The Jeffrey And Tracey Info Emporium

One of the cardinal rules of Forex trading is to keep your
losses small. With small Forex trading losses, you can outlast
those times the market moves against you, and be well positioned
for when the trend turns around. The proven method to keeping
your losses small is to set your maximum loss before you even
open a Forex trading position. The maximum loss is the greatest
amount of capital that you are comfortable losing on any one
trade. With your maximum loss set as a small percentage of your
Forex trading float, a string of losses won`t stop you from
trading. Unlike the 95% of Forex traders out there who lose
money because they haven`t applied good money management rules
to their Forex trading system, you will be far down the road to
success with this money management rule.

What happens if you don`t set a maximum loss? Let`s look at an
example. If I had a Forex trading float of $1000, and I began
trading with $100 a trade, it would be reasonable to experience
three losses in a row. This would reduce my Forex trading
capital to $700. What do you think those 95% of traders say at
this time? They would reason, “Well, I`ve already had three
losses in a row. So I`m really due for a win now.”

They would decide they`re going to bet $300 on the next trade
because they think they have a higher chance of winning.

If that trader did bet $300 dollars on the next trade because
they thought they were going to win, their capital could be
reduced to $400 dollars. Their chances of making money now are
very slim. They would need to make 150% on their next trade just
to break even. If they had set their maximum loss, and stuck to
that decision, they would not be in this position.

Here`s a perfect illustration why most people lose money in the
Forex trading market. Let`s start out with another $1,000 float,
and begin our Forex trading with $250. After only three losses
in a row, we`ve lost $750, and our capital has been reduced to
$250. Effectively, we must make 300% return on the next trade
and that will allow us to break even.

In both of these cases, the reason for failure was because the
trader risked too much, and didn`t apply good money management.
Remember, the goal here is to keep our losses as small as
possible while also making sure that we open a large enough
position to capitalize on profits. With your money management
rules in place, in your Forex trading system, you will always be
able to do this.

Discover BIG profits from the market by downloading your FREE
copy of David’s new Ultimate Stock Trading Systems course. http://
www.ultimate-trading-systems.com/forex.html

Managing a global portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is a great way to build a diversified portfolio with exposure to equities around the globe. Fortunately, you need not be a rocket scientist to do this, but many investors fail to observe some basic guidelines, and it can get them into real trouble. Follow these eight steps and sleep easier.

1. Liquidity Comes First: Before you even think of building an investment portfolio, you should set aside about six months of income in a “rainy day” account. This could be put into a money market fund or U.S. Treasury securities. Having this money set aside will ease your mind and allow you to be more open and creative with your global portfolios.

2. Separate Portfolios: You should separate your core conservative portfolio from your growth portfolios. With the core conservative portfolio, your top priority is capital preservation, and growth is a secondary consideration. Your growth portfolios are more speculative, with capital growth as the primary goal.

3. Really Diversify Your Portfolios: You need positions in your portfolios that are likely to offset each other as unexpected events and market movements become a reality. This is not accomplished with different sectors of ETFs or a mix of small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap ETFs. Rather the goal is to have some investments that are on both sides of risks.

For example, if the U.S. dollar declines, have some investments in precious metals or denominated in other currencies, such as Switzerland or Australia or Singapore ETFs. If inflation heats up, have some investments that hedge this risk such as timber, gold or Treasury inflation-protected bonds (TIPs). If political events or policies in one country take a turn for the worst, it is helpful to have investments in other well-developed countries to offset any loss of value. You get the idea, spread your risk and avoid having one ETF account for more than 5%-10% of your core portfolio.

4. Be Careful Which Countries You Pick: You need some guidelines to help keep you from getting carried away and having too concentrated a position in a particular country or region. In particular, take a good look at the following: 1) the stability and overall political and corporate governance; 2) the legal environment, respect for contracts, low levels of corruption, due process and rule of law; 3) the macroeconomic environment including fiscal discipline and currency strength; and 4) political risks that could affect financial markets.

Keep in mind that the quality of the countries you choose to invest in is the primary but not the only factor. The price or valuation of a country’s stock market is also extremely important. Oftentimes, the best time to buy into a country’s stock market is when it is beaten down, but there are signs that its economic and political problems will sharply improve. If you have a long-term perspective, you might consider annuities specially structured for ETF portfolios.

5. Minimize Company Risk by using our “buy countries, not stocks” strategy. Instead of trying to pick the best three stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, why not just minimize company risk by buying the iShares MSCI Japan Index, which tracks the Nikkei 225 and spreads this risk across 225 Japanese companies.

6. Monitor ETF Country And Company Exposure: Be careful to look under the hood of ETFs to see where your money is going. For example, let’s look at the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF. It invests in 26 different countries, so it is natural to think that you will get broad exposure to all 26 countries. You would be wrong: 50% of your investment in this fund is going to four countries: South Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and China. In addition, incredibly, 7.5% is going to one company, Samsung Electronics of South Korea.

The same is true for the MSCI Europe, Asia and Far East index. It contains 21 developed countries, but 48% of the money you invest would go to just two: Japan and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, less than 1% would go to Singapore and Ireland! Country specific ETFs such as the new iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index can also have a fair amount of concentrated risk. Although the China ETF tracks a basket of 25 companies, the largest five companies account for nearly 50% of your exposure.

7. Cut Losses With A Trailing Stop-Loss Policy And ETF Put Options: We have all been there. You buy a stock or fund, and it appreciates in value rapidly. Then it stumbles and begins to decline. What do you do? Should you buy more, let it ride, or sell? Save yourself a lot of pain and agony by following a simple rule. If a position ever falls more than 20% from its high, sell it immediately and reassess the situation. If you invest in an ETF with a sizable downside risk, why not spend a few hundred dollars to purchase a put-option as an insurance policy?

8. Rebalance Your Portfolio: At least annually, you need to make some changes so that you are not overly exposed to countries that have higher risk factors and volatility. One way is by selling some shares of your winners and increasing exposure to under performers. This accomplishes another goal, locking in gains and taking some money off the table. Remember, only a fool holds out for top dollar, especially in the more volatile emerging market countries.

Building your portfolios with low-cost, tax-efficient ETFs is a smart strategy, but don’t set it on auto pilot.

For more information call 877-221-1496

Carl Delfeld is head of the global advisory firm Chartwell Partners and editor of the the “Asia-Pacific Growth” newsletter and is the author of “The New Global Investor.” For more information please visit www.chartwellasia.com

Accept it many of you are now spending on bills to pay for what
you have wanted for years and now you can finally afford it. The
last thing you will thing about is an investment for your
retirement. It is your choice whether to have fun with spending
money now but suffer when you get older or inverse! Take some
advice from those with a little more experience: Start investing
early in your career. Start from day one and you will never miss
that money you’re setting aside. If your company has available a
401-K or a TSP program, jump on the band wagon immediately. If
you don’t have these programs at your disposal, you can still
start an IRA and the concepts stated here are applicable as
well.

I can guarantee that it really does it make a difference when
you start contributing. It is important to invest in your
retirement account early in your career for two reasons. First,
if you’re fortunate to receive matching contributions, you don’t
want to miss out on those added contributions that are a
significant part of your retirement benefit. Second, the longer
contributions stay in your account, the more you stand to gain.
Your money makes money in the form of earnings, and those
earnings in turn make money, and so on. This is what is known as
the “miracle of compounding.” As money grows in your account
over time, the proportion resulting from earnings will become
larger compared to the proportion resulting from contributions.

The size of your account balance is going to depend on how much
you (and your company if they match funds up to a certain
percentage) contribute to your account and how your account
grows as a result of earnings on your investments. To get an
idea of what your retirement account could be in the future,
look at the following projections.

Think this way. Assume that you are an employee eligible for
organizational contributions, that you are earning $28,000 each
year, and that you receive no future salary increases. You
choose to save 5 percent of basic pay each pay period; therefore
you receive total organizational contributions of 5 percent. The
growth projections below are for an assumed annual rate of
return of 7 percent on your investments.

After five years your account balance would be almost $17,000;
after ten years your balance would increase to $40,000; and
after contributing for twenty years, your account would have a
balance of $122,000. Clearly your balance would continue to
increase each year. If you contributed for forty years, which is
fathomable if you start a job at 23 and want to retire at age
63, your account balance would be $615,000. That’s over half a
million dollars folks! Just from contributing 5% of your income
from the day you start work!

Can this number convince you to start saving money now?

There are many benefits and advantages for trading currencies on the Foreign Exchange, better known as Forex.

The Forex Exchange was established in 1971. This market grew at a steady rate throughout the 1970’s, but in the 1980’s Forex grew from trading $70 billion per day to over $1.5 trillion each day.

There are many huge players in Forex, but it is accessible to the individual trader. Each lot traded is worth approximately $100,000. By using leverage, an individual trader is only required to have a $1000 investment in the trade. This is a 100:1 leverage. No other market offers this amount of leverage.

Forex is also an extremely liquid market. Because it is so large, you can buy or sell in only seconds where your trade is only a mouse click away. You can also preset an automatic close for your position. This means you don’t have to sit and watch your position, just place the trade, set an exit point and go what you want.

Forex trades virtually 24 hours, 7 days a week. It only closes from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. This makes it possible to set your own trading hours. If you trade part time and want to place your trade at 3am, log into your account and trade. If you are a full time trader, the same applies. No other market lets you pick the hours you trade.

There are no commissions charged on Forex, only a small transaction fee. This is not possible in any other market, as brokers charge a commission on each trade in all other markets.

Because currencies are traded in pairs, so you are buying one currency and selling the other. For example, if an investor believes the US dollar will gain against the euro, you would buy the US dollar and sell the euro. It’s just that simple.

The potential for profit is good as there is always movement between currencies. Even a small change can result in substantial profits because of the large amount of money involved in the transaction.

First and foremost, before just opening an account and blindly making some trades, you need proper training. Study the market, learn the terms used in trading, set up a demo account with a currency broker. Then, and only then, use real money to trade.

Charles White is an internet marketer. More information can be found at
http://www.yourforexconnection.com.

Rounding up your debts is one of the biggest dangers to your
financial position. It’s also one of the easiest ways for your
debts to get out of control.

This way of thinking is best summed up by the following comment;
‘I already owe $27500 so what’s another $500. It takes my
debt to a nice round figure $28000′.

That’s a dangerous way to think. From bitter personal
experience, I know what it’s like. You try to limit your debt to
a certain amount, such as perhaps $10000. But that limit comes
and goes. Your debt creeps up above that amount. But you’re
enjoying yourself, so you carry on spending.

You reach $13500, but you don’t want to stop, so you readjust
your ‘limit’, thinking ‘I’ll go up to $20000, but I’m not
going a penny higher’.

So you carry on spending and your debts hit the $20000
barrier…and then go slightly beyond.

Then what happens?

Correct! You increase your self-imposed limit to the next
psychological barrier. Perhaps $22000 this time! And then you
carry on spending.

Eventually, after many more ‘final’ limits have come and gone,
your debt stands at $27500. And then you see a rather nice 7 day
package holiday advertised as a ’special, once in a lifetime,
never to be repeated’ offer. $500 first come, first served!

Your reasoning goes something like this. ‘That’s a great
offer. I’ve not had a holiday for two years, and I could do with
some sun before the winter sets in. I’ve already borrowed quite
a lot. But it’s a special offer, and I couldn’t normally afford
that type of holiday. I know it’s kind of expensive, but I
already owe $27500, so what’s another $500. It hardly
makes a difference. And I’ll worry about paying it back when I
get home.’

You’ve reached another of your preset limits. But is doesn’t
stop there, oh no. After all, what about a new wardrobe of
clothes to take on holiday! And you couldn’t possibly go away
without some spending money. You just wouldn’t enjoy yourself
otherwise.

And so the $28000 mark is broken. Next stop $30000, or will it
be $35000?

But as I said earlier, every extra dollar that you borrow
restricts your freedom even further. Every dollar that you owe
will cost perhaps $2 to repay after interest. It could take you
half an hour (after tax) to earn that amount.

$1 borrowed, half an hour of your precious, non-renewable life.
Gone! Never to be replaced! Wasted!

Now half an hour may not seem like much. But what if it’s
multiplied by five hundred?

That’s 250 hours of your life. That’s almost six full working
weeks!

And once your debt reaches $28000, what is there to stop you
from thinking ‘it’s only another $2000. It will take my debts
to a nice round $30000′ when you see a leather
sofa/laptop/hi-fi that attracts your attention?

Bang goes another 1000 hours of your life. That’s another six
months of eight hour shifts to look forward to!

When will it end? When your life runs out of time or the bank
manager says ‘no more’?

Round figures aren’t nice! Especially when it means that
your debts are even bigger than before. When you owe money,
every penny counts! I can’t stress how important this is!

This rounding up attitude is very subtle, that’s why it’s so
dangerous. It draws you in. And the more you owe, the larger
these ‘what’s another [insert sum of money]’
thoughts become. If you owe $9200, what’s another $800. That
takes you to $10000. But if you already owe $92000, this ‘what’s
another’ attitude could cost you $8000. That will take you up to
a nice round $100000.

Don’t mentally round up the amount of your borrowing, in order
to justify spending even more. Every dollar you owe = less
freedom.

Many people have the notion that commodity futures trading is very difficult to understand. It may only seem difficult when you are new to futures trading, but once you understand the inner workings and get a hang of it, you will be well on your way to success.

People have a common misconception that commodity exchanges determine or establish the prices at which commodity futures are bought and sold. This is not true. Prices are determined by supply and demand conditions. Just keep in mind that if there are more buyers than sellers, prices will be forced up and vice versa.

Buy and sell orders, which originate from all sources and are channeled into the exchange-trading floor for execution, are actually the ones to determine the prices. These buy and sell orders are translated into actual purchases and sales on the trading floor.

The major function of the futures market is the transfer of risk, and increased liquidity between traders with different risk and time preferences, for instance from a hedger to a speculator. Futures trading is a method used to eliminate or minimize risks that occur when the prices in the market fluctuates.

Futures contracts are exchange-traded derivatives. A futures contract is traded on a futures exchange, to buy or sell a certain underlying instrument at a certain date in the future, at a pre-set price. Futures contracts are basically for assumption or hedging.

There are two groups of futures traders: the hedgers, who are interested in the underlying commodity and are seeking to hedge out the risk of changes in price; and the speculators, who are interested in making a profit by predicting market moves and buying a commodity “on paper” for which they have no practical use. For example, commodities in the market can be bought today at today’s price, with the speculation of selling them at a higher price in the future.

On the other hand, hedging protects against fluctuations in market prices. This protection is made by allowing the risks of price changes to be transferred to professional risk takers. For instance, a manufacturer can protect itself from price increases in raw materials they need by hedging in the futures market.

Hedging has two types, hedge sale and hedge purchase. A person can buy a commodity and sell futures at the same quantity as protection against fluctuation in prices when he is still holding the stock.

You might think that this is gambling, but the fact is that speculation refers to the condition of a legitimate enterprise based on the current condition of the market trends. However, it is very risky for inexperienced futures traders who try to predict the market and speculate without having enough resources or experience.

Since the prices are distributed via telecommunications network and the internet, it makes online futures trading very convenient and simple for an individual. Nowadays many brokers offer their services for trading commodity futures online. Because more risk is involved in online futures trading than stock trading, you must judge for yourself whether or not it is worth the added risk of trading commodity futures online.

Keep in mind that an investment in futures can result in losses. Past performance results does not necessarily indicate future performance results.

Well, here we are again.

The start of a new tax year is upon us, bringing with it
many opportunities to save tax (legally) and keep as much of
your money in your hands, and away from Gordon Brown’s.

The budget was a bit of a damp squib, so let’s look at some of the best ways to save tax!

Now, it’s possible you’ve heard of some of these ideas, but
are you actually using them? I’ve heard many clients say
they’ve heard of something, then admit they’ve done nothing
about it. Don’t let this be you…

On with the tips.

1. Use an offset mortgage to reduce the amount of tax you pay
on your deposit savings. If you have, say, £20,000 in a deposit
account and it’s earning interest of 3% AER, the gross amount
is £600. There’s a further £120 (20%) taken in income tax at
source, plus another £120 tax if you’re a higher rate taxpayer.
Therefore, the net interest is only 1.8%.

Now let’s say you have a mortgage of £100,000 at 5% interest,
meaning you’re paying £5,000 pa to service the loan.

Now you place the £20,000 in an offset account, which means that
you’re now paying interest on £80,000, which is £4,000 pa.

Let’s see what you’ve achieved. You WERE earning £360 pa interest on the £20,000. Now you’re saving £1,000 pa on the mortgage payment, giving you a net gain of £640! You would actually need another £36,000 in deposit savings to equal the offset savings.

The other plus is that you now don’t have savings interest to
declare on your tax return.

2. If you don’t want a flexible mortgage, or don’t have a
mortgage, you can still save tax. If your spouse is not working
and has no income you should place the deposit savings in their
name. For example, if you have £50,000 in a deposit account and
are paying 40% tax on this, you’ll only be earning £900 pa on 3%
gross interest. If this is in the name of the non-earner you’ll
get another £600 in interest. The non-earner can apply for the
money to be paid gross by completing form IR85, available from
your tax office.

3. Linked to the above tip, you should also make sure you’re
getting the best interest rate on any deposit savings. ING are
currently paying 4.5% AER. So, if you duplicate the example
above, you’d earn £2250 pa. When compared to the original
figure of £900 pa, this is an increase of 150%!

4. If you employ your spouse in your practice, there’s a way in
which they can potentially qualify for a basic state pension,
without paying National Insurance. If you pay them less than £84 pw they don’t qualify for the pension. If you pay them more than £84 and less than £97 pw they will qualify for basic state pension.

Any employment of a spouse must be done on a commercial basis and you should qualify and confirm this with your accountant or the Department of Work and Pensions.

5. Use the new pension rules to boost your retirement funds. For the 2006/07 tax year you can contribute up to £215,000 to your pension and receive full tax relief, or 100% of your earnings if lower. If you’re self employed this is particularly useful to reduce your tax bill. Remember, if you’re a higher rate taxpayer you’ll get 40% relief on your contributions.

6. Buy Pension Term Assurance instead of ‘normal’ life assurance. If you have, or are considering buying life cover, you can now get tax relief on your contributions. So, instead of paying £100 pm for protection, you may be able to get the same level of cover for £60 pm. Over a 20 year term this amounts to £9,600!

7. Observe what your accountant is doing for you. Is your
accountant simply following your orders and producing your accounts, or is he/she proactively working with you to increase your profits by either helping you to increase turnover or reduce costs?

Ultimately, it’s YOU who signs off the accounts and YOU who the
taxman will chase with any queries, so make sure you’re claiming
for everything you should, and not for items you shouldn’t.

The Financial Tips Bottom Line:

Saving tax is really about being organised and working alongside
the right tax professionals over the long term. By structuring
your affairs to your advantage, it’s possible you could give
yourself a pay increase without earning any more money. Take the
time to think how you can save more money and then take the
necessary action!

Ray Prince is an Independent Financial Planner with Rutherford Wilkinson plc, and helps doctors and dentists get the best deals on mortgages, protection and investments, as well as
helping them achieve their financial objectives.

Get your free retirement planning guide, exclusively for UK Resident Doctors and Dentists.

Just visit http://www.financialtipsonline.com/ea1 You’ll also receive the twice-monthly email newsletter ‘Financial Tips’ that will enable you to keep posted of all financial
issues affecting doctors and dentists.

Rutherford Wilkinson plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

To trade on the forex market, the largest financial market on the planet, one must use a forex broker. Not unlike a stock broker, a forex broker can also makes suggestions about which moves to make when exchanging foreign currency. Some forex brokers even supply technical analysis to some of their clients and offer tips on research to improve their success as forex traders.

Typically in the forex market a forex broker is a banking institution who may buy up large amounts of a certain currency. For years, banks were the only ones who had access to the forex markets. But today with the Internet, any forex trader, who subscribes with a forex broker, can access the market 24 hours a day.

Today, as with stock brokers, the brick and mortar institutions, such as banks, are less of an option for the individual forex trader who works from home, monitoring the news and gaining insight into certain technical information to help with his or her trading decisions.

Choosing a forex broker may depend on your needs. If you are new to the field, there are houses, or online forex brokers who may cater to your needs, providing in-depth research, ample time to demo their product and so on. Other forex brokers are geared toward the experienced online forex trader. They too offer advice, but may be less likely to offer instructional help with the information, assuming that you may already know how it may or may not benefit you when you read it. It is advisable to read about and even run a demo on several different online forex brokers before going with one.

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.goforexonline.info; a blog focusing on the latest Forex news, resources and articles. Get detailed
information on forex
trading.

Currency differentials always present unique challenges for investing internationally. Sophisticated institutional investors know when investing overseas they must deal with both currency and conventional market risk. Most know they can hedge their currency exposure through the futures and inter-bank markets. Retail investors have fewer choices—hence the need for currency ETFs.

European investors are more ambidextrous in currency dealings. Prior to the Euros introduction, living and working in Europe required knowledge, and an ability to think in terms of different currencies. Retail US investors don’t have experience in such matters and therefore have remained dollar oriented.

Over the past year we’ve seen how currency valuations can enhance or diminish investment returns. In 2004, some of the best performing markets for US investors were in Europe. At the ETF Digest, we profited by receiving the double-benefit of rising European indexes and a falling dollar. In 2005, good performance in European indexes hasn’t been realized by US Dollar investors since the Euro currency has reversed course and is now declining.

I believe that now we’re seeing hints of potential currency benefits for US investors in some China-based US market ETFs like PGJ, and FXI. The widely discussed revaluation of the Chinese Yuan seems already anticipated by some investors.

Here’s the bottom line. If you read about how well certain international markets are doing and you’re bothered by the lack of comparative results with your US-based ETF, currency differentials are to blame.

Of course one solution is to avoid those markets where these risks seem apparent. Another possibly more profitable outcome is for the introduction of currency-linked ETFs. It is rumored that these are already on the drawing board for some sponsors and issuers. The downside is that since sponsors and issuers only earn fees when investors “buy” new units, they generally tend to sponsor these when buying interest is strong. This is not the case currently.

Nevertheless, should currency ETFs become available retail investors will be able to devise strategies that will allow them to profitably participate in international markets without the additional frustration of good index performance wiped-out by negative currency issues. Developing and putting forth investment strategies for these ETFs would present both opportunities and challenges. The biggest hurdle for retail investors is that “hedging” currencies involves the ability to short them. If retail shorting problems persist, then introducing currency ETFs will be a wasted effort.

Dave Fry has devoted over 30 years to the business of trading and portfolio management. His registration as an arbitrator with both the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) and the National Futures Association (NFA) attests to his extensive experience and spotless compliance record.

Dave founded the ETF Digest in 2001 and was among the very first to see the need for a publication that provided individual investors with information and advice on ETF investing.

Dave is a frequent commentator on ETFs and other issues important to individual investors, and his perspectives are featured in financial news sources such as CBS MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, Dow Jones Newswire, National Business Review, MSN Money, Yahoo! Finance, Bankrate.com, IndexUniverse.com, ETF Zone, and ETF Investor.

If you are someone who has suffered a personal injury accident
and have a legal claim pending, I am writing to let you know
there are options out there to keep food on your table and
enable you to wait out the insurance company and get a fair
settlement on your claim.

I’m a single mom of two who was a passenger in a car that was
rear-ended on my way to a work seminar. As a result I suffered
severe neck and back injuries. It’s unbelievable how a few
seconds can alter your life in every aspect imaginable.

The physical pain is so unbearable that pain killers are needed
to make it through the day, but a side effect of pain killers is
that they decrease your mental functions, so I was unable to be
there mentally or emotionally for my children going thru
adolescence.

A triple disc fusion is no picnic. Especially when you’re not
told how painful the recovery is of the leg bones they took the
marrow from for grafting. Needless to say for the second surgery
to re-do two of the fusions, I used the marrow donor bank! And
then you deal with trip after trip to doctors, specialists,
physical therapists, your attorney, pharmacies, etc. Many of
these trips were rides begged from family and friends because I
was unable to physically or financially deal with them.

The insurance companies create this huge circle that claimants
are expected to go ’round and ’round until they give up and
settle for a fraction of what the case is actually worth just to
survive. The insurance company would consistently be 60 days
behind in sending my weekly checks and then delay payment more
by coming up with some flimsy excuse that they hadn’t received
an obscure piece of paper required for payment. And this after I
had called for the tenth time regarding my funds! Believe me,
there was never a dime in interest for the 90+ days the
insurance company would delay before payments were finally made.
And then there were thousands of dollars in reimbursements for
mileage, parking, pharmacy, etc. that they owed to me that
they’d play the same game with. Help for around the house and my
needs were reimbursable items, but when you don’t have money to
pay for them upfront and no reasonable date of when payment can
be expected, you just go without.

At work you’re treated like a con-artist who’s trying to take
advantage of the insurance company just so you don’t have to
work. Instead you go to work and overdo it constantly, which
aggravates the pain and slows down the recovery process because
you need to work and get a paycheck. You also find that the
mortgage company, grocery store, gas/service station, utilities,
pharmacy, car finance company, (your) insurance companies, home
repairman, etc. lose their patience and trust in you when you’re
constantly late and getting further behind for two years.

It was about the same time period when the insurance company
decided to delay all payments for longer than 90 days and
threaten to never make another payment again until things were
finalized in court, and yet I’m expected to come up with gas
money and a ride 200 miles away to see one of their hired hands
to determine that I wasn’t faking it. It’s insane!

The insurance company also made sure they timed it right after
the second surgery I was attempting to recover from. My mortgage
company decided they’d had it with me and were starting
foreclosure proceedings if I didn’t get my payments up to date.
I tried refinancing my house and getting some cash out to pay my
other bills, because I had some equity in the house, but no
lender would help me out since I was so far behind, my credit
was shot, and I had no “steady” income. Even if the mortgage
company could’ve refinanced me, it wouldn’t have been in time. I
had nowhere to turn for help, but my kids still needed a roof
over their head and food in their tummies.

A friend who had helped me out before told me about a website
she had ran across for a company called Lawsuit Cash
Advance. I called them on Monday and had money in the bank
by Thursday. I did have to bug my attorney for two days straight
but finally got him to cooperate with Lawsuit Cash Advance. I
was given enough money so that I was able to get caught up (and
a little ahead) on all of my bills and still have some
“breathing room.” And I wouldn’t have to worry about literally
starving my family or myself whenever the insurance company
decided to play games with payments and reimbursements to me. It
was such a relief knowing I didn’t have monthly payments to
worry about and that I could outlive the insurance company’s
games and get the settlement I deserved.

It took another year after (a total of three years) to settle
and it was definitely worth it! When the insurance company
couldn’t make me cave in, the jurors were finally able to hear
everything I had been through and award the appropriate amount.

Without the advance, we would’ve been on the streets and
starving. I was able to keep my house, car, and job - all
because of a company called Lawsuit Cash Advance.