Congratulations! You just won the lottery! Now you can finally get rid of the debt that has been holding you back from living the life you’ve always imagined. What an incredible feeling. But wait, hold on – you just heard from the lottery officials that you won’t receive those lottery winnings up front, but rather…
Annuity payments are as common as they are controversial. They’re common in the sense that they are used for everything from retirement and life insurance plans to court settlement payouts, but they’re controversial in the sense that the money they store is often inaccessible. An annuity is a financial agreement in which a certain amount…
How would you like to take a vacation? Do you want to go out to a car dealership and pick a brand new car off the lot? Wouldn’t it be great to pay off your student loan or credit card debt in one day? If you are getting payments from a structured settlement or an…
Chances are you’ve heard the term “APR” on credit card commercials, but tons of Americans have no idea what it actually means. So before you refinance mortgage rates or apply for home mortgage interest rates to purchase a home, you should understand what this term really means. APR — Annual Percentage Rate An Annual Percentage…
Many believe that after wining the lottery, the only tough choice you’ll ever have to make again is whether to receive your winnings as a lottery annuity settlement, or as a lottery lump sum payout. That, unfortunately, is not true. There are still many other things that winners need to be cautious of. Here are…
Winning a structured settlement can be a great source of steady, regulated income over the next few decades. These settlements, which are typically awarded in life insurance payouts and employee lawsuits, allow you to get your compensation over time rather than all at once. Yet financial situations change all the time, and what may have…
For the most part, Americans just aren’t traveling abroad. According to a recent survey, just 13% ventured over international waters in 2013 and just over a third (about 35%) currently have valid passports. This lack of travel is disappointing — maybe even a bit depressing — and the truth of the matter is that many…
Counterfeiting is a crime that has been around for centuries — if not longer. You could argue that counterfeiting has been around since, well, money itself! In modern times, especially beginning in the 19th century when banks printed their own money, counterfeiting has been a huge problem. Did you know, for instance, that the famous…
The total IRA market is currently worth about $4.2 trillion. To date, only about 2% of the total IRA market is made of self-directed IRA’s, but that number is increasing in popularity as of late. It is estimated that about $94 billion is currently held in self-directed IRA accounts. There are several advantages of having…
Counting money is not as glamorous as it sounds. Before the invention of currency sorting machines in 1980, bills and coins had to be counting by hand. In order to prevent human error, money counting usually took at least two people and took a considerably long time. In addition, money counters repeated the process two…