(IRAS) Integrated Research Application System (IRAS) - Only tap an IRA, 401(k) as last resort

You've built a financial fortress with several walls of protection. Now, facing a job loss, you need to decide which bastions to hunker down behind. There are advantages to tapping certain accounts and assets before others. "Jobless benefits and personal savings would be the first line of defense," said Gary Daniels of Personal Financial Mavens in Payson. After that, he said, it's often a matter of individual circumstances. Ideally, like a stout castle, you will have several rings of defense, perhaps with a moat and drawbridge for good measure. Occupying the innermost sanctum of your castle should be your retirement accounts.

Financial advisers routinely suggest restraint before withdrawing retirement money, even when times get tough.

If you pull cash from 401(k)-style plans or traditional Individual Retirement Accounts, you would trigger federal and state taxes, typically on the full amount. You also face a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty if under age 59 1/2, though that drops to age 55 if you pull money from 401(k) accounts and you're laid off or leave the job for other reasons. "The taxes are almost always much higher than expected, often more than 40 percent of the amount withdrawn if there is a 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty," Daniels said.

Taxes and penalties even could apply on early withdrawals from Roth IRAs.

But taxes aren't the only reasons to leave retirement accounts alone.

With withdrawals, you'd also be depleting your retirement savings and raising the likelihood of having to rely solely on Social Security in old age. As it is, millions of Americans already are way behind in retirement planning. "An issue even bigger than taxes or penalties is what your account could be worth in 10 or 20 years," said Stephen Barnes, a certified financial planner and chartered financial analyst at Barnes Investment Advisory in Phoenix.

Plus, you'd be removing money from accounts that enjoy legal protections.

"Both federal and Arizona laws protect $1 million or more of retirement funds from creditors in a bankruptcy," said Daniels, who is also a certified public accountant.

If you withdrew money from retirement accounts, those amounts would be subject to regular taxes and possibly penalties that probably wouldn't be discharged in a bankruptcy proceeding, he said. But while many jobless and underemployed Americans seem to recognize these dangers, they still might not be able to avoid retirement-account withdrawals if their employment problems persist.

Respondents in a new survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said they relied mainly on jobless benefits and personal savings during the first year out of work or being underemployed. But after a year, more survey respondents started using credit cards heavily and draining their retirement accounts. Read More

Read more »

金が一番いやらしいのは, チャンスは貯蓄できない, ニーチェ　女そのもの, は貯蓄できない, 樋口廣太郎 名言, ヒーハー

「人生においては

何事も偶然である

しかしまた人生においては

何事も偶然である」

自分の人生とは

自分の選択してきた結果。

けれど「運命」というものがある

というのも否定できません。

何事も偶然なのか、必然なのか？

「自分で人生を切り開く」のか

「運命」に身をゆだねるのか？

どちらも夢があって

おもしろそうです。

Read More

Read more »

Scopes Included Under The Federal Housing Administration review

The Federal Housing Administration is a program under US Housing and Urban Development. It is a government idea to provide the much needed improved housing conditions to American home owners. This program avails insurance for mortgage loans taken. In the few years past, there was great turmoil in the US housing market. There was all reason to panic. The economy enjoys more stability as a result. Over its genesis, the subprime mortgage quagmire found the FHA, Fannie Mae and also the Freddie Mac as the mortgage financier.

The agency therefore offers different kinds of loan agreements to whoever qualifies. These include adjustable and fixed mortgage rates. Graduated payment, growing equity and energy efficient loans are some others.

To qualify, you must have met the set criteria of the FHA. You will have to explain something about your financial status. These loans are best for those who have been under 2 or more years of a steady income. You will need good credit ratings too. The FHA keeps coming up with newer programs to ensure there is the required stability. That way, they both play an active role in keeping the economy stable if not growing. That is because struggling parties get all the help they need to keep up with the pace in honoring various financial agreements.

As per the Department of Treasury, there has been a $300B budget awarded to make home owners shield against foreclosures. Read More

Read more »

Property Guru - Property Guru Singapore Leading Property Site

Property guru is back in business ; THE FOUNDER of property website Rightmove has come out of retirement, setting up a conveyancing firm to try and cash in on the complexities of the UK real estate market.

Harry Hill has launched In-Deed, an online conveyancing service that lets house-buyers track progress of their purchase through mobile phones and a website.

Hill, who stepped down as chairman of estate agent Countrywide in 2009, said yesterday: “Feudal methods of property transfer still apply unfortunately, and in the last five years increased price competition to secure a shrinking market has driven service standards in conveyancing that are unacceptable in many cases.”

Hill is joined by co-founder Peter Gordon, a long-term investor who has worked at private equity group 3i for nearly two decades. The In-Deed venture is privately funded. Philip Williamson, the former chief executive of Nationwide, has come on board as a non-executive director. The firm claims that more than one in four homebuyers find conveyancing confusing, while 30 per cent view the service as a rip-off.

A survey commissioned by the company found that half of all purchasers have had to chase up their property lawyers, wasting an average of 10 hours over the lifespan of the transaction. Read More

Read more »

Best Stocks : Stocks Retreat; Carmakers, Mitchells & Butlers Slides, BP Gains

European stocks retreated as shares of carmakers declined and Greek 10-year bond yields rose to a record. Automakers performed the worst of 19 industries in the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Mitchells & Butlers Plc, the owner of Harvester and Toby Carvery pubs and restaurants, sank 5.5 percent after posting reduced fiscal first-half profit. BP Plc advanced 2.5 percent after the oil company reached a settlement with a unit of Mitsui & Co., one of its partners on the Macondo well.

The Stoxx 600 fell 0.2 percent to 279.36 at 4:10 p.m. in London, heading for a weekly decline of 0.4 percent. The gauge advanced 0.7 percent yesterday as companies from Glencore International Plc to LinkedIn Corp. held initial public offerings. The measure has fallen 4 percent since this year’s high on Feb. 17. --- read more

Read more »

Best Stocks : GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro falls on Greek worries, stocks hit

The euro fell against the U.S. dollar on Friday on fresh fears of a Greek debt default and worries about the economic recovery globally undermined commodity prices and depressed stocks. U.S. stocks were dragged down by declines in energy and commodity-related shares, though copper prices jumped on a decline in Chinese inventories.

A report saying Norway suspended the payment of a $42 million grant to Greece for failure to comply with its EU-IMF bailout plan commitments started a sell-off in the euro. Speculation mounted that Finland, a European Union member, would do the same. For details see [ID:nOSL016301].

International Monetary Fund may also have suspended its review of Greece, which could mean a delay in the disbursement of much-needed funds for Athens, according to some reports.

Fitch rating agency further downgraded Greece's credit, increasing the euro's decline. [ID:nLDE74J1K7] The euro was down 0.8 percent at $1.4198 on trading platform EBS after four days of gains, with investors focused on the $1.40 level as a short-term target.

The news about problems with the EU-IMF Greek bailout plan almost overshadowed anxiety over Spain's upcoming regional election this weekend. Spanish bond yields rose on concern the vote results may undermine Prime Minister Rodrigo Zapatero's ability to curb Spain's own fiscal deficit.

"The news has been tough all day for the euro. People were starting to buy the euro the last few days and then we got all these news and then the euro just gave way," said Richard Franulovich, senior currency strategist, at Westpac in New York. The U.S. dollar index <.DXY>, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.75 percent. On Wall Street, commodity shares were the hardest hit, though some retailers weakened also.

"It's all about the euro," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont. "Commodity stocks aren't doing well. But keep in mind, your other problem out there is that as the dollar strengthens, your multinational dollar-sensitive, large cyclical companies go down also."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 56.19 points, or 0.45 percent, to 12,549.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 <.SPX> fell 5.48 points, or 0.41 percent, to 1,338.12. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> lost 13.61 points, or 0.48 percent, to 2,809.70.

World stocks as measured by MSCI <.MIWD00000PUS> were down 0.3 percent. Copper prices jumped, with three month copper up almost 2.0 percent as investors focused on a decline in stockpiles in top consumer China.

Copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 14.6 percent from last Friday, the exchange said. [ID:nEMS011047]. U.S. light crude futures bounced back from a 2.0 percent decline to gain 0.4 percent at $98.85 before their contract expiry later on Friday. Brent crude was up 0.5 percent near $112 a barrel. --- read more

Read more »

Best Stocks : StanChart sees gold at $2,100/oz in 2014

Gold's "super cycle" could see prices averaging $2,100 an ounce by 2014 and even approaching $5,000 later in the decade, Standard Chartered said in a report on Thursday, as demand rises in burgeoning Asian economies. Gold prices have risen from $265 an ounce in early 2001 to a record $1,461.90 an ounce this week, lifted in recent years by safe-haven buying linked to the credit crunch, dollar weakness, producer de-hedging and lower official sector sales.

In the decade to come, soaring demand in major consumers China and India, where incomes are rising, is likely to extend this further, the bank added. "We find that there is a powerful relationship between income per head in Asian emerging markets and the gold price, which suggests further significant upside for gold," it said in the report. "Also, our FX team is forecasting further (dollar) weakness against the Chinese yuan and Indian rupee."

This would make dollar-priced gold cheaper for holders of those currencies. "Our base-case forecast is that prices rally to peak at an average $2,107 an ounce in 2014, although our statistical modelling also suggests a possible 'super-bull' scenario of gold prices rallying up to $4,869 an ounce in nominal terms by 2020."

It said it did not expect a rise in headline U.S. interest rates, currently at historically low levels, to derail gold's rally until real rates start rising in several years' time. Increased primary gold production may have a negative effect, however. "We expect a steady acceleration in mine supply growth in the years ahead, which should overwhelm demand growth beyond 2014," it said in the report. "Nevertheless, we expect an extended period of high gold prices." --- read more

Read more »

Best Stocks : Sensex closes 180 points up

A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Friday closed with a 180-point gain, braving selling pressure on heavyweight scrips like ONGC and ITC. The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 18,199.96 points, closed at 18,321.4 points, up 180 points or 0.99 percent from its previous close at 18,141.4 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange shut shop at 5,484.35 points, up 1.04 percent. Broader markets also ended in the green with the BSE midcap index ruling 0.62 percent up and the BSE smallcap index up 0.41 percent.

Read more »

Best Stocks : Former IMF chief wins bail; succession race rages

Dominique Strauss-Kahn won bail on Thursday but faced one more night in a New York jail, hours after he quit as head of the IMF under the cloud of sex crime charges. His resignation intensified a race for global finance's top job. It has gone to Europe for 65 years and the favorite is now French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde but fast-growing developing economies want to put up their own candidate.

A judge granted Strauss-Kahn $1 million bail and ordered him to be detained in a New York apartment. He will be subject to electronic monitoring under the watch of an armed guard, costing him $200,000 a month, a prosecutor estimated. Prosecutors argued vehemently the French national should remain behind bars, calling him a flight risk.

"The defendant in this case has shown a propensity for impulsive criminal conduct," said prosecutor John McConnell.

He said the hotel maid who accused Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her on Saturday, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guinea, had told a "compelling and unwavering story."

Strauss-Kahn denies the charges and his lawyers say he will plead not guilty. His bail package was due to be signed on Friday and an arraignment hearing, when he will formally answer the charges, was set for June 6. The case represents a spectacular fall from grace for a man held in high esteem for his role in tackling the financial crisis of 2007-09 and being central to ongoing efforts to keep Europe's debt crisis under control.

Dressed in a blue shirt and gray jacket, Strauss-Kahn looked tired and whispered occasionally to his lawyer during Thursday's proceedings. He was flanked by seven guards as his wife and one of his daughters watched from the public gallery. The charges that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape the maid and committed other sex offenses, plus the prospect of a lengthy legal process, have ruined his once strong-looking chances of winning France's presidential election next year. --- read more

Read more »

Best Stocks : Gold investors choose bars over ETFs in Q1 - WGC

The WGC said ETFs recorded their first net quarterly outflow since mid-2007 in the first three months of the year, with overall holdings of the products -- which issue securities backed by physical gold -- falling by 55.9 tonnes. Total coin and bar demand rose by 52 percent or 125.5 tonnes to 366.4 tonnes in the first quarter. Gold investment increased by 26 percent in tonnage terms to 310.5 tonnes, helping raise total bullion demand to 981.3 tonnes from 881 tonnes.

Eily Ong, research manager for the industry-funded WGC, said she expected this trend to persist throughout the year. "We have had geopolitical unrest in the Middle East/North Africa region, the ongoing uncertainty and concern about sovereign debt issues (in Europe), and continuing global inflationary fears around the world," she said.

"In China and India, they are still trying to hike interest rates to combat inflation," she said. "All these provide a very suitable environment (for gold investment)." --- read more

Read more »