Category Archives: Bad credit

How to invest in an IRA

Investing in an IRA is quite easy. Your IRA investment offers tax advantages on retirement savings so you can potentially accumulate more money. But before you start thinking about how to invest, understand the following risks and limitations,
1. an IRA as any investment can decrease in value
2. withdrawing from a Traditional IRA before age 59½, will most likely force you to pay ordinary income tax plus a 10% federal penalty tax on withdrawal amounts unless an exception applies
3. while any amount converted from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA is not subject to the 10% federal penalty, you will have to pay ordinary income tax – converted taxable amount is added to your income taxes and your regular income rate is applied to your total income
4.

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Fake silver – counterfeit silver bars are here

You have to watch out for counterfeit silver bars. A 100 ounce silver bar today sells for around $4,200 USD. Certainly, a very attractive chunk of silver that simply inspires bad folks to fake itself. Unlike American Silver Dollar, Canadian Maple Leaf or any other silver bullion with elaborate design, the 100 ounce bars are much easier to counterfeit and the profit is quite high. I stopped by one of the coin shops today, there were a few customers and one seller, who came with three 100 oz Johnson Matthey bars. The owner first weighed them, then took a hammer and start pounding lightly on each bar after enclosing it into a clear plastic bag. I guess the passed the test and weren’t fake, as he paid to the seller and put the bars away.

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Gold price will rise in 2011

The chart looks good and so are underlying reasons that will help gold price rise further. The main drive is the world wide growing demand for gold as an alternative to the paper currencies. According to the World Gold Council recently released quarterly Gold Demand Trends report, the strength of the global gold market is incredible. During the first quarter of 2011, gold demand grew 11% to just over 981 tons, which amounted to $43.7 billion US dollars at end-of-the-quarter prices.

Investors, looking to protect their assets from growing inflation, fueled the rise in gold volume and price, as it was up 26% from a year ago.

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Debt settlement with Citibank

I met an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for quite sometime, at the 4th of July party. After having a few beers, he told me the story of a debt settlement with Citibank. Both, he and his wife got into major credit card debt and struggle mightily for a while. Finally they managed to settle for around 28 cents on a dollar. Their credit scores were butchered in the process, but the debt settlement by itself is quite remarkable and inspiring. With so many folks literally drowning in debt, the strategy they used to settle with Citibank is something to learn from.

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2010 IRA contribution deadline

While 2010 is in the history books, you can still make your 2010 IRA contribution. The deadline is April 18, 2011. Normally, the final deadline for making an IRA contribution for any year is the due date of the tax return for that year, which is for individuals filing an annual tax return is April 15. However, in 2011 you have 3 additional days, since the District of Columbia is celebrating Emancipation Day on April 15, and April 16 and 17 are over the weekend. Thus, the 18th became the new tax filing deadline as well as 2010 IRA contribution deadline for both Traditional for tax-deferred earnings and Roth for tax-free earnings IRAs.

For those who needs to set up a new IRA account, the best way to open it online.

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Experian PLUS Score does not complete FICO

Q: I got my Experian PLUS Score and it is 795. I understand that Experian is no longer offers its score through FICO, but was told that PLUS Score is the one the lenders look at when they pull Experian credit file.

A: Far from it. Experian PLUS Score is just another flavour of FAKO scores. This credit score was developed by Experian Decision Analytics, subsidiary of Experian. The PLUS Score has scale from 330 to 830 and while it is calculated using the actual data from your credit file, it has different algorithm from that of FICO. The lending decisions are based on Experian FAIR ISAAC VERSION 2, not PLUS.

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