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DID YOU KNOW?

	Planning and saving for retirement is a serious financial issue for most of us. We spend years building our nest egg, with the goal of stepping into retirement financially and psychologically prepared. However, sometimes retirement arrives earlier than planned on. A recent survey found that among people who retired early (before age 65), 43 percent retired earlier than they intended. For a few it was because they come into sudden money such as lottery winnings or an inheritance. But many in the survey cited “negative” reasons for retiring early including health, disability, being laid off or having to take care of ill family members. University of California researchers found that half of Californians retiring before age 50 cited health reasons as their reason for the early retirement. Whatever the reason, w hen an unplanned early retirement occurs, you’ll need to plan carefully to make adjustments. Not only your lifestyle may need adjusting, but so will your attitude. First, don’t make any immediate, rash financial decisions. Making a wrong decision now can cause financial problems the rest of your life. As an example, if you’re retiring early because you’ve suddenly come into money, don’t make major investment decisions within the first 60 to 90 days. Put the money into a bank or mutual fund money market, and leave it alone until you have time to think about what it can really provide for you, even if it takes you six months. If you’ve suddenly left your job because of a layoff or because you have to take care of a sick family member, you may want to immediately do a little financial belt tightening. Otherwise, don’t make other immediate major financial decisions. Second, revise your financial plan, or create one. This act will be the most important thing you can do to give yourself control of your new retirement. This is especially critical if you’ve been forced to retire for “negative” reasons. You’ll want to review the entire gamut: income and outflow, insurance, estate planning, investments, possible government assistance and so on. Maintaining control of expenses is a critical component for any retiree, since income tends to be more limited. Controlling expenses is especially critical for unplanned retirements. Early retirees typically face major expenses that would often be gone in normal retirement: mortgage payments such as a child's college expenses. Early retirement to care for an ill relative will probably result in money out-of-pocket expenses for that relative. A spending plan becomes absolutely vital to keeping expenses within line of income. Retiring early means more years of retirement and the costs that go with retirement. This is a double whammy because you not only have more years to pay for but you end up with fewer working years to fund the retirement. Your later work years are usually when you earn your most income and can best sock away for retirement. Traditional pension plans also are skewed toward late-career earnings. Investments present another area of challenge. You have a longer retirement to fund than originally planned is the biggest challenge. More aggressive investing can help make up some of that shortfall.If you’ve retired earlier than planned for negative reasons such as a loss of job or health, you’re going to need immediate cash flow from your investments to help cover expenses, and that means investing less aggressively and going with cash producing investments. Review with an investment advisor how best to get the kind of investment you need. Aadjusting your portfolio so that part of it generates more income while the other part grows more aggressively through non-income producing investments may be a solution. Retiring early means more years until you qualify for Medicare. It is vital that you are covered by a major medical health insurance policy, even if finances are tight. Do not fail to address the psychological implications of early retirement. Even for planned retirements, leaving the workforce can be a difficult emotional adjustment. It’s tougher with an unplanned early retirement because you haven’t had time to mentally prepare for it. When you retire, take a breath and sit down to think through your new situation. Then start planning for your retirement years.

Loans are the single most common source of funding, whether for purchasing a home, financing a business, paying off debt, or financing a college education. Before approaching a lender to see if you qualify for a loan, whether your credit scores are ideal or very poor, it's a good idea to understand as much as you can about the factors that a lender will take into consideration when evaluating your situation and your position as a borrower. Qualifying for a loan can be much easier when you have and understand all of these factors.

To qualify for a loan, a bank or other lender will examine a few key points about you.

1. Ability to repay the loan.

First and foremost, when qualifying for a loan, a lender needs to be reassured that you have the ability to repay the money that is borrowed, and that you are trustworthy enough to make your payments. Lenders want to see your cash flow and if possible, a secondary resource, such as collateral. Your credit scores help them determine if you've paid off credit cards and other loans. Lenders check your credit scores to see if you've made your payments on time, and to see if you've defaulted any creditors. If you're applying for a business loan, lenders like to see a business that's been in existence for a long time, and that it's been profitable for a long time. Qualifying for a personal loan or a mortgage is much the same. If you have a credit history that shows that you've paid your other bills, and you have a steady flow of income coming into your budget, chances are good that the loan will be approved. If your credit is questionable, however, it may be of benefit to seek a lender specializing in loans for individuals with poor credit.

2. Credit history.

As mentioned, the first thing that a lender will do to determine if an individual, couple, or business can qualify for a loan is to pull their credit report, usually from Experian, Equifax, Transunion, or another smaller credit bureau. Therefore, before you approach a lender, or even start preparing to request a loan and see if you qualify for a loan, make sure your credit scores are as high as possible. Get a copy of your credit report from each of these three credit bureaus. Review each item on the report carefully, and report any errors that you find. For example, if you've gone through a divorce and a loan was placed in your spouse's name, request that that item be removed from your report to not reflect the current history of that particular loan. Watch for items that may not be yours, too. Identity theft and identity errors are common, and it's important to protect your credit and remove anything that simply does not belong on your report. Once a dispute is filed, the creditor has 30 days to respond to the credit bureau. If no response is received, the item must be removed from your credit report, and your credit scores will increase. Check your name, social security number, and address at the top of each report to make sure they are correct. Contact each individual credit bureau with questions and disputes before determining if you qualify for a loan.

Qualifying for a loan can also be a matter of being honest, regardless of credit scores. If your credit scores dropped due to a divorce, medical crisis, or job loss, and those issues have been resolved, you can still easily qualify for a loan by explaining these events to the lender. Bad things happen to good people, so be honest and explain and detail these issues in writing, and submit that information along with your loan application to determine if you qualify for a loan.

3. Equity.

Lenders often ask for equity when qualifying for a loan, especially if the loan amount is large, such as to construct a new building for business or purchase a home. In these instances, the building or home itself can be the collateral, and equity is built by offering the lender a down payment. To qualify for a loan, be prepared to offer equity, either with a down payment or some type of collateral.

If your credit scores are high, and if you've never had any financial difficulties, qualifying for a loan should be a fairly simple process. If you've had financial challenges or extreme financial difficulties in the past, be prepared to offer explanation of these problems to the lender when finding out if you qualify for a loan. Seek out a lender specializing in poor credit loans if your credit scores are too low for a conventional loan. You may find that by seeking these lenders, you'll easily qualify for a loan.

Regardless of your credit scores, always make sure that the loan payments fit into your current personal or business budget easily, and do this before determining if you qualify for a loan. Not making payments on time can result in adverse marks on your credit reports, reducing your credit scores and making it difficult to obtain future loans.