Finance & Loans

When do you need to update your beneficiary information?

You worked hard and saved enough for your retirement and for the benefit of your family. You plan your estate and keep it current. But one area many of us forget to keep updated is our beneficiary information. Even with a fully executed estate plan, it takes time to go through some required processes after your death. If you have your beneficiary documents updated it may help your loved ones to tap onto your assets much faster.

Among the institutions and financial assets that you need to keep beneficiary information current includes banks, credit unions, brokerage account, IRA, 401k or 457 Deferred Compensation Plans, pensions and others. Many of us access these facilities online and having access information available to the beneficiary may help if you become incapable of handling financial matters.

Many other life changing events also warrant updating of beneficiary information. If you get divorced, a child is born or died, you get married, death of spouse, or your estate plan has changed; it is time to visit your beneficiary designation. When you fill out your beneficiary designation, make sure to fill it completely, correctly and file promptly. Delaying may cause unnecessary headaches for your loved ones after your death or disability.

When it comes to credit, avoid these two mistakes

Mistake No. 1: Opening additional lines of credit to get a discount

Department stores and other retailers are known to promote credit facilities they offer with 10 to 20 percent discounts if you open a credit line or store credit card. This has implications on your credit score. Most store cards offer very low credit limit and you max out the limit with one or two purchases. The ratio of credit limit to outstanding balance is what negatively affects your credit score in this case. One solution is to use an existing credit card to make a purchase rather than opening and immediately maximizing the limit.

Mistake No.2: Relying on medical insurance to pay your medical bills

Many of us carry medical insurance and rely on them to pay for medical, prescription and other services such as ambulance services. If you refuse to pay a medical bill because you think it is medical insurance’s responsibility, think again. It doesn’t matter whether it is a medical bill or not. If you are late paying it, it will affect your credit and lower your credit score. If you can, pay the bill first and deal with your medical insurance later for reimbursement.

Be conscious about your payment history

Among five factors that drive your credit score, your payment history takes the center stage.  That’s why we are going to explore this aspect of your credit score bit further in this article.  Other factors that affect your credit score include balances, your credit history, type of credit and inquiries on your credit account.

Your payment history accounts for as much as 35 percent of your overall credit score and therefore, it becomes very important to pay attention to this.  Credit rating agencies consider certain activities as serious delinquencies.  These include foreclosures, short sales, repossessions, and bankruptcies.  These activities can drive your overall credit score down.  Next to these serious activities, late payments become more important in deciding your credit score.  When taking late payments into consideration being 30 days late is preferable over 60 days late.  Another factor, any recent delinquencies will hurt your credit score more than any delinquencies few years back.

If you are late paying a bill due to whatever reason, pay it as soon as possible.  One other thing, call the creditor as soon as possible about the late payment, they may be willing to not to report the late payment to credit reporting agencies that includes Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Beneficial tax changes for 2013

It is time to gather papers and get ready to file your 2012 tax return.  So, many of us are not paying that much attention to some beneficial tax changes for 2013.  But it is also time to take advantage and plan accordingly.

Roth IRA contribution limits have been increased for 2013.  For joint filers limits have been increased to $178,000 to $188,000.  For Tax Year 2012 these limits were from $173,000 to $183,000.  For those single filers rates have been increased to $112,000 to $127,000.  Due to these upper income limits many will be able to contribute to a Roth IRA.  If you were unable to contribute before and new limits make you eligible, start contributing to a Roth IRA now rather than waiting till the end of the year.  It will start earning interest, tax free for your retirement.

Limits on gifts have also been raised to $14,000 for 2013.  This is an increase of $1,000 from 2012.  You can gift to anyone up to the new limit without having to file a gift tax return.  With the higher gas prices comes the higher mileage rate for 2013.  Business mileage goes up to 56.5 cents and mileage for medical and moving is 24 cents a mile.

What is the Terminated Merchant File, or MATCH file?

If you thought applying for a merchant account was difficult, try maintaining one in the world of fraud and regular chargebacks. While many people struggle to get approved for merchant accounts, others are worried they might lose their merchant account status and get listed in the Terminated Merchant File, or TMF. What is the TMF? And how can you avoid getting on the list?

Now called the MATCH file, the Terminated Merchant File is a document that features businesses and their principals who have terminated merchant accounts. It’s important to note that the TMS does not exist anymore, and the same data is now found in the MATCH file.

Essentially, the MATCH file includes high-risk accounts that have been closed by the merchant account provider. Why would a merchant account provider, bank, or credit card company close your merchant account? There are several reasons. One is that you had too many chargebacks on your file. Whether the chargebacks were legitimate, or bank errors, having too many on your record can result in getting blacklisted on the MATCH file. MATCH stands for Member Alert to Control High-Risk. Companies such as SolidTrustPay have access to the MATCH file. However, it’s good to know that Solid Trust Pay specializes in providing merchants accounts to high-risk businesses, including those who might have been listed in the MATCH file.

Why You Should Consider Outsourcing Debt Collection

When you are trying to recoup fees for debts that are owed to you or your company it can be a pain which is why you should consider outsourcing debt collection. This allows you to focus on other important areas while someone else does the hard work for you. Allowing someone else to file all the paperwork and manage how the money is returned will give you the peace of mind of knowing that you will receive the money owed but does not take away from important matters for you.

It can be costly to find the right company to represent you so when looking for reliable companies make sure to check for feedback from previous clients and to ensure that they are able to offer the services that you need at a price that you can afford.

Using a PSI collect agency will help to recoup the fees within a timely manner and using an agency that only collects if you are paid saves you time and money in the long run. Choosing  psi collect agency may seem like a daunting task but with a bit of research you will be able to choose wisely. There are literally thousands for nationwide credit and collection agencies but very few that really can show results and will ask no upfront fee. You want to find only those that you really can trust with moving forward with your collection issues.  The main benefit of debt collection outsourcing is the fact it allows you to get the money that is owed to you without paying anything out of pocket until you do get paid for the collections and it saves you time as well.

Understanding the looming “fiscal cliff”

There is so much talk about the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts going into effect at the begging of 2013 if the Congress fails to address the impending “fiscal cliff” before the end of the year.  All these are caused by the Budget Control Act of 2011 which is scheduled to go into effect at midnight, December 31, 2012.  It will end the temporary payroll tax cuts allowing a two percent payroll tax increase for employees, end certain tax breaks for businesses, start the Alternative Minimum Tax again taking a larger tax bite on income of many tax payers, and end the Bush-era tax cuts.  In addition, a separate agreement spending cuts agreed as part of debt ceiling deal in 2011 will also go into effect causing impact to over 1,000 government programs including the defense budget and Medicare.

The total is expected at $600 billion tax increases and spending cuts.  Tax increases will amount to about $536 billion which will affect all Americans.  Also included is approximately $110 billion in spending cuts including an eight percent cuts to Federal programs and nine percent cuts to Pentagon budget.  The duel blow, tax increases and spending cuts are known as the “fiscal cliff” and it could send the U.S. into a recession.

How Merchants Actually Work And Operate With Credit Cards

Website owners have been hearing about merchant accounts for years now, but many owners still have no idea as to what these merchant accounts do, how they operate, and most importantly, how they can help your business grow and prosper.

Merchant accounts are, in their simplest form, a middle man between your company and the financial institution that needs to approve the payment.  When your customers goes on to your site, the first thing that they are going to do is to decide whether or not they want to buy a product.  Once they decide to make a purchase, they will move to a checkout site where they will have to enter their credit card information and other pertinent billing information.  Once this is completed, they will hit submit.  That credit card information will go straight to the merchant account.  The merchant account operator will then take the information and submit it to the appropriate financial institution for approval. This is the power of a merchant account as it provides a means of accepting credit card payments in a secure environment.

If you decide that you think a merchant account can help you and your business, you should reach out to professional services companies such as Solidtrustpay. If you want to grow sales, a merchant account is a great starting point. Solid trust pay has worked to compile a suite of products that will help you accept credit card payments in a secure environment and with ease so that you can increase sales.

Why paying bills on time matters?

Most banks, department stores and credit card companies check your credit score and history with one of the three consumer reporting agency before issuing a card.  You need to understand how your credit score is determined.  Here are few basics.

Your outstanding debt matters in calculating your credit score.  Consumer reporting agencies that keep a record of your debt use amount of debt you owe and the credit limits to come up with a credit score.  If the amount you owe is closer to your debt limit, it affects negatively on the score.

How you pay your bills matters when it comes to calculating a credit score.  If you have late payments, you have been referred to a collection agency or you have filed bankruptcy, your credit history will not only reflect that but also negatively impact your credit score.

How long you have credit also plays a role in calculating your credit score.  Short history could result in a lower score but other factors such as timely payments may offset any negative impacts.  Additionally, if you have applied for new credit, it impacts your credit score.  All consumer reporting agencies also consider type of credit accounts you have to determine your credit score.

Saving with an IRA

Now that the end of the year is approaching, it is time to look at ways to save for retirement, reduce tax burden and maximize tax free contributions.  If you work and your spouse stays home with your kids or you have no retirement plan at work you both can contribute to either a spousal IRA or an IRA.  There are two types of IRAs, Roth IRA and traditional IRA.

If one of you has earned income and the other is not working, you both can contribute to an IRA plan as long as the contributions do not exceed the earned income of the working spouse and no retirement plan.  The maximum contribution limit for 2012 is $5,000 ($6,000 for those who are over 50 by the year end).  No age limit to contribute to both IRAs.  However, only traditional IRA will allow you to deduct contributions from your tax return.  The Roth IRA does not allow you to deduct contributions from your tax return.  However, earnings from a Roth IRA will be tax and penalty free when you withdraw after age 59½ and you contributed for more than five years.  In order to qualify for Roth IRA your adjusted gross income should be less than $173,000 for 2012.

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