The best way to plan for your retirement financial needs is to estimate your monthly budget and then give it a test run – live on that budget for a while. Two things become evident:

• How to plan your Private Employer Benefit Plan, 401(k) or IRA monthly withdrawals, and
• If you need to begin saving and investing more money now to live the lifestyle that gives you the greatest freedom and happiness.

Once you have figured your monthly budget, add in seasonal costs (holiday season, anniversaries) and then calculate what your annual needs will be.

Next, review each of your retirement accounts to see what the rules are regarding withdrawals, any penalties or taxes that may be expected, and what any mandatory distributions are. The rate at which you withdraw funds from each account determines how long the account will last.

While figuring your budget, keep in mind the past historical trends of inflation and the cost of services that may impact you most, such as healthcare costs. As articles in business magazines suggest, other economic factors which may cause your retirement funds to last longer is considering if moving to a locale where the cost of living is lower than where you currently reside. Many ex-patriot communities from Costa Rica to Thailand grew due to their excellent level of health care and the low cost of living.

Another economic variable is how well your investment stocks perform. From studies done by Standard & Poor’s analysis of the stock market’s overall performance over the past eighty years, a sustainable withdrawal would be between 5 and 6% per year. They estimated this on a somewhat conservative mix of investments with 60% in US stocks and 40% in Treasury bonds. If you have a percentage invested in overseas emerging markets your rate will most likely vary.

If stocks seem a poor retirement alternative, consider a Private Employer Benefit plan. Small business owners can contact USBFC advisers to see if your company’s budget and needs for insurance, tax liabilities, potential areas of tax deferment, retirement plans as well as the family’s education funding and estate planning needs would benefit from a Private Employer Benefit (PEB) plan. Your PEB retirement plan can be a way to get the most out of the equity you have built into your company. By creating a PEB retirement plan for you and your employees, the time you spend building your business rewards you doubly by also funding your retirement.

Once you have calculated your annual withdrawal rate from your annual budget, you can estimate what amount of additional funding is necessary to add more years to your retirement nest egg. Making budgetary adjustments now will afford more leeway in budget adjustments once you retire.

US Business Finance Corp utilizes its network of Visa and MasterCard processing services contacts to help businesses, especially high risk businesses, obtain merchant accounts. Many processing services offer great rates to businesses with rock solid financial histories, but have no place in their portfolios for start-up businesses, Internet businesses and other enterprises categorized as “high risk”. Or the processors severely penalize the businesses with very high “hold backs” – your business’s sales revenue held in reserve by the financial institution as a security against returns and reversed charges. To add insult to injury, the rate for high risk accounts is often much higher than what a credit card processing service that specializes in high risk accounts charges.

When the current economic climate hinders new businesses from getting merchant accounts or short-term financial loans, US Business Finance Corp has a two pronged assistance package: help in obtaining a merchant credit card account at the best rates, and assistance in securing merchant cash advances to fill in the gaps of your cash flow.

When looking for the open door in the credit markets, be sure to contact the alternative financing experts at US Business Finance Corp and see how our “win-win” solutions can put you in the driver’s seat of your business.

With the stock market devaluation and Washington’s questionable ability to have Social Security meet the surge in its retirement obligations due to Baby Boomers exiting the workforce en masse in the next decade, many business owners and their employees are looking to their own devices to assure themselves of a beneficial quality of life during retirement.

For retirement purposes, USBFC has added Private Employer Benefit plans to its financial services. Additional tools for meeting unexpected economic reversals that USBFC offers are life insurance, mortgage insurance and critical illness insurance – these help business owners’ families continue to live in their home and bills get paid should anything untimely happen to the owner.

To assist an entrepreneurs needs as well as those of their business, USBFC advisers take into account the company’s budget and needs for insurance, tax liabilities, potential areas of tax deferment, retirement plans as well as the family’s education funding and estate planning needs. USBFC views your retirement plan as a way to get the most out of your most precious asset: your time. By creating a retirement plan for you and your employees, the time you spend building your business rewards you doubly by also funding your retirement.

At USBFC, we work with you to make sure your business avoids the setbacks that employees of major corporations face when their retirement programs disappear in financial reorganizations. Entrepreneurs enjoy running small businesses in order to better control the dynamics between work and profit. Control your retirement plans and deferred compensation strategy, contact USBFC’s financial services advisers and match your business to a suitable, stable Private Employer Benefit plan today.

Retired couples on fixed income and high credit card debt should also keep in mind that depending on the type of bankruptcy route they take, not all their retirement accounts may be protected from being used to satisfy creditors. All 401(k) programs are protected, but IRS accounts are only protected up to $1 million and after the court may decide what is yours and what can go to creditors.

1. Negotiate with the credit card companies. This can be done on your own, using the expertise of a lawyer or a credit counselor. The benefit of using an attorney experienced in negotiating settlements is they know all the credit card company tricks and will insist on the negotiated terms being formalized in writing. They also provide an impersonal buffer to the card companies and any collection agencies. Negotiation may include reduced interest rates, longer time period or reduced balance.
2. Another short-term step that may be available is to do a balance transfer using a 9 – 12 month 0% or low percent rate card offer to maximize payments going toward your balance.
3. Work with a reputable consumer credit counselor who has a bona fide track record. Steer clear of counselors who are primarily offering loans or pushing you to take the bankruptcy step without going over all the alternatives with you. If you do file for a Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, the Bankruptcy Reform Act dictates that, at your won expense, you must undergo credit counseling for six months prior to filing and take a financial-management course after your filing.
4. Weigh all your alternatives taking into account all the assets you have to leverage. Even in a slow real estate market, you may be able to sell you home to a relative for a price that benefits you both, rent the home and make a dent in your outstanding liabilities.
5. If negotiations with creditors fail, you can’t meet your monthly credit obligations, and bankruptcy is unavoidable, work with an attorney. You want to make sure all the correct steps are taken to protect your assets and income and to minimize the downside of a bankruptcy.

US Business Finance Corp offers small businesses cash advances to weather their cash flow short falls. Quick application processes and fast funding upon approval help businesses keep moving safely towards profitable sailing.

Since your home, just like your investments, builds your retirement nest egg, your strategy should include how much extra you wish to pay on the balance during the period of the mortgage. As the baby boomer generation rolls into retirement age, the prospect of living on social security and retirement income has caused many to consider other sources of retirement funds. The biggest asset many find to leverage is their home. There are several methods to consider in order to access your home’s equity, the guide below helps you see how each real estate strategy may apply to your retirement situation.

Real estate strategies include:

• Paying for a smaller home with the sold home’s equity and possibly provide extra cash;
• Getting a reverse mortgage; and
• Moving to a region where cost of living is less.

A variation of these options is if you downsize, pay for your new home with the proceeds of your old home and then get a reverse mortgage. With both strategies, downsizing and reverse mortgage, building up equity in the house (and keeping up repairs) positions you for the best use of your asset. For figuring how much your home will be worth at retirement age, figure a 5.5% increase in value (barring situations where your neighborhood goes downhill). With the ups and downs in the housing industry, the home value increase is usually in the 5.5% to 6% range.

Consider a reverse mortgage. A reverse mortgage is a loan that allows homeowners to convert a portion of the equity in their home into cash. Unlike a traditional fixed or adjustable rate mortgage, a reverse mortgage has no monthly payments. Part of the cash goes to the owner and the rest goes to the lender as a prepayment of the interest. The cash the homeowner receives is usually around 60%. As long as one of the borrowers lives in the home, the home can not be sold by the lender or foreclosed. For HUD’s FHA loans, you must be 62 years of age or older and fully or mostly own a single-family residential house, an apartment, condominium or townhouse. Some manufactured homes may also meet the lenders standards.

The benefit for retirees is that the home’s equity largely determines home loan eligibility, not income. The homeowner does not have to move or make mortgage or rent payments. For an FHA backed loan, you must attend a counseling session to determine if this is the correct loan for your retirement situation. A benefit for retirees is that they can receive their cash as a lump sum or in monthly payments. Though these payments may affect your Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid payments, they are not taxable. The mortgages do not establish an escrow account for insurance and taxes – those remain the responsibility of the homeowner.

US Business Finance Corp helps homeowners who are downsizing or moving to increase the buying power of their income.  Our team of professionals will make sure that they grasp all your real estate needs and concerns before offering the financing options that best suit your needs. Contact our mortgage team to review your real estate financing solutions.

At US Business Finance Corporation, our success is only assured by our team of professionals’ ability to help you with your home financing and small business funding needs. We will make sure that we understand all your real estate needs and concerns before offering the financing options that could best fit your needs. Contact our home finance team to review our residential real estate refinance solutions.

First, take stock of your current mortgage:

• Is there a penalty for early pay-off, and how much?
• Would your new interest rate be 2% or more less than your current interest rate(s)?
• If you have a variable rate loan, is there a clause that allows that mortgage to easily be turned into a fixed rate?

Next, is the long-term savings is worth the upfront expenses? How many months of savings on the new payment would it take to pay for the new closing costs? For example, if your savings is $200 a month and closing costs are $2,200, it would take 11 months to hit the break-even point. If you plan on living in your home for several years to come, then a new home mortgage makes sense.

Third, talk to your current lender first if a home loan refinance looks beneficial to your finances for two reasons: they have much of your financial information already and you may be able to save on your closing costs and interest rate.

A refinance caveat: If you are considering a refinance to pay-off credit cards, make sure you also address the underlying situation that built up the credit card debt. Too many homeowners have leveraged their home equity to pay off high interest debt without addressing their monthly spending habits and rebuilt their debt within a few years.

Finally, following the “Get Ready For Refinance” exercises of reducing your debt-to-income ratio and credit card balances to improve your credit score will always benefit your overall financial health even if you do not refinance.