Some of these companies are definitely worth small monthly fee, and can save you much more than they charge. But, some of these companies are not legitimate and can take your monthly payments and keep them for a month or more before they make your payments (collecting interest on money all while), causing you to accrue late fees and possibly collections. These companies can actually cost you money and make your situation worse.

Be careful when searching for debt consolidation companies to work with. Make sure they are legitimate, long standing companies before you sign on dotted line. To see our list of recommended debt consolidation lenders click on link below.

Consolidating your debt can provide great relief and breathing room when it comes time to pay your bills. Sometimes, when you are up to hilt in debt, it can be so overwhelming just keeping up with your bills that it can be difficult to think about ways to start paying debt down.

To see our list of recommended debt consolidation service companies, visit this page: http://www.abcloanguide.com/debtconsolidation.shtml.

World funds tend to be safest foreign stock investments, but only because they typically lean on better-known U.S. stocks. Just examine portfolio carefully to make sure they don’t mimic your U.S. holdings. Funds invested in small- to medium-sized companies are unlikely to duplicate foreign investment component of domestic funds.

Foreign funds, on other hand, invest mostly outside U.S. Whether they are relatively safe or risky depends on countries in which they invest.

Advice: choose a fund with best balance between countries and regions, or be very sure manager has a good record of moving in and out of regions profitably.

Country-specific funds invest in a single country or region. This type of concentration makes them particularly volatile – especially those that invest in emerging markets. If you pick right country at right time, returns can be substantial. Get it wrong and look for your head to be handed to you on a plate. These funds are for most sophisticate investors only.

Emerging-markets funds are most volatile, invested as they are in undeveloped regions subject to political upheaval, currency risk and corruption. These economies, such as Argentina’s in 2002, can collapse; governments can fall or be overthrown. On other hand, these regions have enormous growth potential. Adding a small sprinkling of emerging markets exposure to your portfolio could serve to lessen downturns in U.S. markets – but they are for long-term investors only, those who can wait for fallen markets to recover.

As always, of course, biggest risks carry greatest potential for outstanding rewards; you simply require nerves of steel. The best course is to diversify well and sleep soundly at night.