Online Financial Services

We have often heard about bankruptcy fraud – a term often used by legal bodies. Any type of fraud is considered, in the USA, as a Federal crime. Bankruptcy is basically a legal way whereby a person or company is exempt from paying any of his/her/their debts due to a lack of finances. When a person tries to project such an image falsely, just to escape paying debts, this is considered as bankruptcy fraud and is punishable under the Law.

Some of the matters that amount to bankruptcy fraud are:

Concealing valuables/ property/ anything of value that can be used to facilitate the payment of the outstanding dues
Knowingly concealing information about secret dealing and contracts that provide “on-the-side” (un-declared) income
Transferring/ buying property in the name of your spouse, just so it will not be absorbed into the bankruptcy listing as assets

As a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and someone who deals specifically with retirement issues I spend a lot of time helping participants with their retirement plans. One of the most common reasons participants would meet with me is because they say need money and they are looking to take it out of their retirement plan. Unfortunately, this conversation almost never goes over too well since they are usually upset with the fact that they cannot cash out their entire account while an active employee or can’t tap into the company match. It’s just as bad when I explain to those who are eligible for a distribution that they are likely going to lose 30% or more of their money to taxes.

What is probably more shocking is that many of the people coming in looking to take money out of their retirement plan only need a small amount (generally under $1,000) to cover some unexpected expenses and I’ve even seen people take out $500 loans on three year terms. With

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Saturday morning, I woke up and tried to click on my favorite internet news site.

‘YOUR COMPUTER HAS LOST CONNECTION WITH THE INTERNET’ blared across my screen.

A five minute phone call to my internet provider later, I discovered my wireless router had died. Sure, my router is older than most sixth graders but I had hoped it would hang on until I was debt free – such a selfish router not to consider my finances before dying. But alas, in government terms, the router has ‘reached the end of its useful life’.

So, I did what I do best when it comes to broken things in my home, I kept my mouth shut and hoped no one would notice. In a crunch, I could bike to our local library to write the blog.

Thirty seconds after I made my decision to hide it, my brother shouted, ‘The internet is down! Do you want me to call the cable company? I’ve got a report to write for work.’

Darn.

I dragged my desktop computer halfway into the hallway and the Ethernet cable the other half distance to serve as a makeshift internet station. My brother isn’

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I’ve heard many people talk about the benefits of buying locally grown, fresh produce from farmers markets.  The fruits and vegetables are said to be healthier for you because the animals are healthy and the food is not processed or chemically altered in any way.

Based on my research, it appeared that most farmers markets in my area do not open until May 1st, but there are a few that open year round.  I found one not too far from my home and decided to pay them a visit this weekend.  I stopped by the ATM, withdrew $40 (ha ha yea right), and was on my way to a farmers market for the first time ever.  I was fascinated by what I saw, so I tried to sneak a few pictures to capture the experience.

The farmers market was set up in a parking lot near city government buildings.  There were about 20 farmers’ booths and it wasn’t too crowded to throw me into sensory overload.

There were about 2-3 farmers selling fruit.  I love fruit, but I was disappointed because I was expecting way, way more fruit variety and many more options.  After perusing the limited selection, I bought a few apples.  See below for my experience after I got them home.

There were many farmers selling a variety of greens, either small bags of them or plants to take home and grow yourself.

There were lots of homemade preservatives and sauces for sale, but I’m not a fan of communal taste testing so I didn’t stop at this table.

There was even a person out there selling homemade chocolate candy.  *heaven* I don’t know why, but this was surprising to me.  I guess I was expecting a farmers market selling all natural, healthy foods.  I was curious, so I chatted the man up about his ingredients and candy making process.  While standing there, the smells invaded my nostrils and my mouth started watering.  Needless to say, I bought 2 pieces of the dark chocolate for $3.00 and ran away…quickly!

Lots of baked goods for sale.  Again, this surprised me. And the prices were riTHICK

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Telecommunications regulator Ofcom has announced new proposals it claims will lower the connection fee for customers who wish to call a mobile phone using their home landlines.

At present people who call someone on a different network are charged a mobile termination rate of around 4.3p for every minute of the call, which is added to the bill.

What are the changes?

The new changes introduced by the consumer watchdog mean that the current charges must be reduced. This means that UK mobile providers will begin to cut the rate they charge from next year and it has to fall to 0.5p a minute by 2015.

It believes these proposals will also mean that both landline and mobile operators are given greater flexibility in designing competitive call packages, which will increase the level of competition and be of benefit to consumers.

Around 32.7million UK homes and businesses will benefit from this ruling. Read more…

Credit card fraud is when somebody uses your credit card without your authorization. This could happen in many ways:
* When your card has been stolen
* If your card was swiped twice for the same amount
* If your card was used by Internet hackers
* If your card was used without your knowledge by your children/ spouse/ friends who have access to you purse or handbag

One of the easiest ways to prevent such fraud – or at least keep it to a minimum – is to have the provider send you SMS alerts on your cell phone every time your card is charged.

This has two benefits :
(1) it keeps a close tab on your balance available, and
(2) it will alert you whenever your card is used.

In case you find that your card has been used without authorization, you can immediately alert your bank and the police regarding the credit card fraud in progress. It’

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In case you missed the news, we’ve had a few hundred tremors in southern California over the last 24 hours.

The first quake (a 7.2 out of Mexicali) started yesterday afternoon as I sat in my parent’s kitchen. What they don’t tell you about earthquakes is that in quiet open areas, you can hear them coming. My parents live on 8 acres surrounded by national forest. For a second or two, the earth sounds like an angry groaning ship and then gives way to deep rumbles. The cabinet doors shutter like knocking knees, the glass dishes inside shivering. My parents, husband, and I stared at the hanging lamp above my head swinging like a pendulum. Normally, and stupidly, we never run outside to safety. Most quakes last 5 seconds or less and it’s not worth the panic but as this one continued to roll under us like an ocean tide and the structure of my parent’s home started to pop loudly, we decided to wait it out on the front lawn. We felt t

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HEALTHY

I did pretty good in March, but I’m going to keep it simple this month so I can focus on the problem areas in fitness, nutrition, and accountability.

• Increase my workouts to 5 days per week.  I will accomplish this by marking them on my calendar each week in advance and committing to the schedule no matter what.  You make time for what you want and fitness MUST be a priority in my life.

• Eat breakfast, take iron supplement, drink water as primary, and incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my daily diet by creating weekly meal plans.

• Limit meals outside the home to no more than 3x per month.

• Include God, my most important accountability partner, in my plans and read/write in my prayer journal at least 3x per week.

• Lose a minimum of -1 lb each week but strive for a total  loss of -30 lbs by month end.

WEALTHY

I have two big expenses that I must carefully plan for to ensure they don’t break the bank.

• Now that BG has chosen a school, I can finally book our European vacation.  My goal is to have it this done by the end of the month.

• Ma Dukes has a birthday coming around the bend.  My original gift idea was a cruise, but she’s a party pooper.  My second gift idea was a spa day, but she doesn’t want to come up here during Spa Week when services are cheaper.  HER gift idea is a “shopping spree” but she hasn’t clarified her definition of a “spree” so now I’m back to square nothing.  If I haven’t thought of anything by the end of this week, I’ll just send her a check and call it a day.  That’s corny to me but she wouldn’t mind at all.

• As always, I will save and invest according to plan FIRST, then have guilt free fun later.

What are your goals and aspirations for April?