Insurance is a critical subject to understand for full financial literacy. There are many different kinds of insurance available to serve different purposes. Getting insurance is about mitigating risk. No matter how hard we try, we will always have some level of risk in our activities. We collectively and individually decide how much risk we…
Posts By: Melinda Opperman
Tax day falls in the middle of Financial Literacy Month. It’s a good opportunity for us to cover the basics of taxes and instill some financial literacy education while the subject is fresh on everyone’s mind. Kinds of Taxes Income Taxes are collected from people who draw an income in the US. The income taxed…
Use Credit.org’s Seasonal Shopping Calendar to Know the Best Days to Spend Being successful on a budget and knocking out debts means carefully planning your spending. A typical spending plan is a monthly budget, but we also encourage people to look ahead throughout the year and plan their spending over the long term. Every month…
Understanding and Dealing with Elder Financial Abuse Senior citizens are often targets of financial abuse. Scammers, thieves, and fraudsters know that senior citizens are vulnerable and devise all manner of schemes to exploit them. Even worse, family members, neighbors, caregivers, and other professionals sometimes take advantage of seniors as well. The financial abuse of seniors…
Creating your own get-out-of-debt plan truly is possible. With some fundamental changes to your lifestyle, you can get out of debt fast even with a low income. However, turning around your financial situation doesn’t happen without some work. It requires commitment, planning, and strong self-discipline. But luckily, it gets easier over time as you build…
When it comes to signing the back of your card, you’ll get different answers depending on whom you talk to. Your credit card company requires you to sign your card for it to be valid.
When brainstorming financial goals, many educators and businesses use the SMART goals concept, which was created by Paul J. Meyer and spelled out in his book Attitude is Everything. We think the SMART goals system can be a good tool for debt counseling; any financial goal we recommend should be SMART. SMART stands for Specific,…
With the New Year, many people work to improve their financial situation by changing their bad spending habits and repaying debt. Like most New Year’s resolutions, people tend to start enthusiastically, then gradually fade as the months go on. We’ve learned that the secret to keeping a resolution is to change your habits for the…
Homeowners insurance, or hazard insurance, is a type of property insurance that pays for losses related to your home. A homeowner’s insurance policy can include losses to your home, additional living expenses, loss of personal belongings, and liability insurance for accidents that may happen. There are many things that could go wrong for homeowners that…
Holidays can become the time of year when our financial plans fall away, and debt builds up. That holiday debt makes us start the new year in the red, which is stressful and dangerous in uncertain economic times. Paying off debt after the holidays is never easy, so the best thing to do is to…
During hard economic times, unforeseen circumstances may prevent us from meeting every financial obligation on time. While we all strive to pay all of our bills promptly, sometimes we are forced to choose which payment to make with limited funds on hand.
Family and personal finances are a big part of every holiday season. People are buying gifts, preparing holiday meals, and planning all of the changes in their lives that the coming new year might bring. In addition to giving thanks for all we have, we want everyone to engage in some financially sound thinking this…
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