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A significant financial investment is a gamble. It might pay off, but it also could bring negative consequences. The largest purchase an ordinary employee makes is a house. A first-time buyer is justifiably nervous about the impact on his or her financial wellness.

 

What Should I Do?

 

Real estate is an intriguing world with a unique vocabulary. Fixer-upper, distressed sales, rent to buy and FHA loans have definitions most people don’t know. It makes purchasing a house exciting but also a little stressful.

 

Mortgage loans can be sophisticated. Variable interest rates and balloon mortgages might appear sensible, but they triggered the housing collapse of the Great Recession of 2008. Buying property in the wrong location will create domestic problems and buying to flip a house can be a disaster.

Folks will pay dearly for what they do not know. Continue reading

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People like to set goals for the coming year. It is an opportunity to do things that will lead to a better quality of life. A project that should be on the 2020 bucket list is having a simple will drafted.

 

It is a task many will put on the back burner, and that is not a good idea. Death comes knocking when you least expect it. An accident or a heart attack can snatch a person and leave behind family and the estate open to dispute.

 

A Simple Will Prevents Domestic Trouble

 

It is sad to say but an estate can bring out the worst in people. Petty disputes can lead to feuds, which will last for years. Matters will only get worse because the probate court will be directly involved when there is no will. Continue reading

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No one is guaranteed financial wellness. Hard work, planning, and self-discipline are what it takes to have a person’s fiscal house in order. Not fiscally responsible by nature, most folks learn the discipline. It is often by trial and error, but good advice and professional guidance will shorten the learning curve.

Budgets Promote Financial Wellness

The path to real money independence starts with a workable budget. An individual will use this financial tool as a guide for all spending decisions. Essential ingredients of creating a reasonable budget include:

  • Research. Knowing where your money is coming from and what your monthly financial objectives are;
  • Planning. Deciding how your present and future income is spent;
  • Goals and Objectives. Determining what you wish to achieve in creating realistic benchmarks for future earnings and spending;
  • Flexibility. Creating a budget that will respond effectively to any unexpected emergencies;
  • Discipline. Being willing to stick to the guidelines of the budget and having the maturity to focus on the goals.

Continue reading

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A fantastic corporate New Year’s resolution is a new employee benefit everyone can use. It lets the rank and file know that management appreciates their efforts and is concerned about their well-being. Group Legal Plans are an excellent and very useful service that an organization can offer. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has a Group Legal Plan that our clients like.

 

The Services Have High Quality

 

The courtroom dramas are the stuff of television. Most people will never have a day in court, but they still need a lawyer’s services for various reasons. Countrywide has provided pre-paid legal services since 1987. Our benefit options reflect the kind of legal help commonly used.

 

A simple will is a necessary component of sound financial planning. Countrywide attorneys will prepare this document for any Plan member, pointing out the critical clauses and answering all questions. Continue reading

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A warranty is essentially a contract between a consumer and a company. A person buys a warranty with the assumption repair services will be provided if the covered product no longer works. It seems pretty cut and dry, but warranties are not always so straightforward. The devil is in the details.

 

What Do You Know about Warranties?

 

Salespeople will apply some pressure to convince a consumer to purchase a warranty. An individual might buy the contract without considering some important questions.

 

*Do You Know What Is Covered? The warranty will specifically note what is covered. Don’t be surprised if inevitable accidents are not included in the coverage. Parts or labor might only be partially covered or not at all. Continue reading

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You can think of credit as a necessary evil. Credit cards are essential for establishing the credit ratings needed to apply for significant loans. However, a person might get used to buying everything, including groceries, with plastic. Overdependence on credit cards may harm someone’s financial wellness.

 

There Is Danger in the Balance

 

It’s no secret that banks and lending institutions make money from credit cards. Double-digit interest rates and penalties for late payments will provide sizable profits. Retail stores encourage using credit cards since people purchase more when they use plastic. It is easy to accumulate a credit card balance that gets out of control.

 

Young Employees Don’t Understand Financial Wellness

 

The real world is a classroom without textbooks. People learn from good and bad experiences. Millennials and Generation Z college graduates are not familiar with finances. They’re always in a rush and those cards are convenient ways to pay for a purchase. Credit soon becomes the way everything is purchased. Continue reading

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People will stress out over medical bills. The figures can be in the thousands and not everyone knows what to do. Deductibles are high and a person can be liable for significant expenses. Dark clouds seem to form over financial wellness because of the anxiety.

 

There actually is little reason for panic. Medical bills can be managed without panicking. Here are a few points to remember as you decide how to pay the medical expenses.

 

1. Don’t Pay the EOB

That statement is an Explanation of Benefits. It is not the final bill. There is no need to pay anything until your health insurance company determines its part of the payment. Continue reading

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Legal issues can create anxiety and some cases produce real fear. An ordinary person does not deal with the law as an everyday occasion. When a problem surfaces, that same person may not understand what to do and needs help. Group legal plans offer a lot of services, but the quality of those benefits depends on the communication the plan allows.

An individual needs help with his or her unique problem. Q&A pages on a website will offer advice on everyday issues but that is not enough. Some vendors will have private chat rooms where a person can explain the difficulties. That sounds nice, but once again, it doesn’t provide high quality. People want to be able to speak directly with an attorney with the assurance that all conversation is confidential.

Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services knows about the importance of a conversation and we give priority to communication between a Group Legal Plan member and a Countrywide attorney. Continue reading

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Buying a house for the first time is exciting and frightening. Everyone wants a home to call their own, and owning a house is a sign of success. However, that house can come with a severe price attached to it, and it is not just the mortgage. People make some rather serious mistakes, and they can spend years paying for them.

Home buying is a significant financial undertaking, and it does affect the buyer’s financial wellness. There are some common mistakes that many first-time buyers must be careful about. Continue reading

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Courtroom dramas are fun to watch but they don’t paint the full picture of legal services. Most cases are settled out of court. Instead of emotional courtroom encounters, the practice of law primarily involves paper processing and giving advice. Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services offers better assistance than many group legal plans.

Our Attorneys Make the Difference

Our nationwide network of attorneys is the cornerstone of our reputation. The Countrywide legal professionals practice law in the communities where our clients are located. We encourage face-to-face meetings to allow a Group Legal Plan member to develop a rapport with the Countrywide attorney. If a person has additional questions after a meeting, we permit an unlimited number of telephone calls to the lawyer on a given subject. Continue reading