Posts Tagged ‘Significant’

Is Your Significant Other Bad with Money? Advice for How to Manage a Financially Negligent Spouse












Boston, MA (PRWEB) September 11, 2014

While marriage often means the communion of two salaries, it also means the compacting of two financial situations, including the bad. While managing individual finances can be challenging enough, combining finances can be significantly overwhelming and present a couple with new challenges and even discoveries about their better half.

In fact, a recent survey completed by American Consumer Credit Counseling found that, of all topics, money is most likely to prompt a spat in a relationship. An overwhelming 54 percent of survey respondents stated that financial issues are the leading cause of stress in their relationships, while only 5 percent of respondents indicated fidelity and trust were an issue and 9 percent cited in-laws as the biggest stress trigger.

One of the largest contributors to this stress is differing money management styles. For those consumers with significant others who have poor money management skills, there is a solution. Neither spouse needs to be a professional accountant, but both need to be accountable to the other.

“Many couples, especially newlyweds or those newly cohabitating, struggle with making financial decisions, the combining of bank accounts, or keeping finances separate” said Steven Trumble, President and CEO of ACCC. “For these reasons, it is important to go over what accounts you have and how much debt you carry, and be clear on how you expect money to be handled.”

If you sense an issue at hand with your spouse, open the dialog up immediately before it goes too far. Explain how making the wrong money decisions will impact the current financial situation as well as any future financial situations for both of you. Like it or not, once married, both debts and income often become shared financial responsibilities. To avoid disagreements and long term disasters, ACCC has created six tips for couples to stick to when handling finances in a relationship:


Be a team – Arguments can arise from one spouse spending what the other spouse considers to be too much money. Create a financial budget and plan together, do the bills together, and review your net worth together. If you do anything related to your finances, make sure your spouse is involved and has a say in the decision process.

Hold weekly budget review meetings – If one spouse is doing all of the finances, it’s very difficult for the other spouse to know the current financial state of the household. Even with a budget, a lack of communication can make it difficult to know how much is left in the “grocery category” or the “entertainment category.” To solve this problem, pick one night of the week to review your finances. Pick a time when you and your spouse can devote 15-30 minutes without interruption.

Establish an emergency fund – The most important thing you can do to keep your finances under control — and to avoid using credit cards and going into debt — is to establish an emergency fund. When planning your budget, allocate a portion for emergencies, savings and retirement. Nothing causes stress more than running out of money before all the bills are paid. Establish a $ 1000-$ 2000 emergency fund to cover those unexpected expenses. The key is that each spouse must agree to not touch these funds without the other’s agreement.

Evaluate your financial goals – After creating and reviewing your budget for a period of time and establishing your emergency fund, it’s important to discuss both of your financial goals such as starting a family, buying a new car, saing for a home or traveling. By discussing and defining your mutual goals with your partner, you will reiterate the importance of staying accountable.

Don’t keep money secrets – While secret trading or gambling may not be that common, a survey by KeyBank saw 36 percent of men and 40 percent of women confess that they had at one time or another lied to their spouse about the price of something they bought.

Review your progress – If your spouse has taken responsibility for a lack of control or misuse of funds, support them throughout their attempts to better manage money. Whether through weekly or monthly updates or progress reports, or just supporting their decisions to save, play a crucial role in facilitating their path to better handling their money.

ACCC is a 501(c)3 organization that provides free credit counseling, bankruptcy counseling, and housing counseling to consumers nationwide in need of financial literacy education and money management. For more information, contact ACCC:

For credit counseling, call 800-769-3571
For bankruptcy counseling. call 866-826-6924
For housing counseling, call 866-826-7180
Or visit us online at ConsumerCredit.com

About American Consumer Credit Counseling

American Consumer Credit Counseling (ACCC) is a nonprofit credit counseling 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering consumers to achieve financial management and debt relief through education, credit counseling, and debt management solutions. Each month, ACCC invites consumers to participate in a poll focused on personal finance issues. The results are conveyed in the form of infographics that act as tools to educate the community on everyday personal finance issues and problems. By learning more about financial management topics such as credit and debt management, consumers are empowered to make the best possible financial decisions to reach debt relief. As one of the nation’s leading providers of personal finance education and credit counseling services, ACCC’s certified credit advisors work with consumers to help determine the best possible debt solutions for them. ACCC holds an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and is a member of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies. To participate in this month’s poll, visit ConsumerCredit.com and for more financial management resources visit TalkingCentsBlog.com.























Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.









Related Debt Press Releases

JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com Encourage the Purchase of Life Insurance Following Significant Milestones










New York, NY (PRWEB) September 03, 2013

JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com encouraged readers to consider purchasing or upgrading life insurance policies following significant milestones, such as marriage, or the purchase of a home. This urging came on the heels of an August 30th Life Health Pro article titled “5 Events That Increase the Need for Life Insurance.” This article discusses 5 occurrences that should spur individuals to action—but often fail to. JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com urged readers to consider life insurance a necessity, whether it is a Maine term life insurance policy or a simple mortgage life insurance policy.

Corey Dahl, Brian Anderson, and Brian Gilbert, a writing trio for Life Health Pro, penned the aforementioned article, listing 5 events that may increase an individual’s need or desire to purchase life insurance. The first is marriage, as marriage joins two lives and two incomes. In the event of a death, the spouse may suffer emotional and monetary hardship without the assistance of a life insurance policy to replace lost income. Starting a family is second on the list. Children necessitate greater coverage, as income will need to be replaced at a higher rate, and mortgage payments and college funds may also need to be funded. The third milestone is purchasing a home. Like childbirth, purchasing a home places additional strain on a family, necessitating greater financial coverage. Starting a business is the fourth item on the list; many businesses are unable to survive after the accidental death of an owner. Life insurance may offset some of the financial difficulty brought on by a business owner’s death. The final item on the list involves aged parents. Many families experience increased financial strain as parents grow older and their children must assist in their care. An insurance policy may help pay for nurse’s bills or permanent care in the event of a child’s death and inability to care for a parent.

Whether an individual or family has a basic life insurance policy, such as a Maine term life insurance policy, or no policy at all, JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com urges the purchase or upgrade of life insurance following significant milestones. As the article above suggests, great milestones in life often come with increased financial burdens. Children bring a greater need for food and provisions, as well as the potential for college and savings funds. Purchasing a home adds a mortgage payment to a family’s financial burden. As each milestone in life is passed, individuals and families should consider upgrading a current policy or, in the case of the uninsured, purchasing a first policy. Doing so will ensure that loved ones such as aged parents or children will not be prevailed upon by debts and expenses left behind by the deceased. Purchasing or increasing life insurance after the purchase of a home will allow those who have been left behind to pay off the house or continue to make payments without severe financial difficulty. As personal milestones develop, revising a life insurance policy becomes not merely a wise decision, but a necessity.

Corey Dahl, Brian Anderson, and Brian Gilbert are a writing team for Life Health Pro, focusing their expertise on life insurance and life insurance sales. Dahl has worked for Life Health Pro for 2 years. Anderson, the veteran of the group, has written for Life Health Pro for over 6 years, as well as acting as Editor in Chief for Life Insurance Selling magazine. Gilbert is the newest addition to Life Health Pro, lending his voice to life insurance news and sales.

Following an article regarding 5 new stages of life that ought to prompt the purchase of life insurance, JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com urged readers to consider the purchase or upgrade of insurance plans to suit growing needs. Though a simple policy, as Maine term life insurance offers, may function well for an individual or small family, it may need to be expanded to manage growing expenses related to significant life changes, such as the addition of a family member, mortgage payment, or management of a business. Rather than maintaining a single plan for all situations, consumers should consider reflecting their life changes in their insurance policy to avoid inadequate coverage and monetary hardship.

About Jonas Insurance Advisors:

JonasInsuranceAdvisors.com is an online resource dedicated to providing their readers with quality content regarding personal finances, including term and whole life insurance.























Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.









More Debt Press Releases

Study Finds that Multi-State Catastrophic Risk Pools Deliver Significant Benefits in Major Tropical Events











Kinetic Analysis Corp.


SILVER SPRING, M.D. (PRWEB) March 07, 2013

In the wake of the multi-state destruction wrought by the one-two punch of Superstorm Sandy and the nor’easter that followed, a new study suggests that geographically diverse, multi-state catastrophic risk pools provide clear financial benefits without creating subsidies between low and high risk areas. Sponsored by Florida State University (FSU), the study was conducted utilizing the powerful, science-based risk modeling platform from Kinetic Analysis Corporation, a leader in multi-model impact forecasting and risk assessment for catastrophic events.

The study was conducted by Charles C. Watson, Jr., director of R&D at Kinetic Analysis and developer of the modeling system used in the study; Mark E. Johnson, professor of statistics with the University of Central Florida; and Randy E. Dumm. It sought to determine whether geographic diversification reduces the amount of reserve funds required to cover catastrophic losses. This was accomplished by analyzing performance of insurance portfolios drawn from various combinations of nine coastal states in the Southeastern U.S. based on tropical cyclone losses.

“Single state portfolios, on which the current property insurance system is based, are far from optimal. They are large enough to encompass the risk from single events, but not large enough to diversify that risk sufficiently to take advantage of different climate zones or areas not hit by a single major storm.” said Watson.

Added Johnson: “Creating portfolios covering diverse climate zones, such as combining properties from both the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Coasts, is highly advantageous over portfolios in a single region. Covering all exposures in the entire study area, Texas to Virginia, was the most efficient and sustainable grouping examined.”

In addition, the study found that a system covering all storm hazards (wind, wave, flooding) would be more efficient and much easier for consumers to navigate than the current system where private insurance covers wind damage, but flood damage is covered through a separate government backed insurance through FEMA, each with different rules and deductibles.

The study’s findings are particularly relevant in the wake of Sandy, which pelted coastal and inland regions with high winds, driving rains, heavy snow and flooding along the Eastern Seaboard. Kinetic Analysis projects that that storm’s direct impacts could run as high as $ 25 billion, excluding the New York City underground infrastructure.

Sandy has renewed calls for a federal catastrophe plan that creates risk pools across larger geographic areas – along with objections that doing so will force low-risk areas to subsidize high-risk states. However, the study found the opposite to be true. As geographic diversity increased, funding levels for sustainable catastrophic risk pools decreased relative to premiums, actually resulting in savings for both low and high risk areas.

“If subsidies are created in this setting, it is due to incorrect risk pricing rather than the risk itself,” said FSU’s Dr. Randy Dumm. “Our analysis found that each state derives benefits from geographic diversification regardless of risk ranking. In fact, failure to diversify catastrophic wind risk may impose its own set of costs in the form of lost diversification benefits that exist precisely where they are needed, for less frequent and more severe catastrophic events.”

Specifically for the portfolios analyzed, reserves totaling just over $ 130 billion would be required for each of the nine states to individually cover 100-year losses. However, for a portfolio covering the entire region, required reserves total just $ 71.1 billion. The difference is due to the extreme unlikelihood that all states would suffer a 100-year event in any given year.

Utilizing Kinetic Analysis’ robust modeling platform, numerical calculations for the risk diversification study were generated by:

1.    Simulating all Atlantic storms (1871-2011), with a complex high resolution storm hazard model consisting of wind, wave, storm surge, and rain components

2.    Determining damage to the target portfolio using a composite damage function derived from six different public domain damage function families

3.    Analyzing the output statistically and conducting a financial analysis on various portfolios and policy provisions

“This study is a significant addition to the body of scientific knowledge upon which critical decisions governing risk pooling and geographic diversity of insurance portfolios are made,” said Steven Stichter, CEO, Kinetic Analysis. “As a company, we are particularly gratified to see our modeling tools successfully utilized in a meaningful way that addresses real-world issues confronting federal and state governments in protecting their populations and infrastructures.”

About Kinetic Analysis Corporation

Kinetic Analysis Corporation is a leader in multi-model impact forecasting and risk assessment for catastrophic events. Based on a pioneering approach that uses the best techniques from scientific literature and current event information, Kinetic Analysis produces detailed, site-specific hazard and impact information for active events to support real-time decisions. It employs the same, globally consistent multi-model platform to produce high-resolution hazard and loss assessments for improved long-term risk management.























Vocus©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.