Timeshares: An Idea Lost in the Past

Timeshares have historically been a great way for travelers to see different parts of the world at a fraction of the cost compared to retail sales. Started in Europe in the 1960’s, the idea was to buy “time” at a specific resort each year. That time could be exchanged with other timeshare owners to go to different vacation destinations.

For the better part of three decades, this concept had thrived, and the owners of these investments enjoyed time off in beautiful locations around the world. Like many industries, the management of supply and demand is key to sustained growth. This is where this sector of the travel industry has failed. The amount of time share owners has far surpassed the availability of resorts open for exchange. Black-out periods as well as exchange and maintenance fees needed to keep both the time share companies and the resorts themselves alive, have bled the consumer dry to the point where many owners are either walking away from the investment or willing it back to the resort instead of passing it down to their heirs.

I recently spent a week at a timeshare resort in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, courtesy of my in-laws. Earlier buyers of this concept, they own four weeks at a resort in Aruba. They have run into constant trouble as they travel to Europe at least once a year and can never find availability overseas. They continue to pay the maintenance fees each year and happily give us a week to take the kids to a resort that is lost in the past, but in the perfect location for children who want to enjoy the beach and pool.

My in-laws were born and raised in a world where you fulfilled your obligations and took care of your commitments. They cannot sell these timeshare weeks, but they will not walk away from them. That’s just not what they do. We have thankfully found a location that works very well for us. One road separates the facility from the sand. It is surrounded by modern high rises, and is a reminder of a time long gone in southern Florida. Yet, it is the perfect accommodation for my family. A living area with two pull-out couches, a master bedroom with a comfortable bed and a full (although very small) kitchen help us provide a great experience for the children with minimal cost.

We have traveled to this resort for several years, all on the same week. Our family has become friends with another family that have been timeshare owners for close to twenty years. The couple used to use it to travel the world, but after having children, they use their paid week each year and go to their home resort. They stopped paying the timeshare companies and are straight owners of the resort itself.

This has worked well for them, but is not also without its issues. They have an annual maintenance fee they must pay each year, and occasionally they are contacted to pay an “assessment fee.” These fees offset the cost of other owners not paying their fees, damages from guests or weather or upgrades to the units. This family willingly pays it because they know every year on the 25th week (which usually falls on the last week of June), they will drive down from New Jersey and enjoy the sun and sand of Fort Lauderdale.

What happens though when even that is not enough to fund the resort? Our last day, just before check out, this family who have been owners of this resort for close to two decades, found out the facility was renting out rooms for a nightly fee that was less than what there maintenance fees were. Charging people less than what their loyal customers/owners pay can have disastrous results.

This facility, as well as many others, is offering out timeshare weeks for free as long as you are able to take over the annual maintenance fees. If, like this family, you have found a place you love and want to come back each year, it may be worth looking into. For the most part though, timeshares have gone the way of the rotary phone. They were a wonderful concept for its time, but that time has passed.

If you’re looking to save some money on your vacation, consider these smart and inexpensive vacation ideas.

Do you own a timeshare? Has it worked well for you? What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!

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How Much Does it Really Cost to Own a Car?

Do you ever find yourself wondering at the end of each month, where does all the money go? One place you might want to take a very close look at is your car expense. Most people look at their car expense as a list of separate expenses – car payments, gasoline, repairs, auto insurance, etc. Of course, some of these expenses are larger than others. But when you add them all together, your car expense easily becomes one of the largest expenses in your budget.

How large?

According to the Automobile Association of America (AAA), the average car is costing the average American $9,122 to keep in 2013. You can be paying more or less, depending upon the type of car that you own, it’s age, mileage per gallon, the number of miles that you drive each year, and a host of other variables. The AAA number is the average, and a good starting point to look at this near universal and often underestimated expense.

Where Does the $9,122 Go?

AAA uses two very broad cost categories to determine the annual expense of owning a car. The first category is operating costs. These represent the actual out-of-pocket costs to keep your car running. It includes gas, maintenance and tires, and the cost for each based on the number of miles driven.

The second category is ownership costs. These are what it would cost you to own a car, even if you never drove it out of your garage. The one exception here is depreciation, which is partially determined by the number of miles driven, but also by the age of the car. It’s a bit of a hybrid.

According to AAA, the cost breakdown is as follows (with 15,000 miles driven per year) – I hope you like numbers:

Operating costs:

• Gas, 14.45 cents per mile, or $2,168 per year
• Maintenance, 4.97 cents per mile, or $745 per year
• Tires, 1 cent per mile, or $150 per year

Total operating costs, $3,063 per year.

Ownership costs:

• Full-coverage insurance, $1,029
• License, registration and taxes, $611
• Depreciation (based on 15,000 miles driven), $3,571 – more on this one in a bit
• Finance charge, $848

Total ownership costs, $6,059.

Total operating costs and ownership costs, $9,122.

Take a Closer Look at Depreciation as an Expense

It accounting terms, depreciation is used to allocate the expense of a major purchase over its expected useful life. In a household budget, that can be a confusing concept. After all, how does that represent an actual expense?

When it comes to cars, depreciation is a real expense on at least two fronts:

1. It approximates the principal portion of your car loan payments. If you have a $20,000 car loan, with a 6% interest rate and payable over five years, the principal portion of the loan that will be repaid within the first year will be approximately $3,536. That almost exactly matches the AAA depreciation estimate of $3,571.
2. It represents the eventual replacement cost of the car. Every year that you own a car, it drops in value. As it does, your cost of replacing the vehicle rises. This is a cost that you will bear whether you recognize it or not, in that you will pay it eventually.

When you are paying your car loan, the amount of principal repayment is fairly close to the level of depreciation on the car. And typically by the time the loan is paid, depreciation on the car begins to slow substantially. Either way, depreciation, whether represented by loan principal repayment or by the declining value of the vehicle, is a very real expense in the ownership of a car.

Your Actual Costs Can be Much Higher or Much Lower

It’s important to remember that the AAA numbers are based on a compilation of all drivers in all types of vehicles. If you own a higher priced car, or drive substantially more than 15,000 miles per year, then your cost on your vehicle will be higher than $9,122. If your car is lower priced, and/or you drive less than 15,000 miles per year, your car expense will be lower.

Which brings up a relevant topic . . . .

Reducing Your Car Expense

If the AAA average is anything close to what you’re paying, it’s likely that the annual cost of a single car is one of the largest expenses in your budget. And if you have more than one car, that expense is still higher. If you’re looking to cut your living expenses, you’ll have to take a close look at your car expense, since it is such a large outlay.

To lower your car expense, consider making the following changes:

• Buy a lower-priced car – the less expensive the car, the lower nearly all of your expenses will be.
• Buy a used car – the depreciation bite is much lower on a five-year-old car than it will be on a brand-new one.
• Buy a car without taking a loan, and both a lower priced car or used car will help you accomplish this.
• Mileage affects car costs, keep them to a minimum.
• Regular maintenance can prevent costly major repairs.

If you have two cars, and your expense level is average at $9,000-plus per year per car, your annual combined car expense is over $18,000 per year (let that sink in for a moment). Now let’s say that you cut your cost per car to $6,500 per car per year – or $13,000 for both. That will save you $5,000 per year.

That will be enough to fully fund either a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA – do you think that’ll have an impact on the future of your finances?

(Source: Your Driving Costs – How much are you really paying to drive? from AAA)How re you really paying to drive?

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How to Pay Off Your Car Loan Early

We often hear and read about the importance of paying off debt such as credit cards, student loans, and mortgages. Lost in the pay-off mania seems to be car loans. Perhaps it is that people have reluctantly accepted that having a car payment is just a fact of life, and therefore pay little attention to paying it off early. But there are compelling reasons why you should consider doing exactly that.

Why Pay Off Your Car Loan Early?

Dollar for dollar, a car loan is just about the most expensive loan type that you have. Relative to the amount of money that you owe on the loan, the payment on a car loan is higher than just about any other loan type.

This is because mortgages and student loan debts are spread out over 10, 20, or 30 years, while credit cards are revolving in nature and are never actually paid off. You can have a $400 per month payment on a $10,000 car loan, while the monthly payment on a similar amount of credit card debt can be less than $200.

But because of this, there is almost no debt that you can pay off that will do more to free up your cash flow than paying off your car loan. The sooner you can, the more money you will have available for everything else – including paying off other debt.

How can you make that happen without breaking your budget?

Add Extra Principal Each Month

One of the easiest ways to do this is simply by adding an extra principal payment each month. This is similar to what you will do in paying off a mortgage, except that with the car loan it will happen much faster because the loan is shorter to begin with.

If you have a $20,000 car loan with a 60-month term, you will have a monthly payment of $368 assuming a 4% rate of interest. But if you add $100 to each payment, you will cut the loan term down to 47 months – a reduction of more than a year.

In order to help you calculate a workable payment, you can use an amortization calculator to run different scenarios. Find a payment you’re comfortable with, stick to it over the balance of the loan, and you’ll have the loan paid off in much less time.

Pay Based on a Shorter Term

Another way to pay off your car loan early is simply make payments based on the short-term. Once again, using the example of the $20,000 car loan with a 60-month term and a $368 per month payment, if you decided you want to pay off the loan in 48 months rather than 60, you simply make the monthly payment based on a shorter loan term.

Again, using an amortization calculator, you can calculate a shorter loan term length. You will find that if you want to pay off the loan in 48 months rather than 60, you can increase your monthly payment from $368 to $452. That will increase your monthly payment by $84, but it will chop an entire year off the loan term.

Apply Any Windfalls to the Loan Balance

Perhaps the easiest way to pay off a car loan early – or any loan for that matter – is to apply any windfalls received to the loan balance. That will accelerate the payment of your loan without disturbing your regular monthly budget.

If for example you decide to apply your income tax refund to the payoff of your car loan each year, you can easily cut the term by a couple of years. Since the average income tax refund is in the neighborhood of $3,000, if you apply this to your loan balance for three years, you can pay off your loan pretty quickly.

And even more important, you’ll not be required to increase your monthly payment – and tighten your budget in the process – in order to make it happen. And while parting with the windfall won’t be entirely pleasant, you’ll have a definite benefit when your car loan is paid off and you own your car free and clear – well ahead of schedule.

Set Up a “Sinking Fund”

If you are not comfortable applying extra principal payments or cash windfalls to your car loan – perhaps out of concern for not having cash available for emergencies – there is a way that you can do this without fully committing the money.

In the business world, it is common to set up a “sinking fund” for the eventual retirement of a debt. Rather than making extra principal payments (or any principal payments at all), the business gradually accumulates money in a separate account dedicated to the payoff of the loan. This enables the business to pay off the loan completely at a predetermined date the future.

You can do the same thing by creating a special account that will hold any money intended to payoff your car loan. Instead of making extra principal payments, or applying windfalls to your car loan, you can instead direct them into the sinking fund account. When the amount of money in the account is sufficient to pay off the loan, you empty the account and pay the loan – in full.

How important do you consider it to be to pay off your car loan early? Leave a comment!

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6 Business Ideas for Teenagers

If your teenager is having difficulty finding a part-time job, or at least finding one that they consider to be at least remotely interesting, you might suggest that they start a business instead. With a business, they can have almost unlimited options.

Why a Business and Not a Job?

You may be wondering why not just get a part-time job to earn some extra money? You certainly can and that’s always an option. But there are several advantages that a business has over a part-time job, especially in regard to teenagers:

• Part-time jobs are not available in all areas, especially in those where there is a high concentration of teenagers to soak up the jobs that are available.
• Part-time jobs generally require that you keep hours – with your own business, you can largely set your own hours. That can work better with a school schedule.
• Part-time jobs generally pay minimum wage or slightly higher; there’s a very good chance that you can earn substantially more on an hourly basis in your own business.
• A business allows you to work at something that you are good at, something that you enjoy; with a part-time job, you pretty much have to take what’s available whether you like it or not.
• Starting a business – even a very informal one – is outstanding training for adult life. If you can start a business as a teenager, the future holds endless possibilities for you.

That being said, what are some businesses that a teenager can start right now?

1. Tutoring

If there is at least one subject that you are strong in, you may be able offer your services as a tutor. Generally speaking, math and science tend to be the most in demand subjects, but you can find students in need other skills as well. Many need help writing term papers or studying for major exams. Some need help learning English.

You can make some good money being a tutor. Where I live, they charge $30 per hour and up, but if you want to build a client base you can probably do so quickly by charging less.

You can advertise your service on Craigslist free of charge, and you can also register your services with local schools. Parents often ask the school for recommendations for tutors, and if you are one who is “on the list,” you could see a steady flow business.

2. Lawn Cutting

This is one of the most traditional businesses for teenagers. In this day and time of dual income couples, many people simply don’t have the time to cut their own lawns.

Make some phone calls to see what other lawn cutters are charging, keeping in mind that your rate will have to be lower than what an adult lawn service will charge.

You can make up flyers and distribute them in your neighborhood and in surrounding ones. One of the best benefits of lawn cutting is that once you get a couple of customers, you’ll get referrals if you do good work. Eventually you’ll have as much business as you can handle.

3. Babysitting

Like landscaping, this is another teenage tradition. And once you get one customer, you will usually get referrals for others. Start by making up flyers and distributing them in your neighborhood. You don’t want to advertise too widely as customers tend to prefer someone who is very “local” (preferably someone they know) when it comes to taking care of their children.

4. Reselling

As a teenager you’re probably keyed into what other teens want and like to buy – you can use that as a business idea. If you know what items are popular, you can buy them at garage sales and resell them at a profit.

Craigslist is a good place to resell used items (as well as a great place to buy them too), and if you buy them on the cheap you can often sell them for several times more than what you paid. Entertainment equipment, musical instruments, bicycles, video games and CD’s are all possible items that you can resell.

5. Social Media Consultant

If you are a teenager who is very adept at using the social media, then you are probably better at using it than most adults are. Never underestimate that advantage! Businesses have discovered social media and its importance in communicating with customers and in finding new ones.

If you know how to use popular social media – especially Facebook and Twitter – you may be able to become a social media consultant for small business. Your job will be to get out into the social media and discuss the company and its products, as well as provide bulletins about new products and services.

You may also handle conversations with customers and potential customers. You can probably handle the easy conversations, but any heavier ones can be sent to the business owner as a potential customer. The service you’ll be providing is giving a business a live and active presence in the social media. If you do that for one small business, you probably can take on a second and a third.

6. Running Errands

If you have a car or a reliable bicycle you may be able set up a business running errands. This can involve picking up items at the store, making deliveries or picking up takeout meals. This kind of business has become so popular that there are websites available to connect customers and providers. You can bypass that route and go direct to customers.

Start by spreading the word in your own neighborhood, and by distributing flyers advertising your service. You can decide that you will make deliveries or run errands within one or two miles of your home, charging a fee for each trip that you make.

A side benefit of this business: you’ll get plenty of exercise if you handle errands by bicycle!

What other business ideas can you suggest for teenagers? Leave a comment!

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Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard vs American Express Blue Cash Everyday

Credit card rewards in the form of points and miles can be great, but there is no denying the appeal of simple cash back. There are many cash back cards on the market, and rewards can be distributed in several different ways. Cards can offer different rewards based on fixed bonus categories, merchant categories that change each quarter, or just a flat rate of return on all purchases. And the only thing better than earning cash back is doing so with a card that has no annual fee.

The Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard and the American Express Blue Cash Everyday card both offer bonus points on some purchases without charging an annual fee. Let’s see how these two cards stack up against each other.

Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard

Barclaycard is well known for offering reward cards co-branded with partners such as US Airways and Priceline, but its own cash back rewards card tends to fly underneath the radar. New cardholders earn $50 cash back after making their first purchase. After that, cardholders earn two points for all spending at gas stations, grocery stores, and utilities, and one point per dollar on all other purchases. Each point is worth one cent when redeemed for cash back rewards.

In addition to rewards for spending, new cardholders also receive 12 months of interest-free financing on both new purchases and balance transfers.

There is no annual fee for this card, but there is a 3% foreign transaction fee imposed on all charges processed outside of the United States.

Insider tip: This card is offered in two versions. This one is for those with “excellent” credit, but there is another version for those with merely “good” credit. The lesser version has a higher APR, only six months of introductory financing, and just 2,500 bonus points, worth $25. But if you have had some credit problems in the past, this can still be a good deal. Just make sure to pay each month’s statement balance in full to avoid the super high interest rates.

American Express Blue Cash Everyday

American Express offers so many travel reward cards that it is easy to forget that they are a major player in the cash back rewards market as well. New cardholders earn $100 in rewards when they spend $1,000 on their card within three months of opening an account. 3% cash back is earned at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 annually then 1%), 2% at U.S. gas stations, and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Cardholders also receive 12 months of 0% APR financing on new purchases, but there is no promotional financing offer for balance transfers. After the promotional financing expires, the standard interest rate is 12.99% to 21.99%, depending on the applicant’s credit worthiness.

Cardholders also enjoy perks such as a return protection policy, a purchase protection policy, and extended warranty coverage. There is no annual fee for this card, but there is a 2.7% foreign transaction fee that applies to all charges processed outside of the United States.

Insider tip: This is a great card for one with no annual fee, but applicants should also consider the Blue Cash Preferred. It offers an amazing 6% cash back at grocery stores and 3% cash back at gas stations and department stores. This card has a $75 fee, but it will result in a net gain of more cash back for those who spend just $50 a week at grocery stores.

The Verdict

These cards are very evenly matched, but the decision has to go to the American Express card. It offers a higher rate of cash back at supermarkets, plus a lot of nice benefits. Barclaycard offers 2% cash back at gas stations, grocery stores, and utilities, but there are very few utilities that accept credit cards without imposing a surcharge. In the end, it all boils down to American Express’s cash back at supermarkets, which is great for a no-fee card, as well as its superior benefits.

When it comes to getting the most cash back from a card with no annual fee, follow the numbers and you will find that the American Express Blue Cash Everyday is the card to beat.

Which card do you feel is right for you?

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Is Travel Insurance Worth It?

Traveling the country and seeing different cultures is a great thing – but there are significant costs involved. You don’t mind to spend the money assuming your trip goes well, but what happens when something goes wrong?

Travel insurance can step in during difficult circumstances while you are traveling to help make things right or to protect you. But tacking on extra costs to your trip might mean you have to scale back elsewhere. Is travel insurance worth the cost?

How to Determine If You Should Buy Travel Insurance for Your Trip

Travel insurance can be invaluable if you need it and an unfortunate sunk cost if you don’t use it. Here are four things to consider before buying a travel insurance policy.

1. What Does Travel Insurance Cover?

Before you buy a travel insurance policy you need to understand what exactly it covers just like any other type of insurance you might purchase.

Unfortunately, no two travel policies are the same. Each policy has certain restrictions as to what is and isn’t covered, so reading the details and fine print are paramount before you purchase.

Some policies cover you during a natural disaster and provide assistance in evacuating you. Others can get you emergency medical care or an extremely expensive medical flight home. Smaller policies might reimburse you for lost luggage or let you come home early with a partial refund due to a death in the family.

2. What Type of Travel Insurance Do I Need?

Before you can select a policy you also need to understand what types of coverage you might need.

Is this a quick trip with a low dollar cost and low likelihood of being canceled? If so, even if it got canceled at the last minute it might be worthwhile to skip the cost of the insurance since the odds are stacked that you won’t cancel it.

Do you have a family member in poor health that you might need to get back to quickly? Or are you at risk of becoming injured or ill while on the trip? Travel insurance might be a worthy investment.

Travel insurance is all about peace of mind – whatever incident you are worried about would need to be covered by the travel insurance policy.

3. How Much Does Travel Insurance Cost?

There is no hard and fast number because the policy will change based on:

• the cost of your trip and
• the cost of extra coverage you select (medical evacuation, and so on).

However, a general rule of thumb would put travel insurance at 5% to 10% of the total cost of your trip per person. If you are looking at a $2,000 trip to the Caribbean you could pay $100 to $200 in travel insurance based on the type of policy you select.

4. Do You Have Other Coverage Options?

One last thing to consider with trip insurance is whether or not you have other coverage options available to you at lower cost or at no cost at all.

For example, if you are worried about lost luggage or delayed flights your travel rewards credit card might provide you some protection. If you are worried about medical issues while traveling overseas your regular health insurance policy might have coverage for you.

You need to understand the full spectrum of coverages available to you whether it is a travel insurance policy, a policy you already hold that can cover you while traveling, or a simple perk of using a rewards travel credit card.

Have you purchased travel insurance? Have you had to use it?

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Are All-Inclusive Resorts Worth It?

If you’re looking to take a nice vacation in the the Caribbean or Mexico you will inevitably come across some all-inclusive resorts as an option for your accommodations. Are these pricier options a better deal than staying at a normal hotel and paying for your meals? Or are you better off separating the two expenses on your vacation? If you plan ahead and review all your options, you can lower your costs.

How to Determine if All-Inclusive is Right For Your Vacation

Here are four tactics you can use to figure out if an all-inclusive resort is right for you and your vacation plans.

Understanding All-Inclusive Resorts

An all-inclusive resort is a resort where you pay a premium over the average cost of a room at a resort and get free food and drink included. Instead of having to go out to restaurants and bars on your vacation you can have it all on one secure property. You pay a significantly higher price over the average room rate, but the perks can make it worth it.

The Purpose of Your Vacation

Are you there to relax and completely stay on the property? Or are you looking for an adventure that puts you deep within the local culture?

The type of trip you are taking will determine whether or not an all-inclusive resort is best for you. If you are looking for the completely relaxed and pampered vacation where someone waits on you at a moment’s notice, then an all-inclusive can be a great option.

On the other hand if you are looking to go out and explore a city, getting involved in the local culture, and trying out the hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the locale, then an all-inclusive won’t be the best value for you. You’ll have paid the premium for all the food and drink you want at the resort and spend extra money exploring on your own.

The All-Inclusive Premium

Another factor to consider is just how high of a premium the resort is charging for the all-inclusive rate.

Are you spending an extra $100 or $250 per night? The difference can make or break your interest in the resort.

All it takes are some simple calculations to figure out how much you might spend per day in food and drink and if the premium is significantly above that it probably isn’t worth it. Then again if it is pretty close to what you would estimate you would spend on your own, the ability to have everything at your fingertips rather than a taxi ride away can make it worthwhile.

Reviews of the Resort’s Added Perks

The last thing you should consider before dropping extra money on all-inclusive perks is to read many reviews on the resort. Even if the pricing worked out to be pretty similar to what you thought you would spend eating out on your own the quality might not be the same.

All-inclusive resorts are notorious for using well liquor instead of the premium stuff when they make your drinks. They might be cutting back on the quality of food as well. Reading many reviews will give you a better idea of the overall quality of the resort, but pay special attention to the food and drink reviews.

And do read many reviews, for two reasons:

1. Unhappy customers are more likely to write reviews online so don’t let one or two bad reviews turn you off.
2. Hotel companies have paid people to put positive, fake reviews on websites in the past.

You can’t guarantee you won’t be reading a fake review, but if the resort has hundreds of reviews and 95% of them are positive then you know you’re looking at a quality establishment. Spending an hour reading reviews is probably worth it before you drop several thousand dollars on a trip.

Want to save some money? Try these inexpensive vacation options!

What do you think? Are all-inclusive resorts worth it?

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Getting a Job When You’ve been Unemployed for a Long Time

There are some disturbing findings in the job market, particularly if you have been unemployed for a long time. A pair of studies have determined that the single worst attribute that a job seeker can have is to have been unemployed for more than six months. No other single factor has as much potential to disqualify you from the jobs you’re applying for.

If that describes your situation, read on . . . .

What Long-Term Unemployment Might be Telling You

There are several potential reasons why being out of work more than six months is hurting your job search. Some have to do with you, and some have to do with the job market in general.

You’re being screened out.

With most jobs now requiring that you apply online, being out of work may be coming up as a disqualifier. Employment sites – whether they are general job boards or employer-specific sites – use algorithms to screen out candidates. This helps human resources departments narrow the pool from hundreds of candidates to a small handful.

It is very likely that recent long-term unemployment is being given heavy weight in the sifting process. In short, if you are out of work more than six months, there’s a very good chance that your resume and application are being rejected without further review.

Your industry or career may be in long-term decline.

Many of the long-term unemployed are in that situation because either their industry or the career field is in decline. This could be because of falling demand, foreign competition, or technology that renders employees obsolete.

Your skills may not be what they need to be.

There’s no escaping the fact that technology is changing rapidly, making it very difficult for workers to keep up with the pace of constant change. This is especially true for older workers. It may be that your skill set has become uncompetitive in the industry or field that you were once employed in.

You need to get a job – any job – as soon as possible.

Whatever the reason for your long-term unemployment, the solution in each case is the same: you need to get a job as soon as possible. It’s a well-worn cliché that it’s easier to get a job if you already have a job. Changing your current employment status then, is obviously Job #1.

Getting Back into the Job Market After Long-Term Unemployment

Let’s camp on that last suggestion for a bit. There is no doubt that it is a certified catch-22 situation – you need a job in order to get a job, but you’ve been unable to get one so far, so how does it all work out?

If you have been out of work for much beyond six months, you may have go to back to square one. It might be best to assume that you are starting your career all over again. In a real way, and at least on a temporary basis, that may be exactly what’s playing out.

One of the mindsets that can be damaging in a job search is the overwhelming drive to get a full-time, permanent job with benefits. In some industries, and in some career fields, these types of positions becoming increasingly rare. This is one of those big picture issues where you really have to adjust your thinking in order to survive.

You may have to think in terms of getting a part-time job, a temporary job, or be ready to try contract work. At a minimum, having such a job will help you get past those annoying computer screening algorithms that have been the source of so much of your misery so far.

Once you land even a minimal job – say, a part-time situation – you can begin the job of rebuilding your career. You may find that the way back will look like a part-time job, followed by a temporary job, followed by a contract situation, and finally a full-time, permanent position. It’s not a pretty route back into employment, but options tend to thin out the longer you’re out of job.

Give Serious Consideration to Self-Employment

You may have to be prepared for the possibility that there may not be a full-time, permanent position at the end of the job-seeking rainbow. If that’s the case, or you think it might be, you might want to use your less-than-perfect succession of jobs (part-time, temporary, contract) to leverage yourself into your own business.

With jobs and the economy becoming so uncertain, this is the option for an increasing number of seasoned employees. If you can build a business while you’re trying to work your way back into full-time employment, the business option may become more important if it becomes increasingly clear that a full-time job isn’t in the cards.

Doing contract work is even a way to begin building a business. Any business that you build is more likely to succeed if it is based on skills you already have. When you take on a contract assignment, the employer effectively becomes your client. If you can begin working with several clients (contract situations) at the same time, you’ll be well on your way to having a business.

Inventory your skills, the ones that you are using for whatever work you’re doing right now, plus any other skills that you have in your repertoire, and start thinking about what you have to offer to the largest number of potential clients. The Internet is making self-employment more possible for more people than ever. Build a website dedicated to the services that you can provide, and work on how to market the site.

If you can successfully launch a business, your career troubles will be over.

What advice can you offer to someone who’s been unemployed for more than six months that might get them a steady paycheck?

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Health Care and Insurance While Traveling

Not too long ago, I went on a camping trip with my extended family. At one point, my dad tripped and ended up with two puncture wounds in his leg. We administered first aid, got him in the back of my car and drove him a little more than an hour to the nearest emergency room.

Before we left, my mom had the presence of mind to quickly grab my dad’s insurance card. Dad needed stitches, but we made it back to camp (at about 2:30 am) and he was able to enjoy the rest of the trip (with the help of some pain killers).

If you plan to travel, it makes sense to prepare what you can to take care of your health while you travel. Whether you are traveling in-country, or heading overseas, you need to have an idea of what’s covered, and how to get the care you need.

Health Insurance Coverage

One of the reasons that we buy a policy from our current insurance company is that it is a well-known company with in-network health care providers all over the country. Whether we’re visiting my parents in Idaho, or my husband’s parents in New York, there are in-network health care providers nearby.

Check with your insurer to find out where the in-network providers are. You can usually use out-of-network providers, but you will have to pay a larger portion of your care in those cases – and some insurers won’t cover out-of-network care at all. Make sure that you thoroughly understand the policy – and where you can get care – ahead of time.

Prescriptions

In my dad’s case, the emergency room doctor just gave my dad enough pills to get him through the camping trip and told him to follow up with his own doctor upon returning. In many cases, if you are traveling, it’s possible to get a prescription filled at the hospital pharmacy, or take the prescription to a local drug store.

If you know that you will be traveling, though, bring your medications with you. If you know that you will need a refill while you travel, you can ask your doctor if it’s possible to get the refill early. The doctor might need to clear it with your insurer and the pharmacist, so make sure that you make arrangements ahead of time. Then you can take your medication with you.

In some cases, you might not be able to refill early and take the medication with you. In those cases, find out what the policy is. You might be able to take a prescription to a local drugstore. Talk with your health care provider and your health insurer well ahead of time to find out what your options are.

International Travel

In many cases, your health insurance policy won’t be sufficient when you travel overseas. When I was a foreign exchange student in Austria, my parents worked with my health insurance company to make sure that I would be covered, and they also got evacuation insurance that would pay for me to be flown to the States if necessary.

Many health insurers offer special products designed to help you when you travel overseas. Find out what those products and services are, and find out what, exactly, is covered. Also, if you are going to be doing some adventuring while you travel, consider getting emergency evacuation insurance. You might also want it anyway, so that you cover transportation back home if necessary.

When you know that you will be traveling, and that you might possibly need health care while you are gone – especially if you are traveling internationally – speak with your health insurer and your main health care provider to ensure that you are properly prepared.

Do you travel frequently? Do you KNOW you’re covered with insurance while traveling?

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Good Debt vs. Bad Debt: What’s the Difference?

A few years ago, you could walk into any bank and get a loan or go to any car dealer and get a preferred rate. Then the stock market went limp, the real estate market burst and instead of standing in line for a brand name coffee, you were in line for unemployment benefits.

Good people have fallen on hard times in every neighborhood of every town around the country. Some had to tap retirement funds and live on credit cards just to keep their heads above water. Now that things are starting to turn around, if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to take stock of the damage done.

The debts have piled up and the bill statements can be overwhelming, but remember not all debt is bad. In fact, some debt can help you turn that credit score back around. So what is the difference between good debt and bad debt? Let’s take a look.

Good Debt

Any debt that can appreciate in value over time is considered a good debt. A home mortgage loan is a good example of this. Historically real estate values have risen over time. As an owner builds equity in a house with the combination of that boost and the mortgage payments, their credit grows as well. It is one of a number of reasons why so many people invest in real estate.

Student loans are also considered good debt. Generally the loans are held at low rates, which help the student be able to afford the payments. Also, the hope is that after getting whatever degree the student is pursuing, they will be able to earn a higher salary.

These debts are only good as long as the payments are made on time. Whatever you do, if the ship is sinking, the house payment is a life raft. Everything possible should be done to make that monthly payment.

Bad Debt

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody that credit card debt is bad debt. Buying that new flat screen TV using that card with a high interest rate is like stepping into quicksand. It is great for the big game or the latest action flick, but when your financial life hits the proverbial fan, that TV and all the other items or the dinners out create a huge problem for many people all over the country. They are swimming debt, struggling to make even minimum payments and the finance charges are just piling up. For those that have already drowned, it has killed their credit.

Vacation “loans” are also a recipe for disaster. Gone are the days where people would save all year for their one week away from life. In this instant gratification world, people again go with plastic planning to spend a certain amount and then working it off after the fact. In most cases, the pre-vacation “budget” goes out the window the second the toes touch sand.

This is not to say that nobody should go on vacation or buy themselves the things they want. It’s just time to get back to basics with budgeting and saving to purchase the latest thing everybody else just had to have.

Debt Management

Every person is entitled to a free credit report once a year. Pull your credit and see what is on it. Find out just what the black marks are and make a plan to fix them. Make sure to hold on to that life raft (your mortgage) and then prioritize the bad debts in order of interest rate and balance. Focus on knocking those with the higher rates off as quickly as you can.

The only plastic one should use these days is their debit card. Buy what you can pay for and nothing more. Don’t even add good debt to the pile. If you are struggling with debt, and any more is just a bad idea. Seeing a debt counselor may be necessary for some people. If that is the case, do some due diligence and find a company that is a non-profit organization built to help you. The others are just there to make money off of you and it will end up a worse situation than you are already in.

Debt, whether it is good or bad, is still your responsibility to pay back. Be vigilant about paying your bills and the chunks you take out of the debt will get bigger and bigger as time goes by.

What are some other examples of good and bad debt? Leave a comment!

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