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There’s been a certain movement in financial circles to re-examine compensation models of investment advisors.  One of the central proposals to such reform includes moving from a commission based model, with connotations of the hard sale, to a hourly and fee based model, which has a more advisory undertones. Yet, the legal industry, built on foundation of the billable hour, is in naval gazing mode about a broken business model which includes clients revolting over high billable hours and the perception of inefficiencies related to this billing model.

How can one industry suggest partially moving to a compensation model that another industry notoriously associated with it is thinking of abandoning?

The ultimate issue is not the compensation scheme but the value given by the consumer to advice.

…and therein lies the problem.  Value is ultimately a subjective concept. For example, imagine two investors who pay the same advisor the same compensation annually. The “

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Fortune Magazine recently pointed out that the new normal of our economic lives includes a return to renting rather than owing. A 2010 Harvard study showed between 2004-2009, the number of renters has increased 10%. With real estate values continuing to show no steady acceleration trend in the U.S. and the theory that those with negative equity in their homes will have to convert to renters, it bears watching whether this will become a longer term trend.

Having said that, there is now an open pro-renter policy lobby.  Specifically, Richard Florida, while not the first to suggest it but certainly the most famous given he is the “it” boy of economics, argues that a distorted home ownership rate slows an economy’s ability to recover from downturns given many people are rooted to location rather than being able to pick up and pursue opportunity. The mo

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A new law was passed a few months ago where “free credit report” sites had to state that they really weren’t giving away free credit reports.  Since there is a big difference between a scam and a misleading company, there are some things that you’re going to have to look into.

A scam vs. a mislea

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Emergency situations often catch people off guard and leave them feeling devastated.  From financial difficulties incurred from a layoff or an unforeseen medical expense to fires and natural disasters, one thing is certain.  Without a rock solid back-up plan, the chances of your family weathering a storm are next to zero.

So, what do you do to prepare yourself for the unexpected?  You open the doors of communication with your partner and you come up with a way to get out of any pickle you might find yourself in.  This might sound easier said than done but it is of vital necessity.

Preparing for future scenarios, although scary, can help your family survive the harshest conditions yet.  The following advice has been collected from books written on the topic of survival.  The situations described throughout the article may or may not apply to you and your lifestyle.  Nonetheless, it never hurts to be prepared.  In fact, the safety and security of your family may one day be dependent on your ability to adapt to a stressful situation.

It isn’t a secret that today’s economy is a far cry from what it used to be.  Joblessness is a concern of every American pounding the pavement.  Unemployment benefits, although useful, are often not enough to save your home from foreclosure or your vehicle from be repossessed.  It is seldom enough to put food on the table and warm clothes on the backs of your children.  With that being said, you should start now by putting your budget on a diet. Couple that wit

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The trend in firming home prices solidified in the second quarter with more metropolitan areas showing increases from a year ago, aided by a surge in home sales driven by the home buyer tax credit, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.

In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas¹ (MSAs) had higher median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the second quarter of 2009, including 14 with double-digit increases; two were unchanged and 53 metros showed price declines. In the first quarter of this year 91 areas had higher prices, while only 26 MSAs experienced annual price gains in second quarter of 2009.

The national median existing single-family price was $176,900 in the second quarter, up 1.5 percent from $174,200 in the same period of 2009. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less.

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Identity theft happens more often that you think and if you think it won’t happen to you, it can!  Even if you’re the most tech savvy person, criminals are so advanced today that they don’t even need access to your computer.  Instead, they can hack into main servers at major corporations.

The thing I never understood was why they didn’t take the knowledge that they have learned about hacking and apply it to something that is actually legal.  I guess we will never understand.

Identity theft happens all the time and if you’re not protecting yourself, I would recommend services such as LifeLock that can help you protect yourself at all times and even give you a guarantee.

Let’s take a look at some facts that you might have never known about this type of theft.

1. Around 1 in 20 adults have been victims.
2. Every minute, around 20 adults become victim.
3. Around every year, over 10 million adults have experienced this!
4. On average, it will take someone 100 hours to get things settled.
5. The average person spends $1,000 – $8,000 to recover.
6. Over $200 billion is lost with businesses worldwide by theft.
7. 50% of victims don’t find out about theft until 3 months after.
8. Close to 50% have a hard time getting loan after everything is said and done.
9. Every month, these numbers are going to go up.
10. The average thief gets around $5,000 in cash / merchandise per account.

To get more information on facts, Equifax, Squidoo, as well as this NCJRS article has some great facts that you can read more into.

How can people steal my identity?

There are so many ways and as I mentioned above, you’re going to find that it just doesn’t come from the computer.  They can steal records from your work, they can even bribe people to hand over information.  If that isn’t bad enough, they can hack into store computers where you have used your credit card.

The fact here is that 90% of the time, it is out of your control to protect it.  Once they steal it, there’s a good chance that you don’t know about it if you don’t have a monitoring service.

Many of us today have a credit card and if you find one in your wallet, there’s a good chance that you’re going to use it.  Now, what happens if you fall down on hard times and you just can’t pay off your credit card bill?

Yes, there are going to be consequences, but like many people on this Earth, you’re going to have no idea what happens when you’re doing it for the first time.

To make things easy for you, I’ve compiled a simple list of things that are going to happen when you’re thinking about bailing on your credit card bills.  Obviously, why I don’t recommend it, you have to feed your kids before you pay the minimum on your card.

Interest rate will rise: Once you skip on your first payment, the credit card companies will more than likely jack up your rate.  Generally, they will give you 60 days to pay at first, but if you continue to do this, you’re going to see a significant rise in your interest rate.  This is something that you don’t want.

Minimum payment will get larger: Chances are that your minimum payment today is rather small.  It should be fairly affordable to pay at least the minimum.  By doing so, you will save your credit and keep the companies off your back.  With the new credit card ACT, you should be able to see right on your statement on how long it is going to take you to pay it off.

Getting phone calls: After about 60 days of non-payment, you’re going to get emails, phone calls, as well as letters in the mail.   Trust me, as long as your bill isn’t being paid, you’re going to get harassed by these people.  If you wait long enough, they will sell your debts to a third party.  This is something that you don’t want.

Credit score drops: This is an obvious one, but as your credit score drops, you’re going to have a harder time getting a loan, mortgage, or any other type of credit.  Every 30 days, you can count on a big drop regarding your score.

Garnish your wages: Every state is different in regards to this with their law, but you will find that if you don’t pay after a particular period, the company can dip into your paycheck and take out a certain percentage.

After about 6 months, you can count on your debt going to a debt collection company that is going to hassle you until the bill is paid.

If you can, always make sure that you can at least pay the minimum.  By doing so, you’re going to save yourself a lot of stress, as well as help your credit score.  As you can see, you probably don’t want to go down the “not paying” route, but rather stay on the “smarter route.”

If you find yourself in a bind when it comes to credit card debt, you may find that you’re going to look at many options.  From haggling with the credit card companies to declaring bankruptcy.  While there are a lot of options, I can understand why it can be hard to choose one.

When it comes down to debt, there is so much information to absorb and while many of you may not have the time to sit back and learn it, you may have no choice but to head to a professional and that’s okay!

Whether a professional or yourself has learned a little bit about credit card debt forgiveness, I wanted to give you 4 things that you should know about it, before you think about attempting it.

You’re going to be taxed on it

When you settle with a credit card company by going this route, you’re going to find that the creditors are going to send you a 1099-C form.  Whatever debt that was canceled will be taxed.  For example, if you had $7,500 in debt and they settled on $4,000, you’re going to have a $3,500 difference.  That difference will be taxed.

You don’t pay taxes when declaring bankruptcy

If you decide that you want to declare bankruptcy, you’re not going to have to pay the bills off anyways.  Many people have the assumption that they will have to pay taxes on all unsettled debts.  This isn’t the case.   You will be excluded from the tax rule.  I would advise that you meet with a professional accountant if you ever have questions.

It will lower your credit score

If you decide that you want to settle for something less, the credit card companies will report this to your credit report.  It’s going to show that you have no more debt with that card, but it will also state that you settled for a lower amount.

Get everything in writing

While it is tempting to get yourself to pay a lower bill to settle, you will always want to make sure that you get everything in writing.  When you get things in writing, you’re going to find that you will have proof, if anything does happen down the road.

The most common error that you’re going to come across is the taxes at the end of the year.  Just make sure that you understand that you’re going to get taxed on the difference of what you settle for.  If you ever do have questions, be sure to refer to an accountant and/or lawyer that works with debt and bankruptcy.