Submitted by: Robbie T. James

Have you been caught up in the nationwide frustration over outrageous overdraft fees? Or, maybe you have just noticed one-too-many fees on your bank statement and are getting more than a little fed up.

Either way, you may feel that it is time to switch to a low overdraft fee bank. And that makes good sense. After all, the range of fees that banks can charge is rather wide, from $10 to $35. Why not find a bank that charges less in fees for each instance of an overdraft?

Bank Fees Have Gotten Out of Control

There is no question that fees have gotten out of control. Banks collectively earn over $29 billion per year off of their customers in overdraft fees in the United States alone. Whereas these fees used to be merely in place to penalize customers for overdrawing their accounts on occasion, the fees have turned into big business for banks.

In fact, these fees are now regarded as an official profit center for banks. That means that banks actually count on these fees as a way to make significant amounts of income. So, how did the fee situation get to this point?

How Overdraft Policies are Stacked Against the Customer

It all comes back to something called overdraft protection programs. Starting about 10 years ago, these programs became increasingly popular with banks. The programs are designed to protect customers from writing bad checks or making charges on their debit or credit cards that are not properly backed up by a checking account balance.

However, some believe that the programs are misleading (and costly) to customers in two ways:

a. the programs have traditionally been opt-out in nature, which means customers were automatically enrolled in the programs upon checking account sign up (often with very little explanation about how the programs actually work).

b. with overdraft protection, many customers do not realize that they can make an unlimited number of debit card charges even when their accounts have a zero balance. This means that one day of shopping could cause someone to unknowingly incur $100 or more in fees.

Low Overdraft Fees Banks and Other Alternatives

Tired of paying outrageous bank fees? Here are 3 insights on alternative to paying high overdraft fees:

1. Some banks and credit unions charge relatively low overdraft fees: You can search for a bank or credit union that still charges these fees but that charges less per transaction (say, $20 instead of $30 per overdraft).

2. Even lower fees can cost you $100 or more a month in fees: Still, if you are someone who gets dinged with these fees a few times each month, even the lower fees could cost you well over $100/month.

3. Another alternative is to switch to a no-overdraft fee bank: There are many well-established banks that promise to never charge you a penny in this type of bank fees – even if you overdraw your account. Imagine having a checking account at a bank like this: you would never pay a penny in overdraft fees again.

If you are tired of paying high overdraft fees, try these alternatives and start saving money right away.

About the Author: Find a list of no-overdraft-fee banks in your area at:

Banks Without Overdraft Fees

.

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By Christine Perry

Sometimes we are so busy scrapbooking our children and family that we forget to include ourselves in our pages. Are you lacking in photos and pages of yourself?

With a little planning, you can capture more of yourself in your scrapbooks. While it’s important to document our memories, we want our future generations also to know as much as possible about the person who took the time to create our scrapbook albums.

Plan to take more photographs of yourself. You don’t have to have individual photos, but include yourself more in the group photos of activities and holidays. Teach another family member to operate your camera and pass it to them at least a few times at every photo opportunity.

Allowing others to take photos with your camera also gives your album some variety. Everyone has a different photography style. Having pictures taken by others gives you a chance to be in more photos. You might just be mentoring the family photographer for next generation. It’s particularly fun to see photos taken by children. They tend to view the world from a very different perspective, and it shows in the photographs they take.

If you don’t have many photos of yourself, ask your parents or other family members for pictures of you at their parties and events. You might come up with several great shots that you can include on your pages. Many people either other double prints or have digital photographs that they can easily print.

Try using photographs of yourself at different stages of your life. When you do page layout of your daughter, create a double-page layout with a picture of you at the very same age on the adjacent page. You might journal about how your life was at that age compared to your daughter’s now.

Scrapbooking isn’t just about photographs. Express yourself in other ways on pages. Write letters to yourself that explore your feelings, dreams and hopes. You also can write letters to your children or your parents telling them about how they have touched your life. These letters give others a picture of your personality that even a photograph can’t express.

So often we want perfection in our scrapbooks, and we use computers to type out our journaling. This does give us nice, neat text with fancy fonts, but it doesn’t

have the personal feel of our own handwriting. Use handwriting in your scrapbooks more often. This personal touch will mean a lot to your children and grandchildren.

If you can’t come up with photographs of yourself, create scrapbook page layouts about yourself in other ways. Take photos of your favorite things and favorite places. “About Me” books give some great ideas for telling others about you without photographs. For example, save the tags from your favorite clothes and create a page that expresses your sense of fashion. Print the covers of your favorite books from the internet and journal about how these books affected you. Maybe you have a favorite brand of cookies or special holiday recipes, include the logo from the packaging or write out a recipe to include in your pages.

Look around you for other ideas to include more of yourself in your scrapbook pages. Even your Starbuck’s Chai Tea Latte habit can be a scrapbooking page!

About the Author: Christine Perry invites you to her website, http://www.intoscrapbooking.com for more

scrapbooking tips

and information on how to start

scrapbooking store online

.

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By Geoff Spencer

When deciding to get involved with a real estate transaction normally the first person you would think to consult would not be a tax advisor. Most people will find however that a tax advisor can provide them excellent feedback about the positive points as well as the downfalls of different investment strategies in the real estate world. You want to make sure that your tax person specifically has experience with real estate investing and is fully aware of the goals and needs for property investing.

Although it is very likely that you can learn a lot about on your own about property investing it is a wise idea to speak with a tax professional because you should not rely on generic information alone. You are wise to seek out specific information tailored to your exact needs and what types of property investments are going to work best for your particular situation.

People are going to be seeking different benefits from other property investors based on their income and other important issues. The majority of real estate investors out there today are looking for immediate cash from the sales of their properties. However there other real estate property investors that are currently in a great financial situation and are simply looking for properties that will help them live comfortably in your retirement years. Just about all people that are into property investing are looking for tax benefits to enjoy.

The primary role of your tax professional should be to recommend the tax strategies and investments that will best maximize their client’s financial position.

An experienced tax advisor that has a good amount of experience in real estate and property investing are going to be able to tell their clients what the best type of investment situation for their clients. Whether it is direct ownership or through some type of leasing situation. Your tax professional will be able to let your know if you will be able to meet all the tax benefit requirements that you are seeking should you decide to hire a management team to deal with landlord/tenant issues.

There is also the possibility that you can find out that you qualify for different tax benefits that are given to property investors that also qualify as real estate professionals. Attaining these qualifications is not easy and there is a good chance of an IRS audit if you take these benefits. Your smartest move before getting into property investing is to consult with a tax professional to find out all the potential pitfalls and benefits involved.

About the Author: Geoff Spencer is a staff writer at

Investor’s Journal

and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including

Online Business Gazette

.

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By Artur Victoria

In a democratic society there is probably a predisposition on the part of many observers to favor objective called worker participation, and much of the literature on this subject starts from the assumption that worker participation can improve the quality of life on the job as well as raise productivity. Discussions then focus on the best ways to bring about participation and on analyses of experiments.

Managers, workers, and policymakers who support worker participation have their separate reasons for doing so. Management is primarily seeking increased productivity.

Workers are seeking a voice in affairs that affect their working conditions and their income either in situations where unions do not exist or where issues not commonly of great interest to union leaders need more attention. Worker participation is important in these situations not only for what it achieves in terms of specific changes but also for the payoff in self-esteem or self-fulfillment that is the product of the process itself.

Policymakers and academic analysts see worker participation as a way of strengthening fundamental economic units and processes in society and of fostering industrial peace and stability.

The similarity of the goals of these groups is readily apparent. Even if the emphases are not identical, the objectives are certainly not contradictory. And this perhaps explains much of the appeal of the participation movement: It looks like a no-lose, everybody-wins situation. Or at least it offers the potential for everybody benefits kind of game-good for management, for workers, for policy makers, and for the public at large.

The effects of participation on distribution of power, industrial peace, alienation, and efficiency are difficult to determine because they are not readily separable from other effects on the operation of the firm and the morale of the workers. Moreover, generalization is risky because of differences in the forms of participation, work setting, and expectations of the participants. With these caveats in mind, managers may find guidance in the following conclusions:

— Participation of workers in managerial functions does not necessarily lessen managerial prerogatives; sometimes worker cooperation may heighten managerial leverage.

— The effective power of both management and workers may be enhanced if by their cooperative approach they are able to handle problems that had been uncontrolled or poorly handled in the past-for instance, safety problems.

— The effect of participation on distribution of power depends on the strength of other structures within a firm. For example, if trade unions are effective in the handling of grievances, other types of participation may have little effect on the balance of power.

— Industrial peace is not necessarily furthered by participation. The results of participatory efforts in various countries are mixed, despite the avowed purpose of improving cooperation and of reducing strife that is always a goal of worker participation. Some relation has been observed between workers’ favorable attitudes toward trade unionism and favorable attitudes toward co-operation, presumably within the union-management relations framework.

— The effects of participation on workers’ attitudes tend to reflect the relative success or failure of that participation once the initial enthusiasm has worn of}. Frustrations as well as achievements are reported by workers serving on participatory bodies. However, where workers have been given an opportunity to participate in the redesign of their job or in the plans of their working group, a very strong sense of worker involvement and satisfaction has generally been reported.

— There is little evidence to support the fear that participation hampers efficiency, except where the amount of participation varies greatly from what had been expected by either labor or management or both. Some evidences of improved efficiency are reported as a result of a participatory style of super vision (apart from formal participatory bodies). However, it has not been easy to separate the effects of the participatory process itself from the effects of the improved organization of the work group that may be achieved through participation.

Generally, these conclusions suggest that there appears to be more evidence regarding the impact of worker participation on productivity and managerial concerns than on the quality of work life. In addition, what is missing from the study is a notion of costs-not only the direct costs of worker time devoted to consultation but also the costs of some other worker objectives foregone. This is equally true of the experiments on job restructuring.

About the Author:

sites.google.com/site/cliptheschoolbeginning/sites.google.com/site/arturvictoriasite

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Tips To Start Building A High Credit Score From The Beginning

by

David Makarski

The foundations of building a debt free society is in the generation next. In order to lower bankruptcy filings and help citizens manage money sensibly society needs to inculcate financial discipline from a young age.

Catch them young, advices a financial guru, they are never to young to learn money management and the magic of savings. In fact many parents are already teaching 7 and 8 year olds how not to fritter all their pocket money on candy and comics.

Students need to be able to manage money and know that credit scores affect just about everything in life, from college admissions and student loans to buying cars or the first home. The basics of credit scores is that it is a record of how you manage your money and whether or not you pay all your bills in time.

Here are a few tips that will enable you to build a good credit score from day 1.

Create a budget for daily, weekly, and monthly expenses. Try and set aside a small amount of money each month for emergencies. The World Wide Web has many articles and tips on financial planning as well as easy to use online tools.

Never avail more than one student credit card. And use the card only for dire emergencies. When you use the card for travel r to buy something make sure you settle the bill in full well before its due date.

Trim down expenses by sharing accommodation and food costs and by taking part time jobs or freelance assignments to bring in extra funds. At college innovative students can earn by taking on odd jobs all over the campus. Let people including the office, teaching staff, senior students, and librarians know you are willing to work. You will be surprised how many assignments turn up.

Avoid shopping binges. Lock up the credit cards and if you are weak then only go to shopping districts on the day when most shops are closed. The alternative is to leave the credit card at home and go with very little or no money in your purse.

Save money by learning how to mix-match your wardrobe. This way it wills seem that you have lots of clothes but you will not have to spend to look stylish.

Make a list of what you need and be bold enough to send the list to family and friends and say these are my needs, if you ever want to send me a present please ask me so that I get what I need and not multiples of the same thing. This will ensure that birthday and Christmas gifts will all be useful ones. In some societies the practice is to give students gifts in cash.

Make the effort to now what credit reports are and how the credit report and score can affect your life. Learn how the reports are generated by the three major credit reporting agencies. For example FISCO determines credit reports and score by considering:

35% payment history.

30% outstanding debt.

15% length of credit history.

10% recent inquiries on your credit report.

10% types of credit in use.

With planning and discipline students and adults can live a life of financial freedom.

David Makarski is a retired Credit Report Agent and a writer for

Free Credit Report

, the premier website to find free search for free credit report and credit score online information, credit history, credit score, credit reporting industry, advantage credit monitoring, credit report scores and many more.

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Tips To Start Building A High Credit Score From The Beginning}

What is a Wealth Advisor?

by

Melanie

Years ago your only wealth advisor may have been your grandma who kept telling you to put your money into the bank instead of spending it. These days, a wealth advisor is a financial professional who can give advice on all things pertaining to wealth creation, such as investment, estate planning, insurance, real estate, tax and many other areas.

A wealth advisor may be known as a financial planner, financial advisor, investment professional, or other similar names. A wealth advisor can be a team of people who work together as in a company, or it can be a private individual who works alone.

In many cases these professionals are experts in only one area, so if you are thinking of seeking the services of a wealth advisor, you may need to consult a team or choose the one that is most suited to your financial problems. A true wealth advisor is one who focuses solely on your best interests. There will be no conflict of interest – they wont be concerned about selling you products that gain them a commission. If their expertise is lacking in one area they wont be too proud to say so and theyll send you to an expert in that field.

A good wealth advisor wont be constantly buying and selling investments to you to get a commission for himself. What they will do is talk to you. Good communication will enable them to find out exactly what you need, your beliefs and principles in acquiring it and tell you the best way to go about doing it. In some cases your wealth advisor will also do it for you; in other cases they will simply advise you what to do.

A wealth advisor can also be simply someone with a bit – or a lot – of experience in his or her own wealth creation who has written a book about it. If you then buy the book and implement the strategies it contains you are virtually using the author as your wealth advisor.

When seeking a wealth advisor, you need to be satisfied that you can trust them. This is your wealth and your future that you are dealing with. Make sure your wealth advisor holds all the right licenses and is experienced in wealth creation. You may not have the time or ability to keep a finger in the pie of your own wealth creation strategies, so trust is paramount. Knowing you can trust your wealth advisor to take care of your investments will give you valuable peace of mind.

A

wealth advisor

may also be known as a

financial planner

, financial advisor, or other similar names.

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What is a Wealth Advisor?}

By Joel Teo

We have all seen the advertisements on television or the Internet. A person says that you can buy a house with poor credit and no money down. A lot of these ads are trying to sell you a system that they claim will work and even give you money at the closing. There is an old saying that says if it seems too good to be true then it probably is. So are these real estate investment programs that offer no money down and bad credit okay loans legitimate, or are they the latest scam?

Most of these programs want money for their books and tapes. They claim that if you follow the easy instructions then you can become rich in no time by doing almost nothing. The truth is that these companies are making money off of you for giving you information that is already available at no cost. One of the ways to invest in real estate with no money down is to find a partner who is willing to supply the capital. The partnership can be an even split, a twenty eighty split, or any other breakdown that is agreed upon. Flipping the real estate property is another way to invest in real estate with no money down. If you find a potential buyer that is interested in purchasing a house before you find a potential property for sale, you will not require any of your own money.

A lease option is another great way to make money investing in real estate without having to have good credit or money down. You and the owner sign an agreement that you have the option to purchase the real estate at a fixed price for a certain length of time. Then you find a buyer who will purchase the property for a specific amount, which is obviously more than the seller is asking, and then you make the difference in the prices for doing a very small amount of work. Subprime financing is one more way to invest in real estate for no money down. Many of the national lenders routinely provide financing for 70% of the home value without verifying the down payment and with poor credit. There are legitimate and successful ways to invest in real estate with no money down, but be cautious that you are acting in a legal way and that there is no fraud involved. If there is misrepresentation at any level, from the amount down to the condition of the real estate property, then it could be fraudulent and illegal.

It is legal and possible to purchase or invest in real estate with no money down, but you should be cautious when doing so. Make sure that there is no fraud involved. This may happen when the value of the home is wrongly appraised or assessed to give more value to the real estate for the transaction. Finding real estate investment property with no money down can be fabulous if it is done ethically and properly. It only becomes fraud when the property value is inflated to make it appear to be worth more than it really is for a mortgage or loan, or when false information is submitted to get the loan approved..

Copyright 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)

About the Author: Joel Teo writes on various financial topics including

Las Vegas Real Estate

. Learn about

Las Vegas Real Estate Investment

at http://www.RealEstateInvestment101.info

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