David Randall over at Forbes has provided a nice little rundown on some recent Personal Finance stories that have recently appeared at Forbes, the New York Times, Washington Post and elsewhere.

Of interest is an article on preparing your first retirement account.

Also, 11 financial tips for new parents.

And, very amusing article on haggling for the best price at traditional retail stores like Best Buy and Macy’s.

Check out his article.

The HARP loan program, (Home Affordable Refinance Program), has received quite a bit of press recently, but is largely considered to be a failure, at least at this point.

The HARP program was designed to help some 4 to 5 million homeowners refinance their mortgages in order to reduce their payments and stay in their homes. The guidelines of the HARP program require, among other things, the homeowner to have a loan owned by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae and the home to have a LTV (Loan-to-Value) ratio of no more than 105%.

Although the program was unveiled to great fanfare, the results have been less than stellar. The main sticking point here being that lenders are not required to make the loan even if the homeowner qualifies under the terms of HARP. That is to say, despite the appropriate and complete qualifications, the lender can simply deny the loan.

The Obama administration has recently urged lenders to free up credit and make these loans, but the results are still to be seen.

As home prices continue to fall an increasing number of homeowners are finding the LTV ratio on their home reaching the 125% mark or worse. Lenders are simply too skittish at this point to make these loans and are finding little incentive to begin any time soon.

Saving money during the holiday shopping season, especially in those heady days around Cyber Monday, can be an intimidating experience.

The NY Times has an interesting article with some good tips for saving money while site-hopping for the best deals.

Part of watching your personal finances includes finding the best and most affordable deals available.  Well, if you’re running a website, or thinking of starting up a blog or new website, then you’ve no doubt spent some time looking for a good web host provider. I know I’ve spent too much time jumping from host to host trying to compare their rates and their specs to find the best deal as well as the most reliable service.  Fortunately, Web Hosting Geeks has made it easy with their site whether you’re looking for simple shared hosting, dedicated server hosting or a number of other hosting options.

Web Hosting Geeks has made the process easier by putting together a list of great web hosts and then providing details such as disk space and bandwidth specs right on the same page.  You can also scan the different hosts judged to be best in each category such as best budget hosting, blog hosting or reseller hosting to name just a few.

Another nice feature that Web Hosting Geeks has is a list of topics in their blog to give you information on a bunch of different topics from basic hosting to security issues to eCommerce.  For example, they’ve conveniently listed some things to look for when you’re shopping for a host in an article called “4 Critical Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Cheap Host” to help you figure out what you need to know.

So, if you’re looking to save some money AND find the best and most reliable web host for your needs, check out Web Hosting Geeks to review your options in one, convenient location.

The NY Times recently ran a short editorial detailing the “Debit Card Trap“, basically outlining the hefty overdraft fees that banks may levy on your account should you go over your balance. They offer a couple of suggestions that the government should take to insure that consumers are protected against egregious charges.

Of course, one solution to this problem is just making sure you always maintain a balance to cover your purchases…easier said than done, perhaps, but not an impossible task for most people. Also, there is an option

We frequently discuss personal finance issues such as saving money, investing wisely and alleviating your debt, but sometimes we forget to talk much about life insurance. It’s true that life insurance can be easily put off, due largely because it might just not be that pleasant to think about. Also, for many people, it seems like a complicated and time consuming process.

The folks at Financial One have helped make the process much easier with a no obligation, instant quote where you can compare life insurance rates from over a hundred companies at once. They choose to give you quotes quickly from so many companies, but also accurate rates so you really know what you’re getting.

Sure, it’s easy to put off getting some life insurance, but it is one of the more important financial decisions you can make. You have to think of your family and their financial well-being should anything happen to you, insuring that your family has a stable and secure future. Remember, don’t forget about life insurance–get a free quote from Financial One today.

If you need a little help getting reading for retirement, here’s an article that discusses a boot camp to help you get ready.

The NYTimes mentions that the camp is “aimed at making sure their investment clients who are contemplating retirement know exactly what they’re getting into.”

This has not been the best time to earn some good interest on your money. If you are trying to keep your money in low interest investments or accounts, you really don’t stand much to gain. Most online savings accounts are running around the 1.5% APY mark, and the best you can expect from a shorter-term CD (ie 6 months to a year) is around the 2.0% range. You can stretch that interest rate out to around 3 – 3.5% if you’re willing to tie your money up for 5 years, but that is probably not a wise move at these low rates. I mean, really, interest rates have nowhere else to go but up at this point.

So, what options do you have right now?

Well, John Waggoner over at USA Today suggests looking into municipal bond funds if you’re willing to risk a little bit more. Currently, you can get around 3.5% yield, which isn’t really that great, but beggars can’t be choosers. As Waggoner puts it, “muni rates are higher than usual. A 10-year, high-grade muni now yields 3.54%. Someone in the 28% tax bracket would have to earn 4.92% in a taxable bond to get 3.55% after taxes.”

This might be a good option for someone looking for a slightly better yield that a CD or money market account though the risk of loss begins to creep into the picture.

We’ve touched on a few things now and again about the recession, both bracing for its arrival last year and then settling in once it arrived.

Here are five good things about the recession you may not have thought about before. Apparently, people actually become healthier during a recession.

This last year or so has been a rough time for many folks. Obviously, you can’t avoid the bad news as headline after headline features more dire predictions about the economy and more sad stories of people losing their jobs and homes. We’re seeing more and more people falling into debt and looking for ways of reducing debt. The good news is that there are resources and services designed to help people solve their debt problem and get their finances in order.

Debt Free Destiny has created a place where you can obtain information on a number of different debt and credit problems and solutions. These include things like debt settlement, credit counseling, debt consolidation, bankruptcy and more. You can obtain a free, no obligation consultation on their website to help guide you through the maze of choices and decision you need to make when faced with reducing or eliminating your debt.

The years of easy credit and the endless flow of money appear to over for now and it’s really time to get serious about any lingering debt problems you might have.  Your debt load might feel out of control, but it’s crucial that you get it worked out.  The folks at DebtFreeDestiny.com have the resources and information to help you claw your way back into a prosperous and healthy financial future.

We’re usually pretty pro-save around here, regarding it as a key aspect to an overall sound personal finance plan. However, there is the larger issue of how your saving affects the overall economy. Some folks believe that when the economy is sagging that throwing money in the bank is further aggravating the problem. Conversely, others feel that putting money in the bank allows the bank to lend more money out–thus helping to stimulate the economy.

For the most part in the US, what we see in a recession, much like we’re seeing now, is that savings rates tend to climb. That is, more people start socking their money away in order to, presumably, weather the storm.

In the US in fact, there is currently a campaign called Feed the Pig designed to encourage folks to save. The site has some great advice on saving money and many tips for putting a little extra aside.

In Finland, however, the government is encouraging people to spend money in order to boost the economy. They’ve begun an ad campaign with an evil piggy bank–implying that in these tough times the thing to do for the good of the economy and the country is to keep on spending in order to spread the money around.

NPR has a nice little feature comparing the different approaches from the US and Finland.

Well, yesterday we saw the inauguration of a new president with many promises of change just around the corner.

Of course, among the many other, much larger, issues that are pressing on this country right now, we have to wonder how this will affect our own personal finance situation.

Specifically, how will President Obama’s stimulus plan change your financial situation.

There’s an interesting article here that covers some of the basics.  A lot of specifics–at least in a general sense.  For instance: “$145 billion in tax cuts for working individuals.  The tax cut would be $500 per person ($1,000 for a couple) and would phase out for people making over $75,000 a year ($150,000 for couples). You can get the money either by claiming it on your tax return, or through a reduction in the taxes that are taken out of your weekly paycheck.”

This will obviously be one of the biggies, but the article also mentions quite a few other programs–notably many improvements to the nation’s infrastructure, the education system and healthcare.

It will definitely be interesting to see where this goes.

Structured settlements can certainly be a handy method to settle a personal injury lawsuit.  In fact, the financial agreement is an often overlooked tool to help the parties in a lawsuit reach an agreement that is acceptable to both the injured party and the defendant.  In this case, instead of a, sometimes, large lump sum settlement, the structured settlement would spread the compensation out over an extended time period.  It is also possible, however, to sell structured settlements if you find you later need access to a lump sum amount.

In the case of selling an annuity payment like a structured settlement, you would be able to get the money now instead of waiting months or years to receive the total of your payment.  You can basically get direct access to your cash.

The folks at Settlement Capital do not plan or structure a settlement, but they can help you if you are looking to Sell Structured Settlements.  They are experts in the field of specialty financing, working since 1988 to provide payments in the secondary market of structured settlements.  They can help you understand the implications of such payments and get you a free quote so you can know exactly what you’re looking at should you choose to pursue this option.

In addition to obtaining a free quote, you can educate yourself on the nuances of structured settlements and other annuity payment options. Settlement Capital also has an informative blog and podcast for even more, varied  and timely information.  If you’ve been looking to SELL STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS you should definitely spend some time on their website or contact them soon.

We’ve been hearing bad news followed by more bad news for nearly a year now.  The housing market began to implode, the stock market plummeted, the credit markets came to a complete standstill, and company after company began to fail and declare bankruptcy.   Of course, now we’re in the midst of a government bailout in which yesterday’s plan is replaced anew each day by another, more expensive plan, with more money and more companies in need of a fix.  Unemployment rates are on the rise, as well as bankruptcies and foreclosures.

If you pay any kind of attention to this mess you’re likely to become depressed in no time at all.  In light of this fact, it might be worth it to look for some sort of silver lining.  Well, if one thing is for sure, home prices have fallen in most cities around the U.S., and are now lower than they’ve been in many, many years.  Coupled with this decline, we’ve seen record numbers of foreclosures and banks desperate to get rid of repossed houses.  This perfect storm has created a buyer’s market for the few lucky enough to have the resources to buy a house now.

CNN/Money has a nice little slideshow featuring some families that have been able to afford houses that they otherwise might not have been able to qualify for in these last few heady years.  One family had just been able to buy a house for $155,00 that had last sold for $364,000.  That’s certainly a silver lining in this unforgiving real estate world.

We’ve spent a bit of time here talking about various ways to prepare your finances, in both good times and bad.  Oftentimes, we’re dealing with a savings or investment plan, but in these difficult times it might be more appropriate to be thinking about some debt settlement services, especially if you’ve begun to find yourself in a serious debt situation.  It’s good to keep in mind that debt relief services can help you become debt free, lower your overall debts and combine your payments into one, low monthly payment.

The process, also referred to as debt negotiation, usually involves your creditors receiving a lump sum payment in lieu of a reduced overall amount.  As a result of this payoff, the creditor will report to the various credit bureaus that the debt has been paid and the consumer no longer owes any money on this loan or credit card.  The experts at Franklin Debt Relief are quite skilled at handling debt negotiations as they specialize in debt settlements.  They also have a lot of information on their website, including a great FAQ on credit card debt consolidation and other debt consolidation programs.

If becoming debt free is important to you, spend some time on their website and learn more about debt relief and credit card consolidation.  There is enough information to really help you understand the process involved and figure out what is best for your situation.  You can always give Franklin Debt Relief a call and learn if you qualify and get more information that is specific to your situation.