When this goes live, I’ll be on the road to the Financial Bloggers Conference outside of Chicago. That translates to a day off here.
Monday, I’ll be back with a whole bucket full of bloggy goodness.
Future Me Returns
This is a conversation between me and my future self, if my financial path wouldn’t have positively forked 2 years ago. The transcript is available here.
What would your future self have to say to you?
Can I Sell My Lottery Payments for a Lump Sum?
This is a guest post.
Winning the lottery is everyone’s dream. You hit the lotto, cash in your ticket and kiss all your troubles goodbye, right? Actually, that might not be true. Just look at the number of lottery winners who’ve ended up worse off than they were before they hit it big. There are several problems here. One problem is that people often spend their money unwisely, without learning how to manage it properly. Lottery annuity payments were designed to help with this. However, those annuity payments might not actually be enough to make a significant difference in your life. If that’s the case, you might be wondering if you can sell your payments for a lump sum. The answer is, yes, you can. But there’s a catch. Actually, there are a couple of catches.
Buyers Matter
First, let’s talk about buyers. They’re the ones who’ll be paying you a lump sum for your lottery payments. Now, you can’t expect a buyer to offer the full amount you’re owed from the lottery, but you should be able to expect a significant percentage of the winnings. That’s not the case with many buyers. They recognize your desperation and have no qualms about taking advantage of your situation. That’s not true for all buyers, though. You need to recognize qualified buyers from those better left alone. Obviously, that’s tough to do on your own. Most people have never been in the position of having to sell lottery payments before, and it’s easy to get lost in a world with which you’re not familiar.
Sell Only Part of It
Another important consideration is whether you need to sell all of your lottery winnings or only a percentage of them. You can easily sell just a specific portion of your winnings, enough to cover your immediate needs, and retain the remainder as regular ongoing payments. This ensures that you have the money you need right now, as well as a financial cushion for the future.
Work with a Go-Between
The ideal solution to your quandary is to work with a firm that acts as a go-between. The company will vet and investigate buyers, ensuring that you only have the cream of the crop to choose from. Not only that, but working with a reputable firm will also ensure that you get the highest percentage possible of your winnings, rather than leaving you with a mere pittance.
Of course, not all such firms are the same, and you need to recognize a reputable company. Look for a firm that’s been in business for a number of years – one with an established reputation and a list of satisfied clients. Second, make sure the company doesn’t work for the buyers – the firm should work for you, the seller. This ensures there’s no conflict of interest. A company that works on behalf of the buyer has no incentive to go above and beyond to ensure you get a fair deal. One that works for you certainly does.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-03-13
- Getting ready to go build a rain gauge at home depot with the kids. #
- RT @hughdeburgh: "Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist." ~ Michael Levine #
- RT @wisebread: Wow! Major food recall that touches so many pantry items. Check your cupboards NOW! http://bit.ly/c5wJh6 #
- Baby just said "coffin" for the first time. #feelingaddams #
- @TheLeanTimes I have an awesome recipe for pizza dough…at home. We make it once per week. I'll share later. in reply to TheLeanTimes #
- RT @bargainr: 9 minute, well-reasoned video on why we should repeal marijuana prohibition by Judge Jim Gray http://bit.ly/cKNYkQ plz watch #
- RT @jdroth: Brilliant post from Trent at The Simple Dollar: http://bit.ly/c6BWMs — All about dreams and why we don't pursue them. #
- Pizza dough: add garlic powder and Ital. Seasoning http://tweetphoto.com/13861829 #
- @TheLeanTimes: Pizza dough: add lots of garlic powder and Ital. Seasoning to this: http://tweetphoto.com/13861829 #
- RT @flexo: "Genesis. Exorcist. Leviathan. Deu… The Right Thing…" #
- @TheLeanTimes Once, for at least 3 hours. Knead it hard and use more garlic powder tha you think you need. 🙂 in reply to TheLeanTimes #
- Google is now hosting Popular Science archives. http://su.pr/1bMs77 #
- RT @wisebread 6 Slick Tools to Save Money on Car Repairs http://bit.ly/cUbjZG #
- @BudgetsAreSexy I filed federal last week, haven't bothered filing state, yet. Guess which one is paying me and which one wants more money. in reply to BudgetsAreSexy #
- RT @ChristianPF is giving away a Lifetime Membership to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University! RT to enter to win… http://su.pr/2lEXIT #
- RT @MoneyCrashers: 4 Reasons To Choose Community College Out Of High School. http://ow.ly/16MoNX #
- RT @hughdeburgh:"When it comes to a happy marriage,sex is cornerstone content.Its what separates spouses from friends." SimpleMarriage.net #
- RT @tferriss: So true. "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." – Abraham Lincoln #
- RT @hughdeburgh: "The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them." ~ Frank A. Clark #
Getting Started With Precious Metals
Precious metals are a fairly reliable investment. The price rises and falls like anything else, but there will always be value. They will never be worthless.
If you have some preparedness tendencies, it’s reassuring to know that you own a form of money that has intrinsic value. In the case of runaway inflation like so many countries–from Argentina to Zimbabwe–have had to deal with, it may be the only thing you can spend to put food on the table.
Unfortunately, we’re close to the top of gold and silver prices. Ten years ago, gold was selling for $320/ounce and silver was $4.76/ounce. At this moment, they are $1572.82 and $27.28, respectively. Those prices can make it hard to break into precious metals as an investment.
But there’s a cheaper way.
It’s called junk silver. Junk silver is the term used when you’re talking about coins with real silver that have no–or very little–collectible value. Their value is based on the silver they contain.
Silver coins used to be the standard. Until 1964, the U.S. made it’s dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollar coins out of 90% silver. Our money had real value, then. Now, they are mostly copper, with a bit of nickel to make it the right color.
Since real-money coins have been out of circulation for 50 years, they can be hard to find in the wild, but it is easy to check a pile of change. You don’t have to look at the dates, just stack up the coins and look at the edges.
With real money, the coins are silver the whole way through, like the first picture. With modern “put your faith in the government’s promises” money, you can see the copper shining through. It’s astounding quick to scan through hundreds of coins to yank out the silver.
Is it worth it? How much is an old quarter worth?
A quarter weighs 1/4 of an ounce and the pre-1965 quarters contained 90% silver.
But wait.
That 1/4 of a standard ounce and silver is measured in troy ounces. Crap, what’s the standard-to-troy conversion?
°C x 9/5 + 32 = °F? No.
? No.
E = mc2? No
One dollar of perfect-condition 90% silver coins contains 0.7234 troy ounces of silver. Circulated, they are assumed to contain 0.715 troy ounces of silver, due to wear. The exceptions are Morgan and Peace dollars which contain 0.7736 troy ounces of silver.
Zero point what now?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to remember the numbers. Round it off and keep it simple!
For easy math, $1 of pre-1965 silver money(dimes, quarters, halves, dollars) contains 3/4 of an ounce of silver.
How does that help?
At today’s price($27.28), that $1 of coins is worth $20.46. A silver dime is worth 1/10 of that, so $2.05. A quarter is worth $5.12. Easy.
Where do you buy junk silver? Any coin shop will have it, but I usually shop eBay and APMEX. Expect to pay a bit of a markup from any dealer.
That’s how you make precious metals investing quick, cheap, and easy.
1. Scan your change and pull out anything(except nickels) with a completely silver edge. Score!
2. If you’re shopping for silver, know the price at the time, and do the math. $1 = 3/4 of an ounce of silver.
3. Store the silver until the world as we know it ends, then profit.
Are you hoarding silver investing in precious metals?
The Secret to Fearless Change
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door
You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door
If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door
If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it’s just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn
