Finding a credit card that offers no fee balance transfer is not as easy as it once was. Two years ago, more than a dozen credit cards offered these deals. At the time of writing, only two credit card companies offer no fee balance transfers. Altogether, they offer only three credit cards.

If you are unfamiliar with balance transfers, let me begin by explaining the fee structure. With most offers, credit card companies charge three percent up to a maximum of seventy five dollars for every balance you transfer. (Some companies have even eliminated the maximum fee or raised it to as much as two hundred and fifty dollars.) For the purpose of this article, we’ll work with the average balance transfer card. Below are three balance transfer situations that illustrate the costliness of transfer fees.

Situation #1: You have three credit cards, each with a twenty five hundred dollar balance. Each balance you transfer will cost you three percent of twenty five hundred dollars, or seventy five dollars. This will bring your total fees to two hundred and twenty five dollars. While this is still substantially less than the one thousand or more you would pay in interest, it does reduce your savings by twenty five percent.

Situation #2: You have a balance of five thousand dollars on one card and twenty five hundred dollars on another. Each transfer will cost you seventy five dollars in fees, bringing your total balance transfer expense to one hundred and fifty dollars. While this is a slight savings from Situation #1, you still lose a decent portion of your overall savings.

Situation #3: You have one credit card with a balance of seventy five hundred dollars. Because of the seventy five dollar maximum, your total fee will only be seventy five dollars, or one percent of the amount you transfer. This does help reduce you balance transfer fees to a reasonable level. However, why not avoid the fees altogether.

The way to avoid the seventy five to two hundred and twenty five dollars in fees you would incur when transferring a balance, opt for a zero percent interest credit card that offers no fee balance transfers. As their name implies, this type of credit card will save you on the annoying fees attached to most balance transfer offers.

There are a few things one must keep in mind about no fee balance transfers. First of all, most of these offers only provide a zero percent interest rate on balance transfers, not on purchases. Thus, if you apply for one of these cards, be sure to avoid making new charges on it. Secondly, be sure to make your transfers when you apply, as most no fee balance transfers require you to transfer your balances when you submit your online application. Lastly, since you are not paying interest for a full year, don’t feel rushed to pay off your credit card. Stash your money in a high yield savings account and earn interest on your money until the zero percent interest rate is about to expire. This way, you not only save a few hundred or a few thousand with your 0% balance transfer, you can also earn another four to five percent on your money.

The American Dream is different for every person. In general it’s something similar to – Money, A Beautiful Home, and Perfect Relationships. Today, our topic is Money. We will discuss getting it, and what do with it in order to increase your savings and eventual wealth.

In order to increase your savings you must first have an income. My first suggestion is to do something you enjoy. And, at the very least, do what is legally expedient while seeking something you will enjoy.

Second, set aside at least 10 percent of what you earn and put it in a savings account; preferably one not connected by overdraft to your checking account. Banks push overdraft protection and this has its merits. However, the idea is to organize and keep track of your money so that each dollar-to-the-penny is accounted for. This way – You are your own overdraft protection.

Your 10 percent savings is key. No, it’s crucial. This is the money you will eventually use to invest and increase your wealth. Without this, you will most likely continue to survive pay check to pay check rather than live in the comfort of wealth as I believe we are all intended to do.

After you save 10 percent of your income, that leaves you 90 percent to live on, right? Not quite. Do you have any debt? If you live in America, and haven’t already developed the habit of savings and wealth building, you most likely do. So, your next step is to get rid of your unproductive debt by taking an addition 10 percent from your income for debt relief. This leaves you with 80 percent of your earned income. Now what?

Heard the expression, “Give and it shall be given unto you?” How about “Charity begins at Home.” They are the same. Our home is Earth and our family, other human beings. Therefore, we are responsible for one another just as the universe is responsible for securing us via Sun, Rain, Air, etc. This simply means that our existence is reciprocal and that what we give, we get back in one way or another. It’s really that simple.

So, from that 80 percent of your remaining income, if you want to increase your savings, and wealth – give 10 percent of your income to someone less fortunate than yourself (whether to an organized entity or someone you know or come across who could use the funds). How you do so is entirely up to you. Just try it. You will see. It’s an awesome principle that works 100 percent of the time.

Recapping – You’ve developed a consistent income; Paid yourself first with 10 percent for your savings account; Put aside and/or paid 10 percent toward your debt relief; and Given 10 percent to charity. Now you have 70 percent of your earnings for daily living expenses. This is more than possible to live on. Here are some tips to do so.

How To Live on 70 Percent of You Income…

These tips will get you off to a good start.

1. Take a real inventory of what you spend your money on. It will amaze you. Make a budget. If you find that you simply must have more income, intend it and get a better paying gig.

2. Eat at home – Cook

3. Make coffee at home (Carry your homemade coffee to work in your Starbucks container if it makes you feel better)

4. Entertain at home rather than splurge out each weekend.

5. Buy in bulk at places like Costco, Sam’s Club, Smart & Final, etc.

The process of increasing your savings account seems restricting at first. It is. Developing a new habit of finance is developing a new way of thinking about money and wealth. But remember, you are doing this to eventually amass wealth. Take the time, work the process and begin to change your financial status forever.

What are the guarantees in a short sale?  I can only really think of one – I can guarantee that this thing won’t close in 7 days!  Ok, I’ve got two – I guarantee that if you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t hire someone who does then you are in for a long, wild ride!

Other than those there really aren’t any guarantees at all in short sales.  A lot of people find this a hard concept to grasp and as dark and foreboding as it may sound it really isn’t all that bad.

There is no guarantee that the property will sell BUT there never is.  You could put a house up for sale for one dollar and it doesn’t mean someone is going to buy it. Most of our deals that we sell we have a contract on them within the first 60 days but our market may be different than yours and we market our properties very heavily.  Make sure that your property is properly marketed and distributed to as many buyers as possible.

 Without a buyer there can never be a short sale!

After the initial purchase contract there is no guarantee that the bank will approve the deal.  BUT, your short sale negotiator should do everything in their power to keep the deal alive and negotiate as hard as they can to get the deal to close.  It’s usually a win-win for everyone involved and sometimes the bank just needs a little nudge and a little confirmation of that fact and you can get the approval that you need.

From a bank’s perspective, they don’t have to do a short sale.  There is no law, nothing in your contract with them, no one holding a gun to their head saying, “YOU MUST DO SHORT SALES IF ASKED!”.  The bank considers it a privilege that is extended to the borrower and therefore may choose to not offer it as an option.  Rarely, however, is it NOT in the bank’s best interest and again, as long as the agent can convince the bank to take the deal they usually end up much better off, as does the client.

There is no guarantee that the buyer won’t flake out at some point either, BUT when your agent writes up a contract between you as the sellers and a buyer they need to be very careful to protect you as much as they can.  There are ways to do this via contract language and we have used it to our client’s full advantage.

Each state may have different clauses so make sure you ask questions to your short sale agent and make sure they know the answers!  These clauses not only protect the sellers but also assures everyone that there is  a committed buyer in the short sale transaction.

There are no guarantees with short sales themselves but if you can find the right short sale professional to help you then I can guarantee you have put the odds in your favor of getting through your first (and hopefully only!) short sale transaction.

Many people put off planning for their retirement thinking that since it is years away in the future they can wait for some more time before giving thought to it. However, by delaying it you could end up losing substantial amounts of money. This, in turn, could be the decisive factor of whether your retirement will be a comfortable one or whether you barely get by.

Planning for retirement, therefore, ought to be begun as soon as possible. By beginning early, not only will it give you more time to create a portfolio of investment that will generate a comfortable income during your retirement, but also take care of other important matters like health. Here are a few things to keep in mind when planning for your retirement:

Set Goals

One of the first things to do is making a list of some of the goals you have for your retirement. Are you planning on traveling? Do you want to move to another place because of the climate, or to be closer to family? Or perhaps you just want to stay in the same place and pursue your interests and hobbies. Irrespective of what your goals may be, you will require money for it from an income. It is projected that baby boomers will have retired lives that will last for 30 years, and perhaps even more. Hence, you will have to make a plan that generates income for that many years. It could include taking up another career after retiring, to augment your retirement income. You can use retirement calculators to find out the amount of money you will require for your retirement.

Make a Budget

In case you have not already done so, make a budget. If you have no idea about your monthly expenditure, start jotting down every dollar you spend for two to three months in a journal. You will be able to manage your expenses better once you find out exactly what you are spending on. Payments you make toward your retirement plan should be included in your budget.

Include other Members of the Family

Talk about your plans for retirement with your spouse and other members of your family. It is likely that both you and your spouse will retire around the same time, hence both of you should be in accord about the kind of retirement you want. If both of you are working, both will be making contributions to the funds you are putting aside for your retirement. Hence by deciding together, you will create a plan that both of you will find acceptable.

Taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) above a certain amount may lose part of their deduction for personal exemptions and itemized deductions. The provision began in the early 1990′s and is set to be repealed in 2010. The itemized deduction reduction originally called for reducing your deductions by 3% of the amount that your AGI exceeds the threshold amount.

Beginning in 2006, the overall limit on certain deductions was gradually eliminated. Under this phaseout rule, the limit was reduced by one-third in 2006 and will be reduced by one-third in 2007 so that the 3% phaseout is reduced to 2%. In 2008 and 2009, the 3% phaseout will be reduced to 1%. The reduction will be eliminated in 2010.

For 2007, the amount you can claim as a deduction for exemptions is reduced once your AGI goes above a certain level for your filing status. The threshold is indexed annually for inflation.

These levels are as follows:

Married filing separately – $117,300.

Single – $156,400.

Head of household -$195,500.

Married filing jointly – $234,600.

Qualifying widow(er) – $234,600

You must reduce the dollar amount of your exemptions by 2% for each $2,500, or part of $2,500 ($1,250 if you are married filing separately), that your AGI exceeds the amount shown above your filing status. However, you can lose no more than 2/3 of the dollar amount of your exceptions. In other words, each exemption cannot be reduced to less than $1,133.

You may ask, “Am I subject to this limit?” The IRS deems you subject to the limit on certain itemized deductions if your AGI is more than $156,400 ($78,200 if you are married filing separately). Your AGI is the amount on Form 1040, line 38.

The following deductions are subject to the overall limit on itemized deductions:

1) Taxes

2) Interest paid

3) Gifts to charity

4) Job expenses and certain miscellaneous deductions

5) Other miscellaneous deductions (excluding gambling and casualty or theft losses)

The following deductions are NOT subject to the overall limit:

1) Medical and dental expenses

2) Investment interest expense

3) Casualty and theft losses from personal use property

4) Casualty and theft losses from income-producing property

5) Gambling losses

You can use the Itemized Deduction Worksheet in the instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) to figure your limit. You will enter the result on Schedule A (Form 1040).

You should compare the amount of your standard deduction to the amount of your itemized deductions after applying the limit. Use the greater amount when completing Form 1040, line 40.

To determine how to figure your limit and see examples visit www.real-estate-owner.com/itemized-deduction-reduction.html.

Also, to see an example of a worksheet used to determine what you can deduct, visit www.real-estate-owner.com/itemized-deduction-reduction-worksheet.html.