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Dealing with debt can be a stressful experience. Coupling that with the coronavirus pandemic may make it even harder to address. As you plan for the potential economic impact of coronavirus, there are a number of steps that you can take to help manage debt in these difficult times. You can look to your state’s unemployment policies to identify current options for benefits. Your state’s public health office may also have information. In a study often cited by  Dave Ramsey ,  approximately 78% of American are living paycheck to paycheck. This means that any change in pay – even a temporary reduction – is going to cause a lot of problems for most American families. If you currently have a debt in collections, you can work with collectors to identify a realistic repayment plan.  Know your rights.  The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) says that a debt collector is not allowed to use unfair practices in trying to collect a debt. You ge...

I nvesting   is defined as holding a position more than a year. Here is a quick overview of the pros and cons of this long-term strategy. Remember investing isn’t actually trading. It's not enough to simply save a lot of money-- if you was your savings to really multiple, you have to invest. The goal of investing is to gradually build wealth over an extended period of time through the buying and holding of a portfolio of stocks, baskets of stocks, mutual funds, bonds, and other investment instruments. Investments  often are held for a period of years, or even decades, taking advantage of perks like interest, dividends, and stock splits along the way. While markets inevitably fluctuate, investors will "ride out" the downtrends with the expectation that prices will rebound and any losses eventually will be recovered. Investors typically are more concerned with market fundamentals, such as price-to-earnings ratios and ...

5 Tips for Surviving the Holiday Season Its that time of the year again- The Holidays are upon us. It's easy to completely get consumed with the holidays. One thing that most people tend to get in trouble with year after year is not properly preparing financially for the holidays. Even though we all know they are coming, it seems to creep up on us out of nowhere always. Before you know it its Thanksgiving and then only a matter of time before Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza.  Here are a few tips to help us all get through the Holiday season without the fear of severely going into debt that takes many months for you to get out. 1.  Make a Budget There are a couple different ways to set a holiday budget. You might want to establish a general spending cap, or try allocating a specific amount to each person on your gift list. Be aware, though, that while making a holiday budget is great, it can go sour in one of two ways: Setting a Budget That’s Too Tight . While...