Ben Edwards's Blog: Money Smart Life, page 19

How to Negotiate on Vacation

One of the most difficult things to do is to figure out whether or not you are getting a good deal while on vacation. If you are in another country, it is difficult to tell whether you or not you are getting gouged.

As you travel, pay attention. And do what you can to avoid getting taken advantage of. Here are some tips for avoiding getting ripped off while you are on vacation:

1. Stay away from tourist traps.

One of the best ways to avoid high prices is to stay away from tourist traps. If you g...

How Does Debt Settlement Work?

“Do you owe thousands in credit card debt? We can help you reduce your debt so that you pay just pennies on the dollar!” Chances are that you have heard something similar on the radio (or seen an ad in print or online) with a similar promise. While it may seem too good to be true, many of these ads are actually advertising a legitimate service: debt settlement.

What is Debt Settlement?

Debt settlement is a process by which creditors accept an amount of money from you that is less than you owe....

5 Reasons it’s Difficult to Lay Off Sub-Standard Employees

As business owners and managers, one of the main responsibilities is staffing. Trying to find the right mix of people in terms of experience, knowledge, ambition, commitment and loyalty is a never-ending and exhausting task. It’s one of those tasks that never seems to go away, and that is precisely why those personnel changes that would greatly benefit the company or department in the long run, are avoided short-term.

Very few people actually enjoy firing or demoting employees. It is one of th...

4 Mortgage Refinancing Mistakes

Thinking about mortgage refinancing? You’re not alone, with some of thebest mortgage rates available in history many people are debating whether they should spend the money and refinance.

The benefit of refinancing comes fromborrowing at a lowermortgage rateso you can either lower your payments or reduce your loan term, either way saving thousands of dollars over the life of your home loan.

However, there are some pitfalls to watch out for; here are some of the mortgage refinancing mistakes you...

How Well Do You Follow Financial Advice?

Have you ever half-followed financial advice? What kind of results have you seen?

Health Advice

I remember once having a sinus infection and using doctor-prescribed antibiotics with mixed success. The symptoms got to the point where I actually went to bed early two nights in a row, something that hadn’t happened in a year or two. I finally broke down and tried an unpleasant treatment that my physician recommended but I had been avoiding. This got me thinking about the consequences of only follo...

Pet Insurance 101

Pet insurance costs might bea little high for your budget right now but if you have a dog, cat, or some other beloved animal you should give some thought to what you’d do if your pet was really sick or badly injured.

Would you pay thousands of dollars to your veterinarian to nurse your pet back to health? Would you end up wishing you’d taken the time to research and compare pet insurance plans?

Pet Insurance Costs

I’m not speaking from personal experience about pet insurance, our two little kids...

Is an Online Degree Equivalent to a Traditional Degree?

With the rise of the Internet, bringing with it advanced technology and the ability to interact online – including via video – more students are interested in the opportunities that arise from Internet courses. My husband teaches online courses for the local state university in our town. These classes count toward a degree.

Not only is it possible to take a few online classes to fulfill degree requirements, but some programs even allow you to earn your entire degree online, without the need to...

No-Load Mutual Funds vs. Load Mutual Funds

A no-load vs. load mutual fund, which is better? This was a reader question that came in through the contact form a while back.

A “no-load” mutual fund is one in which the investment company sells it directly to the public. A mutual fund with a “load” is one in which the investment company sells the fund through a third party, which adds ona sales charge. That “party” is your financial professional and the charge goes to pay their commission. The difference between the two is this:

No-Load = Ch...

Why You’ll Never Start an Emergency Fund

Emergency funds are like New Year’s resolutions, everyone likes the idea of having them but not enough people actually put in the time and effort to see it through.

If starting an emergency fund is something you want to do but have been putting off, I can’t really say I blame you. It’s not easy to find the money to put away into savings. I bet I can probably list out most of the top 10 reasons you don’t have an emergency fund:

Mortgage or Rent Payment
Vehicle Payment
Heating or Cooling Bills
Insur...

5 Ways to Pay Off Your House Early

Paying off your house is probably something that you’d love to do but like many of us you don’t have the funds to make it happen. Today we’ll look at some ways that you can make a dent in the amount you owe on your home loan and pay off your house early.

Paying it Off

For most homeowners your mortgage represents the largest outflow of cash from your budget every month. We like to think about all the things we could do in life if we didn’t have to pay to keep a roof over our head. Imagine how fa...