If you don’t think their are consequences to your actions, look at the sovereign debt crisis of Greece to see that it can extend to an entire country, and possibly continent, when certain behaviors multiplied times millions of people bring about the same result as a single person or couple going into debt can do.

I say continent above because there is a possibility that a number of these countries could bring down the euro if the credit fiasco extends to them, which is a very strong possibility.

These things are brought up to catch your attention. In America there are already major cities bankrupt, and California is on the verge of falling, which is a larger economy than most countries in the world.

This is isn’t to make you fear but to sober you up a bit on the condition of your finances. Many of us, even after what has went on the last several years, just don’t think something like that could happen to us. But it’s not just happening to poor people, but to all economic strata’s in the U.S. and other countries.

What is the bottom line for all of this? No matter if it is a continent, nation, state, city or individual, excessive debt is nothing more than spending beyond your means, or to such an extent that any unexpected situation will bring you down financially to the place of bankruptcy or complete insolvency.

The major lesson to learn from the Greece sovereign debt crisis is you can’t continue to pretend that it’s something that will just go away. Those heavy in debt are only one economic downturn from being exposed that they have over-spent.

Thinking negative times are just short term and you’ll rebound when an economic recovery begins is no different than rolling the dice and hoping the right numbers come up. In other words it’s gambling, and we’re all in a period now where those that have gambled are losing.

This is one reason to put away a nice chunk of money for savings. A nest egg protects you from prolonged negative economic circumstances and events which weren’t expected. But if you’re so deep in debt any long-term economic downturn can hurt you, then even a large nest egg may not be enough to save you, as many are finding out now the hard way.

If a state, country or continent has the risk of going bankrupt or defaulting on their debt, so can you be at risk. Even if you’re in a solid financial position, it’s a good idea to keep on top of your debt and refrain from going any further into debut until you’re in a much strong financial position.

As many Americans are practicing now, is the time to build up your cash reserves and pay down your debt. Forget about the stupidity of the U.S. government – which is close to going bankrupt itself – telling you to spend your money as if it’s some type of patriotic duty.

Now is a time to hold on to your money and build your cash foundation up and, as mentioned above, pay down your debt. Nothing should be more important to you than that concerning your finances.

I’m going to say something that will challenge almost everyone that isn’t aware of it, and that is a job will never be enough for building wealth, and those that think they can get wealthy by getting an increase in pay, are in for a big surprise, because it doesn’t work.

In saying this, I’m largely talking about the Western world, as those living in countries like Japan and China do have significant savings, and they put it away at whatever level they’re at in wages, at least for the majority of them.

The secret to savings and building wealth will never be getting a higher wage or salary. Why? Every time someone gets a higher wage or salary they move up what they consider the economic ladder, and they will buy a more expensive car or home, which eats into whatever benefit they got out of the raise they received. Other items can of course be included with that, but a car or home will be the largest expenses paid for, and those will be bought using debt, which the higher loan will result in a higher payment. It’s as simple as that, and it’s a proven lifestyle choice of most of those living in the Western world.

Don’t get discouraged if you don’t make as much as others, as high-end professionals participate in the same economic behavior, including doctors and lawyers, who live from paycheck to paycheck like many other people do, just in a more expensive home and driving a more expensive car.

I bring all this up to say that you don’t need a larger check to get going on savings, because more than likely, not long after you get it you’ll end up going to a better car or home, which will bring you right back to where you were, with the exception of the car or home.

You may say, “but that means I’ve improved myself.” You would be wrong with that assumption, based on the mortgage fiasco over the last several years where people ended up in homes they couldn’t afford.

Remember, when it comes to savings and building wealth, it’s not the size of the paycheck but the consistency of investment over a period of time that makes it all work.

Whether you’re faithful in putting away $50 a month or $500 a month, if you do it over a period of time without changing your habits, you’ll end up with a nice chunk of money. Many times we hear about people with very low incomes putting away over the length of their lives and leaving millions to people or charities as a result. It wasn’t the size of their paycheck but the size of their commitment that made that possible.

Is this to say a larger paycheck can’t help you? No. But it means that the majority of people take a larger paycheck and spend it by moving up to the next level. If you get a larger paycheck and put it away at levels you have been, of course you’ll build your wealth far quicker than you would have otherwise. What I’m saying is you’ll be in the majority if you have the discipline to do that.

What I’m trying to get you to take away from all of this is if you focus on the size of your paycheck, you could end up using that for an excuse to wait or develop habits of getting what you want when you want at the expense of building up your savings and wealth.

Waiting for your paycheck to get a certain size won’t work because of the habits you’re developing. Once it gets to a certain level you can be sure you’ll wait for the next increase as well.

Don’t get caught in that trap. Make a plan and commit and work with it. If you get more income coming in, at that time adapt the plan, and do the same over and over again. Waiting for the perfect income level never works, because that time never comes once you start to look at finances that way.

ING Direct, one of the first banks to offer an online savings account, has given up offering the best interest rates during the last year and a half and is now offering what many to believe mediocre interest rates at best.

Since ING Direct has some onto the market, a number of other banks have also developed their own online savings accounts—many of which offer better interest rates than what ING Direct is offering. For example, Sally Mae’s new online savings account is offering an interest rate of 1.25% and FNBO Direct is offering an online savings account with an interest rate of 1.25% as well. ING Direct is currently only offering 1.10% to their customers that have savings accounts.

ING Direct has dropped the interest rates that they are offering on savings account several times during the last year, despite the fact the Federal Reserve’s policies relating to interest rates have gone largely unchanged. It doesn’t pay a lot to keep money in savings right now, but there are definitely some better options that savers can choose to get better interest rates.

If you’re going to go shopping for an online savings account, there are a number of websites which offer comparison tools to help you shop and find what the best interest rate is available. In the United States, bankdeals.blogspot.com is a site that has great up-to-date information about some of the best interest rate deals available. In the United Kingdom, confused.com has a great uk savings account comparison service.

If you’ve got money sitting in a savings account somewhere, don’t just settle for the interest rate that you have now. You could be leaving money on the table by settling for a lower interest rate on your savings money.

A lot of people have filed their taxes already this year in the U.S., but if you haven’t, it could be a good idea to go the ‘Recovery Act Tax Savings Tool’ offered by the government to see if there are some things you could be missing where you may save money.

As the government site says, “This tool is intended to be educational. Taxpayers should not rely on it for determinations about their eligibility for tax benefits, but should consult the relevant IRS forms and instructions or a qualified tax professional. The tool provides links to relevant irs.gov and other government resources to help taxpayers learn more about the benefits for which they may be eligible.”

Even if you have already filed your taxes it is a good idea to go through the possible tax savings, as you can easily amend your tax forms if they need to be; especially when it comes to saving a lot of money.

What’s important about the tool is it relates specifically to the Recovery Act, so may not be something you are aware of, and if you have someone do your taxes, they may have be up to date on it as well, or could have missed something. Either way, it’s definitely worth the little extra time and effort to see if you qualify for the deductions.

For example, with the first question you’re asked about, which is relates to your filing status, you may qualify for a $400 to $800 tax credit, depending on if you’re single or married. It’s called the Making Work Pay Tax Credit, which the government says $110 million Americans should be qualify to use.

Another one you could easily qualify for is concerning college expenses for you or your children. Remember, these are in addition to past tax credits, so be sure to check it out when you get there. In this instance could get a credit through the American Opportunity Credit, which is up to $2,500.

You get the idea. There are a number more of these types of tax credits available this year. Keep in mind spending just a little more time each day can save you a lot of money you can then use to build your wealth. This is one of those worth spending time with.

Our friends over at U.K.-based Provident Personal Credit have developed a simple widget which provides money saving tips to readers. The widget can be added to your website to add free value-added content to your readers. The widget offers a lot of great tips to help you save more money. The tips are primarily target at U.K. readers, but are applicable to savvy consumers aroudn the world.

Here’s what the widget looks like:


Provident Loans

Here’s the source-code if you’d like to add it to your site:

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/a_widget/swfObject.js”></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/a_widget/widget.js”></script>
<script>writeTop();</script><a style=”color:#18478F;font-size:11px;text-decoration:underline;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;z-index:100;” href=”http://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/” title=”Provident Loans” target=”_blank”>Provident Loans</a>
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For most of us desiring to increase our savings, it can’t be done with huge windfalls of cash made available to us, but must be done one step at a time with little amounts set aside to build up over a period of time.

This way to save absolutely works, and is probably the best way to save for the vast majority of people, yet there is a major challenge in doing it this way, and it’s largely psychological.

First lets look at the negative side of it. Say you have a hard time having the discipline to put money away for savings, but finally get the will to commit to it. Maybe you only have $20 a month to put away.

After five or six months, you of course are closely watching your savings add up, but then you check your account out and you’re only up to $100. That could be a devastating and dis-empowering figure, depending on your background and way you view money.

If you’ve never been able to save, that could be a huge triumph, but if you have had access to a lot of money in the early part of your life, but are now struggling to get a savings plan in place, you could feel like you’re completely wasting your time and just forget about keeping on with your savings strategy.

This isn’t anything new for a lot of people, but it can cause you do quit and start over again and again, similar to what many people do with a diet to shed some pounds.

Contrary to what most of us hear about life and general and savings in particular, is for the most part it is incremental, and change and success comes one step at a time, added up over a period of time.

So first we need to understand this is the way of life, and those that contradict this are either lucky or have something unexpected happen which isn’t the norm.

What this means is we can’t look at what other people are doing, or even if they are bragging they are doing great in their finances. Many times it’s not even true, but even if it is, whatever they’re doing is working for them, but your circumstances could be completely different.

Don’t get caught up in the comparison game, but focus on and stick with your strategy.

The positive side is if you stick with it over time, you’ll find a nice chunk of cash being built up and a nest egg ready to help you and build upon for the future.

Savings on an incremental basis is really the only way to go, and don’t try to copy those that say they’re making a fortune while you’re only generating a small amount for yourself.

More than likely, if they’re really doing that well, it’s because of an anomaly and not because of things they’re doing which built their savings up.

Incremental is hard to implement because you can get discouraged or believe some of those that assert they’re some type of investing genius and building their wealth much faster than you are.

Ignore them. More than likely it’s not true, and even if someone were that good, they couldn’t be copied, so don’t try. Just stick with your plan and slowly build your wealth up.

Municipal bonds have been considered one of the safer investments for years, and the added bonus of tax-free interest is hard to beat. The days of considering a municipal bond as safe is over though, as the use of the bond as a vehicle for public projects has radically changed, and it is no longer possible to know which ones are really safe any longer.

What has changed is what the bonds are being used for and the economic climate we continue to live in.

One recent example, if you haven’t heard of it, is Tison’s Landing.

This is a place where municipal bonds were issued to pay for a property developer to place the infrastructure of a planned community. They would put in the electricity, roads, etc., and theoretically, when the houses went up the residents would pay for the interest on the bonds.

In the beginning, the developer would pay the holders of the municipal bonds the interest until the homes went up and were occupied. The problem? No one bought the homes, and there is a piece of property ready for homes to be built with no one interested in buying them.

So if no one is building homes, what happened to the interest on the municipal bonds? Is the developer still paying it? No the developer isn’t. The holders of the municipal bonds, usually pension funds or mutual funds are the ones paying the interest, and many of them are getting rid of the bonds at up to 70 percent losses so they can use their capital in growth areas.

This is complex, but the bottom line is municipal bonds are no longer the places of safety they used to be, and because of the ongoing economic disaster, you can’t be sure which region or locality will suffer next, or even know how to research to find out if it’s vulnerable. There are too many variables and unknowns at this time to get the needed data to make an informed decision.

A growing number of financial advisers are recommending their clients to get out of municipal bonds. Many of them are being used to back up developments like the one mentioned in Florida above, and if any city is near bankruptcy, you’ll find yourself in a similar situation the mutual and pension funds are now in.

When it comes to borrowing a loan at such tough economic times as today, considering the fax-less payday loans may be one recommendable action. This is because it is very comfortable to get one when unexpected things take place. Therefore, it may prove to be really helpful to make use of such type of loans. But, what actually are fax-less payday loans?

Well, as a matter of fact, it is basically a cash advance loan, and such loans are meant to help the borrowers in case of emergencies. Then, what does it mean by fax-less? Well, this means that to borrow such loans, there will not be any requirements of documents which may prove to be quite exhausting to go through.

It is possible today for the payday loan lenders to approve the borrowers’ request for loans without requiring the borrowers to fax any document, thanks to the internet and the possibilities that seem to be endless. Yet, there are also a wide variety of advantages that the borrowers may get from the fax-less payday loans, which will be mentioned further below.

The first advantage of fax-less payday loans is obviously the convenience in applying for the loans. As a matter of fact, it is even possible for the borrowers to apply for such loans by making use of the online application process.

The next advantage is that the fax-less payday loans are usually fast to obtain, 30 minutes or less in most cases. Then, the borrowers will be able to see the money in their bank accounts the next business day.

The third advantage is that it is fax-less indeed. The borrowers who intend to apply for such loans will never be required to send any document to whichever party that may be involved in the loans. And the last advantage is that borrowers are not likely going to have to worry in case they need some cash all of a sudden. There is a good chance that they can always apply for fax-less payday loans.

When taking into account the twin problems of putting away for savings and reducing debt, many times we’re faced with a choice of which one is or should be the priority.

Normally at this point of the conversation, people will immediately say they can’t do one or the other, because debt is taking every penny they have; making it impossible to build at least a fund up for safety in case of a financial emergency.

It’s the old catch-22 many people face, and yet, a lot of people have escaped this seeming trap they’ve fallen into, and so can you.

In this post we won’t deal with all the practicals, as we must deal with something else first, and that is making a decision on whether to pay down your debt or build up a savings.

Almost everyone can go through their finances and find places they can cut back on in order to release up some money to put away to build up at least a small nest egg.

The question becomes then, should that extra money be put into savings or paying down debt. I believe putting away for savings should be the first step; at least until you have enough for some minimal financial protection.

Paying down debt is a huge psychological boost, and a priority, but if you don’t have something put away, you’re one major, or even minor, event away from losing just about everything.

For the most part having a nest egg or savings account is for safety purposes for an unforeseen financial challenge which could lead to you struggling to manage your debts

If you’re paying down your debt but lose your job, you may have less debt, but you will have an entire different circumstance to deal with if you’re desperate and have absolutely nothing to fall back on.

This is the reason I think we should all have savings as a priority, while continuing to pay down debt at minimal levels until we do. At least get something put away first, and then work from there on the debt.

Once a fund is financed some, you can then possibly split the amount and slow down on the savings fund in order to start relieving yourself of some of your debt.

Try this and I think you’ll feel a lot better and prepared for what comes in life for you. If you have significant debt, it’ll take time to pay it down no matter what you do, so focusing on savings first should be the priority, with paying down debt right behind it.

Obviously if you have enough extra money a month to do both, that would be the best situation. But most don’t, and if you have to choose, I would suggest the savings first and the debt second.

Many people do not always have enough money for all of things that the person would like to do.  Major decisions such as adding an addition to a home, obtaining vehicles without going to a dealership, purchasing expensive equipment, or making some other major purchase can be very expensive and it may be impossible for the person to come up with the entire amount needed all at once.  This is the reason why personal loans are so important to many people, because it helps the person obtain the things that they need quickly with loans that typically have much lower interest rates than the typical credit card.

What Are The Loans Used For?

A personal loan, different from a cash advance, is obtained by the person for use for personal expenses.  In many cases, the person is prohibited from using these loans for business purposes and may find themselves facing legal action if they are found to have used the loans to fund a business in ways that are not allowed under the loan agreement.  A personal loan may be obtained by practically any person that is in need of a loan and is repaid in monthly installment until the loan has been completely paid back.

The terms of a personal loan will depend on the amount of the loan and what the loan is being used for.  Personal loans for obtaining vehicles will be paid back to the loan company at the same rate as a personal loan for building an addition to the home.  There are short term loans that can be paid back over a year and long term loans that can be repaid over a five year period. Payday loans are also technically personal loans, with a much shorter repayment period.

How Hard Is It To Find A Personal Loan?

Finding a personal loan will not be difficult for most people that have good credit because most lending institutions love to lend to people that have high credit scores.  For faster searching, the person may want to look online for the type of loan that they desire and obtain quotes from the companies that would be willing to provide them with the loan.  The interest rates for personal loans are generally more favourable than credit card interest rates because many people will typically have collateral for the loan such as personal property, which helps to ensure that the loan will be repaid in a timely manner.  Finding the right type of personal loan will take a small amount of time, but the benefits to the person that obtains the loan can be immense.

Many people do not always have enough money for all of things that the person would like to do. Major decisions such as adding an addition to a home, obtaining vehicles without going to a dealership, purchasing expensive equipment, or making some other major purchase can be very expensive and it may be impossible for the person to come up with the entire amount needed all at once. This is the reason why personal loans are so important to many people, because it helps the person obtain the things that they need quickly with loans that typically have much lower interest rates than the typical credit card.

What Are The Loans Used For?

A personal loan is obtained by the person for use for personal expenses. In many cases, the person is prohibited from using these loans for business purposes and may find themselves facing legal action if they are found to have used the loans to fund a business in ways that are not allowed under the loan agreement. A personal loan may be obtained by practically any person that is in need of a loan and is repaid in monthly instalments until the loan has been completely paid back.

The terms of a personal loan will depend on the amount of the loan and what the loan is being used for. Personal loans for obtaining vehicles will be paid back to the loan company at the same rate as a personal loan for building an addition to the home. There are short term loans that can be paid back over a year and long term loans that can be repaid over a five year period.

How Hard Is It To Find A Personal Loan?

Finding a personal loan will not be difficult for most people that have good credit because most lending institutions love to lend to people that have high credit scores. For faster searching, the person may want to look online for the type of loan that they desire and obtain quotes from the companies that would be willing to provide them with the loan. The interest rates for personal loans are generally more favourable than credit card interest rates because many people will typically have collateral for the loan such as personal property, which helps to ensure that the loan will be repaid in a timely manner. Finding the right type of personal loan will take a small amount of time, but the benefits to the person that obtains the loan can be immense.