WHEN IS IT SAFE TO THROW AWAY CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS?

When Is it Safe to Throw Away Credit Card Statements?

You will receive a monthly billing statement detailing the activity of your credit card each month. The credit card statement includes a list of the charges that you have incurred, the fees that may have been paid, and the transfers that you have made to the account. The mail will pile up if you have a number of credit card statements coming in each month. You don't want to get rid of the statements you may need in the immediate future, but you don't want to keep up with the mail, either. So how long are you going to have to keep your credit card statements?

Generally speaking, you don't have to keep your credit card statements for a very long time, especially if you've set up an online account. Most card issuers may make credit card statements available online for a number of years. You may be able to retrieve old credit card statements or upload them to your computer for later retrieval. There is no guarantee, however, that an old credit card statement will be stored by your credit card issuer. In some cases, it's better to keep those you need in a place where you can access them.

GUIDELINES FOR KEEPING CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS

You should keep a credit card statement for at least 60 days. This is the amount of time you need to dispute any billing errors on your credit card statement. After that, credit card issuers are not legally required to deal with billing error disputes, so you do not need to hold on to your statements - at least for reasons of dispute.

Keep your credit card statements for any items you want covered by the extended warranty or purchase protection of your credit card, and keep that particular credit card in place for as long as the benefit is effective.

Note: ✒️ The purchase protection and extended warranty periods vary from one credit card to another, but may last between 90 days and one year. Check with your provider about the time limits for your credit card benefits.

If you have any tax-related purchases on your credit card statement, such as donations or business expenses, keep those statements for a period of six years. Your accountant or tax preparer will need the statements for your next tax return. It's also a good idea to hold on to these in case your taxes are audited.

Holding on your credit card statements can be useful for tracking your spending over a period of time. You can review a few months of credit card statements to see where you spend too much money, because three to six months of credit card statements may be enough to give you a good insight into your spending habits.

When Is it Safe to Throw Away Credit Card Statements?

SHOULD YOU ALSO KEEP CREDIT CARD RECEIPTS?

Credit card receipts can be piled up faster than credit card statements, especially if you're a heavy spender. You can follow similar credit card receipt guidelines.

Tip: 💡Please keep your credit card receipts at least until you are sure that the transaction has been entered correctly on your credit card statement..

If your credit card statement has an error, the receipt will come in handy once you dispute the charges. You should also keep tax and business-related credit card receipts for your tax preparer. Store receipts longer in the event of a tax audit.

STORING OLD CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS

If you hold a credit card for a specific reason, it may be helpful to label the statement or to include a sticky note detailing the reason for keeping the statement.

Keep your credit card statements safe so they won't be lost, stolen, or destroyed. A fireproof safe is a great place to store your statements, along with other financial documents or valuables. If you have stored credit card statements on your computer, place them in a password-protected folder, and be sure to keep a password on your computer as well.

THE BEST WAY TO GET RID OF CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS

Because of the risk of fraud, you should be careful how you throw away the credit card statements that you no longer need. Just tossing them in the trash is unsafe because it leaves too much of your personal information exposed, so they need to be completely destroyed.

Shredding credit card statements is the best way to get rid of them once you're sure you don't need them anymore. Also, shredding before you throw away your statements prevents dumpster divers from stealing your statements and using the information to charge your account or steal your identity.

When Is it Safe to Throw Away Credit Card Statements?

MOTHERHOOD CAN TAKE A TOLL ON WOMEN'S CAREER AMBITIONS

Motherhood Can Take a Toll on Women's Career Ambitions

Article Table of Content

• WHAT THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY LOOKS LIKE
• COUNTERING THE EFFECTS OF THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY
• USE CAREER BREAKS WISELY

Being a mother can be extremely rewarding in many ways, but it can have unintended consequences for mothers who want to pursue a career while raising a family. The so-called motherhood penalty may affect women as they attempt to climb up the career ladder on a steady basis. This can have an impact on their ability to build wealth and create a secure financial future.

The penalty for motherhood may not be fair, but it is a reality that many women face. Understanding how this penalty is imposed on mothers - and how it affects their career prospects - is essential for women as they shape their financial plans.

WHAT THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY LOOKS LIKE

In general, the motherhood penalty assumes that mothers are not able to maintain the same professional status as women who do not have children or their male counterparts. This can happen on the job in a number of ways, but perhaps the biggest sting is how it affects a woman's earning potential.

According to a report from Third Way, a national think tank, a typical mother sees a 4 percent drop in her earnings for every child she has. Interestingly, the opposite is true of men. Upon becoming a father, men see their income rise by 6%. This inverse relationship suggests that employers may still largely view men and women in traditional roles, with women as carers and men as breadwinners.

Alternatively, the decrease in earnings experienced by mothers may be the result of taking time out of work to raise their children or shifting to a part-time or lower-paid role to make them more available to their families. Women spend a total of 33 hours per week on childcare and housework, compared to just 16 hours for men, according to Pew Research.

The penalty for motherhood can manifest itself in other ways. The 2017 Women in the Workplace study found that 39% of women believed that their gender would make it more difficult to raise, promote, or generally move forward at work. It can be even more difficult for women to make progress when they are mothers. Employers may question the ability of a mother to fulfill the requirements of her professional role. As a result, they do not offer opportunities for advancement, and the result is that many mothers are professionally on the plateau.

The motherhood penalty also applies to women who return to work after hiatus to take care of children. A study published in the American Sociological Review found that stay-at-home moms are half as likely to land a job interview as mothers who have been laid off from their previous job.

Motherhood Can Take a Toll on Women's Career Ambitions

COUNTERING THE EFFECTS OF THE MOTHERHOOD PENALTY

The penalty for motherhood can not be eliminated overnight. Despite changes in gender equality at work, many women will continue to face their effects. For those considering motherhood, it is wise to have a sound plan in place to ensure financial health. Your retirement outlook should be the centerpiece of that plan.

Earning less means that you may have less income to save for your later years. In this scenario, women need to take full advantage of opportunities to increase their savings. This includes saving enough in your employer's 401(k) or similar tax-advantaged plan to qualify for the full matching contribution. Adjusting your contributions by 1% annually is a way to step up your savings rate gradually so that it increases in tandem with your income.

If your employer offers a high-deductible health plan, the Health Savings Account is another way to save on a tax-advantaged basis. These accounts provide a triple tax benefit: tax-deductible contributions, tax-deferred growth, and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.

What many do not know, however, is that after age 65, you can withdraw HSA funds for any reason, without a penalty. All you have to do is pay regular income tax on the withdrawal. In a pinch, HSA could be used as a retirement savings supplement, a plus for mothers who have not fully achieved their retirement goals.

Tip:💡 Candidate You are allowed to roll over your HSA balance each year and to earn tax-free interest on the growing balance.

In the case of married mothers who are temporarily leaving work, the IRA marriage may be another way of saving. With a spousal IRA, your spouse may make an IRA contribution on your behalf, even if you do not have an income of your own. The contribution limits are the same as traditional and Roth IRAs: $6,000 for 2019, plus an additional catch-up contribution if you are 50 or older.

USE CAREER BREAKS WISELY

If you spend time out of the workforce to raise children, it may be more difficult to get back on the job market after an extended break. That's why it's important to make the most of the time you 're at home.

Stay up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry and consider expanding your skill set during this time. Update your CV while addressing any gaps in your knowledge base.  Remember to keep in touch with the members of your network, while also forging new professional connections.

Most importantly, get crystal clear about your vision to get back to work. Setting your expectations for what you want to achieve professionally and as a mother can help you maintain a balance between work and home. Despite the challenges, many women find ways to do just that.

Motherhood Can Take a Toll on Women's Career Ambitions

7 TIPS FOR SAVING FOR RETIREMENT IF YOU STARTED LATE

7 Tips for Saving for Retirement if You Started Late

After you opened your 40th birthday card, you realized you had to learn about your retirement savings. You bought a retirement book or magazine that said — oops — you were supposed to start saving for retirement in your twenties. You didn't start saving early for retirement. What now? You have options even if you don't start saving time.

1. PLAY CATCH-UP

Let's assume you're 40 years old, with $0 in retirement savings. At your age in 2020, you are legally allowed to save $19,500 in a 401k retirement fund. How far is that money going to go?

Assuming a 7% rate of return, your 401k will grow to $1 million in 24 years and two months. That means that by the age of 64, you'll be on track to have $1 million in retirement time.

You'll need an extra seven years to have an inflation-adjusted $1 million, equivalent to today's dollars. In other words, you'll have an inflation-adjusted $1 million by the age of 71, assuming you keep contributing $17,000 per year. Since many retirees work until the age of 68 or 70, working for an extra seven years could be a feasible goal.

2. UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH YOU MONEY YOU MAY NEED

"But I don't need a million," you might think. "I just want to have a simple life."

Ah, but a simple life requires $1 million saved in the bank. Most experts agree that you should not withdraw more than 3% to 4% of your retirement portfolio every year during your retirement. They are known as the "4 percent rule" and the "3 percent rule."

Three percent of $1 million, that's $30,000. Four percent of $1 million, that's $40,000. In other words, if you want to live on a retirement income of $30,000 to $40,000 per year, you will need a portfolio of at least $ 1 million. This assumes that you do not have a pension, rental property, or other sources of retirement income. It also excludes social security, which many people find to be paler than they expect.

7 Tips for Saving for Retirement if You Started Late

3. DON'T TAKE ADDITIONAL RISK

Some people make the mistake of taking on additional investment risk to make up for the lost time. The potential returns are higher: Rather than 7%, there's a chance that your investments can grow 10% or 12%. But the risk, the potential for loss, is also much higher. Your risk should always, always be aligned with your age. People in their twenties can accept greater losses since they have more time to recover. People in their forties cannot.

Don't accept extra risk in your portfolio. Pick one of the following tried-and-true asset allocation recommendations:

Some people make the mistake of taking additional investment risks to make up for lost time. Potential returns are higher: instead of 7%, your investment is likely to grow by 10% or 12%. But the risk, the potential for losses, is also much higher. Your risk should always be aligned with your age. People in their twenties can take on greater losses as they have more time to recover. People in their forties can not do that.

Do not accept any additional risk in your portfolio. Choose one of the following proven-and-true asset allocation recommendations:

Do not accept any additional risks in your portfolio. Choose one of the following proven-true asset allocation recommendations:

• 120 minus your age in stock funds, with the remainder in bond funds - the highest acceptable level of risk.

• 110 minus your age in stock funds, with the remainder in bond funds - a moderate level of risk.

• Your age in bond funds, with the remainder in stock funds - the most conservative acceptable level of risk.

7 Tips for Saving for Retirement if You Started Late

4. OPEN ROTH IRA

Once you've finished maxing out your 401k, open an IRA and maximize your contribution to it. A 40-year-old who is eligible to make a full contribution to the Roth IRA may add extra money to their retirement savings each year.

Contributions to the Roth IRA are tax-free and can be withdrawn tax-free. You 're even going to avoid tax on capital gains.

7 Tips for Saving for Retirement if You Started Late

5. BUY ADEQUATE INSURANCE

Calamities are the single biggest reason people are forced to go bankrupt. Reduce your risk by purchasing adequate health insurance, disability insurance, and car insurance.

If you have dependents, consider life insurance for a period of time that your dependents will have to rely on you financially. Many financial experts say that life insurance is generally not a good idea, especially if you start a policy in your fifties.

These are just general observations. Talk to a fee-only financial planner to get personalized advice. Look for planners who have a "fiduciary duty" to you as their client.

6. PAY OFF DEBT

Pay off credit card debt, car loans, and other high-interest or non-mortgage debts.

Weigh whether or not you should make additional payments on your mortgage. If you're in the early stages of your mortgage, and many of your payments are being used for interest, it might make more sense to make extra mortgage payments.

However, if you are in the final years of your mortgage and your payments are primarily applied to the principal, you may be better off investing that money.

7. YOU & YOUR SPOUSE COME FIRST

Don't skimp on your retirement savings to send your children to college. Your children have more options and opportunities than you do. Your children can take out student loans. You can't take out a "retirement loan." Your children have their entire life ahead of them. Time is on the side of them. Time isn't on your side. Your children can start saving for retirement in their twenties and thirties. You can't. Your own financial retirement security is the best gift you can give to your children.

7 Tips for Saving for Retirement if You Started Late

Why Reconciling Bank Accounts Is Important

Why Reconciling Bank Accounts Is Important

Account reconciliation is a process of comparing internal financial records with monthly statements from external sources - such as a bank, a credit card company, or another financial institution - to ensure that they match up. Knowing how to reconcile your accounts with accuracy is essential for the financial health of your business, as it helps to detect any errors, inconsistencies or fraud.

If you do not use accounting software, your financial transactions will appear on your bank account, credit card statements and bank statements. If you use accounting software to print batches of checks each time the company pays bills, your transactions will be recorded in the account register of your software.

WHY YOU SHOULD RECONCILE YOUR ACCOUNTS

Comparing transactions and balances is important because it helps avoid overdrafts on cash accounts, traps fraudulent or overcharged credit card transactions, explains timing differences, and highlights other negative activities, such as theft or incorrectly recorded income and expense entries. This saves your company from paying overdraft fees, keeps transactions error-free, and helps to catch improper spending and issues such as misappropriation before they get out of control.

The reconciliation of accounts and the comparison of transactions also helps your accountant to produce reliable, accurate and high-quality financial statements. Because your company balance sheet reflects all money spent — whether cash, credit or loans — and all assets purchased with those funds, the accuracy of your balance sheet is strongly dependent on the accurate reconciliation of your company's financial accounts.

Publicly held companies must keep their accounts consistent or risk being penalized by independent auditors. Many companies have systems for maintaining payment receipts, account statements and other data necessary to document and support the reconciliation of accounts.

Why Reconciling Bank Accounts Is Important

THE RECONCILIATION PROCESS

When you use accounting software to reconcile accounts, the software does most of the work for you, saving you a lot of time. However, the process still requires human involvement to capture certain transactions that may never have entered into the accounting system, such as cash stolen from the little cash" box. These five steps are going to help you make sure all your money is being accounted for.

• Compare your internal account registry to your bank statement. Go through and check every payment and deposit in your registry that matches your statement. Please note all transactions on your bank statement for which you do not have any other evidence, such as a receipt for payment or a check stub.

• Check that all of the outgoing funds have been reflected in both your internal records and your bank account. Whether it's checks, ATM transactions or other charges, subtract these items from the balance of the bank statement. Note charges on your bank statement that you did not record in your internal records. Charges to be followed include unclear checks, internally recorded auto-payments that have not been cleared from the bank account, check-printing fees, ATM service charges, and other bank charges such as insufficient funds (NSF), overdrafts, or over-the-counter fees.

Check that all incoming funds have been reflected in both your internal records and your bank account: find any deposits and credits that have not yet been recorded by the bank and add them to the balance of the account. If the bank shows deposits that are not reflected in your internal books, make the entries. If you have an interest-bearing account and you reconcile a few weeks after the date of the statement, you may need to add interest as well.

• Check for Bank Errors: Bank Errors do not occur very often, but if they do, the correct amount needs to be added to or removed from your account balance, and you should contact the bank immediately to report the error.

1. Make sure the balances are accurate: Your bank statement balance should now equal the balance in your records. Depending on the number of discrepancies, you may need to create a supporting schedule that details the differences between your internal books and bank accounts.

Make sure your balances are accurate: Your balance of bank statements should now be equal to the balance in your records. Depending on the number of inconsistencies, you may need to create a supporting schedule that details the differences between your internal books and bank accounts.

Why Reconciling Bank Accounts Is Important

10 SIGNS YOUR CREDIT CARD DEBT IS OUT OF CONTROL AND HOW TO FIX IT

10 Signs Your Credit Card Debt Is Out of Control and How to Fix It

Credit cards that are maxed out or almost maxed out become a burden instead of a convenience. With little available credit, it is no longer useful for emergencies or other unforeseen expenses, high balances can damage your credit scores, and debt can become unmanageable when high-interest rates make it difficult to pay off balances.

KNOW WHEN TO REIN IN YOUR SPENDING

No external gauge will let you know when your credit card debt is out of control. Your credit card issuers will not warn you that your balances are more than you can afford to pay. Instead, it's up to you to watch for the 10 signs that show that your debt is out of control:

1. Cards are maxed out or above the credit limit. This can happen quickly if you're not paying your balance every month. Multiple max-out credit cards add up to the problem. If balances exceed limits, expect the card issuer to increase your interest rate, making it even more difficult to pay down your balance.
   
   
2. You can't afford to pay anything except the minimum payment. Minimum payments are the lowest amount that you can pay on your credit card to keep your account in good standing. If you can't pay more than that and you're still using your credit cards, your debt is getting worse every month.
   
3. You're late or missing payments.  Missing payments only make your credit card situation worse. Late payments increase the amount you have to pay in order to be caught and lead to late charges added to your balance. If your card is fully charged, those late fees could push your balance beyond your limit.
   
   
4. You're paying your credit cards with other types of debt. Cash advances, repeated balance transfers, payday loans, or any other form of credit card debt simply create more debt by borrowing money to stay afloat.
   
   
5. You're using credit cards for necessities and everyday purchases. Credit cards are a convenient way to pay for groceries, gas, and other daily needs — and you might even get reward points or cash back for doing so. This is great if you pay the balance every month. If not, the need for credit to pay for daily expenses is a sign of greater financial difficulties.
   
   
6. Your credit score starts dropping. If your total credit card debt is more than about 30% of your total credit available, your credit score will be hit. This ratio is 30 percent of your total credit score. So, if all of your cards combined have a credit limit of $5,000, you never want your combined balances to add up to more than $1,500.
   
   
7. Your new applications are denied. Credit card issuers may be able to predict that your credit card debt is out of control even before you do so. After a refusal to apply for a credit card, check your mail for a letter from the credit card issuer explaining why you were denied it. If your high credit card balance is one of the reasons, it's a sign that you need to rein in your spending and start dealing with your debt before it gets worse.
   
   
8. You're hiding your debt from yourself or your spouse. Feeling like you've got something to hide is a sign that things are wrong. If you don't open your credit card statements because you don't want to face up to your balances, or if you're going out of your way to keep your spouse from finding out about your debt, you 're likely to have more debt than you can.
   
   
9. You can't afford to save money because you have too much debt. You can't afford to save money because you've got too much debt. The more money you spend on your debt, the less you spend on other things — like saving money. Without access to savings, you may need to create even more debt to get out of a financial bind.
   
   
10. You worry about how you're going to pay off your credit cards. Stressing your credit card debt is a sign that it's definitely out of control, but don't assume that you're safe because you're not stressed about your debt. It might be that you 're ignoring your debt. Or, you might be in denial about how bad it really is.

10 Signs Your Credit Card Debt Is Out of Control and How to Fix It

STOP DIGGING

This is the old adage of the first step towards climbing out of a hole. To get your debt under control, the first thing you need to do is change your habits so that you don't make the problem worse.

Simply stop using your credit cards. If you keep using them, your debt will only grow, making it more difficult to pay. The best way to stop using your credit cards is to cut them off — especially if you're not disciplined enough to stop using them. However, avoid closing accounts if at all possible. Since your debt ratio is an important part of your credit score, you want to increase your available credit by paying down your debt to improve your credit score.

ELIMINATE YOUR DEBT

Recognizing the severity of your debt is an important first step, but you need to take action to address the problem. You've got to come up with a workable plan and stick to it — and sticking to it might be the most important part of it. Debt can take a long time to get rid of, and the results may not be evident at first. Be patient and persistent, and ultimately, your efforts will make a difference.

There are several ways to deal with your debt, and what is best for you depends largely on your financial situation and also a little on your own personality. Think about what's best for you and your situation.

• Eliminate high-interest-rate debt first. This makes sense because high-interest rates can be the biggest obstacle to debt elimination. If you pay a double-digit interest rate — or something even higher than 20%—it can be difficult to pay off balances. The faster you can lower your balance on those high-interest debts, the more impact your monthly payments can have. If you still have a decent amount of credit, it is also worth considering applying for a new credit card with zero percent interest on balance transfer over a period of time. Adding another credit card might seem counter-intuitive, but if you can be disciplined and do so only as a means of eliminating some of the interest you pay, it's an effective strategy.

• Try the snowball method. Author and radio host Dave Ramsey has popularized this method. Target the lowest balance first, then move to the next lowest balance, and so on. While this strategy is likely to result in more interest payments than the previous method, it can be a good approach if you need to build confidence in dealing with your debt. Because you're starting with the lowest balances, you 're going to eliminate them faster, giving yourself a sense of achievement as you work through your debt.

10 Signs Your Credit Card Debt Is Out of Control and How to Fix It

HOW TO LIVE DEBT-FREE WITH NO CREDIT SCORE

How to Live Debt-Free With No Credit Score

Many people see debt as a necessary evil, but it's still possible to live — and thrive — without using debt or worrying about your credit scores. The benefits of debt-free living are easy to understand, but it's important to know what challenges you face and how to overcome them if you stop playing a credit game.

CHALLENGES OF LIVING WITHOUT CREDIT

Not using credit means you 're not going to have a credit history, giving you a low credit score. This can make it more difficult to buy things and to re-enter the world where credit scores matter can be painful if your plans change because it takes time to build a good one.

One of the biggest challenges of a debt-free lifestyle is paying for everything in cash. It doesn't have to be paper money; it can be a debit card. If you don't borrow, it takes more time, more savings — or both — to make major purchases.

You 're going to have to save a substantial amount of money to buy a vehicle without financing it, and it's even more difficult to buy a home. Renters may be forced to pay more early to prove they 're a safe bet.

HOW TO SPEND WITHOUT A CREDIT CARD

Here are the strategies for living in an increasingly cashless society without a credit card:

Day-to-Day Expenses

You can use cash or a debit card to pay for your daily expenses — food, entertainment, meals, etc. Cash makes budgeting easy if you use the envelope method to separate your cash by purpose, but keeping your cash around is risky. A debit card linked to your check account offers the convenience of a credit card, and you're only going to spend the money you actually have.

Monthly Bills

If you've become used to paying monthly bills like your cell phone, utilities, or gym memberships with a credit card, it's easy to break. Switch to online billing payments so that your bank sends money to your billing machine by check or electronic transfer. As with a credit card, you can set things up so that payment is made automatically. Alternatively, you can use your debit card to pay these bills.

How to Live Debt-Free With No Credit Score

Prepaid Cards

If you don't have a check account, you can use a prepaid debit card instead of a standard debit card. Prepaid cards are "loaded" with funds before you use them, and then you can swipe your card or make online bill payments out of your loaded balance. After you use up your balance, the card stops working.

Debit Versus Credit Cards

Debit cards and prepaid cards are riskier than credit cards on a daily basis. If someone steals your debit card number and charges, the money will come directly out of your account. You are generally protected from fraud and error, but you will need to notify your bank quickly for the best possible protection.

The real problem is that your account may be temporarily emptied, causing you to bounce off payments, and this may result in a domino effect of cleaning up messes. When your credit card number is stolen, the thieves spend the money of the card issuer, which gives you time to clean up everything without involving your credit card account.

Frozen Funds

Debit cards can also be problematic if the card is swiped before the exact amount of your spending is known. This usually happens when you rent a car or hotel room, or when you open a nightclub tab3.

The merchant will pre-authorize your card and temporarily lock the funds in your account. These charges should be dropped after a few days, but numerous charges combined with a low current account may cause trouble.

You may have a lot of money, but if the bank doesn't let you use your money, your card will be discarded and your checks will rebound. Keep an extra cash buffer in check to avoid problems, and check your current account balance on a regular basis.

Debit Card Required

Debit cards work almost everywhere, even if an online form asks you to enter a credit card number. In rare cases, a car rental agency may require a credit card instead of a debit card to make a reservation. Find out in advance what the cards are accepted or what the requirements are if you only have a debit card, especially if you need to rent a car.

How to Live Debt-Free With No Credit Score

Buying a Home

For some, aversion to borrowing ends up buying a home. You can save up and pay cash for most things, but homes can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which would take decades of extreme savings for many buyers.

If you decide to get a mortgage and live a debt-free lifestyle, you 're going to have to work harder than most borrowers to prove your creditworthiness because you don't have a credit history.

Alternative Credit

You 're going to have to get approved on the basis of "alternative" factors instead of the traditional FICO credit score to get the loan approved. This limits the number of lenders who work with you and the types of loans available. It may also result in higher interest rates.

You are most likely to find a loan guaranteed by the U.S. government, such as an FHA loan. To determine your creditworthiness, lenders will seek information about the regular on-time payments you make, such as rent, utility, and insurance premiums. Make sure you pay on time for at least 12 months before applying for a loan.

Income

Another important factor is the income that you have available to repay a mortgage loan. When you do manual underwriting — which is what you'll need if you don't have traditional credit — the lenders most likely need to see that your debt-to-income ratio is less than 43%, and lower is better. In the case of someone who lives debt-free, that means that you spend less than 43% of your income on expenses, including your mortgage payment.

Reserves

It's also a good idea to have money in the bank. If you're a debt-free saver, you 're probably already out there. The more financially secure you are, the more likely you are to be approved, even without a credit history.

Stability

Lenders are looking for something certain, or at least as close to it as they can get. A long history of employment is helpful because it suggests that you will continue to earn a consistent income. The industry in which you work can also be a factor. Seasonal employment is less reliable, while government work is often considered secure.

How to Live Debt-Free With No Credit Score

Time to Close

Without traditional credit scores, it will take longer than usual to get a loan. Manual underwriting is a labor-intensive process because someone needs to review and evaluate all the details. This is a serious disadvantage if you're buying in a fast-moving market where demand is high. Get started as soon as you can, if you live in a hot market, long before you make an offer.

Should You Abandon Credit Entirely?

Before you ditch debt for good, know why you might want good credit so that you can make a more informed decision without:

• It doesn’t have to cost money to build credit and maintain great credit scores. You pay interest only if you borrow money. If you don't have to borrow, use your credit card to spend your money on a daily basis and pay off your card every month. You have a grace period of 30 days before interest costs are charged, so you can never pay a penny for interest, keep your credit, and have the added security of your credit card.
• If you ever need money, it’s nice to have a solid credit history. You can keep your credit card open for emergency situations — just don't use it to buy more than you can afford.

• You can’t erase the past. You can't erase the past, man. Even if you're going debt-free, your credit history still exists, and it can continue to cause problems.5 Debts will eventually fall off your credit reports, and collectors can't try to collect after the limitation period has run out, but it takes a few years.
• Spending mismatch is a problem. Credit cards and easy loans can lure you to a debt trap. Bad luck and health problems may make things worse. The most important task is to understand where your money is going and why you've spent the way you've spent it. Make a realistic plan, and your chances of success will be much better.

How to Live Debt-Free With No Credit Score

TIPS FOR SAFELY PAYING BILLS ONLINE

Tips for Safely Paying Bills Online

Online bill payment is a service that allows you to manage and pay bills electronically. These may be monthly bills, such as power bills, car payments, or credit card payments, or they may be one-time payments to companies or even individuals. Online bill pay services also offer the ability to set up recurring billing payments.

The source of funds for online bill payments is usually a check account, but some bill pay services also work with credit cards. All bills and transactions can be accessed on the bill pay website, and a number of bill pay services also offer a mobile app.

WHAT MAKES ONLINE BILL PAYING SAFE?

Online bill payment is safe when you choose the right bill payment service. Typically, an online bill payment service backed by a bank or a company providing online banking services will be safe and reliable. Paying an online bill is much safer, for example, than handing a credit card to a waiter in a restaurant.

Online bill payment services encrypt your data to keep it secure and use multi-step verification and password protection. On the other hand, anyone who manages your credit card during a restaurant transaction can easily copy and potentially use your credit card information to make unauthorized purchases.

Tips for Safely Paying Bills Online

TIPS FOR THE SAFE USE OF ONLINE BILL PAY

Keep these tips in mind when selecting and using an online bill paying service:

• Do not respond to or send any information to any bill-paying service that requests personal or financial information directly by e-mail. Email is a notoriously non-secure form of communication, and reputable services will never ask for sensitive personal or financial information through email.

• Don't pay the bills in an email link. Type your website address in your web browser to go directly to the bill pay website.

• Avoid clicking on any email links that appear to be from your billing service. Instead, go directly to the website of the service and log in to follow up any communications or requests. Some email scams look like they've been sent from your service or financial institution and contain links to copycat sites that might look exactly like your trusted service. You will then be tricked into entering your login information or other sensitive information.

• Read the privacy or security policy of the billing service you are considering. Strong data encryption and other protection measures should be included in the policy.

• If the billing site offers to save the username or password for your account, bypass the offer. Always enter this information on your own.

• After you pay your bills online, log out of your account to prevent anyone from accessing your bill when you leave your computer.

• Enable a password lock on your computer at the operating system level when using online billing services.

• Always use  firewall software and antivirus software for Mac or Windows.

• Most online banking and bill-paying services require you to answer a few questions or verify the image you have chosen earlier, in addition to logging in with your username and password. This may seem inconvenient and time-consuming, but it adds another layer of security.

Tips for Safely Paying Bills Online

SIMPLE MONEY MAKING SECRETS

Simple Money Making Secrets

Over the years, the frequency I've seen investors delude themselves is astounding. Sometimes they delude themselves into thinking that their financial situation is not as bad as it really is. Other times, they delude themselves into thinking that they can ignore their retirement and spend today 's cash, and then make up for it later which they rarely do.

When it comes to managing an investment portfolio, one of the most common illusions I see is that an individual investor passionately argues that the stock is "undervalued" at 100x earnings (learn how to calculate the price-to-earnings) or that the reason they are losing money is because of the "crooks" on Wall Street.

THE 4 KEYS TO MAKING MONEY

There were four keys we used in those early days that helped us in our quest to make money. If you take the time to remember each other, I believe that you're going to have a much better chance of achieving your financial goals than you would have by going it alone.

These keys are:

REVENUE MINUS COST = PROFIT

Don't forget that making money consists of one simple formula: income (sales or gross pay) minus cost (expenses) = profit. To make more money, you either need to increase your income, reduce your expenses, or both. There's no other way around. It's that simple, really. How you do that involves tradeoffs in terms of time, relationship and quality of life. Some people try to make money by going to law school and earning a higher salary, even though it means years of study and a lot of debt. Others are trying to make money by starting a successful business.

Simple Money Making Secrets

FOCUS OBSESSIVELY ON CONTROLLING YOUR RISK

You should never be willing to take the risk of being wiped out just for the chance of making money. Don't start speculating with options in hopes of making you rich. Don't borrow money foolishly in an attempt to leverage yourself to the hilt and have one big score. Never rely on a single household income to pay all your bills (I prefer the Berkshire Hathaway model).

TREAT YOUR MONEY LIKE AN EMPLOYEE

Think of every dollar as a potential employee who could earn more dollars if you protected them and put them to work. At some point, your dollars (workers) would have earned enough to live off the passive income.

MAKING MONEY IS IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU DELUDE YOURSELF

During an international visit in 1982 the then-President Ronald Reagan said, "If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly." While Reagan was talking about political science, the same is true in economics. The first step in making progress is to confront reality, face it boldly, and recognize the situation in which you find yourself. Only then will you be able to develop a plan to improve your life. It may not be pleasant, but it is necessary.

In short, making money and building wealth is easy if you stay on track, keep costs low, and get your cash to work well for long periods of time. Compounding is going to do all the heavy lifting. An 18-year-old saving $500 a month in his or her career would retire at 65, with nearly $2,000,000 in wealth at a 7% rate of return. Add another decade, and the fortune grows to almost $4,000,000. Increase the return to 10% and increase the portfolio to $13,665,700. It's the nature of money and making money.

Simple Money Making Secrets