If you are concerned about or in the process of a home foreclosure there is a very good site to get help and give ideas:
http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/index.cfm

ARE YOU IN CHARGE?

This time in my life I do think a lot about retirement. I am 51 years young. Planning for it for quite some time, spending the past years reading and learning investment strategies to reach the goals my husband and I have. Recently we have been buying individual stocks inside of our IRA's. We have had mutual funds for a long time, but when markets are bad or stalling out, they don't do as well as we would like. With all of the free investment information on the web, it is much easier for the individual investor to get info they need. The library has always had free reference material, but it can be extremely time consuming searching. Charles Schwab is the broker we use. There are cheaper ones, but I like their reputation and service. All purchases are made online, it saves money and as a client we have access to tons of free information. Some places to look for free investment information are: MSN Money , Yahoo Finance , Motley Fool , Morning Star , Edger Online and others.

Protect your Nest Egg

In my local newspaper recently there was an article on Boomers being targets for financial scams. It stated we, collectively have $8.5 trillion and those pesky scammers have found what they think is another group of victims. I was sad to read that even the most savvy investors have been victim to some of the more authentic sounding scams. Some ways to keep money safe are:
• Pressure to sign is a danger sign.
• Get all info in writing
• Check out organizations with the Better Business Bureau
• Document all conversations and transactions
• Take time to think it through
• Do extensive research on the company, info should be readily
available if it is legit
Websites for help: www.investorprotection.org and www.aarp.org/money/consumer The AARP is info packed. My husband joined a few years ago when turning 50. They send good magazines and newspapers, that he does not read, but I do. I will be 50 next month. The articles are geared to anyone 50 and older.

Roth IRA's and other investing

I am a big fan of the ROTH IRA. It is such a great deal. When it is drawn out in the future the gain is completely tax free. My husband and I both have several. If you don't know of this IRA or have put off signing up for one I urge you to check it out.

The title above says, "Are you in charge" basically because many women let others handle their finances and of course many don't, including me. A few of my best friends do little more than put deposits in their company 401K. That is, of course, great and there are many other options to suppliment that. No one cares as much about my money as I do. A few books I have enjoyed and felt that I was getting sound information (If you are new to this) are "The neatest little guide to Stock Market Investing", and a book for someone completely new to stock market investing, "Rule #1, this book was very entertaining. I have the audio book too, I enjoy listening to books while driving. The first of the four explains stock market investing really well. I gave the book to my sister for Christmas last year. The third has a strategy for never losing money and the author came from a background as far away from a stock market investing as you could get. The other two books are also very good. The second over on the right is geared for women especially! Those are just a few. Email in your favorites!

Below is a link for a great site that offers affordable legal services. Anything from wills, setting up a corporation, copyrights, trademark services and much more.

sheboome@sheboomers.com
Sandy