined date. Universal life insurance is flexible, so you can increase or lower your coverage as well as your premium over time.

How to Choose a Plan

The best life insurance policy may not necessarily be the cheapest. It will depend on your family’s needs. A universal plan may be suitable if you want coverage for a short period, but also want to build cash value that you can borrow against while you are living.

If you need estate planning to be part of your life insurance coverage, a whole life insurance plan may be the best option. This will help you transfer your wealth to your beneficiaries.

The only real help you get from term life insurance is a low monthly payment and financial help for your family if you die during the term of the policy.  As mentioned, this is usually the best way to go for most folks because once your kids are on their own, the need for a bunch of life insurance drops off…

Final Thoughts

Once you evaluate your needs, you will also need to consider the cost. In general, the healthier you are, the lower your monthly cost will be.  As mentioned earlier, consultants such as Chris Pivik, can help you navigate optimal insurance rates if you are in good health with a low-risk lifestyle to give you a better chance of getting a low premium payment. Some of the medical factors that are considered are your family medical history, if you smoke or have smoked in the past, and your cholesterol level. These factors will help determine how much you pay for life insurance.

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The Best PPI Claim Company Can Get Your Money Back

If you don’t know what PPI is, that doesn’t mean that you haven’t already been affected. Of the millions of people who apply for loans each year, hundreds were unethically sold Payment Protection Insurance during the contracting process. If you have received a loan in the past decade, it’s important to understand the risks you were exposed to, and to work with the best PPI claim company to get your money back.

The Problem and the Best PPI Claim Company

PPI is a legitimate form of insurance. PPI stands for Payment Protection Insurance. Just as its name implies, it is used to insure people against the possibility that they one day may be unable to repay a loan they’re taken out for one purpose or another. Because this form of insurance makes the most sense for large loan balances, it is most often purchased by people who have taken out mortgage, auto, or other large loans.

Just because Payment Protection Insurance is a valid form of insurance doesn’t mean that it is always sold in an ethical way. Banks and insurance companies created a plan during the last decade, whereby they could sell a lot more insurance by having people sign up for it without realizing they’d done so. This was accomplished by burying PPI agreements in the endless pages of mortgage contracts (and other loan documentation). In such contracts, a borrower might have to sign her name two hundred times or more, making careful reading of the entire document all but impossible.

The banks and insurers knew this, and that’s why they chose this location to stash the agreement. Borrowers signed up for insurance and set it to automatically draft from their bank accounts each month, without ever realizing they’d done so…that is, until they noticed the strange payments leaving their bank accounts.

The Best Company to Use for PPI Claims

This is where the best company to use for PPI claims comes in. A host of legal teams started to come together to fight for the rights of individuals defrauded by these large financial institutions. In a series of landmark legal cases, these teams have won huge sums of money for people taken advantage of by PPI sellers.

The best PPI claims company is one who doesn’t ask for payment until the plaintiff has won his case and received his money. It’s a company with a lot of experience creating winning cases for a large number of clients who have solved every problem related to this unethical practice.

That’s the history, but it’s entirely possible that you might be affected, just like thousands of case plaintiffs before you. If you have taken out a loan during the past decade (or even a little bit more), it’s important that you take a careful look at your bank accounts to see if there are mysterious payments. This is a good practice to perform no matter what your goal, but it could really help you out if you happen to have been fraudulently sold PPI in the past. If you find it, become part of a case like the ones mentioned above and get your money back.

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3 Ways to Make Your Money Stretch Farther in 2017

All of us have one new year’s resolution or other. You may want to travel or lose weight or finish writing that novel. But almost all of us share a particular resolution: we’ve just got to make our money stretch farther. No matter who you are, you probably have some financial goal that’s just a little bit out of reach. If you’ve been feeling like this for awhile, maybe it’s time to actually achieve that goal. Here are some important ways you can stretch your money farther in 2017 even if you don’t earn anything extra.

Pay the Boring Stuff First

One of the best ways to make sure you have enough money at the end of the month (or whenever your pay cycle demands) is to always pay the boring stuff as soon as you are paid. This means your mortgage, your home equity loan, your bills, and especially your savings and investment allocations. If you wait to pay for these until after you’ve skimmed off the top of your paycheck for fun and frolic, you’ll almost certainly not be able to meet all of your financial obligations. It can take some discipline, but learning to always focus on what absolutely has to be paid first usually results in a much less stressful life.

Watch Out for Unnecessary Payments

Most people are paying for things they don’t realize they’re paying for. If this seems like a strange statement to you, here are some everyday examples. Payment protection insurance is a form of insurance that was fraudulently sold to consumers all over Great Britain. It happened because the agreements were buried deep within complex loan documents, and the borrowers didn’t even notice they were signing up for expensive insurance. There are other examples, such as the entertainment and delivery subscriptions so many of us have started to enjoy from Amazon and internet media providers. They’re fun, but if you forget about them, you’ll be paying for them forever without getting any benefit. Take a careful look at your financial statements and find these unnecessary payments.

Another item that many folks sign up for but can be unnecessary is short term disability insurance.  Check out this article here about do I really need short term disability insurance to learn if you can eliminate this monthly expense.

Learn Expensive Skills

Look at the things that cost you the most money. Can you learn skills that could save you money in this way? If you love great food, don’t deprive yourself of it. Everybody needs a trip to a nice restaurant every now and again. But if you can learn to make amazing food at home, you can save a lot of money and have a great new skill at your fingertips. The same holds true for motorheads, beer lovers, and anyone else who has a hobby that could be performed in the comfort of your own house. Learn the ropes and save yourself a lot of money without having to sacrifice the thing you enjoy most.

3 Ways to Make Your Money Stretch Farther in 2017 – Final Thoughts

There are loads of ways to save money without having to earn more or change the way you live too much. Try these 3 ways to make your money stretch farther in 2017 out. We hope that you save lots of money this year for your life and your financial goals!

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Reducing the Financial Stress of Key Life Events

There are numerous events that occur throughout life which can put a lot of financial stress on you and your family. Some of these will be planned and can be easily prepared for to reduce such anxiety, and other events can come out of the blue. In order to ensure that you have enough funds to cover all eventualities for every important life event, there are a number of ways to successfully navigate them.  

Expecting a Baby

Recent studies suggest that the cost of raising a child born in 2016 has risen to over £230,000 ($280,000) in total. This is a staggering amount, equivalent to buying a new home in some cases. Therefore, it is important you have thought about your finances before pregnancy and planned to make cuts in your budget to provide for the new baby. Finding second hand baby clothes, prams, and other items is a popular and easy way to save.

Marriage

The tradition of the father of the bride paying for a wedding is slowly dying out, meaning more and more couples are having to afford their own weddings. Much like having a baby, the costs are continually increasing for weddings but there are a number of ways to cut the costs and still have a great day. Check out this article we did a while back on 16 ways to save on your wedding.  From getting friends and family to help make the cake, invitations and more to finding local bargains, it will all help to allow you to keep more cash in your emergency fund.   

Divorce

Going through a divorce can be an incredibly stressful time, especially if you have children. It can also be financially damaging when the divorce proceedings do not run smoothly and bring up an element of uncertainty. There are not many things that can damage your finances as badly as a divorce.  This can be hard to prepare for, as nobody gets married expecting a divorce, but using lawyers and financial services should help.

Death

Life insurance is the best preparation to help your family out in the event of a sudden death, and will significantly reduce any financial worries you and they may have. Other financial planning services can help prepare for the worst and the unknown that comes after it.

Unexpected Events

It is always important to have a backup fund in case any of these important life events come about suddenly, and to deal with any other expensive yet vital eventualities. Planning as carefully as possible is the best option, but understandably there are many events that you will not expect, such as illnesses, so having a backup (emergency) fund and plan is very useful.

Reducing the Financial Stress of Key Life Events – Final Thoughts

If you have been managing for finances for a while, then you know to plan to expect the unexpected.  The question isn’t whether or not an unexpected event will happen, but when will it happen.  Following these above tips can really help you bulk up your backup/emergency fund so that you’ll be able to weather the financial storm when it comes.  Having that extra bit of cushion will surely reduce the stress that comes along with these financial bumps in the road.

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For more saving money, making money, and investment ideas go to www.MoneyAhoy.com