Tag Archives: Personal Finance

One Last Time

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I wanted to  provide an update about one of the issues I have been fighting with for a couple of months. It is about Al and the huge bill at the nursing home.

He was over the limit by a few dollars which caused a delay for coverage in the beginning of the year. After trying to fight it on my own, I finally got the Ombudsman involved. It took several weeks to get an answer, but I did today.

When he started out with this debt, it was 7,000 dollars. Thanks to you and  hard work on my end I have it down to 4,000 dollars.

The problem is Al is coming home real soon. I found out today he can be home by late next week. It will cost more for groceries, utilities, etc., which will slow down the bigger payments.

The Ombudsman got back with me today. Al does owe the debt, what is left. Once Al is released, they can no longer collect from him, but they can sue me as his guardian. Although, they can not directly make me pay, I will have to find a way for Al to get money to pay it.

The sad thing is; the facility is charging him  60 dollars a month in interest. Hopefully, that amount of interest will go down each month.  I can make payments but I also have to be able to continue his funeral expenses. I have already looked into that through the government and because of the way the policy is written, it is not specified as a funeral, so they will not allot it.

I am coming to all of you once again for help. I have investigated every avenue possible. I know that after going through the legal Ombudsman, this is final. He does owe this, but I am very grateful for all who have helped thus far.

I am asking one more time, can anyone spare a little bit more? I feel so humiliated coming to you but I don’t have any more choices left. I so wish they would excuse the interest, but that is not going to happen.

I will continue to pay as I have been from monies here and there and your help, but I am asking for your help too.

The foundation takes all credit cards and PayPal. If you state it is a gift, there are no charges.

Please forgive me for coming to you on bended knee.

The foundation shows the original bill, which I have already stated is paid down now by 3,000 dollars, but the amount of days is correct for the foundation, which is 20 days.

Thank-you for reading and I just want you to know this plea has not been easy. I am used to finances being paid timely and finances being private. No one wants to hear others problems.

Please go to this link if you would care to help.

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/too-much-pain-and-too-little-money/55964

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Daily Prompt; Decisions, Decisions

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Credit cards Français : Cartes de crédit Itali...

http://dailypost.wordpress.com, Daily Post, DP, Daily Prompt

How are you more likely to make an important decision — by reasoning through it, or by going with your gut?

One thing that is usually guaranteed in  life is maturity. Learning from our past mistakes helps us make better decisions later in life.

I started out free and happy. Newly married and no worries. Love blinded to anything in front of my eyes. Every credit card I received in the mail made me feel more and more important.

How easy it was to go to the department stores and whip out my card. Signing my name on the dotted line brought with it more than a heap of pride. The bills did come in at the end of the month.

Now what do I do? I don’t want to have to pay this. I want to go shopping this weekend. I will just pay the minimum due. This way I can still do what I want.

Wow did I learn my lesson quickly. After a few months of my routine my bubble was busted when I maxed out my two cards. I had wept into my own hands for being so stupid. I was going to  have to pay and remember this mistake for years to come.

Now many years later and the cards paid off I have learned a different way to make decisions. I ask myself, do I need this? Can I live without it? Can I wait until it goes on sale or on the clearance rack?

When I enter a store now I don’t stop and gawk at the front row of goodies. I actually head for the back where the clearance racks sit. Even in grocery stores there are sales constantly, but we have to look for them.

The eyes behind the scenery are much smarter than we give them credit for. It is intentionally planned that the highest priced and the newest products are placed at eye level. We see this first and we dive in for it.

What we don’t see is that two shelves down is the same product in a store brand label for a much lower price. I find this to work in almost any type of store that you can use cash or credit.

With caring for my brother I have not worked for some time. Money is a valuable element in my life but I have to make excellent decisions so I don’t end up being number one on the redial of a collection agency.

If it is a high-priced item I know I need I sleep on it for maybe a few days. I scan the internet and the paper ads for the best bargains. I talk to people and get their thoughts on professionals that won’t try to take advantage of a single person on a limited income.

Eventually I do come to the decision. If I don’t know the answer I still wait. I learned this from my Mom. She always said, if you can’t figure out the right move, wait, because you could be digging yourself in a big hole.

My mom was a wise woman. If I would have thought of this when I was in my twenties I wouldn’t have spent years paying off high interest credit cards. Thanks Mom, it finally kicked in.

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Reverse Mortgage Loans And The Ugly Truth

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Reverse Mortgage Fraud?

Reverse Mortgage Fraud?

I read this article last night in my little AARP magazine I get monthly. Maybe you read it. If you did bear with me and if you didn’t and know someone at least 62 years of age, think of them and pass this on to them.

Life is hard today. We all know this. We are living longer for sure. For me I don’t want to live longer. I don’t want to see the next scam or increase coming my way. Heaven is a sure thing and that is what I am looking forward to in my Golden Years.

But is the twilight years really so golden? Isn’t it a fact that more elderly are scammed out of everything they worked so hard for their entire adult life? When we get older we soften around the edges. We are more trusting. We do not fret as much. We feel or I think we would feel more secure and know our nest egg will carry us through from many years of hard work.

But now a days with the medical break through and the big vitamin age we live longer. You can now get a special test to see what you may even die from. You can hurry and fix it before it happens. I look at things a little differently. I believe God knew my entrance into the world and he knows my exit second. It is up to me how I live between those two dates but basically he is going to take me home with no uncertain terms on my precise date.

Do you remember the Fonz from Happy Days? He is the spokesman for a program geared for people at least 62 years old. The Reverse Mortgage. The dream of dreams for a fun and happy future until death do you partake.

You can borrow against your own equity in your home if it is paid for. It sounds like a wonderland delight. But I learned there are things they don’t tell you. I felt so bad for these people who are suffering that I just had no choice but to share with you what I got from the article.

You can take the money from your equity in one lump sum or in small installments. There are many types of people who can do the paper work for these loans including non experienced and loan sharks. Important and small details are left out of the balloon leaving a big bust  in the end possibly.

The loan that you take out must be paid back after you die either by your heirs or the bank. You must be able to still afford to pay all insurance premiums and taxes on your property. You must keep your home up in good standing and repairs.  Sounds good so far right?

What they don’t tell you is that the pros are trained to use certain words to entice you into taking that one big lump sum. With us living longer we most likely will have bigger medical problems which instantly lead to bigger debt.

Many who get these Reverse Mortgages take the lump sum and  pay any outstanding debts. Maybe a pay off of a car or funeral expenses. They have the money sitting in their hands so they take a cruise or take the children on a summer fling.

You know as well as I do that money is like oil. It slides through your fingers faster than rain trickling down your windows. Before you know it tax time is here. You have no money saved back. You got carried a way by the large amount of money you had in your hand.

The tip and key here is elderly do not understand the lack of dollar value nearly as well as younger folks do. After all remember your grandparents talking about the days when they earned fifty cents a week? I can remember my Granddaddy talking about when things were good he made three dollars a week and fed his family.

So imagine looking down at eighty thousand dollars. That seems like tons of money doesn’t it? I bet it does to them. Their thoughts are there will be plenty of money to out last their own lives. The loan can be paid back while they are alive. The couple enjoyed their retirement, and all is well that ends well.

But did you know that if you miss one tax payment or insurance premium, the cost is deadly? The bank takes back your house immediately. The rules are very strict on these new loans for the elderly. The home is considered default and is quickly placed into foreclosure.

These poor old folks counted on this money to keep them until they passed away, but the loan officers didn’t give them the ideas of to take it easy. They didn’t explain about the longer you live the more medical problems you will face. They didn’t explain about the rise of insurance and the economy not being equally balanced. The rising utilities and the grocery prices that rise weekly.

They end up losing their homes that they lived in for years. One lady  said that she had to sell her home. Fortunately for her, her home sold quickly but at a loss. She had enough funds left over from the sale that she was able to rent an apartment one block a way from her now sold home. She said that she walked by her old home daily.

Can you imagine the thoughts in her mind? Memories of bringing children into the world. Holidays together and growing old together now gone, up in smoke. I am not blaming the loan people or the one who created the Reverse Mortgage. I am blaming them for not making sure each and every person knew all the good and bad facts about this type of loan before signing on the dotted line.

The article said that one out of ten who have taken these loans are now with out a home. Many are forced to live with family members. The shame and embarrassment they must feel inside. The thoughts of happily ever after vanished and maybe even wishing an earlier death would happen.

One story I read was about a widow. It is so sad. The loan officer talked her into putting the loan in her husband’s name. She was 58 and did not fit the age requirement to have it in her name. He talked her into taking her name off the deed, putting it in her husband’s name only. He told her she could add her name later when she was 62. Her husband died just as she turned the right age and then it all fell apart.

Back in those days it was common for the wife to stay at home and take care of the house and raise the kids. She never worked outside of the home. This is what happened to this case. Her husband died and since she was 62 the loan fell on to her lap. She had no skills to work and make enough money to pay the outstanding loan balance and she lost her only home. It is all just so pathetic and sad.

So in the end I suggest as a reader to make sure if you know of someone or if  it is you considering getting one of these Reverse Mortgages make darn sure you are going through a loan officer that has heaps of experience in this area. Make sure you get all the facts, not just the pretty frills. Make sure you take a long a trusted friend or one of your grown children when you meet for your appointment. Take the information home and even sleep on it before signing.

Please take your time. Consider all options. I don’t know the alternatives but I bet there is something safer and better that you will never lose your precious home. None of us work through out our lives without goals and plans in mind for the end of times. Don’t let yourself be fooled to the point that you are close to living on the streets.

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