- RT @ScottATaylor: Get a Daily Summary of Your Friends’ Twitter Activity [FREE INVITES] http://bit.ly/4v9o7b #
- Woo! Class is over and the girls are making me cookies. Life is good. #
- RT @susantiner: RT @LenPenzo Tip of the Day: Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night. #
- RT @ScottATaylor: Some of the United States’ most surprising statistics http://ff.im/-cPzMD #
- RT @glassyeyes: 39DollarGlasses extends/EXPANDS disc. to $20/pair for the REST OF THE YEAR! http://is.gd/5lvmLThis is big news! Please RT! #
- @LenPenzo @SusanTiner I couldn’t help it. That kicked over the giggle box. in reply to LenPenzo #
- RT @copyblogger: You’ll never get there, because “there” keeps moving. Appreciate where you’re at, right now. #
- Why am I expected to answer the phone, strictly because it’s ringing? #
- RT: @WellHeeledBlog: Carnival of Personal Finance #235: Cinderella Edition http://bit.ly/7p4GNe #
- 10 Things to do on a Cheap Vacation. https://liverealnow.net/aOEW #
- RT this for chance to win $250 @WiseBread http://bit.ly/4t0sDu #
- [Read more…] about Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-12-19
Selling Your Home: The Real Estate Agent
If you are not able or willing to sell your home yourself, you’ll need to find a real estate agent. A realtor is someone who deals with all of the hassles involved in selling your home in exchange for a fee of up to 7% of the selling price.
The hassles include marketing, an objective price analysis, advertising on the internet and in newspapers, providing a yard sign, negotiating the sale price, reviewing and filling out the contracts, and navigating the entire process for you. The aren’t meaningless duties, so make sure you are getting what you pay for. You need to find the right realtor for you.
The key to to ask questions, particularly the right questions. You can ask the wrong ones if you’d like, but they tend not to help much.
Helpful questions include:
- “Can I call your previous clients?” If the answer is no, run away! If the answer is yes, get the list and call them.
- “Have you sold any homes near here recently?” Get the names and numbers of the customers and call them. Find out how it went and what they wish would have happened differently. If the realtor hasn’t sold nearby homes recently, keep looking.
- “Will you put your sales strategy in writing?” If it’s not in writing, you may be left paying the full commission, without getting the full promised service.
- “What will you tell a potential buyer that wants to negotiate?” Make sure you and your realtor are on the same page.
Now for some secrets that realtors will not volunteer.
- The selling fee is negotiable. If you live in a popular development, or if nearby homes have sold quickly, you should be able to get your fee reduced a couple of points.
- You don’t have to sign an exclusive listing agreement. With an exclusive agreement, you will pay the realtor a fee if the house sells. Period. With a non-exclusive agreement, you can list with several agents and only pay the one who actually sells your house. If you find the buyer, you won’t pay a selling commission at all.
Selling your house can be intimidating and realtors are there to make the task easier for you. Have you had any problems with real estate agents?
Reason #45,682 Why It’s Good To Have An Emergency Fund
My mother-in-law died two weeks ago.
It’s sad, but I’m not going to get into the emotional devastation that comes with the death of a loved one here. At least, not today.
Today, I’m going to talk about the money, but not the funeral expenses.
I’m talking about the expense of taking over her stuff. When she died, she was living in her own home, paying her own bills.
Now, we have a small stack of expenses we weren’t planning for.
She had 2 cars. She actively drove one, and kept storage insurance on one that was parked in the driveway. Combined with the homeowner’s insurance, that’s $110/month.
One of the cars has a loan. The car is worth $4000 more than the loan, so it’s not worth letting the bank repossess it. That’s another $200/month.
The gas and electric add $50 to the monthly tab.
Setting aside money for the property tax adds nearly another $200 per month and the first half is due next week.
I rounded the numbers off here, but that’s $562.58 that’s outside of our regular budget and doesn’t address some bills that we paid off instead of arguing with bill collectors while we straighten out the estate.
This is the kind of scenario that makes me happy to have an emergency fund. We are able to pay the property taxes and keep the lights on because of it. A few years ago? The car would have been gone and the house dark within a month.
Now? The emergency fund covers the immediate expenses and we have some breathing room to adjust our budget. For example, the money we were setting aside for our next car is now being earmarked for paying off our surprise car loan.
Financial Spread Betting
Spread betting is a method of trading that has a high potential for both loss and gain. The nature of spread betting is highly speculative. Through it, traders can potentially make money when the market is going up or down, depending on the bet that they place.
Traders only make money when they correctly predict the direction the market is going in. If a trader feels that the market will be going down, then he or she would bet against the market. If the trader feels that the market will be going up, then he or she would bet with the direction of the market. Gains in income come from the spreads – the difference in price between the bet and the direction the market takes.
Traders place their bets in terms of points. Each point has a set monetary value assigned to it. The money that the trader makes depends on how many points that the trader loses or gains. Traders can place stop orders to protect themselves. A stop order is a simple computer command that tells the trading system to cancel the transaction when there is a certain gain or loss in the market. This is how traders protect themselves from potentially wild market swings – executing a stop order saves the trader.
Gains from spread betting are tax-free in the UK and can be done through many online sites. It can be an especially lucrative form of investment for UK traders.
The risks of spread betting are often too large for many who don’t have much of an appetite for risk. The most frustrating part of this business is being unable to predict the market. You can potentially stay in a position where you are losing a lot of money if you aren’t careful. This is tempting when you are convinced that there are gains to be realized from the position you are trading in. If you find that this is the case, then you should evaluate why you bought the position in the first place. A penny saved is a penny earned, and this is certainly true in the investment world.
The best way to begin is by visiting website operated by Cantor Index and setting up a
spread betting demo account until you get better at timing the market. You won’t be tempted to make silly mistakes that many other traders make and having a demo account will give you the confidence to trade with real money.
While risky, with time and practice you will get better at spread betting. Once you learn how to time the market, and you gain practice, your luck with trading will be better. This is one of the best ways to mitigate the risks involved – getting better at the game. You will lose money in the market, but the objective of being a trader is to make more than you lose.
This is a sponsored guest post provided by Chris, working in partnership with Cantor Index.
Charity Scams
- Image by Emery Co Photo via Flickr
‘Tis the season to give away your stuff.
As Christmas rolls in, it’s common to see people ringing bells for charity outside of stores, or knocking on doors asking for your help with their pet causes. Phone and mail solicitations are up. You’ve got your pockets open and everybody’s hoping for some cash.
Good for you. Charity is wonderful.
I openly treat charity as the selfish act it truly is. Donating my time and money to causes I support makes me feel good about myself. I like feeling good about myself. The other reasons people give to charity are A) to make people like them, or B) to receive tax deductions. That’s it. There are 3 possible reasons to donate: to like yourself, to make others like you, or to save some tax money. I thought about adding guilt to the list, but that is covered by some blend of the first two reasons.
How can you know that the charity you are donating to is worth it? There are a ton of evil bastards out there trying to cash in on your desire to feel good. They want your money because rolling around naked in ill-gotten gains is what makes them feel good. Naked scammers sprawled across my cash isn’t a visual that makes me feel good.
Wait, you say? People use charities for cons, you ask? In 2005, The National Arthritis Association was busted for convincing people that it was somehow related to The Arthritis Foundation, when in reality, it was using the money for hookers and blow. Or something decidedly not arthritis-cure-related. If a charity sounds like something you know, but isn’t quite there, check into it before you donate.
It’s also common for scammers to run a phone campaign, pretending to be the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or United Way. Those are all good charities, but they don’t benefit from the good intentions of the victims. The scammers just want the credit card information. Once they have that, it’s off to Rio for a crazy week of xxxxxx on a xxxxxx with a xxxxxxx for xxxxxx. (Editor’s note: This is a family-friendly blog.) Don’t give out your credit card information to anyone over the phone. Ever. Tell the caller to send you something in the mail, or promise to visit their website. But don’t give them the keys to your cash.
How can you avoid funding a Nigerian coup that will surely end in the downfall of the righteous king, causing all of his heirs to email me(as the only trustworthy person in the world) to help move the nation’s fortune out of the country in exchange for a mere 10% of the loot? I mean, how can you be sure you are donating to a good organization?
The easiest way is to ask the IRS. You can call them at 877-829-5500 or visit their website at http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96136,00.html to search for charities that have actually filed with the IRS. Not all charities have filed. Some state-based nonprofits don’t bother, but you can check with your Secretary of State to verify their status.
Always pay by check or credit card. Cash is untraceable. If a charity turns out to be a scam, leaving a trail makes it easier to prosecute.
Don’t give in to the guilt-tactics. If a charity is worth giving to today, it will be worth it tomorrow, too. There’s no rush. If the solicitor is trying to rush you, it’s probably a scam.
Remember, it’s your money. Take care of it.
What are your favorite charities?
Hypocrisy
Sometimes people make choices for a variety of reasons entirely outside of my knowledge and understanding. Yet somehow, I still manage to be dismissive and occasionally derogatory.
What I have come to realize is that there are numerous reasons for making apparent bad decisions. It is easy, though often not correct, to dismiss these supposed mistakes as character flaws, without taking the time to fully understand the decision-making process.
For example, I am usually quick to point out the folly of gadgets. Odd, that, for a gadget geek. So many gadgets are merely ego purchases, bought because the are “cool”. Obviously a waste of money. A smartphone serves no practical purpose for an average person, right? What if that person’s life is so difficult to manage that a calendar sync including both spouses and multiple calendars will allow a family to make sure every kid gets to every activity on time? Or he has a side business that is easier to manage with ubiquitous email? Or even a strong urge to limit the number of items carried every day? A phone/mp3 player is fewer gadgets than separate appliances.
Another example is a close friend who started running several months ago, to be met with questions of why somebody would run without being chased. It’s easier to play on the internet or ride a bike, right? And the special running shoes? Silly. Except running is cheaper than biking and running shoes beat knee surgery any day. Running on the street is more effective than a treadmill, since you can’t step off after running two miles away from your house.
So here I sit, a runner with a crackberry and plate full of crow.
“Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins.” Indeed.
