How To Defend Against Identity Theft

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Think identity theft can’t happen to you? Think again. Research shows that 10 million individuals will become a victim of identity theft this year. If you are not aware of the ways your identity can be stolen, it is very likely that you will be one of the millions of individuals who will have their identity stolen this year. The best defense against becoming a victim of identity theft is by knowing the 6 ways your identity can be stolen.

First, one of the easiest ways your identity can be stolen is through a losing a wallet or having it stolen. Thieves can take your personal information from a driver’s license, social security card or other identifying information found in your wallet. With this information, they can open credit card and utility accounts in your name. Thieves may also attempt to obtain public services, get a driver’s license or official ID card issued in your name, but with their picture on it, or even give out your personal information when arrested.

The second way your identity can be stolen is by becoming too comfortable with your day to day happenings. When you become routine in your schedule, you tend to let your guard down and fail to protect your personal information, especially your financial information that is on paper. Identity theft crimes are more likely to be perpetrated by someone you know or with whom you feel comfortable. For example, if you employ someone who works within your home, you will need to be sure that your personal papers are in a secure location within your home. Also, be aware of those cashiers who process your credit cards for you. Untrustworthy clerks can duplicate your credit card receipt or use a special device to capture your data.

Another way thieves can steal your identity is by scouring dumpsters or trash cans in order to get receipts from financial institutions or pre-approved credit card applications. Thieves use this information to open credit card accounts in your name. They have even been known to create counterfeit checks with your bank name and account information on them. It is extremely important to not only monitor your incoming papers but to monitor your outgoing papers and shred all financial documents before trashing them.

A fourth way your identity can be stolen is through telemarketing phishing scams. Thieves call and pretend to be an employee of a popular company, such as Kmart, and fabricate a problem with your most recent payment. Most people fall for this type of scam by providing the caller with personal and financial information. Identity theft also occurs on-line through social websites. Be careful not to tell others too much about yourself as identity thieves are great at using any tidbit of personal information to take over your identity.

The fifth way thieves steal your identity is by watching your actions at ATM’s. Thieves are literally looking over your shoulder and stealing your information. You should always be aware of your surroundings when using automated teller machines. Thieves look to see what numbers you type in when entering your pin. They then follow you, wait for a chance to get your ATM receipt, and then gain access to your bank account.

The sixth way to have your identity stolen is to, as simple as it sounds, fail to put protective measures in place to keep thieves from gaining access to your personal information. Whether you purchase identity theft protection services or put your own identity theft protection services in place, the important thing is for you to be proactive when it comes to protecting your identity. If you are not protected from identity theft, you inevitably have your identity stolen.

Knowing how your identity can be stolen enables you to know how to keep from being one of the 10 million individuals who will have their identity stolen this year. It is important to become aware of how thieves can access your personal information in order to put protective measures in place.

Best Gas Mileage Cars - Not Just the Usual Suspects!

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The best gas mileage cars include the Toyota Prius hybrid. However, they also include a few surprises, vehicles that may not come to mind when we think top fuel efficiency.

Gas prices seem to be going up and up. The price of oil is still very unstable, which means gas prices are unstable. That also almost always means they will continue to rise.

The best gas mileage cars also happen to be new models. Unfortunately, it defeats the purpose of saving money on gas if we have to spend even more money buying a brand new car.

For $21,100 the Toyota Prius gives us a Combined EPA Mileage of 42 mpg. Other top performers include the Mini Cooper, the Honda Civic, and the Toyota Corolla. Surprisingly though, the Toyota Altima is on the list as well.

While many of the top gas mileage cars this year are ones that might come to mind right away, like the hybrid Toyota Prius, some aren’t so obvious.

The price for a barrel of oil probably isn’t going to settle down in the very near future. As a result, the price for a gallon of gas will probably remain pretty volatile, and continue going up. About the only upside is that we’ve had to learn to conserve energy.

While the price of gas continues to rise, we can do the things that improve our overall gas mileage. If it isn’t possible to drive the best gas mileage car, we should make an effort to keep our tires properly inflated, tires and brakes in alignment, and our engines tuned up regularly.

Two Simple Solutions to Avoid Foreclosure on Your Home.

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If the bank is threatening to take your home you are probably looking for some foreclosure solutions to stop this from happening. This article is going to take a look at some simple things your can do to help you keep your home.

Foreclosure Solutions You Can Live With

Several ways exist that you can use to stop foreclosure on your home from your bank, but the simple, first step to your foreclosure solution is to contact your bank or lender and talk to them. It is generally agreed that it is not in the lender’s best interests to foreclose on your home. Since it is likely that they will be stuck with the property for a while and come out of the process losing money, they are more apt to help you find a solution to your foreclosure problem. By doing so, you can keep your home and the lender can keep receiving payments without losing money on their investment.

After contacting your bank or lender, they may give you the option to refinance your mortgage balance at a reduced interest rate. This option to refinance at a lower rate could also effectively lower your monthly mortgage payment. This can certainly help you regain control of your monthly budget, and at the same time put you back on good footing with the lender. By the way, a refinanced loan is a new loan that begins all over again with a fresh start. You may even find that your first payment may be delayed a month or two as the loan is going through the processing. Another feature of the refinance, depending on your equity, is that the lender likely will allow you to ‘roll’ any late payments and fees into the new loan amount so you start with a new home loan that is current.

While you can get back on good terms with the lender and get a fresh start, should you be able to get a lower interest rate for your new mortgage, your payments will likely be lower as we said before. Of course, that is assuming that you keep the same terms as your previous loan. If you get a longer term, you payments, your payments could be even less. However, there are reasons why a longer term is not a very good idea. While your monthly payment will be less and this options looks attractive after being in a financial mess, less of your new payment will go to principle (equity) and more will go toward interest, all of which could prove to be detrimental over the longer term. Either option is one of the foreclosure solutions that can help you get back to sound financial footing, get the bank or lender off your back and get you a fresh start.

The second option, and one that is far less appealing in most cases, is to sell you home. Under duress, this can be a difficult choice. The time it takes to sell the house will put a lot of pressure on you, your family and the bank or lender that is still looking for payments to bring your loan current. The bank may become suspicious if it appears you are trying to bail out on the loan and they may not be willing to work with you while you sell your house. Remember, too, there are many fees commissions, etc. in selling a house, so the actual sales price will not be the amount you receive in order to clear your obligation.

In the final analysis, the best foreclosure solutions are simple ones that keep you in your home and paying on your current loan. If you have fallen behind in your mortgage payments and looking at a possible foreclosure, finding a way to get caught up and back on good financial ground is the better option. You may even consider taking a second job temporarily or working from home in your spare time to keep you ahead of the game for now while you work on and finalize your other options.

Personal Finance : An Introduction

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Are you frustrated by always having to deal with financial issues? Not enough cash for this, not enough cash for that. Well, if you plan your personal finance properly, this would not be a problem. What do I mean by personal finance?

Financial planning covers a wide variety of money topics including budgeting, expenses, debt, saving, retirement and insurance among others. You need to understand how they work and how each of it affects us.

The basic rule to personal finance is budgeting. Some of you may cringe upon hearing the word budget. Some may think that budgeting may seem so impossible. Let me tell you this; if you get the difference between you needs and want, you are one step away from budgeting your finances right. However, it takes some time to get it right.

By creating a budget for let’s say shopping, you will only spend a certain amount of money on things that you need instead of things that you want. Thus, this creates a better picture of your money spent.

The key to financial planning depends on these five steps: assessment, goal setting, creating a plan, execution and monitoring and reassessment. All these may seem like hard work but trust me; you hard work will pay off.

An individual’s personal financial situation can be assessed by compiling simplified versions of financial balance sheets and income statements. These balance sheets list the value of your personal assets, liabilities and also personal income statement.

It is common for people to have more than one goal. Some people may try to clear off their debts while some people want to save. Whatever your goal is, it should be targeted at improving your personal finance. Debts can be very vicious. It will create big problems if they are not settled at the specified time. In short, your debt should always be the priority.

Goals aside, now comes the planning. How do you achieve your goals? Some financial plans involve cutting down on unnecessary stuff, increasing one’s monthly income and in some drastic cases, downgrading.

Whatever the plan and goal is, here comes the most difficult part. The execution. Whether or not the plan works depend on you. It’s a test of whether you have the discipline and perseverance to achieve what you want.

Some people only have the determination to continue only for a short period of time. That is why one’s personal finance needs to be monitored and reassessed from time to time.

Here is a big tip that I will offer you. If you own a credit cad, there is always a possibility that you may not be able to pay your credit card debts. Why? Simple, high interest.

Look into ways to lower your credit card interest rates. It is very easy to do. All you need is just give a call to your credit card company and ask for lower rates. If you have been paying on time for your bills there is a good chance that they will lower your rates. In lowering your rates, you can also reduce your total interests paid in a year.

So, there you have it, All you need to know about personal finance. Remember, with good personal finance planning, you can achieve so much more.

Everybody Needs Insurance

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If you own a home then you will certainly want to have a suitable amount of property security. Not having adequate could be disastrous should a fire or other natural disaster occur and destroy part or your entire home. That is because if you have a very high deductible or more you may find that it is as if you don’t even have cover simply because you can’t come up with that amount of cash.

People should evaluate what they want the most when it comes to insurance. That is because having enough policy in the areas that are most needed is better than not having enough across the board. Disability insurance is also important should you become disabled and is unable to work.

Figure out how much money you could manage to pay for health coverage at a moment’s notice should you need an immediate operation or something of that nature. If you work for a company then you more than likely already have this insurance through your company. How would you rebuild without adequate insurance benefits? If you are the major breadwinner in your home then you may want to revisit your budget and find a way to afford this type of coverage. Since this would be very difficult if not impossible it is highly recommended to have enough, or more than enough, property insurance.

If you pay for your own health cover then you will have to bump up your policy and pay as much per month for the best policy you can possibly afford. That way you will know that whatever happens you will be covered health wise. This is really important because all too often people are under insured and can’t receive the medical treatment they need as a result. It might take some sacrificing, but you really have to make adequate room in your budget for the cover you and your family need in case of a life-changing event.

Keep all of this information in mind when you are trying to decide what type of cover you want and how much you can afford. When you need health, life, property, disability, and more types of policies it is easy to see in a hurry that the cost can outweigh the amount of money that individuals can pay. Another type of coverage is on your life. This is great coverage to have if you are married with children so that you may leave the family enough money to pay the bills and survive without the additional income.

If you are self-employed there is a high possibility that you do not have this and cannot manage it.

How to Save the Pain of Losing Your Home and Prevent Foreclosure

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The simple thought of losing your home to foreclosure can be enough to cause you a good deal of anxiety. Just imagine then how painful it is should you really lose your home due to a foreclosure proceeding. There are several ways, fortunately, to prevent foreclosure even in these times of a troubled economy.

Take all the news items you have seen in the newspaper or have seen on TV, put them out of your mind and forget about what some deem as the inevitability of foreclosure. Have a more positive mindset and actively seek ways to prevent a foreclosure proceeding, especially if you truly want to avoid foreclosure and save your home.

Contact Your Creditors and Talk to Them

The best way to prevent foreclosure is to explain your financial situation to your creditors as best you can and ask for their help. When you receive that much dreaded collection letter from your creditors, do not run or hide. If you hide, these people have ways of finding you and foreclose on your home. Do not even bother to hide from them.

Instead of hiding from the situation, face the facts and explain your situation to the creditors. If they ask for your current financial records, do not hesitate. Give them copies of what you have that helps you relate your circumstances. The more cooperative you are, the more willing they will be to help you and give you a chance to stay in your home.

Ask For Special Forbearance

When talking to your creditor, consider asking for a special forbearance to prevent foreclosure. A forbearance is an agreement to postpone action. Special forbearances will allow you to arrange for a payment plan that is agreeable to your budget. In most cases, when you ask for special forbearance, the bank or the financial institution will ask you to prepare a state of income and expense which shows how much money you can afford to pay for your home. The bank or financial institution representative review your income and expense statement and then ask you which expense items you can relinquish to free up some money to pay for your debts. The bank or financial institution’s representative may also ask you to present a plan as to how you will increase your income in the future.

A Mortgage Modification Could Do the Trick

Besides asking for special forbearance to prevent foreclosure proceedings, you could also prevent foreclosure by asking for a mortgage modification or a refinance of your existing loan. Refinancing your present loan can help you obtain better terms and conditions for repayment. Often, when you refinance your mortgage, your lender will extend the payment term or lower the interest rate, reducing your payment to a more reasonable level.

Preventing Foreclosure to Protect Your Interests

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When you bought your home, you signed on the bottom line without reading all that fine print. Who really reads all that fine print anyway? First of all, you’d need a magnifying glass to see it, and, second, you’d need to be a law professor to decipher it. Realize, though, that you’re not alone. There are many people who signed on that dotted line without really understanding what they were signing. Just like you perhaps, these people are finding that their interest rates on their loans have jumped suddenly and they are no longer able to make their payments. They’re facing the ugly mess of a foreclosure.

Foreclosure simply means that the bank is coming to take back possession of your home. If you are facing this drastic measure, there are still ways and means that can be employed to help you through this. In a majority of cases now, foreclosure happened because of greedy lending practices. Mortgage lenders and brokers were out to make a fast buck. You should have been told what you were signing and what it meant, but that did not happen. Unfortunately, that is now in the past. You must now do some work on your part to find a solution and secure your future.

Call Your Lender

If you find yourself facing foreclosure, the first thing you should do, if you haven’t already done so, is contact your lender. If your lender also happens to be a bank, contact the bank directly and ask them for arrangements to help you work things out. It is good for you to know that a bank does not want to go through a foreclosure either. It is far better for them to have you make your payments and stay in your house. Due to this, the bank will do whatever they can to make the necessary arrangements and work things out.

When a bank conducts a foreclosure, they risk the house remaining empty for a long period of time. If they do happen to sell it, they usually end up getting far less for it than if you were paying. So ask them for help if you’ve fallen on hard times. You’re not alone and it’s likely they’ll work with you.

Contact Your Lawyer

If you’ve been the victim of lending fraud or shady business practices, you may have a case that you can take to court. Contact a lawyer and see if one will help you. Lawyers can be very expensive and most would think, “If I can’t pay for my house, how am I going to pay for a lawyer?” While this may be true, some lawyers will work on contingency on your case, which means they won’t charge you unless there’s a settlement or a judgment in your favor. It’s worth a try so that you don’t have to go through a foreclosure.

Don’t Run Away From Foreclosure

The very last thing you want to do when facing foreclosure is to skip out on your obligation. You could ruin your credit rating for an extended period of time and lenders then will be less likely to trust you with even a small account in the future. Besides, you’ll be left to the streets with no place to go. Do everything you can to avoid and prevent a foreclosure. Call the bank, call the lender or mortgage company or call a lawyer (depending on your circumstances). Don’t let pride get in the way. You could even call and ask your church or a local charity for help. Remember, you are not alone in facing difficult times. Do what you can to assure that you do not lose your home to foreclosure. Owning a home is part of the ‘American Dream’don’t let that get away from you.

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