Home Equity Advisor helps seniors who are house rich but cash poor

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) offers advice to seniors who may be “house rich but cash poor.” That is, they own houses but lack income. A reverse mortgage may be a good solution. The Home Equity Advisor helps older homeowners to analyze their situation and to explore options. En español: http://es.homeequityadvisor.org.

Home Equity Advisor
http://www.homeequityadvisor.org

Get financial and life skills help from The Beehive.

The global non-profit One Economy Corporation wants to use technology to bring financial security and independence to disadvantaged people. Visit their Beehive page to get help with all kinds of life skills including attending to health issues, finding a job, filing taxes, leaning how to manage money and even buying a house. This cheerful site even offers tips for dealing with home foreclosure.

In Spanish: http://www.thebeehive.org/es.

The Beehive
http://www.thebeehive.org

Change banks…safely

Is the new $5 per month debit card fee at Bank of America sending you into a rage? How about Citibank’s $15 per month fee on checking accounts that fall below a $6,000 balance? It may be time to switch to a small local bank or a credit union. The trick is to make the move in careful steps. The Consumers Union offers tips for a smooth transition.

http://www.defendyourdollars.org/2010/04/moving_your_money_here_are_som.html

Visit The Beehive to learn the basics of money management

Let’s face it: We’re not born knowing how to handle money. The One Economy Corporation starts from the beginning, explaining how to get a credit card, for example. The site’s Budget Builder Tool [http://www.thebeehive.org/money/spend-it/budget/budget-builder-tool] can help anyone to follow their money. There are some tasty tax tips here, too.

http://www.thebeehive.org/money

J.D. Roth teaches us how to build a simple household budget

Making a budget can seem an impossible drag. Still, it’s so necessary for keeping solvent in tough times. J.D. Roth of Get Rich Slowly outlines his simple method. In addition to getting out of debt, he recommends spending no more than 50% of a monthly budget on needs like utilities and housing. 20% goes into savings and the remaining 30% goes to “wants” like vacations and dining out.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2011/05/02/how-to-build-a-better-budget/

Getting out of debt can be fun with Payoff.com

Paying off personal debt: can it be fun? Find out by signing up and playing off with Payoff.com. Gain insight and earn prizes. Including, maybe, getting out of debt!

http://www.payoff.com

Fastweb helps find money for college.

This free service (with lots of ads) asks applicants to fill out an extensive online questionnaire about their interests and experiences, as well as those of their parents. Then, it matches these characteristics to a huge database of scholarships. When new scholarships appear that fit a profile, Fastweb sends e-mail to notify students about it. It also can automatically print out a scholarship query letter. All a student has to do is sign it and pop it in the mail. Cool!

http://www.fastweb.com