Recently, congress passed a bill that will once again put money into the Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) budget and $45 million will be set aside for HECM counseling.   This is big news – back in April, the funding for the mandatory counseling was cut due to budget problems in Congress.  Due to the cuts, many counselors had to raise their fees for the service and in some cases, it made doing a reverse mortgage impossible for seniors who could not afford the upfront costs.

If you’re thinking about getting a Reverse Mortgage, we can help to answer your questions about the program and find you a qualified lender.

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It’s an unfortunate fact of life – no one lives forever.  Losing a loved one is always difficult, but the loss is made extremely difficult when the one you lose is your spouse.   For women, this happens often since women tend to live longer than their male spouses.  And though behaviors are beginning to shift, often times men are the ones that take care of the financial issues leaving the widows to take on that role during their time of grief.

Recently in the New York Times, Financial writer, Ron Lieber posted four items that can help widows when they are faced with the task of taking on full responsibility for their finances during this intense period.  His first piece of advice is to never rush any big financial decisions.  Always continue to pay your bills and taxes, but hold off on making big decisions such as paying off a mortgage.  Also be on the lookout for people who prey on recently widowed spouses and offer to sell things like annuities.  If you do want to purchase something like a lifetime annuity, make sure you do your research and work with someone who isn’t going to get rich at your expense.  Another piece of advice is to be careful with who you lend your money to – even if it is your child.  Unfortunately, sometimes people take an emotionally charged situation and play off of it.  It hasn’t been unheard of for a child to ask for an advance on their inheritance that you’re not prepared to give or to have a new man pop into your life who just happens to not be the most stable when it comes to his finances.

You may not be able to prepare for the loss of a loved one, but you can take some steps to make sure that you are not the victim of bad financial decisions.

See how stable you will be in your later years by using our Retirement Calculator.

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Earlier today, one of our employees received a call from someone who had dialed the wrong number.  But while they were speaking, the woman mentioned that she was working with an organization that we thought was a pretty wonderful idea, so we’d like to share it with you!

“Cleaning For A Reason” is a nonprofit organization that helps people living with cancer by providing free professional housecleaning.  By visiting their website, you can apply and they will verify that there is a participating maid service in your area.  After a few more verification steps, Cleaning For A Reason will contact the cleaning service closest to you and set up a time for them to come and clean your house.  As they say on their website, “Fighting cancer is difficult enough, but living with it is even tougher.”  This organization allows people a much needed break when it comes to maintaining their home.  It’s a great thing that an incorrect number was dialed because now we get to share this wonderful group of people with you!

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Have you ever been involved in a scam?  According to the Washington-based Investor Protection Trust, 1 out of 5 Americans over the age of 65 has been.  That comes out to more than 7.3 million seniors being taken advantage of financially!

How can you spot a scam?  Some tips involve never giving out personal information like account numbers, passwords or social security numbers.  Usually when someone is performing a scam, they want you to make a decision urgently and without talking it over with a trusted friend or family member.  These quick talking thieves are usually behind scams such as identity theft, Medicare card scams and predatory lending scams.  One of the biggest and most recent cons to hit seniors has been the “Relative in Distress” scam.  This involves a scammer calling an elderly person and pretending to be a family member or a friend of a family member.  They go on to say that the family member is hurt,  stuck in a foreign country, etc. and needs money wired to them.  Usually the senior is asked to send a check or give the caller their credit card number.  This happens more of then than you would imagine – in fact, it happened to one of our employees’ grandmother today!

Bottom line, stay away from anything that sounds to good to be true such as contest where everyone wins or where they ask for a lot of personal information.  Also, stay away from anything where you are asked to expedite money to someone.  If you ever feel uncomfortable, trust your instincts.  There is always time to talk to a trusted friend or family member.  And never sign any documents without reviewing them carefully.

Have you ever been a victim of a scam?  Did you figure it out before it was too late?  Comment here or on our facebook page and tell us your story.  You could end up helping others!

Would it surprise you to hear that American’s between the ages of 54 and 64 make up almost 30 percent of the entrepreneurs that started  new businesses in 2010?  Many people picture the opposite when they think of start ups – a young graduate who is technologically savvy.  But as Eric Ries, the author of the book “The Lean Startup” points out, older entrepreneurs have a higher success rate that could equate to their extra years of  experience.

Are you motivated to finally start the business you always wanted?  Ries suggests that first you must understand if people really want what you have to offer.  The website kickstarter.com allows you to list your product for a specific price and see if people pre-order it.  This will give you a sense of the appeal of your product.  Ries also suggests keeping your concept as simple as possible in the beginning.  This lets you test your service or product and build on the concept.

You can read more tips here.

Already a small business owner and worried about planning for retirement?  Let us help!

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