Wisdom of Rich Dad

Late payments can turn an otherwise normal credit card balance into an unbearable burden.

Some credit cards charge incredibly high amounts as punitive fees when you fail to pay on time.   Thus, you should avoid such situations as the road to bankruptcy is a one way path and late payments are the first steps.

You may think it somewhat overstated but the truth is that most people who end up defaulting and ruining their credit score for many years start by missing payments and paying late.   Fees pill up, interest rates grow and before you know you can’t even pay the minimum.   Believe me when I say, if action is not taken, that’s the beginning of the end.

The advice would be then: Avoid paying late and NEVER miss a payment.

If your financial situation is complicated you may find the following guidelines useful to avoid penalties and bad notes on your credit report that may compromise your ability to get finance in the future:

Don’t just pay, pay in time.

Lawyers have a saying “he who pays wrong, pays twice”.  Pay before payment is due, if possible a week before or more.   Otherwise, if something comes up you won’t have enough time to solve it and you’ll get penalized.

What you may think justifies your late payment surely doesn’t make it for the credit card issuer. Within your credit card bill you’ll find all the instructions regarding payment.  Follow them accurately; pay where you are supposed to pay, how you are supposed to pay and when you are supposed to pay.

Can’t pay full? Always pay the minimum!

If you don’t have money to pay the whole balance, don’t worry.  But you should always pay the minimum.

In fact even if you’ll be able to pay more in a week or two, pay the minimum amount required first. You can always add up to it by sending additional payments.  As soon as your credit card bill arrives you should have the minimum set aside and you should pay it immediately.

Once you are sure you won’t be charged a late fee, you can always consider paying a higher amount. But you’ll rest assured that no additional fees will be added to your next bill.

Skip-a-payment services

Make sure your credit card issuer offers this service.  A Skip a payment service let’s you request a waiver on your payment that month when something unexpected happens and you can’t pay on time or in full.

Use this service wisely as it usually can be used only once a year.  So make sure the current situation is really an emergency and you have no other means to solve your problem.  Obviously this service has a cost and you’ll have to pay it the following month so ensure that the fee for such a service is not larger than the amount you’ll be saving for not paying late fees.

Change your due date

Finally, if your credit card bill arrives at a time on the month you don’t have enough money to cover it and the due date is just too close to your payment date, just contact your credit card issuer and ask them to move the due date to a more comfortable day on the month so you can be sure you’ll have time to arrange payment if there is any problem.

Bryan Quinn is a financial advisor with more than thirty years of experience in the field of finance who aids people undergoing financial problems and helps them obtain personal loans, home loans, student loans and grants, consolidation loans, car loans and many other financial products regardless of their credit situation. For more smart tips on Credit Cards and Bankruptcy you can visit www.badcreditloanservices.com

I just finished watching Robert Kiyosaki and Steve Forbes speak on “Stocks, Politics, and the Economy: Prudent Strategies” at the Forbes.com iConference.

Here are a few bits of wisdom Robert offered:

“The biggest thing about financial intelligence is knowing when to save and when not to save.” (He pointed out that in today’s economy, he’s not saving — he’s investing!)

“Banks will always give me money for real estate.” (Banks typically won’t give you money to invest in stock)

“If you’re going to invest today, invest globally.”

“The tax code incentivizes the entrepreneur and punishes the employee.” (Become an entrepreneur to build your wealth and to take advantage of the tax breaks the tax code offers.)

In a comment about today’s political situation, Steve Forbes noted: “Never underestimate the power of politicians to muck things up.”

A concise summary of the discussion is: Increase your own financial IQ so that you can take care of yourself regardless of what happens to the economy.

“Poor people have jobs, Rich and Successful people have careers.” – Colin Cowherd ESPN Radio

I heard this over the radio one day and it took me a while to figure out what he meant. It was one of those days where I just had a few minutes to tune into the radio. As soon as I turned it on I heard this. I don’t know what lead up to this statement but it struck me and stuck with me.

I brought up this statement with my students, most of whom fall into the poor or poverty social class, and they all understood exactly what I was saying.

I explained it like this:

Poor people have jobs. They work for money and nothing else. So what happens? Is a person who makes $250,000 a year poor? Maybe not by money standards but what is their life like? How much do they work? How much do they enjoy themselves?

If they just have a job that pays well they are probably not completely happy. Actually if they are like most of us they have a job that they just don’t like. It is nice to make a lot of money but are they happy?

What is the sense of making a lot of money when all they do is work? Then what happens? When people work in a job that they are not happy in they need to supplement this unhappiness with something. Some buy toys, a bigger house, new cars, and more. Then what happens? They have to keep working to pay it off. Some are more destructive and turn to alcohol or drugs. Still others take their frustrations out on others.

Rich and successful people have careers. What do they work for? They typically don’t work for money, they get money as a result of their effort and their hard work. Instead of working for money they work to learn. They learn what it takes to get to the next step. That next step may be the next rung up the corporate ladder (something I have no interest in). For some the next step is to open their own business. For others it simply is a case of lifelong learning.

These people may not be rich with money, but they are rich and successful with their life. They are happy because they are doing things that they love to do. They are successful not because they work hard, but because they enjoy their work. Since they enjoy their work they tend to spend more time with it, and they tend to do a better job.

So what are you doing? Are you happy with your job? If you are maybe you should begin to learn and turn it into a career. What is the next step? Where will it take you in the future? If you are just starting out don’t worry about the money right now. If you work for money you will rarely get ahead. If you work for your career then you will find the opportunities will come to you and you will get paid soon. The money comes as a secondary result of how well you develop your career.

Be patient, I know it is hard, I fell into those same traps, but there is a payoff in the end.

~~~

source:http://www.coachkip.net/2008/05/21/poor-people-have-jobs/

Part 2 of Rob Minton’s Presentation “How to Teach Your Children to Become Finanacially Independent”.

Rob Minton recently gave a presentation titled “How to Teach Your Children to Become Financially Independent.” The research that he performed to prepare for this presentation unconvered some information that was down right scary.

Here it is in a nutshell…

Your kids will not accumulate any significant wealth in their adulthood.

Do you want your kids to struggle from week to week over money?  I don’t.  

Well, if we don’t do something about it right now, they are going to have money problems.

The grocery shopper’s beloved BOGO — buy one, get one (free) — has moved into the realm of home sales. Yes, home sales. In yet another sign of how anxious sellers have become in today’s housing market, a San Diego real estate developer has offered a free $400,000 row home to anyone who buys one of his estate homes starting at $1.6 million.

“We want to reduce our inventory,” Mark Connal, a vice president at Michael Crews Development, told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’re prepared to bite the bullet. … Right now, every builder I know is selling houses at less than it costs to build them.”

Another company official, Dawn Berry, was quoted by a San Diego TV station: “We thought, ‘Why does it just have to be on Pop-Tarts and restaurants? Why not buy one home, get one free.’” Of course, you’ll have to pay property taxes on both.

The houses available for $1.6 million and up are gated estate homes in the San Pasqual Valley. The row homes, in Escondido, once sold for $540,000, according to the Union-Tribune.

A flier at the developer’s Web site says, “It’s never been done before and may never be done again!” The flier and a post at the company’s blog say the offer was good through May 31.

A blog post at L.A. Land about the promotion generated plenty of comments. For instance, reader Greg said: “This is great! It will give me somewhere to park the free SUV I’ll get with the purchase of my new hybrid.” “steve in k.c.” said: “May I default on the first one and then still keep the second one? Thanks in advance. Honey, get the kids, and load the van … we’re moving.”