People today are more responsible for their own retirement income security. Over the past 15 to 20 years there has been a shift in responsibility for long-term well-being away from institutions (employers, the government) to individuals. For example, in 1980, 70% of pension plans were defined contribution (DC, as opposed to defined benefit plans; DC plans shift more of the responsibility for the growth of retirement funds to the consumer); by 1997, 92% of plans were defined contribution (Conte 1998). In 1988, one-fourth (25%) of workers were covered primarily by DC plans; in 1998, over three-fifths (63%) were covered by such plans (Copeland 2002). (more…)

Why do so many people have money problems? The main reason is that they do not plan how they will use their money. You can avoid money problems by setting and achieve some clear personal financial goals in mind. (more…)

Almost all of us are aware with credit scores and what it affect your personal financial planning. But not all are really know how FICO score is calculated. The first thing is to interpret FICO score is to realize that there are many FICO score factors to mark your final credit score. (more…)

One major key to controlling your debt—as you no doubt have heard before—is to stop paying interest on all loans. Revolving interest can be a money management killer.

Please take note that if you could not control your debt, your debt will control you. In current financial condition, debt is an all important element of your personal financial planning. (more…)

Current economic conditions also affect your personal financial decisions and how economic conditions can influence financial planning. There are three important economic conditions: 1. Consumer prices, 2. Consumer spending, 3. Interest rates

Consumer Prices (more…)

There are several factors that contribute to the annuity return of payment:
1. Rate of return gained by the fund
2. Distribution procedure of funds to beneficiaries (can raise or lower your monthly annuity return) (more…)

Emotional factors tend to assume the topmost rungs of your mind, if you are facing divorce proceedings with your spouse, don’t they? This is perfectly understandable, and other issues, especially those related to divorce-related financial planning generally recede to the background in such situations. Nevertheless, Planning out your finances during, and after, a divorce lawsuit, are of extreme importance, (more…)

Debt management is increasingly becoming a necessity in our lives. It refers to the proper planning and organization of finances in order to keep a minimum debt balance. Debt management aims at lowering our debt and helping us maintain our credit rating.

Up until recently, it was extremely easy to obtain credit, (more…)

On general terms retail banking refers to typical mass-market banking in which individual customers use local branches of larger commercial banks. Retail banking aims to be the sole destinations where an individual finds as many as financial services possible catered to meet his needs.

As of late Retail Banks has also gone ahead and stepped into wealth management services, (more…)

When you loan money or charge an item to a credit card, you are using cash loan or credit. Credit is an arrangement to receive cash, goods, or services now and pay for them in the future. Consumer credit is the use of credit for personal needs. It is also an indicator of consumer spending and demand. A common form of consumer credit loan is a credit card account issued by a financial institution. (more…)