Springtime Money LaunderingWritten by Roger Sorensen
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Coverage Checkup Instead of merely simplifying your financial life, you should also make sure that you are providing adequate protection. It is a good idea to have insurance on your home, your health, your car, your loved ones, and your income. Don't forget, though, you can over do it and have too much insurance. You need to decide what level of self-insurance you are comfortable with. The law requires you to carry automobile liability insurance is required by law. At least you should have term life insurance to replace your income and help your loved ones with debt and living expenses. Homeowner insurance is important in case your home becomes unlivable due to fire or other incident. Again, if you can get your insurance through one provider, your life will be simpler with fewer agents to visit with. Perhaps you can even have access to your account through Internet. The less effort it takes to understand your coverage and to make changes, less stress and more time you'll save. Final Items When was last time you updated your will? If it was more than a year ago, you might want to do it again. Assets increase or decrease, potential inheritors are born, and maybe you've decided that you'd like to leave a little something to your church. Updating your will is a good way to make sure your final wishes are carried out. Putting some of your assets in a trust can save on probate costs. Also if you become incapacitated trust can manage funds for people with special needs - a child who needs extra care, for example. A trust is also another way distribute your assets to children or grandchildren at a specific age, such as when they reach age 25 or have children of their own. Ultimately, you will have to decide just how much consolidation of planners, agents and financial management you want to do. Once you've cleaned house on your finances, spending an afternoon in hammock will be a lot more restful. Having a peace of mind about your financial affairs is truly a good feeling.

Roger Sorensen is a Financial Author and Speaker, and the editor of Money Basics, a monthly personal finance newsletter found online at www.brighterfutures.com. After filling in his own debt pit equal to 150% of his annual income, Roger has turned the experiance into Brighter Futures, a Financial Literacy company. "There is hope for you, no matter how large your debt load might be."
| | Who will be their Guardian?Written by Roger Sorensen
Continued from page 1 2.What if guardian you select is over flowing with love and values, but scrape bottom of barrel each month to feed their own children? Everyone knows that you do certainly do not intend to add your children to theirs and cause them undue hardship. This leaves only one real solution. Provide adequate financial resources for guardian to properly care for your children. At least, you should provide enough cash resources to feed and cloth your children each month until they complete high-school. Many parents also make an effort to provide resources for their children to be able to go to college. Most likely your own asset chart is a little short for providing amount of cash your children will need or you want to provide after your death, consider using life insurance. Term life insurance to be paid into a trust is relatively inexpensive during years your children are at home. If you are leaving a trust with a significant sum of money, you may want to appoint a “guardian of estate” to handle finances separate from “guardian of person”. This can remove obvious temptation if someday guardian encounters personal finance difficulties. The estate guardian and person guardian must be able to get along, so it is important you pick right people for these positions. Even more important is that if you do die early, your child will be brought up in a loving, nurturing home you have chosen. After all, you wouldn’t go through difficult issues of estate planning and guardian picking if you didn’t want best for your children. That best includes you making out a will, and doing it as early as tomorrow.

Roger Sorensen is a Financial Author and Speaker, and the editor of Money Basics, a monthly personal finance newsletter found online at www.brighterfutures.com. After filling in his own debt pit equal to 150% of his annual income, Roger has turned the experiance into Brighter Futures, a Financial Literacy company. "There is hope for you, no matter how large your debt load might be."
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