After you're done saving for college you'll likely be applying for federal financial aid. How is federal financial aid affected by scholarships, grants and other money? Federal financial aid usually includes student loans. The exact effect of scholarships and grants on student loans will depend on your educational institution.
How much will college cost?
How soon should you begin saving money so you can send your child to college? The best time to start saving for college is when your child is born. Saving for college beginning at birth gives you time to invest money in mutual funds and stocks. The sooner you begin saving money for college the more money you should have for your child's college education.
It's hard enough to sit down and create a financial plan when you have full-time job generating a regular income. Add an unsteady income and financial planning becomes an even bigger chore. Sometimes it takes a little unconventional investing and sometimes using an investment firm to help with that financial planning to make your retirement secure.
If you're thinking of setting up a revocable trust for a parent or have been asked to be an administrator of one, you will need to make sure you retitle assets that are placed in the trust. Assets include primary residences, vacation properties or even stocks and bonds. Trusts are often used in estate planning.
The Netspend card is a stored value card. It looks like a credit card, but acts like a debit card. However, instead of being tied to a checking account, you have to load up the card with cash before you use it. Here are a few of the new Netspend features.
How can you ensure that your investment property gets transferred to the correct heir in the event of your death? Is there a way to meet your estate planning needs and still allow you to enjoy the investment property's income while you're alive? A revocable trust may be able to meet these estate planning needs.
A trust can be used to shelter assets and give ownership to the trustees of the property, or other assets. However, if the previous owner goes into nursing home care soon after the trust is set up, it can be undone by the state to pay for the original owner's care. While using cash or other assets to pay for long-term care isn't as appealing as having Medicaid pick up the bill, that's what assets are there for.
As the U.S. dollar declines in value it makes American assets such as the Chicago Skyway more desirable to foreign investors. How does a declining dollar value affect your pocketbook? When you travel you may get less currency in exchange for U.S. dollars. In addition to a declining dollar, Americans have been able to borrow money to buy items such as cars at low interest rates.
Estate planning such as designating power of attorney is a smart move. A living will, has nothing to do with the financial aspect of estate planning, but allows you to describe the kind of medical treatment you want in certain situations. A durable power of attorney is a good move as far as estate planning, because it lets you select someone to make tough decisions and pay bills for you after you are no longer able to choose.
