Secure Your Home During Foreclosure

Losing your home is bad enough, but walking away and leaving it empty and a target for vandalism, theft and illegal activity just adds to the problem.  You are still liable for the property during the foreclosure process, experts remind those who are affected. They say that malicious or even unintentional damage to an empty home can cost mortgage lenders and homeowners considerable money. Insurance may not cover repair costs.

It may pay in the long run to prevent a property from looking vacant.  Would-be vandals, thieves and illegal interlopers (who may use property for such things as illicit drug manufacturing) may think twice if the property has the appearance of being occupied.  Experts offer these suggestions for minimizing the prospects of damage:

Lock up: One unlocked window could invite unwelcome invasion. An insurance company may make it grounds to deny a potential claim. Double check to see that all entrances are secure.

Winterize: Shut off the main water valve. Drain water from plumbing, using compressed air, if necessary, to remove all remnants of water. Even a small leak can cause extensive, expensive damage.

Keep up maintenance: There are property preservation companies that specialize in giving vacant sites a “lived-in” look. They perform such services as maintaining lawns and yards, keeping mail and debris picked up, shoveling snow and generally making the property appear neat and occupied. If you can’t afford such a service, ask friends or neighbors for help in maintaining and monitoring the property.

Unplug: Even when turned to “off” an appliance can still draw a little power, so make sure all plug-ins throughout the property are disconnected. This move also can minimize the potential for fire.

Monitor: Test and retest smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and security alarms. Put in fresh batteries and test again before vacating the property.

Taking the steps to secure  an empty home may fend off a lot of headaches in the future.

 

Quickbooks Merchant Services Developer Earns Reward

On August 31, 2011, Hugh Molotsi received the “Founders Innovation Award,” for his role in the development of Quickbooks Merchant Services. An employee of Intuit for many years, Hugh discovered a business problem by talking to business owners about why they weren’t use credit card processing and the most frequent response he got was that they didn’t know how to do it.

Quickbooks Merchant Services Impact

Providing a solution to that problem was the beginning of the creation of Quickbooks Merchant Services which Hugh was instrumental in developing. It was released in 1999. Within two months, the business was profitable. Within the first year, they had 3,000 customers. The next year, business tripled to 10,000 customers and revenue tripled as well. Intuit’s future businesses were built on the fundamentals that the Quickbooks Merchant Services had. Now most of their customers, revenues and profits are from Quickbooks Merchant Services customers. Most of the Intuit businesses today and most of them for tomorrow are because of Quickbooks Merchant Services.

Through Hugh’s leadership he has earned two leadership in excellence awards and four of Intuit’s Innovation Awards. According to Intuit founder, Scott Cook, he is a classic leader and teacher. He is a continuous learner and focuses on self-improvement. He received Intuit’s special recognition, special access to Intuit events, and a financial reward of $1,000,000.00.

Intuit Company Development

Intuit has produced the popular accounting software, Quicken for personal finance, Quickbooks, and Turbo Tax. Intuit is a financial services company founded in 1983 by Scott Cook, former employee of Proctor & Gamble and Tom Proulx, a computer programmer studying at Stanford University. These two brilliant people worked together to help make people’s lives easier by creating the first software accounting program for families and businesses.

Intuit now has a revenue of $3.9 billion dollars, was ranked #44 by CNN as one of the top companies to work for and was ranked in Forbes magazine as one of the top 100 most inventive companies. Their mission statement is to remain “driven by our passion for inventing solutions to solve important problems, perfecting those solutions and delighting our customers.” Intuit makes a practice of rewarding their innovative employees by giving them special recognition and handsomely rewarding them financially. Intuit has become a success story inspiring people from all walks of life.

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Founder of Intuit

Scott Cook co-founded Intuit Inc. in 1983 and now serves as the chairman of the Executive Committee. He earned an MBA from Harvard University and received a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from the University of Southern California. Cook is a member of the board of directors of eBay; Procter & Gamble; the Asia Foundation; the Harvard Business School Dean’s Advisory Board; the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin; and the Intuit Scholarship Foundation.
Quickbooks Checks

How to Dispute Errors On Your Credit Report

Your credit scores play a big role in your life and your ability to borrow money for large purchases at the lowest possible interest rate. Credit scores can determine whether  you can purchase a car or a house at low interest rates or high interest rates. So what can you do about managing your credit scores? Get a copy of your credit report and fix any errors you find.

Disputing credit errors may not be a fun thing to do but it is very important to managing your financial health. Why? Because banks use consumer credit history to determine your eligibility for a loan and to determine what interest rates they will charge you.   If you think you might be applying for a loan, it would be best to monitor your credit scores.

Finding Mistakes On Your Credit Report

Murphy’s law states that “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” This is especially true with credit reports. Experian, one of the three main credit bureaus, stores 65 trillion bytes of data. Mistakes are bound to happen. Consumers should remember that inaccuracies found in your credit report can significantly lower your credit score.  Raising your credit scores depends on  getting these mistakes corrected. Remember that disputing errors is free to you.

You will need to get a copy of your credit report from three credit bureaus:  Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  You should print a copy of these reports and go through each of them very carefully. If you find mistakes, highlight the data in question. It is important that you ask the credit bureaus to make corrections for you. Write down the credit report number for each of your reports. You will need to reference that number when communicating with the bureaus.

Once you have gone through all three credit reports, write an explanatory letter for each credit bureau. Your written request is generally called a dispute letter. Explain each disputed item clearly and concisely.  Send in your dispute letter with a copy of your credit report  via certified mail, call them or use an online form. Meanwhile, you can contact all lending institutions such as banks and credit card companies to tell them that your credit report is undergoing an investigation and that you have filed a dispute for erroneous information.

Contact Information For The Three Credit Bureaus

Equifax Mailing Address
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
1-888-202-4025

TransUnion Mailing Address
2 Baldwin Place
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, PA 19022
1-800-916-8800

Experian Mailing Address
P.O. Box 2104
Allen, TX 75013-2104
1-888-397-3742

What The Bureaus Do

Once the bureaus have gone through your files, they have 30 days to respond to your request. They will send you a letter containing the results of the investigation along with a note that they will remove or erase the inaccurate information in your credit report.

Once that is done, you can also request the bureau to mail correction notices to banks and lending companies they have sent the report to in the last 6 months. If you ask, they can also sent it to places that have requested your credit report in the last two years. The credit bureaus should send  you a copy of your report and they should include the details of the revised information.

In instances where the dispute has not yet been resolved, you can request the bureau to update you on the status of your request. Consumers must remember they cannot remove erroneous information on their own. A dispute must be filed for an investigation to happen.

Recommended Reading

For further information about credit management, you can visit the Federal Trade Commission site where you will find consumer information about credit and loans.

Experian provides the latest credit analysis news from 90 countries around the world. You’ll find out bits of information like New Yorkers have the most open credit cards and Phoenix has the least.

If you want to limit the credit card offers you receive through the mail, call 1-888-567-8688.

Strengthen your financial well being by educating yourself about managing your credit and making smart financial decisions.

Getting Out of Debt Stories

Getting out of debt is a struggle for some people. Here are some good stories around the net that can inspire you. Enjoy!

• Building A Lean-To On The Side Of The Shed – Last year, before we moved into our new house, I bought a shed. I really like the shed. It’s nice and big and has plenty of space for all of my tools. I just have one problem -. I also have a lawn mower. …
• Reliability – Is It Just A Feeling? – I have a Saturn. A 2001 Saturn L300 that we bought used in 2004, to be exact. The Saturn is completely paid off. And there ends my list of nice things I have to say about it. Those who have been long-time readers of the blog know that …
• My Get Out Of Debt Success Story – $70000 In Four Years :The Happy … – My Get Out Of Debt Success Story – $70000 In Four Years. Posted by The Happy Rock on May 15, 2007.  The title of the site mentions gaining freedom through personal finance, so it is about time that I share some of our …
• What does getting out of debt “buy” you? :The Happy Rock – What does getting out of debt “buy” you? Posted by The Happy Rock on May 16, 2007. freedom.jpg So we battled for three years to get rid of our $70000 dollars in debt….so what! Here are the benefits that being debt free(besides the …
• comment on 15 ways to establish and improve your credit history … – […] diligence, you can protect your credit rating from adverse affects due to errors, but it is up to you to make sure that they are taken care of […]
• Pay Off Credit Card Debt – Despite unemployment, my husband and I managed to pay off our credit card debt completely.
• DIY Debt Consolidation Options – The quickest way to get out of debt is to never get into debt in the first place. The next quickest way to get out of debt is to throw as much money as possible at your loans until they are gone. Unfortunately, that may not be quick …
• 10 Ways to Pay Your Debt Off Faster – 10 tips to pay your debt down faster and use your money for better things – like growing wealth!
• 5 Key Strategies For Getting Out Of Debt The Happy Rock – Being debt free has been more amazing than I thought, and I want others to be able to share in a similar joy. For those who are trying to get out of debt or entertaining the thought, here is some ammunition. Find Your Passion Finding your passion is my number tip for anything that requires a large amount of energy and commitment.
• If You’re Going to Consolidate Debt Then You Have to Stop Using Credit – When it comes to paying off debt there’s one useful tool that can not only simplify your finances but also reduce the amount of interest you pay. Debt.
• Build an Emergency Fund, Pay Off Debt, or Save for Retirement … – Should You Save for Retirement or Build Up Savings? And What About Debt? What does building up an emergency fund, paying off debt, and saving for retirement.

Feel free to add your debt story here.

5 Things You Should Do To Avoid Financial Difficulties

Getting into financial difficulties is never fun, but it happens to many people. A job loss, a health problem, and numerous other issues can be going on in your life that contribute to these problems. During these times, you’ll need to have good money management strategies in place to help you get through the storm.

1 – No Debt No Matter What

Never believe that a little debt is o.k. even though it may seem manageable at the time. Debt is like cancer. It’s not life threatening at first because it’s small and only involves a few cells. Over time though it can rapidly multiply until it takes over. You become a slave to your debt. It rules your life.

2 – Avoid cosigning on a loan

No matter how easy this can be, you’ll be better off if you don’t do this. Think of the worst case scenario and that is how you may suffer. Don’t loan others money. You are not helping them by letting them avoid responsibility for themselves.

3 – Learn About Financial Products

Prudential Financial did a study about women and finances. Three quarters of the 1,088 women interviewed feel they need help in making financial decisions. Two thirds of the Baby Boomers are behind when it comes to saving for retirement. Six in ten women prefer learning about financial products through family and friends. Women who get a good financial advisor, find extra help in getting on the right track to preparing for retirement.

4 – Avoid Impulse Buying

If you are tempted to purchase things that you hadn’t planned on, give yourself some time to think about the purchase, especially if it is a large purchase.  Go home and think about it overnight. You’ll make better buying choices.

5 – Avoid The Sales Rationale

Some people purchase things just because they are on sale. They tell themselves that they are saving money. If you buy a $500 item on sale for $400 you aren’t saving $100 if you didn’t need it in the first place. You are just spending $400 unnecessarily. This rationale can happen at any level of spending, whether it’s a $10 item or a $1,000 item.

If you find that you are experiencing any of these danger signals, do something different today.

Danger Signals To Watch For

• Is an increasing percentage of your income going to pay off debts?
• Are you near or at the limit on your lines of credit?
• Do you worry a lot about money?
• Are you tapping your savings to pay current bills?
• Is your savings inadequate or nonexistent?
• Do you put off medical or dental visits because you can afford them?
• Are you working overtime to make ends meet?
• Has your car been repossessed?
• Are you unsure about how much you owe?

Your financial future is up to you. What you do with your time and money is going to affect you and everyone who depends on you. Use the resources available to you to help you make better financial decisions.

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Free Personal Finance Tools Create Smart Data

Gathering data and making meaningful use of it has made 30 year-old Aaron Patzer, a rich man. Aaron Patzer is the founder of the website, Mint.com which is a free personal finance site that has over 1.5 million users. It allows people to track bank transactions, credit card transactions, investments, and loan transactions online.

The site helps you find better prices on things you buy, guides you to the best credit card rewards and minimizes finance charges. It has helped people find $300 million in savings, managed $50 billion in assets and helped track $200 billion in purchases.

Security for this type of financial analysis is of utmost importance to  Mint.com. They have bank level security. They also have a “read-only” connection to financial institutions so no money can be moved and no one can drain your accounts. They have low-balance and spending alerts to help you manage your accounts and prevent identity theft or fraud.

What inspired him to create this type of site?

He found that he was spending most of his time working and had little time to track his own finances. Frustrated with how Quicken, Intuit’s financial software, worked, he decided to create his own program. He designed a way to make tracking his finances easier, quicker, and more automated. He created a business model that allowed people free use of the money management tools. From the data aggregated, they could offer suggestions on ways to save money, lower interest rates on credit cards and make better financial decisions

How did he fund the website?

Aaron had to raise venture capital money to fund the project and it was not always easy. He experienced highs and lows. Sometimes he thought his idea was the greatest thing since sliced bread and other times he questioned himself with his attempt at tackling such a big project and competing with Intuit, a $10B company. For comfort in the low phases, he often thought of a quote “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt.” Shakespeare

How does the software work?

Aaron Patzer received a license from the company, Yodlee, to use the technology that powers 85% to 90% of all the online consumer finance sites. The communication between you and your bank uses this technology.

Then, he did what he is good at. He began to work on algorithms that would take the financial data and make it useful. One algorithm was patented and contains 105 steps to have transactions labeled with appropriate categories. Other algorithms helped to make recommendations on ways that the user could save money. He now holds 11 patents on algorithms.

How did the site become so popular and successful?

When the site was first launched it won awards from The Motley Fool for the best money management tool. TechCrunch40 awarded them the hottest start up company of the year and they really began to take off. Over the next few years they received 47 awards from well know companies like, CNNmoney.com, Time.com, PC magazine, Kiplinger, the World Economic Fund, LifeHacker.com and Business Week.

What does Intuit think of Mint.com?

Intuit’s executives watched Mint.com for over a year. They became so impressed with the features of the site that the CEO of Intuit, Brad Smith approached Aaron and offered to buy the company. On November 2, 2009, Intuit purchased Mint.com for $140 million, offering Aaron the chance to be in charge of Mint.com and all Quicken online, desktop and mobile offerings, which he agreed to do.

Aaron Patzer, earned his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, and computer science, and electrical engineering, at Duke University as well as a master’s degree in electrical engineering and algorithms from Princeton University. Some of his first work after graduation was working on a cell microprocessor, used in the PlayStation 3 and it uses three of his patents.

What is Aaron Patzer’s advice to entrepreneurs?

His best advice to other entrepreneurs is to “observe the world around you – everything you do, and especially everything you hate to do – solve a real problem and the world is yours.”

30 Personal Finance Tips To Use Now

Personal finance tips can come in handy when you are trying to improve your financial situation.  Economic struggles in the past several years have really turned some people’s lives upside down.

In March, 2010, the number of long-term unemployed people (those without a job for over 27 weeks) was a staggering 6.5 million. There were 15 million unemployed people. That’s a lot of people struggling to make ends meet any way they can.

To help you through this tough economic time, make sure that you help yourself by doing some of these practical things.

Protect yourself

• 1. Get a credit report every year so that you can make sure your credit is in good standing.
• 2. Scan everything in your wallet. In case of theft, you’ll have all your account numbers and contact information available.
• 3. Stop overdraft fees by going online and hooking up your checking account with a savings account.
• 4. Sign up for an alert that warns you when your account reaches whatever amount you choose.
• 5. Keep well organized financial documents for tax purposes
• 6. Diversify your sources of income.

Setting Goals

• 7. Decide what you want to do with your money.
• 8. Cover the necessities first
• 9. Use free websites for tracking goal setting
• 10. Choose some new starting points to hope for the best but plan for the worst.

Savings Strategies

• 11. Start saving at an early age.
• 12. Save money on a weekly basis and leave it alone for a while.
• 13. Order free information for your vacation planning.
• 14. For older folks, estimate your retirement benefits online at www.ssa.gov where you can put in your social security number and estimate your retirement benefits.

Debt Management

• 15. Use your tax refund to pay off high interest credit card debt.
• 16. Go to the websites where you have credit card accounts and sign up for an alert to remind you 10 days prior to the due date.
• 17. Request a reduction in your credit card interest rates.
• 18. Be grateful that your debt is not as big as the country’s debt.

Daily Living

• 19. Take an oath of financial honesty, with yourself and with others.
• 20. Use your local library instead of purchasing books.
• 21. Eat at home. Avoid restaurants to limit calories and cash expenses.
• 22. Reassess your possessions and see what you can live without.
• 23. Tell a friend what you are saving for and ask for emotional support.
• 24. Practice self-monitoring. Track spending using software like quicken or see if your online banking has a budgeting feature and track it for free.
• 25. Beware of advertising campaigns to entice you to spend more on house-hold goods. Proctor & Gamble, will increase advertising expenses by 20% in 2010.
• 26. Shop at cheaper stores. You can get Egyptian cotton sheets at discount stores.
• 27. Recognize buying mistakes and vow not to make them again.
• 28. Give away things you don’t need to make room for your new life.
• 29. If you are suffering from depression about your finances, discuss it with your doctor.
• 30. Learn to live with less – do you really need everything you have stashed away?

Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.

Behavioral Finance Experts Share Tips

Are you one of the 50% of Americans that don’t expect your personal finances to improve in the next six months? According to a recent Harris Poll 30% of Americans feel that their finances will worsen. Fear of losing your job or losing money influences us tremendously.

Emotional Financial Decisions

There have been studies done by behavioral finance experts that say by nature we seem to look at our own situations as worse than they actually are. Is that true for you? One solution to this problem is to figure out how to conquer the emotions that stop you from making the best financial decisions you can.

Psychologists often use the phrase, “The emotional tail wags the rational dog.” The same is true for us in managing our personal finances. So what can you do to help yourself?

The first thing to do is to save money and save money early. A gentleman was discharged from the Army in 1958 with a check for $3,500. He got some advice from the head of research at Smith Barney about what to do with his money. He was advised to save it and invest it. He ended up investing the entire amount in IBM stock because he was familiar with the company. That stock is now worth over a quarter of a million dollars.

Why Is It Hard  To Save Money?

Richard Thaler, author of the bestselling book,”Nudge,” and professor at the University of Chicago, School of Business, says that the biggest problem Americans have is just not saving enough money. It is recommended that you save ten percent of your income, but many people fall far short of that. He says that people are not perfect. We all make mistakes. Figuring out how your emotions are getting in your way of saving will go a long ways in helping you get your finances back on track.

David Laibson, an economics professor at Harvard reports that the reason that people don’t save is primarily due to procrastination. They don’t want to fill out the paperwork that would make automatic payments into a savings plan. They decide that they’ll do it next week. It’s very similar to putting off a diet. It’s much easier to start on Monday. Do something about putting a savings plan in place. Use a strategy like saving ten percent of your income and put it on auto pilot.

Can you imagine how it would feel to have done this consistently throughout your life time? Warren Buffet, the third richest person in the world, worth $47 billion dollars, keeps $20 billion dollars in cash on hand. It helps him sleep at night.

Steps You Can Take Now

Your area of focus should be on building an emergency fund that will carry you through three to six months of unemployment. Try to eliminate big money expenses that may be unnecessary. Start networking with others before you lose your job. Find organizations to join where you can network at least once a week. Seventy-three percent of six-figure earners landed their current positions through personal contacts.

Get your finances back on track by saving on a regular basis, making good financial decisions without undue emotional factors and do yourself a favor by networking with others like-minded business people on a regular basis.

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