 Surviving Unemployment
Consumers United Association is pleased to announce the release
of our latest financial tool: the Unemployment
Survival Guide . The guide is available to our members
on our website using the link provided. You can also access
it by visiting the Members
Only section of our website, and clicking on the link
to the Community Resources page. The booklet contains many
strategies for ensuring that you can continue paying your bills
while you are unemployed.
Community Resources Added to Our Site CUA has added a new section to the Members
Only section of our website, which lists important community
resources for low-income people. You may not realize that
the loss of income may qualify you for community resources
that you have never used before. Take a moment to review
the resources on our site.
 Regaining Your Retirement Dream
Many people are delaying retirement because of losses in their
retirement savings and the equity in their homes that they
were counting on for retirement. Still others do not have any
savings for retirement. Experts say you will need to have up
to 70% of your last annual salary in income in order to retire
comfortably.
If you are working on re-assessing your retirement plans,
consider taking the following steps:
1. Check the benefits calculator
from Social Security. The benefits
calculator will show you the dollar amount you can expect
to receive depending upon your age of retirement.
2. Estimate how your home equity
has changed. Consider how the value of your home
has changed the amount of cash you expect to have. For a
free and quick estimate, visit the Zillow
website .
Of course, if you were planning to retire very soon, you may
want to get a full appraisal of your home to be sure.
3. Talk to a financial planner. Many
credit unions and banks have financial planners who can help
you to evaluate your current situation and to make recommendations
for improving your savings. You may need to re-evaluate your
withdrawal rate on your investments to ensure that funds will
last as long as you planned.
Once you know more about where you stand in terms of your
retirement, there are some things you can do to make adjustments
if necessary:
- Downsize your home. If you
are close to retirement and were counting on that cash, you
may want to consider downsizing to a smaller home while the
market is depressed. Of course, this also means that your current
home may sell for less. However, it may be possible to downsize
to a place that will increase in value when the market returns
so you may be able to make up that difference later.
- Obtain a reverse
mortgage. Reverse
mortgages basically pay you while you are living in your
home. Obviously, what is paid to you then is not included
in your estate. Reliable information about reverse mortgages
can be found through HUD .
The Office of Comptroller of Currency (OCC) also just released
a very useful guide to reverse mortgages: "Reverse
Mortgages: Are They for You?"
- Pay off debt as
soon as possible .
One of the greatest retirement stealers is debt. Make it your
goal to pay off all of your debt before you retire. The sooner
you do this the better because interest on that debt is money
you could be investing.
- Continue working. If you
are able, you can continue working even after you begin drawing
Social Security. The Social
Security Administration has in-depth information on
how working impacts your benefits.
- Find new ways to save money. Within
the Unemployment
Survival Guide we recently produced are many ideas for
generating more income. In the past, we have also written
about this subject in our newsletters .
Facing this new reality has become extremely difficult for
many people. Taking control of your future brings the relief
and peace of mind you need to continue moving forward.
 Rising Credit Card Rates: What is Going On?
Credit card issuers have been working against a clock to
raise rates they are allowed to raise prior to the enactment
of a new law called the Credit
Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act .
According to Consumer Action, lenders have "boosted rates,
compared to last year, on purchases, cash advances, and in
some cases default APR's." Minimum payments have also risen.
The CARD Act has many provisions that will be extremely helpful
to consumers. The law, which is supposed to take effect February
22, 2010, may be enacted sooner because of a new
bill in Congress .
In the mean time, the credit card terms that are changing
in advance of the new law is affecting all types of consumers.
In fact, even individuals with the best credit ratings are
seeing increases.
For more information about the types of rate increases and
other changes credit card companies are making, refer to Consumer
Federation of America's recent press release on the subject .
 The Forecast on the Cost of College: Cloudy with a Chance
of Deep Snow
Cuts in state budgets have been taking
a toll on public colleges and universities across the country.
While the demand for a more educated workforce is increasing
and more people are going back to college in order to change
careers, the cost of doing so continues to increase . It's
now estimated that the four-year cost of college will be
$124,000 for today's high school seniors, with many private
schools costing much more.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics,
enrollment in four-year colleges is expected to increase 12%
while enrollment in two-year colleges is expected to increase
13% through 2018. These increases mean that more students will
need the shrinking pot of financial aid. While the federal
government is working on the problem, students are being impacted
by higher tuition now.
Colorado has been experiencing budget shortfalls that are
impacting higher education and it is likely there will be more
cuts. Enrollment at community colleges has increased dramatically
as students try to find ways to keep the cost of education
down.
Choosing to forego college as a way to
save is a serious financial mistake. A report by Commerce
Department's Census Bureau titled " The
Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates
of Work-Life Earnings" (.pdf) reveals that over an adult's
working life, high school graduates can expect, on average,
to earn $1.2 million; those with a bachelor's degree, $2.1
million; and people with a master's degree, $2.5 million. Therefore,
even if it is costly and difficult, parents and students should
investigate every way possible to achieve higher education.
The following are some resources to help you find ways to
keep the cost of college down:
Are
There Other Ways to Keep the Cost of College Down?
The
Cost of College In A Bad Economy
College
in Colorado
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