Are You An Impulse Buyer?Written by Terry J. Rigg
Impulse buying is simply defined as making an unplanned purchase. This can be an extra pack of cookies when grocery shopping or buying a car on a whim. Most of us are guilty of this at one time or another. Even though term is simple, it probably accounts for majority of money problems family's have.Planning a purchase of any kind is absolutely necessary if you intend to use your money wisely. That extra pack of cookies I mentioned isn't going to break your budget, but with prices of groceries today, it doesn't take too many items to put a dent in your grocery allowance. However, buying a car without prior planning can get very expensive. Besides obvious things like finding best purchase price and interest rate, down payment, money for taxes and license, etc., you need time to decide which car is right for your family. The below list of tips may help prevent impulse buying: If you see something you like, leave store without it. Go home and look at your budget. Then if you feel you can afford it, go back. In addition, this will give you time to think about whether you really need it.
| | Your Social SecurityWritten by Terry J. Rigg
It seems like everyone I talked to has a different opinion on when they would be eligible for Social Security. Some younger folks said that they couldn't retire until they were at least 70. A lot of older folks believe that they can't start drawing their Social Security until they reach 65. They are all partially right.I'm not going to get into whether or not Social Security will survive next few years. There are too many factors that could save it or destroy it, and most of them live in Washington, DC. I am simply going to give you current status of your Social Security eligibility. It is true that there are different full retirement ages depending on when you were born. However, each person paying into Social Security can start drawing their partial retirement at age 62. The chart below indicates at what age you can retire and receive your full benefits. Year of Birth Note: Persons born on January 1 of any year should refer to previous year. Full Retirement Age 1937 or earlier - 65 1938 - 65 and 2 months 1939 - 65 and 4 months 1940 - 65 and 6 months 1941 - 65 and 8 months 1942 - 65 and 10 months 1943--1954 - 66 1955 - 66 and 2 months 1956 - 66 and 4 months 1957 66 and 6 months 1958 - 66 and 8 months 1959 = 66 and 10 months 1960 and later - 67 Visit http://www.ssa.gov/retirechartred.htm to see complete chart of Social Security Full Retirement and Reductions by Age By chart above someone born in 1955 can start receiving full benefits at age 66 years and 2 months. If they choose to retire between age 62 and 66 years and 2 months this benefit will be reduced based on number of months they retire early. If they chose to retire after age 66 years and 2 months benefit will increase.
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