Wisdom of Rich Dad

Amid the sad story of Amy Winehouse’s death came one positive note of inspiration for her heartbroken fans: The troubled singer left her affairs in remarkable order. Unlike many celebrities, from Michael Jackson to Anna Nicole Smith, Winehouse had an estate plan that appears to leave her sizable assets just where she wanted them.

According to published reports in the British press, Winehouse’s assets, estimated at around $16.4 million, were at risk for going to her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who is currently in prison, since the English legal system tends to favor ex-spouses. But Winehouse (and her lawyers) avoided that problem by writing a new will that directs her money to her parents and brother instead.

Celebrities and non-celebrities alike often leave their estates in disarray when they die. That lack of awareness and planning can make death more stressful and more costly for family members as they struggle to quickly plan a funeral and think about dividing up family property while grieving.

Here are some strategies anyone can use to help avoid such financial stress:

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Women have a tendency to be labeled as worrywarts, and a recent financial survey seems to support that view. When it comes to financial stress, women are three times more likely to feel overwhelmed by their situations than men, according to Financial Finesse, which conducted the survey.

According to the survey, 9% of women reported feeling “overwhelming financial stress,” compared to just 3% of men. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, 17% of men claim to be living a carefree life with no financial stress at all, compared to 10% of women.

The report notes, however, that just because respondents checked off the “no financial stress” box doesn’t mean they’re not in financial danger. A Financial Wellness Assessment of survey respondents found that, in some cases, these stress-free respondents actually were engaging in risky behavior such as failing to save enough for retirement or not adequately protecting their wealth. In essense, some of the “no financial stress” folks were oblivious to their overall situations, and should be more stressed than they are.

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The competition for rental homes is heating up as more Americans choose to rent instead of buy. And that increase in demand is driving up rent prices in some markets.

Below are six tips for getting the best deals.

1. Work rental websites. Looking for an apartment in a large rental community? Start with Rent.com, says Allison Atsiknoudas, CEO of Rentometer.com, a site where you can analyze and compare rent prices. But if you’re looking for a unit owned by a smaller apartment company or a condo unit being leased by the owner, start out on Craigslist.org, she says.

HotPads.com features rental and for-sale home listings from 400 partners, including multiple-listing services and brokerage companies. Cazoodle.com pulls listings from nearly 10,000 websites, including newspaper classifieds, online forums and individual property management sites.

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Signs that you are headed for financial ruin are as obvious as the signs on the highway, but many people get distracted when it comes to paying attention to them.

When I was in my early twenties I made an impulsive cross-country move that left me without a steady income for about six months. I tried to ignore the signs that we were headed for financial ruin, but eventually the bills became impossible to ignore.

I have friends who have declared bankruptcy and others who have simply walked away from their bills until they disappeared from their credit records. It’s possible to go from being in thousands of dollars of debt to having wealth, but it takes daily discipline and willingness to take financial responsibility. Here are some of the telltale signs that you are headed down the road of financial ruin and how to make a major U-Turn and prevent bankruptcy:

Buying groceries on credit

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There are more rich people today than ever before, and they are richer than ever before. The number of people with more than $1 million of investable assets jumped 8.3% last year to 10.9 million, their total wealth booming 10% to $42.7 trillion. That surpassed the previous peak in 2007. Recession? What recession?

The really rich — those with more than $30 million — are doing even better. Their wealth worldwide jumped nearly 12% last year. It’s great news for the rest of us, because it means we can all get jobs as butlers or scullery maids.

So where are the rich keeping their money? Turns out hedge funds are out, and stocks are coming back in.

All that talk about a big gold bubble? It’s a bunch of hooey.

According to the latest survey, the rich are keeping just 5% of their money in “alternative investments” — from gold and commodities to hedge funds. That’s down from a peak of 10% in 2006, and lower even than the 6% seen at the end of 2009.

Also, 22% of the money dedicated to “alternatives” is in commodities. These therefore account for barely 1% of their total wealth.

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“The formation of a government in Iraqi last week has re-energised speculators in the Iraqi Dinar” said David Pratt of U.S. Dinar Bank who cautions people that while these recent events are encouraging, people should heed the statements made by the Iraqi Ministry of Finance –“ Iraqi Customs does not permit the entry of IQD currency and will confiscate funds, and that FedEx is not permitted to handle and deliver IQD currency in or out of Iraq.”

“While thousands of US Servicemen, and contractors in Iraq purchased paper dinars in anticipation of what appears to be an impending revaluation, they may have overlooked the fact that [the] Iraqi currency is a national currency only to be used and handled within the Republic of Iraq and not to be used, circulated, or handled internationally in any way,” a press statement from the bank said.

According to Pratt, “The statements … illustrate a major risk to investors owning the paper currency of Iraq and it may affect their capability to redeem it at any given time in the future”. He added that Americans are free to have a bank account and purchase dinars without taking those dinars out of Iraq and be compliant with the regulations of the Iraqi government.

The press statement said that Pratt and U.S. Dinar Bank facilitate commercial banking relationships for Iraq’s Al Warka Bank. “The U.S. Dinar Bank does not handle Iraq’s paper currency in any way,” it said.