BoatU.S. WorldPoints Platinum Plus Visa

Card issued by Bank of America, N.A. (USA)
Earn 1 point for every net retail purchase dollar spent and redeem your points for travel, merchandise, gift certificates, and cash§
Access to the MyConciergeSM service, a unique personal assistance service**
Absolute fraud protection against unauthorized use, online and offline
No annual fee

A flexible and unique rewards program that puts you first. Select from cash back, travel, merchandise or personal services that are yours for the picking.

BoatU.S. Platinum Plus® Visa® Cards.

• No annual fee
  
• Absolute fraud protection
  
• Online access and 24-hour service
  
• Access to the MyConciergeSM service, a unique personal assistance service
  
• Introductory 0% Annual Percentage Rate (APR)† for Cash Advance Checks and Balance Transfers through your first twelve billing cycles.* (subject to a 3% transaction fee, no less than $10)
  

DID YOU KNOW?

	So you have decided to go for credit card debt elimination and are wondering on what the methods for credit card debt elimination are. As they say, let’s take the bull by its horns and lay it all flat on the ground. There are generally 2 recommendations that are most common for credit card debt elimination: controlling the expenditures and consolidating debt. Let’s check both of these credit card debt elimination recommendations and check the list of things that you can do for achieving credit card debt elimination using these recommendations: 1. Control your urge to spend: The first thing to do for credit card debt elimination is to control your expenditures. Here we are talking about the payments you make using your credit card. Remember that the main reason being your getting into credit card debt is uncontrolled expenditures using your credit card. So if you are really serious about credit card debt elimination, this is one thing that will help in credit card debt elimination by preventing accumulation of further debt. Here is what you can do to control your expenditures: a. You need to stay away from attractive offers that are put-up by various shops and stores. Don’t buy anything that you don’t really-really need. After all you are looking for credit card debt elimination not supplementation. b. Leave your credit card at home. If you really-really need something, then you can fetch your credit card from your house. This will prevent you from yielding to the too-attractive-to-resist sale offers (that are actually there all the year round). This credit card debt elimination technique, again, works on the principal of ‘prevention is better than cure’. This will prevent unplanned expenses from happening. c. Prepare a monthly budget and stick to it. This is really a very important credit card debt elimination measure. This budget will form the basis of your credit card debt elimination plan. So if you deviate from your budget, your credit card debt elimination plan will go for a toss. 2. Debt consolidation: Debt consolidation or moving from high APR credit cards to a low APR one is generally the first step (the first reactive step) for credit card debt elimination. Here are a few things that you need to do: a. Do not go for the first balance offer you come across. Analyze various offers and choose the one that best suits you. This will be an important thing on you credit card debt elimination plan. Initial APR, Initial APR period and standard Apr, all need to be considered. b. Read the fine print on the balance transfer offer and check the terms and conditions on these. These might affect your overall credit card debt elimination plan. c. Compare other benefits e.g. rebates, reward points, etc, before you actually decide to go for one of the offers. Credit card debt elimination is about proper planning and discipline. So make your credit card debt elimination plan and stick to it.

Your most important responsibility as an adult is to achieve financial independence for yourself and for your family. Aside from the practical tangible benefits of having all the money you need, there are even more important reasons for obtaining financial freedom.

To achieve financial freedom you have to be in control of your life and you cannot be in control of your life if you’re constantly worrying about not having enough money to pay your bills. Constantly worrying about not having enough money will rob you of any feeling of being in control of your life more than anything else.

The feeling of security is one of the most important and basic human needs. Every person wants and needs to free from feelings of poverty, being destitute, and the feeling failure that is associated with it. The lack of security causes more unhappiness and more underachievement than any other single factor.

Financial freedom is only possible when you accept complete responsibility for your financial condition. You must refuse to make justifications, excuses, or rationalizations for the financial situation you are currently in. You have to accept full responsibility for your current situation before any meaningful financial change can take place.

Financial independence begins with a specific goal and a plan to achieve it. You must decide exactly how much money you want to make in the next 12 months, the next 5 years, and in the next 10 years. Then, you must make a detailed plan of action as to how you’re going to reach the financial goals you’ve set.

For example, are you going to reach your financial goals and financial independence through entrepreneurship, investing in the stock market, or investing in income producing real estate? Set your goals, make your plan, and then work your plan.

You also have to be able to delay or withhold gratification. You have to learn to withhold unnecessary spending in the short term so that you can enjoy the rewards of financial independence in the long term. This begins with small efforts of savings and sacrifice with the knowledge and belief that these efforts will eventually lead to continuous, monthly cash flow that will enable you to eventually become financially free.

We’ve all heard the saying, “It takes money to make money.” This is true because when you save money it activates the Law of Attraction. So when you begin to save money it creates energy that begins to attract more money to you. As long as your attitude towards money is positive, you’ll find yourself acquiring more and more of it.

As you increase your savings and invest your positive emotions in them, you’ll find more and more money attracted to you from a variety of different sources. The key thing to remember when you save money is that the more money you save the stronger the force of attraction will be and more money will come to you.

Your starting point for a savings program should be to make a habit of paying yourself before you pay anything else each month. With each paycheck you receive you should put 10% of you net income into a savings program. For example, if your net income after taxes is $2,000 per month, you should be saving $200 every month.

You might be asking, “What if I’m already in debt and don’t have enough money as it is to last out the month?” If this is the case, then you have to start out by saving what ever you can. With a little effort, you can easily save 1 or even 2 percent of your net income and then live on the other 98 or 99 percent. As you become more comfortable living on this amount each month you’ll find that you will be able to increase your saving to 3 or 4 percent, and then later up to 5 or 6 percent and finally up to 10 percent.

The next step in your plan towards financial freedom is to save enough money so that you have a supply of quick access money for emergencies. You should have an amount that will protect you from the ups and downs of the dynamic economy of the 21st century. Your goal should be to have at least three to six months living expenses in savings for you and your family should anything happen to cut off your income.

Having this type of financial cushion will free you from worrying about money. It will enable you to work at a job that you choose or leave a job that that you don’t like. You’ll be able to choose the kind of work you want and work with the kind of people you want to work with.

The next step towards financial freedom is insurance, as you save you must be insured in order to feel secure about our financial status. You need life insurance but only if you have a spouse or a family to provide for.

If you have a wife or a family you should buy term insurance. Term insurance is much cheaper than whole life insurance. Term insurance builds up no cash dividends. Whatever amount you buy, it will pay out the face amount to your estate or to your family when you die.

Your term insurance policy should be for an amount that enables your family to live at their current level from the proceeds from your policy should you die unexpectedly. For example, if your current income is $50,000 per year, you should have a term life insurance policy with a face amount of $500,000.

You should also have insurance coverage for your vehicles and other personal property. In addition, you need to have health insurance and disability insurance is a very wise investment as well. No matter what success you achieve, a catastrophic illness or natural disaster can quickly erase an uninsured fortune. Once you have built up your wealth and have an estate to protect you should also look at purchasing whole life insurance.

For both men and women whether they’re single or married the achievement of financial independence is the most important issue that determines whether or not they become all that they’re capable of becoming. Once you develop the right mindset and begin to save 10% or your net income every month you will have taken an important step towards achieving financial freedom and never having to worry about money again.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.