Understanding the options available in your retirement fund is highly recommended, once you reach the age of retirement or before. One’s mental health and physical health has a determining factor in retirement. Many optimistic people intend to work as long as they are likely to be retired. Most retirees support themselves on pensions and savings. The rising cost of living is a grave concern among the elderly. There are many online pension annuity calculators available that are easy to operate and within minutes provide you with a summary of the options. Advantages of using online pension annuity calculators: Quick to complete (many take less than 10 minutes) Anonymous Secure Save progress Printable summary Smart tip: answer all questions carefully that best reflects your lifestyle, health conditions and circumstances. This ensures you get a quote that is aptly suited to you. These online calculators project the amount the investor needs to save and the period of saving so that the investor can meet a certain level of retirement expenditure. Some calculators assume a constant, unwavering rate of return. Some also consider the volatility of the investments. The other factors considered are – taxes, social security, pensions, other sources of retirement income and expenditures.

Statistics show that nearly 80% of people who live on rent want to buy their own home, but most of them can’t afford to do so. Mortgage rates are skyrocketing and property listings are gaining value by each passing day making it very difficult for applicants to secure a sizeable loan or even afford to pay for the downpayment. The following financial grants and programs, however, are a blessing in disguise giving you the opportunity to buy your very first home. Federal Housing Loan (FHA) FHA loans are available for the first time home buyers offering competitive interest rates, manageable down payments, and more importantly lower closing costs. Closing cost is one of the major expenses when you borrow conventionally, making FHA loans a popular alternative. FHA loans are also easy to avail with a credit score of 580 or higher wherein you can make a downpayment of just 3.5% approximately of the purchase price. U.S. Department of Agriculture loans (USDA) A home loan can be availed by nonagricultural applicants with the homebuyers assistance program sponsored by the USDA. There is no downpayment required in many cases if you have a credit score of 640 or higher. The loan payments are fixed and there are certain income limitations that will vary depending on the region where you plan to apply for a loan.

Many individuals struggle to save money. Irrespective of the age, gender or profession, you strive to save money and it is the little steps that may help you achieve your long-term financial goals. It is advisable that you start early and follow the pattern consistently. Here are a few simple money-saving tips that may help you reach your goals in no time. Create a contingency fund Build a contingency fund which will make a huge difference in the future. For this, you may save a fixed amount of money from your monthly earnings and gradually grow this fund. Set a budget There is nothing more important than starting with a budget and following the same. List down the income and expenses on the budget and try to cut down on the unnecessary expenses over a period of time. You may start by creating a monthly budget and then proceed to make it a quarterly process. Use cash or debit card instead of a credit card When you use a credit card, you only pile up debt and the expense does not hurt your wallet until you pay off the debt. Hence, one of the most effective money-saving tips is to use cash or your debit card so that you have a record of the spending and you may control overspending.

Of all the rising health problems, we show very less concern towards dental care. People are largely unaware that improper mouth medication can lead to cavities, tooth loss, and other gum diseases. New generation dental ad films show the perfect indication of growing dental problems in kids and seniors. The condition is even worse among the seniors of ages between 65 -75 as they develop periodontal problems due to inadequate nutrition or inappropriate oral care. If they fail to take medication at the right time, it would be a high and dry situation later on as the nerves in the teeth will get smaller and weaker during aging. This makes the teeth less sensitive to the dental problems, and you may have to pocket out more money as they age. Nearly 30% of senior citizens in the country suffer from untreated cavities, and another 30% lose their teeth due to aging. This is why you should switch onto the affordable dental insurance for seniors plan exclusively for seniors to get good dental coverage at reasonable price. It is a fact that basic health care policies don’t provide dental coverage. According to the present-day statistics of the country, only 2% of elder citizens obtain dental insurance.

The process of educating one’s wards is a task that parents and guardians consider with much care, precision, and detail. From viewing the social construct of a family and the reasons for which they work hard all their lives can be revolved around providing proper if not the best of education options for their children. It is believed among the social circle of any society that parents aspire to make their son or daughter what they can become best at by providing the best of learning and development opportunities. Since the very beginning of a child’s academic career, attention is closely paid to the kind of institution they are being admitted to. In the market where every commodity is an item from where profit can be attained, it’s difficult to believe and trust all options laid on the map when it comes to selecting where one’s kid would be studying. This dilemma persists throughout the phase of time when the child grows up to be a learning scholar of any field they choose. The struggle of being able to afford the choice of school that is liked becomes a difficult task as the child moves up the ladder in his or her academic progress.

Be it for choosing an investment plan or making the right retirement income plan of an individual or for financial planning of an organization, almost all of us would need some advice from people who know the finances well. But often, we struggle to identify the best financial advisor. The sole purpose one struggles to earn today is to fend for financial requirements and secure their future when his ability to earn ceases on retirement. Advice can either make or break our savings and thus our future. The right choice of person or firm to handle our finances requires a thorough and a disciplined process to be sure and have peace of mind. Firstly, it is essential to know what kind of service one is looking for from the advisor. There are different types of financial services, and the best financial advisors are knowledgeable about all services. Some may be good at planning and weak at management and vice versa. A few may be good at retirement contribution planning and weak at retirement distribution advice or vice versa. Having a brief idea of the different types of services might help. Financial planners:  Help us to have an understanding of how much to save and what type of insurances are required by looking beyond just investments.

Contrary to stock markets, the daily gold prices have been relatively stable at different times throughout its history. Gold trade is seen as a hedge against inflation and devaluation of currencies in certain parts of the world. Hence, investment in the bullion market or trading gold as a commodity is seen as a good option. Officially recognized gold bullion is minimum 99.5% pure and is in the form of bars or ingots. However, gold can also be traded in the form of coins or other gold products. Along with several other precious metals, gold prices or gold rate is referred as spot price in the market. Gold is traded in terms of ounces (oz.), grams (gm), and kilograms (kg) in the US market. Most commonly, gold price refers to the spot price of 1 ounce of gold in the current market at any given point of time used for buying or selling. Daily gold prices fluctuate every minute like any commodity that is traded on the market. Daily gold prices are affected by several factors like current events (geopolitical, economic, etc.), market speculation, currency values (of the US dollar), buying powers (of large entities and governments), supply (production), demand (jewelry and industrial purposes), central bank reserves (in the US, Germany, Italy, etc.) to name a few.

Anyone interested in investing after making up his/her mind to invest in the stock market comes across a technical term knows as “stock quotes.” Elaborating on what stock quotes are, you can widen your understanding and help further your investment dreams. Simply put, a stock quote contains many things in it including stock price, percentage change, ticker symbol, dividend yield, and volume. It is a lot of information waiting to be decoded by investors for investment. However, one needs not to be worried by the density of the information it holds, as one of it leads to another and their interrelatedness allows the investor to invest wisely and obtain handsome returns rather than discourage him/her from investing in the stock market altogether. Stock price quote Breaking the term “stock quote” down into parts, let us begin with stock price quote—one that any investor immediately encounters as soon as he/she comes across any stock quote. The stock price quote means the price of a stock on an exchange. It is mostly the current price made available by the market makers to buy and sell a stock, but it could also mean, in some cases, the last price at which a stock was sold.

Over the past two to three years, most people have viewed the stock market with much uncertainty. Hence, investors, as an alternative investment strategy, have taken the plunge into the silver market. It is a huge task to determine whether investing in silver is the same as investing in a mutual fund or if it is something really different. So, let’s know some of the basics of silver prices today before investing your hard-earned money in the precious metal. With the current economy, silver is mostly poised to perform majestically well in the next few years. What prices the metal is currently trading at is all set to skyrocket. While silver prices today are around $18.50, numerous analysts observe and believe that silver will be at $50 or higher within the next year or two. If you have too much money tied up in numismatics, it could mean that you could miss out on the upcoming silver explosion. So, here is a list of the top ten best silver coins for investment. Silver Canadian Maple Leafs is issued by the government. It is more of a legal tender coin. The silver Maple Leaf still remains as one of the world’s most distinguished silver coins.

ETFs – or Exchange-traded Funds – are an investment that is traded on the stock exchange like any other stock. They hold stocks, bonds, commodities, etc. by operating through the arbitrage mechanism keeping the price close to the net asset value. They are also tracked on the index and are attractive due to the low price, tax efficiency, and stock-like features. It is the most popular exchange-traded product. The ETF distributors buy and sell ETFs from authorized broker-dealers with whom they have an agreement in creation units. They have tens of thousands of ETF shares. An ETF combines the features of a mutual fund or unit trust, which can be bought or sold at the end of each trading day. Over $2 trillion is invested in ETFs in the USA. Listed below are the best ETFs to buy in 2017 which will fetch handsome returns to investors – VanEck Vectors Oil Services ETF Relief from regulations and crude oil prices going up shows a positive backdrop for the energy sector in 2017. The oil service and drilling segment look attractive for investment. The rig count has gone up but is still below peak levels. As drilling has picked up, large oil companies will regain pricing power.

There are various ways through which money can be transferred without physically moving the cash from one place to another. Foreign Exchange Providers Foreign Exchange providers/brokers transfer large amounts of money – to purchase property, business, a regular payment for individual and tailored services and solutions. You have to open an account and fund it via a savings account or credit card. With a company like this, you can make special arrangement for individual needs. Operators They offer money transfer services and can send money to different countries. You do not need to open an account. You will need to give them information about yourself before you send the money. Some companies offer online money transfer services and are developing mobile apps – Western Union, MoneyGram, Chequepoint, and Coinstar. Banks/Credit Unions All banks offer money transfer services; you need to have an account or apply for one. It is also necessary that the person who receives the money should have a bank account. Banks are not expensive but take longer to transfer your money. They offer more security and also open doors to various other financial products such as loans, mortgages, and savings accounts. Online Money transfers can be sent by online services, often for a small fee, but you need a bank account or credit card and access to the internet, e-mail, register your details online to transfer the money.