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Thursday, February 5, 2009

Help Yourself Get Rid of Credit Card Debt

By James Johnson

A sad fact of life today is that too many individuals spend their monthly income to pay off debts. If you've been paying only the minimum on high interest credit cards all this time, you are doomed to pay a great deal more than what you spent. As disposal income diminishes and the cost of everyday necessities continues to climb, people all across the country are saying the same thing: "Help me get out of credit card debt."


Getting yourself out of credit card debt is difficult but you need to commit yourself to a plan to pay the debt off. The faster you can pay off your credit debts now, the more money you will save yourself for the future.


For debt management, you have to put in writing the amount you owe and to whom. For this you can make a spread sheet on your computer or write it by hand. List the total balance that is due, the least monthly payments and the interest rate that is charged to you. Use it as your "Help me get out of credit card debt" work sheet and refer to it each time you make the monthly payment.


Once you know how much is owed, you need to get rid of the debt. You at least need to increase your monthly payment to pay more than the current minimum amount to get rid of your debt more quickly. Any "help me get out of credit card debt" plans you had in the past probably didn't work put because you didn't put more money towards your monthly payments. Its best to try for two times the minimum monthly payment.


In case the number of dollars that you have for paying off your debts is limited then you must pay off the credit card bills with the smallest outstanding balances first. The reasoning behind this is, instead of adding a little bit to paying down several credit cards your goal will be to pay off one credit card at a time. This looks much better on your credit report and you will be solving your own help me get out of credit card debt" problem.


Once you get your first credit card paid off, you'll feel really good about your accomplishment. You'll realize that you don't have to feel like you're drowning in debt and this can help you push to get the rest of your credit cards paid off.


Stay firm with your goal to pay off your credit card balances and in no time at all, you will not have to say, "help me to get out from under my credit card debt." You will have your finances back under your control and will be able to put your income to use for more important matters.

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The Mistake with your Billing Statement

By Paul J. Easton

In paying your debts, you always dread to look at the billing statements because of the horrible amount you are to be paying for the next decades to come. Not studying these bills actually makes you more a victim of the credit card companies. I know that there are many emotional reasons why you prefer not to look at it but consider the small changes and you can end up saving a lot of money.

By taking the time to meticulously look at your billing statements before making payments, you will attack the problem upfront. Most utility companies do their billing process electronically. But this does not mean that an error cannot be made. Sometimes, it pays to check that you are paying the right amount or find those mistakes. By inquiring to their customer support, mistakes can be taken care of and remedied. This prevents you from paying more than the supposed payment because of one unintentional yet costly mistake for your part. They can even offer something to relieve you from that inconvenience they brought due to that mistake.

Find out too what you can do with your credit card debts. Some credit card companies offer their debtors with financial assistance when they observe that you are having some problems paying your bills. If will probably offer you a plan to consolidate your loans with lower interests and free from other charges. Always read the fine print with these deals. Make certain that you are in the position of really getting out of debt instead of acquiring more.

Compare all your bills and prioritize expenses that you can maintain and are very necessary. If you can't afford it, find a cheaper alternative or just cut off the service. One of the examples for these common expenses that keep you in a debt cycle is the cable TV subscription. Is your cable TV so expensive you are struggling with paying it on time? Try a cheaper alternative that will work just fine. This package might have lesser choices but this is part of an important move you are making to get ahead with life financially later. Moreover, you can still live without that cable package, so ditch that off now.

Another thing you can eliminate to cut costs is your landline and cell phone postpaid plan. Just choose between the two to maximize its use. Find better deals with your cell phone plan provider.

By merely looking at the bills, you become conscious of what you pay for. You become more aware of the things you are expending at and you end up making the most from the services you subscribe to. This is what you call focusing yourself with what you have. Surely, if you are paying more than the things you can afford, you might have overlooked payments in your statement. So find out how to reduce your expenses today. You'll be happier when you did it finally. Get debt-free today with tips on how to get rid of debt here.

For information on how to get rid of debt, go to http://www.Howtogetridofdebt.net/ by Paul J. Easton.

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A Couple Simple Bill Management Pointers To Assist You

By Frank Froggatt

It's very vital that you reduce your debt via debt management if you want to amount to anything in life.Debts can be likened to heavy burdens placed on anybody, and when you have lots of debt, your progress is greatly retarded.

Intelligent folks however, are not adverse to taking debts because they can easily pay them back.It is doubtful, however, if you can afford this luxury.

People who have accumulated huge debts must endeavor to do all they can to reduce such debts.In other words, am talking about effective debt management.

By adopting any of the following ways, you can easily reduce and manage your debt:

Scale down your expenses. You can only reduce debt by a wide margin if you adhere strictly to this.It is only when your purchases are very minimal that you will have surplus funds at your disposal, which you can then use to repay your debt.

If you adhere strictly to this, you will find it very useful in not only debt management, but in your private and business life.

More so, If you save 10% of your income tenaciously, you will discover one basic truth; you can reduce any debt, no matter how huge it is.Savings generally accumulate over a period of time, and you can then use such to float a business that can repay a long standing debt. The concept is christened as "pay thyself first".

By forming a good saving culture, you can reduce your debt considerably, says the popular book "The Richest Man In Babylon". This can effectively be used to gradually pay up your debt and the extra channeled to your business.

You might think that the methods look too simplistic to have any effect, but if you give both a shot you will be surprised how effective they are in debt management.

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Common Myths About Cash Value Life Insurance

By David C Lewis, RFA

Today, life insurance is based around the idea that if you or your spouse dies, that your family will be made whole by replacing your spouse's income. This essential foundation for effective financial planning is often overlooked by many individuals. Most advisers agree that life insurance is necessary.

This is where the agreement between financial professionals ends abruptly, because the next question that arises is: OK, so what kind of life insurance should people buy? The debate between which is better - term or cash value/permanent life insurance - is seemingly a "never ending battle". For many various reasons, many investment houses, stock brokers, mutual fund managers (and the agents who sell their funds), as well as many popular financial "gurus" like Suze Orman, Ric Edleman, and Dave Ramsey presumably (according to their many published books and comments on national radio and television) hate cash value life insurance.

Some financial advisors love cash value insurance, others hate it. Who's right? Who's wrong?

It is shocking that the financial industry is responsible for informing and educating the rest of society about saving and investing. I say shocking because many of the advisors that represent the industry seem to be less concerned with the truth, and more concerned about pitching products.

I say that in light of the fact that on both sides of the debate, neither is doing a very good job of defending their position. Many financial professionals are simply leaving out critical information, or appear to not have a very good grasp of how life insurance really works.

The motivation for lying can be as simple as "money". There is a lot of money floating around in the financial industry, and everyone is competing for it. So, while isn't anything wrong with demonstrating flaws in a financial product, it has to be done objectively. In regards to life insurance, it's not. The attacks are baseless and unsound, and most, if not all, of them are coming from very well known financial professionals. Here are a few of the misconceptions being passed around. Many of them have been repeated so many times, that most people think they are true (they aren't):

Lie Number One:

Cash value life insurance is one of the worst financial products available, and it is definitely the worst type of insurance you can buy to insure your life. The BEST kind of insurance is term insurance because it's cheap and I'm not paying all those extra fees to the evil and greedy insurance company. Besides, don't insurance companies have a record of being reckless, cheating their policyholders, and systematically going out of business.

Fact: Term insurance can be the best type of insurance if all you are considering is the cost. But it is generally the worst type of insurance you can buy to insure your life if you want it to pay off, at least statistically speaking. To understand this, we need to understand how life insurance companies position their product line, and how they make money.

You may have heard of the "law of averages". Well, insurance uses something called the Law of Large Numbers. The larger the group of people you are insuring, the more certain you can be about the number of losses.

For example, if we were to start an insurance company and we only had one customer, we would be taking on an incredible risk because of the nature of life insurance, if that one person dies, we could be out of business very quickly (imagine that one customer giving you $20 for a $250,000 death benefit and then dying the very next day). If, however, we have a million customers, then we can better control the risks we are taking by insuring other people's lives. No one can predict when an individual will die, but if we study a large enough group of people, we can make surprisingly accurate predictions about the number of individuals within that group that will die in any given year. Given that insurance companies have an excellent record of predicting deaths every year, what do all of the statistics say?

Term insurance just doesn't pay, at least not for policy owners. That's because most people live to age 65. Term is expensive long-term. Permanent is a good deal long-term. A few critics will still say "no Dave, term is cheaper - always cheaper". Oh yeah? Watch this:

A male (let's use Jim again), age 25 and in good health with a wife and a child finds that he needs life insurance. Jim is looking for $250,000 in coverage. A typical 30-year term policy - a policy that has level premium payments for 30 years - should cost Jim around $370 per year until he reaches age fifty-five. At that point, the premiums jump up significantly (as all term insurance premiums do) to a tad over $4,700 per year.

By the time he is 65, he will have spent $58,780 on premiums. Keep in mind that the insurance company collected this money but never has to give it back. There's no cash value in term insurance, so the contract only pays when he dies.

What would have happened if he had, say, purchased the same amount of death benefit but used a universal life insurance policy with slightly higher but level annual premiums of $1739 every year to age 100? By his 65th birthday, 'ole Jimbo would have had a total premium outlay of $69,560 ($1739 x 40). But, he would have built up $157,000 of cash value inside the policy.

This money is part of the policy's living benefits, and can be used on a tax-free basis to supplement his retirement or left alone to continue growing. Some life insurance companies also offer an option to spend down up to 100% of the death benefit if you become chronically or terminally ill. If you haven't been able to accumulate a lot of money, this can be very helpful.

Lie number two:

Cash value life insurance is overpriced. You can never tell how much money you are spending on death benefit and how much money is actually going into the cash value of the policy. With term insurance, the costs are clear.

Fact: Whole life insurance carries a stigma in that it is often difficult to determine how much the death benefit is costing you. However, universal life insurance is, in actuality, a term policy with a separate savings account - often called 'the pot of money'. The costs are broken down and the policy is very transparent. Cash value insurance can seem expensive in comparison to term insurance because of the front loaded nature of the contract and the fact that you are forced to save money in a cash account. Sadly, the fees charged by the insurance company are being stressed (I guess they don't know that all financial products carry similar fees).

The fees aren't so bad. I'm serious. Think about how much more difficult it would be if every time you wanted to save or invest money, you had to call a lawyer to draft a contract for you? With respect to life insurance, you have a few choices: you can structure the contract for maximum cash (minimizing the fees) or maximum death benefit (maximizing the fees, but getting more death benefit as a result). All of the expenses associated with permanent life insurance can be made very reasonable if cost is the concern. But why compare insurance to an investment?

Over the long-term, you should get all of your money back that you put into a cash value policy with interest (note: the exception to this is variable life insurance which doesn't guarantee cash values). If the policy is structured properly, you can also be left with a sizable amount that can be drawn on in retirement.

Lie number three:

If you are smart with your money, pay off your mortgage and other loans, and put money into retirement plans you won't need insurance 30 years from now to protect your family.

Fact: You may not need life insurance in 30 years to protect your children from financial ruin when you die. But you may need it to protect your beneficiaries (whoever they may be) from taxes. And, even if you are "smart" with your money, you can't predict the investment returns in a mutual fund (or a stock for that matter) inside of a 401(k) or IRA unless you are very good at researching stocks (hint: 99% of the general population is not). It takes years of practice, and even some of the best stock brokers and financial analysts don't always get it right. The stock market ebbs and flows, and goes through cycles of boom and bust. If your investments take a hit right before you are ready to retire, it doesn't matter how "smart" you were with your money.

Still don't think life insurance is necessary as you get older? Consider that dying isn't free. What does the average funeral cost in your home town? Ask a funeral director how quickly the costs double over any given time period. You will be shocked...shocked I tell you. Also, ask any child whose parents left them a sizable IRA what they paid in taxes and if it was financially disruptive.

The cash value life insurance that your financial guru told you was evil and that you didn't need could have prevented all of this by bypassing probate, providing an income tax free death benefit and, inside of a life insurance trust, completely avoided the estate tax thereby giving your heirs, your favorite charity, or your church 100% of the money you wanted to give them.

There are an alarming number of financial professionals that try to draw a connection between life insurance and investing. It's a huge mistake (even supporters of CV insurance make this mistake). Comparing cash value insurance to investing is like asking "how many walkmans does it take to equal an Ipod?". Even if you find an investment strategy that "beats" the insurance product...so what? Cash value insurance is supposed to provide a death benefit with a savings component, not an investment component (despite the mistakes of variable life).

Before you make any decision on whether to buy term or cash value life insurance, think about what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to invest your money, then learn about investing. Learn how to value corporations and buy stocks, bonds, no load mutual funds. If you want a long-term savings, then find an adviser that can maximize your savings through cash value life insurance.

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Easy ways To Get The Lowest Mortgage Rates

By Mijnadviseur

Most people make a decision for a certain lender based on the mortgage rate quoted. Even though the lowest rate quoted doesn't mean you always get the best deal on your mortgage. You can get rates online from hundreds of different lenders, but mortgage advice should be based on your individual situation.

First off, it's important to select the right mortgage for your situation. It all depends on your goals and long term plans. If you go with the lowest rate, you might be happy today, but in a few years you might be forced to take on another mortgage, because your current one has not made you debt free. That's why you need to think about your situation and make sure you do an apples to apples comparison when comparing mortgages. Don't make the mistake if comparing rates, not discriminating between types of mortgages.

A very popular form of mortgage, when you are looking for the lowest rates, is the ARM mortgage. ARM stands for Adjustable Rate Mortgage. ARM mortgages are very popular when the interest rates are low, because they give you the biggest advantage in these periods. There are many different types of adjustable rate mortgages, but the important thing to keep in mind is that interest rates fluctuate and you might be looking at a higher monthly payment in a couple years or even months.

The opposite of an adjustable rate mortgage is a fixed rate mortgage. With this type of mortgage, you know what the interest rate is, because you pay the same amount each and every month. You'll never be surprised by a big riser in your mortgage payments and therefore this is a very safe choice. On the other hand, it's a very rigid choice and you can not easily change it to profit form certain interest rate dips. Most fixed rate mortgages are paid off over 30 years. Sometimes, there is an insurance policy or investment plan connected to the mortgage that makes sure you can make the balloon payment on the end of the mortgage period.

Getting the lowest mortgage rates is a good goal, as long as you make sure you choose the right mortgage for your situation. Get expert advice, do the research, so you avoid getting into trouble somewhere down the road.

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Starting a Business but don't have Enough Capital?

By Paul J. Easton

Are you starting a business but cannot raise the necessary capital to invest? Why not try to consider opening a self-directed IRA? This tool will let you finance a business with your retirement funds.

Have you heard about Guidant Financial and their offerings? Guidant Financial offers you the ability to set up and manage a self-directed IRA. In addition to that, it enables you to use your retirement funds to finance a business later. Financing a small business using retirement funds is now possible with Guidant Financial.

The popularity of self-directed IRA to finance small businesses catapulted the Guidant Financial Group from a mere start-up business founded last 2003 to a market leader in the industry of financing small business. This steady growth of the company enabled them to provide better control and services to their more demanding clients.

When looking for an instrument to invest with, Guidant Financial provides you with much greater control of your IRA using this self-directed model. A self-directed IRA model gives its policyholders complete control over where the money is invested in. Unlike most IRA where the money invested is trusted to an investment department or managers, you are given the opportunity to direct where your funds will be invested. You can venture in real estates or invest in private businesses you have already entrusted. And most certainly, you can have personal loans as well.

Guidant Financial also has an amazing product which allows you to invest your retirement funds for a new business venture. By investing them in a new startup or a franchise, they provide you more flexibility by eliminating the incurring distribution penalties. That's like working to grow your own business and have a direct positive effect on the value of your IRA.

This type of money management is not for everyone though. Many individuals especially with business background find this form of retirement vehicle more worthwhile to invest in. A lot of skeptics doubt the management of their IRA funds and they can't be blamed for that. With the proper skills and the knowledge, they believe that they are able to achieve much better interest gains in the long run. As an additional bonus, the freedom of controlling your IRA is definitely considered a great feature of this model according to most account holders. So get your IRA account in a self-directed model now.

Visit Financial Directory topics Now with FREE Articles Tips at DollarGuides.com. Help tips and more plus Credit Card Debt Information

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UK credit cards targeted by fraudsters

By James Gladstone

Credit card fraud has hit new heights, with London being named as the credit card fraud capital of Britain for the second year running. Figures released by insurance company CPP showed that 38% of people had been victims of credit card fraud in 2008. In 12 months, almost three million people in the capital were affected " a third of all cases in Britain and a 10% jump on previous figures. The average amount stolen was 650, although some had lost considerably more. Often, victims were only made aware of the crime when they had been contacted by their bank and hadnt been aware up until that point that their details had been stolen.

These frightening statistics show how fraudsters are making life difficult for innocent people and just how easily they can get hold of personal details, pin numbers and credit card information. Once they have this information it only takes a very short time for them to steal money from an account and then disappear into the Internet. Online fraud is a growing problem with many people falling victim to emails pretending to be from legitimate sources such as the customers bank. Responding to these emails is a sure-fire way of running up a credit card bill very quickly or seeing a bank account drain of funds before your eyes.

However, there is a very easy way to protect yourself against this kind of attack and that is never respond to any email asking you to confirm sensitive information. No bank will ever ask you to do this legitimately either by phone or by email, so you can be sure those that do are scams. If you have any doubts, contact your bank directly. The growth of online auction sites and Internet shopping has given criminals a new route into peoples personal details, but again it is fairly easy to carry out a few basic checks to ensure that the site you are using is secure. A secure site should have a URL address that includes the prefix https and a padlock icon in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. If these are missing then the site is unsecured and so are your credit card details.

Skimming credit cards has become an increasing problem in Britains busy high streets and 21% of credit card fraud is a result of this practice. The insertion of readers that skim the details of your credit card as you use an automatic cash dispenser or a small camera that photographs pin numbers as they are punched in are examples of increasingly high tech methods employed by fraudsters. If an ATM machine shows any indication of being tampered with, avoid using the machine and report your suspicions to the bank. Covering the keypad with your hand is a very low-tech way of beating any spy cameras that may be trying to photograph your pin number as you enter it.

Passwords are another weak link in the chain, with many people using the same password for all their Internet activities. The problems can start once this password becomes common knowledge to a fraudster as they will then test its use against your other activities. Keep your passwords secure at all times and dont go for the obvious such as pets names or mothers maiden names. All of these are simple measures that the average person can take to give themselves a level of protection against fraud, but what are the banks doing to ensure that your details are safe?

Banks and credit card companies are now much more aware of the dangers of identity theft and spurred on by reports of customers details being left out for the bin-men are implementing much stricter security protocol to ensure the safety of sensitive information. They are also working closely with the Police (both nationally and internationally, as many of the fraudsters operate outside the UK) to combat credit card fraud and cyber-crime. It is an ongoing battle, but by using simple methods to protect your credit card details combined with the financial institutions initiative against fraud there is a good chance that Britain will be able to shake off the image of being an easy target for credit card fraudsters.

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The Complete Guide To The Basics of Family Financial Planning

By Jenni Snook

If anyone wishes to secure the financial future of their family, then you have no choice but to learn the basics of family financial planning. This article has been written to teach you some of these important basic so that your family financial planning is done correctly.

In order to begin your family financial planning, you must know how much you are earning and aim to spend less than that. This way, you can start to budget money and start formulating a financial savings plan for your family.

A family budget is necessary to keep track of your spending and expenses. Without these, you won't have the slightest idea how much you are spending and will soon enough be under a pile of debt.

It's always risky to use a credit card for purchases, and it's something that only people who can keep up with monthly bills should use. However, many families use it and abuse it and eventually end up being thousands of dollars in debt. Remember, credit cards are an expensive way to live, the interest rates are high, and you'll be paying mostly interest on every payment. Make sure that if you have credit cards that they're for emergencies only or that you're paying them off every month.

Don't forget to include a retirement in your family financial planning. While saving up for your children's college education is important, your own future is equally important. You wouldn't want your children to worry about you during your old age.

Make sure that you're investing, whether it's in a retirement plan, or other types of investment plan. Money begets more money, and without an investment plan, your money won't earn much, and it won't grow very fast.

You should also study your local tax laws because they are normally many types of tax breaks which you can take advantage of whatever your financial situation may be. If you are not too fond of your local tax, it's probably best to seek the assistance of tax professional who can suggest to you certain tax breaks and benefits.

It's imperative that your family has a financial plan. If you are not too keen on doing one up yourself, you'll be pleasantly surprised how cheap hiring a professional can be compared to the benefits. There's so doubt family financial planning basics are important so that your family never has to drown in a pool of debt.

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Has the Bankruptcy law changed that much?

By Josh Ramos

Despite the negative consequences of filing for bankruptcy, many Americans are able to find a fresh start when they decide file. However, many people have been told by well meaning friends or advisers that bankruptcy is no longer available in most situations.

It's true that there have been some changes, but bankruptcy remains an option that you can and probably should discuss with a lawyer (and possibly a financial adviser if you can afford it). Bankruptcy is certainly not appropriate in every situation, but it can be a lifesaver for many individuals with overwhelming amounts of debt.

In 2005, Congress passed a law which reformed the bankruptcy code. The law is pretty complex, even for attorneys, and many have criticized it for making things tougher on consumers. Nevertheless, the credit industry was successful in convincing Congress to pass the law.

The law places additional requirements for those trying to declare bankruptcy, and these requirements include mandatory counseling and having to prove your income and your need for bankruptcy. Still, bankruptcy has not been eliminated as an option for most people. You may have to go through some additional requirements, however, such as the means test.

Actually, if your income is lower than the median salary in your state, the bankruptcy means test doesn't even apply to you. However, if your income is higher, you may have to go through this annoying but necessary procedure to show the court that you do need bankruptcy.

This really boils down to putting together a well documented list of all of your income and expenses. Be careful not to make any omissions, or this can come back to bite you later on.

It can seem like a painful process, but that's what your lawyer is there to help you with. Trying to declare bankruptcy without a lawyer would be pretty silly in my view. This new bankruptcy law in particular is quite complex, so you'll need the best bankruptcy lawyer that you can afford.

A good bankruptcy lawyer will have kept up to date on all the developments. This is important because the new bankruptcy law is quite complex, and there will be various court rulings on how to apply the bankruptcy code to various situations. Your lawyer must be well versed in all these things.

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Safe Investments with Self-directed IRA

By Paul J. Easton

More investors as of now want a safe yet innovative option to invest for their retirement in the near future. With the baby boomers having the most influence in the economy today and they are retiring soon, this market of investment-seekers are going to grow dramatically even with the gloomy financial outlook.

Guidant Financial, as the leader in providing self-directed IRA services today, allows investors the control to make alternative investments in real estate, franchises, and businesses. The company, along with most financial services firms, anticipated the significant downturn in their business. But the trend in their business analysis shows that the traditional financial turmoil appears to encourage many investors to consider other platforms of investments for their security in their retirement. People have been traumatized by the meltdown in the real estate market and the volatility of the stock markets. With the instability in these markets, many people are avoiding the traditional securities markets altogether. People are more intelligent right now with their money and wanted a new and secure way of controlling their assets. This is probably the driving force behind the staggering growth of the Guidant Financial Group.

More investors are afraid of investing further and some are deciding to transfer their retirement savings out of the stock market. These investors are looking for other asset classes offering better control and monitoring for their money. They found that self-directed IRAs offer them the chance to control their investments without first committing to a specific investment. This concept, though had been there for a long time, was not very much promoted due to the absence of middleman profits for financial companies. Now, it has steadily gained some popularity since last year.

Guidant Financial Group's self-directed IRA is a form of retirement account where the investor has the ability to invest in both traditional and non-traditional assets. Most Guidant clients prefer to invest in rental properties or private loans. Similarly, they also considered private stock and tax liens with a little education in these fields. These alternative investments generated cash-flow opportunities making them a very attractive option for those retiring soon.

With more direct form of management, they have saved a few thousand of dollars from holding and administrative fees. They also monitored personally where their money is invested. This is peace of mind for most of them. This is the major reason behind the unexpected growth in Guidant's self-directed IRA business.

For more information on financial directory, get FREE Articles Tips at DollarGuides.com. Get debt-free today with tips on how to get rid of debt here.

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