February 20, 2012
Caring for elderly relatives can be very expensive. Today, the cost of nursing homes and senior assisted living facilities are higher than ever before. As the trend continues we’ll see more families strapped to finance for the long-term care of their elderly loved ones. Here’s how to manage the cost of care.
Consider the alternatives to a long-term care facility. Unless your aging parents requires extensive medical care or is at risk of severe injury left unattended, you may be able to care for them at home. The first and often best place for someone to age gracefully is in their own home. With some modifications many homes can be perfectly suitable for elder care.
Look at the possibility of consolidating living space into a single level. Move bedrooms, kitchens, laundry, and bathroom to one floor. By eliminating the need for stairs you can make your special senior safer.
What to do with the extra space? Many families turned a large one family home into a two or three family home with just a few adjustments to design and layout. Check your local ordinances before renting out your home as a multiple dwelling. Any apartments that you add to the structure must be safe and up to code. By renting out the basement and second level a senior citizen can bring in a healthy monthly income that can contribute to day-to-day care.
Some families will elect to offer room and board for free in order to have a trusted companion live at home with their parent or grandparent. As long as you’ve done a sufficient background check of the senior companion and you monitor the relationship closely this can be a very affordable way of giving care.
Another alternative is to have your elderly parents or grandparents move in with you. Often times this can work out cheaper for the family as a whole. Some seniors will choose to sell their primary residence and use the proceeds to pay for care while others prefer to keep the property and use it to provide rental income while holding on to the asset.
Before making any drastic moves when it comes to your parents finance it make sense to sit down with a qualified financial advisor. Choose an adviser who can give objective help and does not rely on sales commissions for income.
Tags:
budgeting,
economy,
financial planning,
Financial Retirement,
income,
money,
personal finance,
Retirement Planning
February 8, 2012
There are as many as 5 tax solutions that can keep the taxmen at bay in case you have failed to make the IRS tax payments. Here we will discuss about 2 of the much sought after tax debt relief options. You can think about opting for the tax debt help solution that will match your current financial requirements best. The first one is known as the Installment Agreement. Let us find in details what income tax debt solution it actually is how this particular tax debt settlement plan works.
Installment Agreement
In Installment Agreement, you agree upon a monthly payment plan that will enable you to pay your pending tax debt to the IRS in reasonable amount. It is more or less like availing a loan and then paying off the debt in easy and realistic monthly payment plan.
Who qualifies for Installment Agreement plan?
If you owe less than USD$25,000 but you are financially stable. However, at the moment you are not being able to shell out all the money to the IRS but you intend to do so in due course, you are eligible for this type of plan.
The second tax debt relief option is known as Lump Sum IRS plan. In this you are required to pay off a lump sum to the Internal Revenue Service. The amount you pay also includes the penalties and the interests that have piled up over time.
You can either take this tax solution to completion on your own or you can seek help of an experienced tax consultant who will take care of the negotiation between you and the Internal Revenue Services.
How will you locate the right tax professional?
The tax professional you are planning to hire is required to be a Certified Public Accountant, a tax attorney, or an Enrolled Agent. Generally speaking, it is said that if you owe taxes to the IRS that is between USD$10,000 and USD$25,000, you can tackle the issue on your own. But if the amount you owe to the IRS is greater than USD$25,000, it is best to seek help of an expert in this field as mentioned above.
Tags:
budgeting,
financial planning,
income,
Income Tax,
personal finance,
tax
January 25, 2012
Do you believe in living today? Then, you might be a reckless spendthrift, who does not care about the future savings. Well, it can bring you greater difficulties in future, when you will retire. Yes, when you get retired you have no income, leaving the little pension amount. If you do not have sufficient amount of savings also, then you can face great troubles, like no support for medical requirements, no help for your daily needs, or no additional financial aid to ease your burdens. Therefore, you must start saving little amounts from your salary, so that you can live carefree in your later days. Well, deferred annuity is the best way to do this.
The concept of “save today and enjoy tomorrow” has been turned into reality with deferred annuity easily. However, you must know the details properly before applying to these financial schemes.
The concept of annuity is made for securing the post retirement life, where you get to accumulate a good sum of amount from your income, so that you can use its benefits in the future, when you will get retired from your works.
Deferred annuity is a branch of annuity, which is made keeping up the requirements of the retirees in mind. Since, retirement only retires you from your works and does not reduce your daily needs, you drop into big troubles. Yes, your life remains the same, but the mode of running it in a smoother way that is your income shrinks into little pension amount. This great change is really difficult to be adjusted with the normal life however, deferred annuity makes it easier and you get to reside to the safe side of all escaping all unwanted troubles.
Deferred annuity assures a better post-retirement life
This is a type of annuity contract, which delays the payments, installments or the lump sum until you ask the annuity provider to pay it. These annuity plans has two phases. One is the savings phase, in which you invest the money to accumulate a good amount for the future. Another one is the income phase, in which you get the returns.
Well, the time of receiving the payment, is totally depends upon your decision. It is really a great support for the days, when you are in a need of money.
Deferred annuity can be further divided into two groups, such as:
Variable annuities are the annuity plans, which make their payments depending upon the condition of the market.
Fixed annuities are the annuity plans, where you get to receive fixed installments throughout your life.
Benefits
- No tax deduction until you withdraws the amount
- Assures a better lifestyle after retirement
- Your decision plays the vital role, which is surely of great help during your requirements
- Secures of post-retirement future in a better way
Therefore, go for deferred annuity now, because you deserve all the happiness in your life.
Tags:
budgeting,
Deferred Annuity,
economy,
financial planning,
money,
personal finance
January 22, 2012
Is there anybody who would not love to have financial securities during his or her retirement? Certainly not, because whatever we do more or less has connection with our future security. Well, having a secured financial life is a dream of many but a few can turn it into reality. If you are tensed about how to get financial independence in your retired life, then I must say that you should start your planning now. Go for deferred annuities for enjoying a happy retired life.
Accumulate a good sum of amount for your post retirement days, because little pension amounts always fail to support your additional requirements, like medical, familial and other such needs. Well, deferred annuities help you to recover yourself from these financial issues during your post-retirement life.
What are deferred annuities?
Well, this is a part of annuities, which is done in two phases. One phase is the accumulation phase, in which the annuitant invest the money either in little installments every month or a single payment in a year. Another phase is the income phase, in which the annuitant starts receiving the accumulated amount.
There is a gap between these two phases and the return of the installments totally depends upon the decision of the annuitant.
What are the benefits of deferred annuities?
This type of annuity plans support the requirements of the retirees in a better way.
This annuity plan gives retirees the freedom to decide the time, when they want to receive their repayments. It is surely of great help for the retirees.
This annuity plan comes with death benefits for the beneficiary of the annuitant. Therefore, the annuitant also gets security for his or her family.
This makes the annuitants live a better life, because he or she gets the facility to have a fixed income for the post-retirements life.
This also allows them to save maximum amount, because no tax deductions are made upon the accumulation phase, until the annuitant wants to withdraw it.
What are the types of deferred annuities?
There are two types of annuities, such as:
Deferred fixed annuity
It offers the annuitant a fixed income throughout his life and never changes depending upon the market condition or other problems.
Deferred variable annuity
It offers the annuitant different amount of installments depending upon the market condition. If the market is going good, annuitants get good installment. When the market degrades, the installments rates also change according to that.
Well, if you are still some years left before your retirement, this is the best time for you to go for the deferred annuities, so that you can retire at your ease.
Therefore, plan to accumulate a good amount of money with deferred annuities and give your life a chance to smile upon you forever.
The author, Aalina Jones here provides smart suggestions on deferred annuities. This article will certainly help people gather plenty of information regarding annuities.
Tags:
Annuities,
budgeting,
Deferred Annuities,
economy,
finance,
money,
planning
January 20, 2012
Are you eyeing a mortgage relief? Well, the answer is most likely to be ‘yes’, as millions of homeowners across the U.S.A are struggling hard to find the effective relief program or help. Often, homeowners feel that the money that could be saved via the relief programs would help them sustain other costs that were so long been postponed due to financial restrictions. A number of alternatives offer effective relief programs helping the mortgager adjust with his or her payments. The relief ideas in actual sense come to your best help in times when a particular circumstance blocks your road to payment.
Therefore, if you find yourself in hard times owing to mortgage payment then, consider relying upon any one of the following methods –
The Lender
While looking for a mortgage relief idea, consider contacting your lender, as a priority. All you need to do is call up the mortgage statement and request the call to be offered to the department of loss mitigation. This particular department helps in establishing a loan modification program that allows you to change the mortgage terms according to your convenience leading you towards a safe payment rather than foreclosure.
Refinance Program
The Home affordability Refinance Program (HARP) help in cases you have Freddie Mac or a Fannie Mae loan. This program allows the Fannie and Freddie mortgage holders to refinance their present mortgage within a value of 105 per cent to 125 per cent of the present value and worth of the home. This particular program also focuses on the idea of helping the mortgagers with better terms and conditions on the mortgage laying an improved situation financially. For availing, the best benefits with these two above-mentioned relief programs consider contacting the loan service provider for the application procedure.
Consult an Attorney
Consulting an attorney or a specialized real estate lawyer in times of hardship with your mortgage also helps in finding an effective mortgage relief program. If you are in a fixed financial situation then, consider relying upon your attorney for a loan medication program that can help in either delaying or avoiding a foreclosure.
Government Help
If you are facing problem in paying off your mortgage then, turning to government programs help in dealing with the mortgage issue. The Making Home Affordable Program and the Home Affordable Refinance Program are two such programs that are designed to assist the homeowners experiencing trouble with the mortgage payments.
However, while finding out the effective mortgage relief program, you need to keep in mind taking cautious steps towards the idea. Many a time, steps taken in hurry have resulted in bad decision that had further made the mortgage situation worsen leaving the mortgager in trouble. Therefore, it is advisable that you choose a relief program doing the background research well to save yourself from the hassles.
The author, Aalina Jones here provides smart suggestions on mortgage relief. This article will certainly help people gather plenty of information regarding loans and mortgage policies.
Tags:
budgeting,
debt freedom,
economy,
financial planning,
home mortgage,
money,
money/finance,
mortgage,
mortgage debt,
Mortgage loans,
Mortgage Refinance,
personal finance,
real estate,
real estate debt,
refinance,
refinance mortgage rates
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