taterhill Posted November 18, 2004 Author Share Posted November 18, 2004 States Offering Tax Deductions or Credits to In-State Investors on 529 Education Plan Contributions Colorado Michigan Oregon District of Columbia Mississippi Rhode Island Georgia Missouri South Carolina Idaho Montana Utah Illinois Nebraska Vermont Iowa New Mexico Virginia Kansas New York West Virginia Louisiana Ohio Wisconsin Maryland Oklahoma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiew Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 I'm thinking of cutting up 20 or so of my 50 credit cards. Which ones should I cut up? Cut up about 45 of them. Keep a couple that have low interest and give you reward points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 I'm thinking of cutting up 20 or so of my 50 credit cards. Which ones should I cut up? 122265[/snapback] Start with the ones that have no balance. Remember to call each one to cancel your account. Then go onto the ones with high interest, above 10-15%. Get them paid off and close the account. Then look at what you have left to decide what to keep as Aussie pointed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TigerJ Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 I'm in OK shape personally. I do have questions though. As a pastor, I normally spend a session in pre-marital counseling talking about financial issues: budgeting, debt avoidance and management, insurance, retirement etc. I usually recommend that you couples get term insurance rather than whole life or universal life. My rationale is that term insurance is pure insurance rather than having an investment component like whole life and universal life. There are better places to invest and people who better warrant you trust in investing than insurance companies. Would you agree with that advice for a young couple with limited funds? I heard Ben Stein, yes THAT Ben Stein (he's very astute on financial issues. He suggested that at retirement you want to have a balance of roughly 20 times you annual salary at retirement age in all your retirement vehicles (401K, Roth IRAs, annuities etc.)That seems right to me. Is that a good rule of thumb? One more: Our church trustees are extremely concerned about principle preservation when it comes to managing the church's endowment funds. The result is with the current interest rate environment we aren't getting squat in our returns. I recently read about an investment that might provide an answer, principle protected notes. What can you tell me about them? What is your opinion about them, and can you point me to a good information source about them? Would the church's broker (Merril Lynch) be able to give informed advice about them. Are they traded like stocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterhill Posted November 18, 2004 Author Share Posted November 18, 2004 I agree on buying the term insurance at a younger age.... a smart finincial plan for a younger person, and the insurance will no longer be needed when the term insurance expires...as far as the rule of thumb, that depends on other income sources...do you have a pension, etc..but 20x salary would put you in a great spot.......Merrill should be able to provide pretty much anything you are looking for about the PPN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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