Four years later and your son or daughter has walked across the stage, taken a diploma, and tossed their cap into the air. Congratulations! Your child has successfully earned a college degree and is now ready to set off on his or her own. Unfortunately, your child is about to enter the real world, a world in which the unemployment rate in the United States averaged 9.6 percent for the year 2010. What happens, then, if your happy son or daughter successfully graduates from college only to find themselves simply another number in that unfortunate statistic? Home They Come! A year ago, My Life ROI published a post devoted to five financial tips for parents whose high school graduate was leaving for college. In the same spirit of that post, I’d like to offer to [...] Continue Reading…

As American consumers, we’ve all heard a lot about how important our credit scores are to our financial futures. With an endless barrage of advertising and marketing for free credit reports and credit repair services, it’s hard to avoid the megaphone in the street regarding our credit scores. (You can see MLR’s post on how to actually get your free credit report!) The general public has been very worried about changes from the Credit CARD Act and particularly how it relates to credit scoring. Consumers are more concerned than ever about the importance of their credit scores and how they will affect their financial well-being. The newly enacted legislation was rolled out in an effort to protect consumers from onerous fees and predatory lending practices of banks and credit card issuers. One of the unintended consequences [...] Continue Reading…

Renter’s insurance is often something that is overlooked by most people. A common misconception that dismisses the need for renter’s insurance is that a landlord’s insurance policy will cover losses incurred on the property should something happen. Other people fail to protect themselves with renter’s insurance because they are unaware that such a policy exists.

A while ago, My Life ROI published a post titled All You Need to Know About Renter’s Insurance. This may be just the thing anyone who needs to learn just what renter’s insurance is all about. If you fall into one of the categories mentioned above then this is definitely something you need to check out.

[...] Continue Reading…

Buying a home is one the biggest investments anybody can make. Therefore, it’s best to consider a number of financing options once you’ve found the home you wish to buy. Seldom do homebuyers pay off their home quickly, meaning you’re entering into a long-term investment.

Because of the duration and obligation of a mortgage, homebuyers should thoroughly examine several options before choosing a mortgage.

Loan Options

Loan types fall into two categories: government-backed loans and conventional loans. No two homebuyers have identical financial histories, savings or credit scores. These three factors are crucial in picking a mortgage, as are other things.

[...] Continue Reading…

Love is such a strong word. It makes me think of bright red and blue fields of flowers, where you can run around and dream of the ones you love. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this is exactly what bank owners are doing every time you finance a new purchase.

The average American credit card has an APR of 14.67 percent. The average auto loan has an average of 7-9 percent. Now that is something for Mr. Banker to smile about. Unless you have read MLR’s advice on how to avoid credit card costs, then Mr. Banker will be sad.

[...] Continue Reading…