How to Choose Between Debt Management and Debt Elimination

How to Choose Between Debt Management and Debt Elimination
Overwhelming credit card debt is a very common problem for
many American consumers. Too many people just continue to
pay their monthly minimum payments without any knowledge
that their debt burden may never go away.

When a person comes to the realization that they are caught
in an endless cycle of debt, they may then admit that help
is needed. What people may not know is what kind of help
is available, and how to find it.

Understanding all of the options to relieve themselves of
debt can be very confusing. Choosing the best plan of
action can also add the stress caused by the debt in the
first place.

One option is to enroll in a Debt Management program. A
Debt Management company will attempt to work with your
creditors to lower the interest rates and waive any fees,
such as over-the-limit fees and late fees. Please notice
the words "attempt to". There is no guarantee that the
creditor will agree to lower the interest rate or waive any
fees. Interest rates may actually increase when a credit
card company is informed of a financial hardship.

With a Debt Management program, your budget will be
analyzed to determine how much money per month you can part
with to pay down these debts, and initiate a plan to make
regular payments to your creditor for a specific dollar
amount. Once your creditor sees a pattern of regular
payments reducing the principal balance, they may agree to
lower the interest rates even further.

For a Debt Management program to be effective, the debt
should be paid off within five years. You must be able to
continue to make the regularly scheduled payments. Keep in
mind that interest will continue to accrue, so your
payments are not all being applied to the principal
balance. Part of the payments will continue to be applied
to interest, as well as any monthly fee charged by the
management company.

The Debt Management company should provide you with an
amortization schedule, showing the amount of principal and
interest you will be paying each month, month after month.
With this schedule, you will be able to see exactly the
amount of time it will take to be debt free under the
payment plan. Even this schedule can change due to
adjusting interest rates, missed payments, or extra
payments. If the management company cannot provide an
amortization schedule, perhaps you should look for a
different Debt Management company.

If you cannot work out a plan to have the debt paid off
within five years, a Debt Management program may not be
right for you. One option to consider is a Debt
Elimination program.

A Debt Elimination program will allow a person to legally
walk away from 100% of their non-secured credit card debt,
without bankruptcy, consolidation, or refinancing. A
person can take advantage of this program just once. It's
kind of a financial "do-over".

With a Debt Elimination program, a person can select which
cards to eliminate, and which ones to keep. The eliminated
cards can no longer be used. The ultimate goal is to learn
how to live without credit cards altogether.

An elimination program does not perform its function
overnight. A good program will have you debt-free in 6 -
12 months. It will also include an education on the credit
card system, so that it is understood just how and why an
elimination program can work.

Student loans, medical bills, and any secured loans do not
apply to a Debt Elimination program. Only major credit
cards, signature loans, and unsecured lines-of-credit are
applicable. For these types of debts, a true elimination
program may be the financial re-start people are looking
for.

----------------------------------------------------
Billed as The True Debt Advisor
(http://www.TrueDebtAdvisor.com), Jim Vrana's mission is to
educate and empower people to overcome their financial
challenges. The time-tested legal procedures used to
eliminate credit card debt have been used by thousands of
people with tremendous success.
Contact:
Jim Vrana
True Debt Advisor
(800) 637-1785
http://www.TrueDebtAdvisor.com

My Budget Plan is Balancing My Check Book.

My Budget Plan is Balancing My Check Book.
Is that the way you do your budget plan? Do you even
balance your check book? Maybe you can't even find your
check book? Do you even have a budget plan? Do you
understand where your hard earned cash is going? Does your
debt keep increasing and you have a runaway debt train on
your hands? Do you just pull out your credit card and never
check the balance till the credit card is denied? Do you
use the credit card for another swipe into debt?

Most consumers have no idea how much debt they are in,
until the credit card debt is too high to pay down. Then
they transfer the credit card balance to a lower interest
rate card. Problem is, many people will start using the
card they just paid off, increasing their personal debt
more. This action of not planning and keeping a budget plan
causes another ugly mark on their credit score and
increases personal debt to a level they eventually are
unable to maintain. Then is not the time to start a budget
plan, but that is when many people realize their debt load
is crushing them and have to find a way to solve it. Some
solve it by bankruptcy, some by debt consolidation and some
by making a debt reduction plan and working their way to
the surface again.

Most people continue their debt spending ways till the
decision is so large and agonizing that they do not want to
handle it and then destroy their credit for many many
years. You don't have to go that far before it is too late
to handle your debt, take the time now and look at your
credit card statements. Don't apply for new credit cards;
watch out for the credit card enticement of moving your
credit card balance from one credit card to another. If
you do move your credit card balance to another credit card
to reduce debt, make sure you never, ever charge on that
old credit card again. Remember when you open up another
credit card in the hopes of removing debt, you just caused
an action on your credit score and it is usually not a good
action.

But your debt can be reduced by looking at all your bills
and debts. You might have heard to pay off the debts with
the highest interest rates. That's old school because most
people lose focus or get depressed because the highest rate
could be a large debt you're trying to pay off.

I have found that the best method is to pay off the
smallest debt first, this way you can see progress. Once
you pay off that bill take all the money used to pay down
that debt and apply it to the next bill plus what you had
been paying on that debt. Before you know it, the debt will
shrink and you'll be less stressed from the shrinking debt.
Maybe then you can spend a night on the town without
worrying about how to pay for it.

----------------------------------------------------
MJ Jensen has studied Real Estate from the Homeowners
perspective for over 20 years. He provides tips on mortgage
problems, and understanding debt and credit solutions for
consumers. You can visit his site at
http://www.stopbankforeclosurestips.com/free_report

Secured Credit Cards a Safer Solution to Rebuild Your Credit Score?

Secured Credit Cards a Safer Solution to Rebuild Your Credit Score?
Has your credit score taken more hits than a car in a
demolition derby? If so, you may be tempted to get a
credit card and try to rebuild your credit with a solid,
systematic track record of on-time payments.

Done correctly, this could possibly be a smart solution,
but for too many people credit cards have been a one-way
ticket to financial ruin.

For this reason I'm opposed to credit cards almost
universally. However, if you've made the decision that
credit card use is how you want to improve your credit
standing, here's how you can do it without risking your
entire financial future.

First of all, don't buy into the notion that an unsecured
credit card is a good idea. Your credit report has already
taken a number of hits, so you've already established a
track record - and it's not one of which you're terribly
proud. Take the moral and economic high road: go for the
gusto with secured plastic.

Here's how it works:

Your credit card lender will open a credit card account for
you, secured by a "security" deposit equal to your credit
limit. These companies will typically advertise credit
limits as high as $10,000, but the reality is most credit
limits are $500 or less. The reason? Most people can't
afford to deposit more than $500 in order to gain an equal
amount of credit.

This is fine for you because it will keep your spending in
check, while guaranteeing that your credit card account
will be paid off if you default on your card member
agreement.

You need to keep in mind that you're going to have to come
up with money on a monthly basis to pay off any purchases
you've made with your credit card. The money may be in the
bank, but your card issuer is going to pretend it doesn't
exist unless you don't live up to your promise to make
timely payments on the account.

These accounts do have a cost: Most have annual fees - some
as high as $150 per year. They may charge you monthly
membership, program, or participation fees. If you opt to
carry a balance from month to month, you'll also pay
interest on a credit card backed by a savings account that
doesn't pay you interest. The cost can be substantial over
time, but if you're responsible with the account it will
improve your credit. It won't happen overnight, but it
will happen.

There are a few steps you can take to try to minimize your
costs: after you've established a consistent record of
on-time payments, you can request that the credit card
issuer reduce or eliminate the annual fee. The monthly
fees are another area you can try to get reduced as well.
There's no guarantee your credit card issuer will go along
with it, but it never hurts to ask.

It'll take some time, but your credit score will begin to
inch back up as you make your payments on time. It doesn't
take much effort to hurt your credit rating, but correcting
the damage after the fact can take quite awhile.

Do you still want to pursue a higher credit rating with
plastic or have you concluded it's more trouble than it's
worth?

----------------------------------------------------
Darrin Roseborsky is a Refinance Specialist with OMAC
Mortgages, seminar speaker and president of the Roseborsky
Group and HomeRefinanceCoach.com. Darrin can help you
maximize your equity properly and help you find options
that make the most sense for your situation! Learn more
about how it works at: http://www.homerefinancecoach.com

Corporate IT Spending is Weak - But Research In Motion Blows Away the Smart Phone Market Competition

Corporate IT Spending is Weak - But Research In Motion Blows Away the Smart Phone Market Competition
Defying an otherwise soft IT spending environment, Research
In Motion (RIMM) is continuing to blow away the competition
- expanding on its already vast share of the corporate
smart phone market.

While corporate IT spending is far less robust elsewhere,
after a long and unsettling decline there are signs the
spending slowdown may be stabilizing.

First, the good news from May survey of 2,049 respondents
involved with IT spending in their organization: It's all
about smart phones.

Research In Motion Destroys the Competition

In extraordinarily upbeat results for Research in Motion
(76%; up 3-pts), the Canadian BlackBerry maker is expanding
its already vast lead in the corporate smart phone market -
even as number two Palm (PALM; 17% - down 1-pt) continues
its long term decline.

Looking ahead at 3rd Quarter planned corporate purchases,
RIM has overwhelming momentum, with 82% of respondents
buying smart phones next quarter saying they'll purchase
BlackBerries - a 5-pt jump since the previous survey in
February.

"When you're hot, you're hot, and the latest results for
RIM are scorching," said Tobin Smith, founder of
ChangeWave. "If every product had such market dominance,
it would be easy to pick the winners in each space," added
Smith.

The Apple iPhone (AAPL; 13%) now ranks second in terms of
planned corporate purchases, up 2-pts from previously -
while Palm continues to languish with a miniscule 8% of
future purchases.

Meanwhile, despite RIM's upbeat results in the smart phone
market, overall corporate IT spending remains anemic and
there are very few signs of an uptick going forward -
pointing to continued economic weakness for the 2nd half of
the year.

IT Spending Soft But Stabilizing

After a long and unsettling decline, there are signs that
the corporate IT spending slowdown - while still soft - may
be stabilizing.

When asked if their overall IT spending was on track thus
far in the 2nd Quarter, 11% of respondents said their
company had spent "More than Planned" - up 1-pt since
February. Another 27% say they've spent "Less than
Planned" - unchanged from previously.

Thus, current IT spending remains at virtually the same
lowered level that it was in the previous quarter -
although it's a positive sign that things haven't gotten
any worse. Looking ahead to the 3rd Quarter, nearly
one-in-four respondents (24%) say their company's IT
spending will decrease (or there'll be no spending at all).
That's 1-pt worse than the previous survey.

In addition, only 15% say spending will increase -
unchanged from previously. The softness in projected
spending is occurring across companies of all sizes,
although once again things have stopped getting worse -
another sign that things have at least temporarily begun to
stabilize.

But the big question is - when are things actually going to
get better?

Bearish on the 2nd Half

We asked respondents about their IT spending outlook for
the entire second half of 2008 (July-December), and 28%
think their IT budget will be less than first half of 2008
- a whopping 8-pts worse than previously.

Only 18% think their company's IT budget will be greater
than it was in the first half of 2008. Another 44% say
their IT budgets will remain the same.

Thus, while the slowdown in corporate IT spending may be
finally stabilizing, these results point to continued
economic weakness for the 2nd half of the year.

At the very least, the findings provide little support for
the thesis that a V-shaped U.S. economic recovery will
occur in the 3rd Quarter. Rather, they strongly suggest
that businesses will continue to maintain a wait and see
mode regarding capital spending - possibly until the
November elections.

Research In Motion's success in the smart phone market,
however, remains one extraordinary bright spot in the IT
economy. The BlackBerry smart phone maker appears likely to
enjoy one of its best quarters ever.

----------------------------------------------------
ChangeWave tracks the hottest stocks and technologies
through a series of online surveys. To gain early access to
reports highlight the winning and losing companies, sign up
for free at: http://www.changewave.com/hotwire .
For additional information on ChangeWave, visit:
http://blog.changewave.com

Save Money When Buying Life Insurance

Save Money When Buying Life Insurance
Perhaps, you haven't considered yet, or maybe you have
contemplated getting a life insurance policy, but you've
not done any of the footwork to find out what sort of
coverage is available. You would not be the first person
to put off buying life insurance—and you certainly
won't be the last. It isn't as if you don't understand the
importance of having active life insurance policy. The
primary reason for them is to provide a way to pay for your
final expenses in life. One of the big secondary reasons
for having a life insurance policy is to take care of your
loved ones if by your death you leave behind serious
financial burdens.

If you are going to buy life insurance you need to know way
type of coverage you will need. As it was just stated, the
major reason for you to buy a life insurance policy is the
provide protection in case you die prematurely. It is
about proving those that have survived with the funds to
pay for funeral expenses as well as provide for financial
difficulties that may arise. (Then again you may be
purchasing a policy to pay estate taxes.)

There are two different types of life insurance:

Term life insurance. This may be the most popular and
preferred form of life insurance available. Term life
insurance functions differently than whole life insurance
policies in that you accumulate no cash value and no
equity. You're going pay each for the total cost of the
policy. This amount will increase with each year as you
get older and inevitably the odds rise that you will die
before the policy needs to be renewed.

Whole life insurance. Whole life insurance, which is
sometimes called "ordinary" life insurance, is offered by
companies at a level premium. At the beginning of the
policy, the yearly premiums are typically higher than those
offered by term life policies, although they will end being
less than term rates. Most whole life policies accrue cash
value that can be either borrowed against or withdrawn by
the policyholder.

Once you have a handle on the different types of coverage
that is available with most insurance companies, you need
get acquainted with different companies. Do research and
find out all you can about the stability of a particular
life insurance company so you can feel more secure about
paying into a policy. Read up on the company's rating,
which can be found through national life insurance rating
organizations. The web will be a key resource in your
search. s.

Since life insurance is a competitive industry, you will
need to be very smart and take the time research to make
the best price comparisons. Get premium quotes form
multiple life insurance providers. Don't lose sight of
your goals and what sort of coverage will be the most
beneficial for you and your loved ones.

There are plenty of decisions that you will have to make
when buying life insurance. Having all of the relevant
material to make smarter decisions will remove the hassles
and confusion and your chances of finding the best life
insurance policy will be must higher.

----------------------------------------------------
To find more articles and money tips written by Peter Kenny
visit http://www.thriftyloans.co.uk and
http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/credit-cards/

What Is This Foreclosure Crisis of 2008?

What Is This Foreclosure Crisis of 2008?
Many people are wondering what the story is behind the
foreclosure crisis. They see that the foreclosures have
risen over 141% since 2005. They hear in a single year,
2007, over 1.3 million homes are in foreclosure and that
numbers is expected to rise even higher. That means over
83,000 families are facing foreclosure every month.

Why is the foreclosure crisis so out of hand? Is it
because so many people just don't want to pay their
mortgage? No. If you look on the Internet and read Blogs
on stopping foreclosure you'll notice a common theme among
homeowners facing foreclosure: Homeowners are actively
seeking to stop foreclosure and save their homes. In some
parts of the country 1 in 10 homeowners are facing
foreclosure. Even the famous actor, talk show host, and
Publishers Clearing House spokesperson Ed McMahon just had
his multi-million dollar mansion go into foreclosure.

So right now foreclosure is becoming a national tragedy,
because everybody always told you to build wealth you need
to own your own home and thousands of homeowners now facing
foreclosure from that bad advice. One of the major reasons
there is this foreclosure crisis right now is because of
Wall Street looking to make a buck and loose loan standards
practiced by mortgage companies to loan money to future
home buyers.

In 2003, Wall Street rushed to find the next big thing
since the dot.com collapse, they found the ripe market of
mortgage brokers, so all the fund managers of the pension
funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles rush to
make money from mortgage backed securities which paid
higher than treasury bills. At the same time Wall Street
was enjoying unregulated, creative ways to increase
business the Federal Reserve Bank also dropped the
interest rate to the lowest in about four years. The tumble
down effect was the mortgage brokers took advantage of
this rush, advertising the interest rate to home buyers and
to refinance homes; and the advertising was effective
because of to the lowest interest rates ever. Buyers
believed they may never get the rate again in their life
time and felt urgency to cash in on what seemed too good to
be true. It was. The irresponsibility came when many
mortgage brokers did whatever it took to put people in
their homes.

Many mortgage brokers did not verify income, loaned to
subprime borrowers and ignored key indicators of likely
loan failure and this all set off the foreclosure crisis.
Mortgage companies put in place devices like: Interest-Only
Loans and 80/20 Loans. Interest Only Loans are loans where
borrowers only paid on the interest of the loan, lowering
their payment, but quite literally paying nothing toward
owning their home. The 80/20 Loan meant the borrower did
not have to put any money down, the entire mortgage was
financed.

These are just two of the so called creative home
mortgages. Now when a mortgage broker faces a foreclosure
on a homeowner's property the mortgage brokers call it a
write off, but a homeowner is facing a demoralizing,
emotionally harsh, socially stigmatizing problem called
foreclosure. What happen to the loan officer that sold the
mortgage to the homeowner? He or she still keeps his or her
commission from the sale and so does the mortgage broker
they worked for. Their credit and reputation is fine
despite their active role in making irresponsible loans.
There are major mortgage brokers having problem, some on
the verge of collapse, guess what they are doing right now?
Begging the United States Congress to bail them out of the
problem of their own creation. I find that ironic, like a
child playing with a toy, then intentionally breaking it
and then crying for their parents to buy a new toy after
being told they have to find a way to fix the original toy.
Funny thing is, many of these industry experts are trying
to blame the homeowners for not staying up on their debt
and paying their bills.

Right now tens of thousands of homeowners a month are
trying to sell their homes because of medical problems, job
loss or Adjustable Rate Mortgages coming due causing
payments to double. Problem is the market is in such
distress that values have hit the floor and the homeowners
are forced into foreclosure because they cannot even sell
their house for less than they owe due to the value
dropping in some cases 30%. The mortgage industry in the
rush to make money off the back of the homeowners have
inflated the cost of housing so badly that homeowners owe
more than the houses are worth in today's market. Everybody
was looking to make money and so, quite magically,
assessments, which mortgage companies paid for, pretty much
always came in at the asking price or the price on a sales
contract.

The assessments, the document that mortgage companies were
legally required to document a house's worth, had inflated
the worth of millions of homes, so the mortgage companies
could get the sale and their staffs could get their
commissions. Mortgage companies and their employees were
making a bundle and homeowners who would not quality under
traditional lending standards felt their dreams came true.
Well that gravy train ended with a huge bang. Just because
you're not facing foreclosure doesn't mean you're off the
hook, the fall out is home improvement, college, auto and
other consumer loans will be harder to obtain due to
tighter standards. Businesses will have a harder time
obtaining a credit, leading to more layoffs and fewer jobs.
This will lead to a vicious cycle of more foreclosure and
possibly a depression.

----------------------------------------------------
MJ Jensen has studied Real Estate from the Homeowners
perspective for over 20 years. Most recently due to the
nature of the Mortgage crisis, he has turned his focus to
techniques to keep homeowners out of Foreclosure. Go here
for more tips
http://www.stopbankforeclosurestips.com/free_report
You can visit his blog at
http://www.stopbankforeclosurestips.com/blog

"Is 700 a Good Credit Score?" Do You Really Want to Know?

"Is 700 a Good Credit Score?" Do You Really Want to Know?
At this stage in the game I think we all understand that
knowing what our credit score means is important. But what
if you're in the mid-credit score range. For instance a
popular question asked "is 700 a good credit score?"
Knowing your credit score is just not enough anymore, you
must analyze what it means.

One reason many ask "is 700 a good credit score?" is
because only one-third of all American's can give an
informed answer. Sure it's better than 600, but not as good
as 800, but what does that even mean?! It's time to
investigate what all these credit score numbers mean.

When it comes to dissecting and analyzing a credit score
there are a few standard rules and a few that are quite
subjective. Is 700 a good credit score? I don't know, is
it? See, it all depends on who you ask. A national bank may
draw the line for the lowest mortgage rates at 740, where a
hometown bank may decide that when asked "is 700 a good
credit score?" to answer, "why yes!."

Credit scores are notorious for being the measuring stick
for many important life events that you will face. Trying
to rent your first place? Most likely a credit score of 700
will be more than sufficient to get the "A-OK" for the
first available apartment. It truly is amazing how many
things a person's credit score is pulled for.

Employers love to pull applicant's credit. The fact that
there is a definite number attached to one's credit gives
the impression that one's credit is an object measure of a
person's trustworthiness and responsibility. Really? Well,
o.k., I'll succeed a bit. Yes, someone with a score of 400
has a bit of 'splaining to do. But if you're flashing a
700, then yes to the questions "is 700 a good credit
score." 700 is a score to hold your head high and be proud
about. But, there are limitations even to an honorable 700.

Let's assume you're past the "getting my first apartment"
and I'm stealing mom and dad's dishes phase. Let's push it
a bit further and even assume that you've lived a bit of
life and are looking to build your financial portfolio.
Have an interest in real estate? Good for you, there are
more fantastic deals than one person could ever take
advantage. Let's ask our question now, "is 700 a good
credit score?" Yes and no.

When one begins to expand their financial power, the higher
the credit score the better, period. There are specific
home investing loans that you will need to have a credit
score of 740 or better to take advantage of. Some lenders
will require 780 for the most liberal of loans. Can't say
that I blame them. We're talking about hundreds of
thousands of dollars with minimal proof required and a low
interest rate!

Hey, I'll I said was yes to the question "is 700 a good
credit score?" I never said you couldn't do better.

----------------------------------------------------
Ann Born is a writer, researcher and website designer. She
has managed websites for over 3 years including the credit
repair site http://www.officialcreditrepairtips.com and has
written 100's of articles. This article may not be
reproduced in any way without including the Author's Bio.

How To Use A Mortgage Repayment Calculator

How To Use A Mortgage Repayment Calculator
Why try to do the complicated figuring that is required
when you are trying to refinance your mortgage on paper
when you can use web tools to do it for you? There
mortgage payment calculators available for free on the
internet that you can use to see how all the relevant costs
and sums will add up within a thirty-year refinance loan
term. These kinds of tools provide the accuracy that you
need to determine if you can really afford to refinance
your mortgage now or if it would be better to wait until a
later date.

Having access to a web-based mortgage calculator is taken
for granted these day when only a decade and half ago you
would have visited a qualified accountant or a mortgage
specialist to have your mortgage rate calculated. You as a
borrower had no real information about the sort of costs
that were involved for future payments on a home loan or a
refinance. The terms of the loan period were explained and
the borrower was told what expect when they choose a
particular mortgage rate.

Now the borrower is at an advantage because they have
access to the same tools that are used by lenders to
calculate a specific mortgage rate. When they approach a
lender for a loan, there is not so much guesswork or
assumption on the borrower's part.

An online mortgage calculator provides a very detailed
summary as well as an explanation of what the mortgage
amortization rate will be for various loan terms that you
choose to examine. In a matter of minutes, you will be
able to determine if you can afford a mortgage without much
effort. You will save yourself from a useless visit to a
lender to make inquiries and find out you cannot get a
mortgage that way.

An online calculator should provide you with at least the
following information once you have decided upon a
particular loan term:

Monthly payment based on the home's selling price. Interest
rates. Downpayment percentage.

To use a mortgage calculator you will be required to put in
specific information like he sale price of the home, the
percentage of the downpayment, the length of the mortgage,
as well as the annual percentage rate. With this
information inserted you can click a button to have
everything explained in more detail and then hit a
calculation button to get the mortgage rate.

This procedure should let you know whether you can even
afford to get a mortgage loan. Of course, if you have a
20% cash downpayment for the mortgage amount listed you can
end up saving thousands of dollars on the mortgage amount.
You can refer to a mortgage calculator to get information
on the month number, interest paid, principal paid, and the
remaining balance from year one to the present year so that
you have everything you need.

You can save yourself time, money, and simply wondering
whether you can afford a mortgage by making use a free
online mortgage calculator.

----------------------------------------------------
Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit
us at http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/Loans/ and
http://www.thriftyscot.co.uk/mortgage/

Five Simple Time Management Tips For Financial Analysts

Five Simple Time Management Tips For Financial Analysts
The daily schedule of a financial analyst is unpredictable,
particularly if you are in investment banking or equity
research.

How do you plan ahead when daily urgencies and constant
changes are the order of the day? It could be the end of
the day before you can make time for your top priority task
on your to-do list.

Here are a few time management tips that can be easily
incorporated into your busy schedule:

Set aside the first hour of your day for the most important
task. I discovered one morning when I had arrived at the
office extra early to complete a report for the deadline. I
went straight to work as opposed to starting the day with
my morning news and email routine. My mind was fresh after
a good rest. The phone didn't ring. The office was quiet.
This was the golden hour. I was able to finish the work in
half the amount of time I thought I needed.

I still practice this most important task first routine
today even though I work from my home office.

Have an achievable plan. Allocate a task that can be
completed in one hour. Break down a bigger project into
bite-sized steps. Prepare the information you need the day
before. Set yourself up for success. Making ambitious plans
and then often failing to meet your goals will wear down
your confidence. It's a great feeling to start off each
morning being productive. It gives you a sense of
accomplishment and set a positive rhythm for the day.

Let morning news and emails be second and third on your
to-do list. Most financial analysts have a habit of reading
the news and emails first thing in the morning. I was no
exception. Resist the urge and establish a new habit.
Introducing new ideas will distract your trend of thought
from your top priority task of the day. It is critical that
you reserve your full focus for that most important task.

Batch the non-urgent phone calls and emails. Given that
many phone calls and emails are time sensitive, financial
analysts don't have the option to limit these
"interruptions" to only two or three specific time slots a
day. Still, it is possible to reduce the frequencies of
these interruptions by grouping non-time sensitive requests
together.

Use reminder alarms. Before you start a task, set an alarm
to remind yourself when your next task is coming up. Have
the reminder about 10-15 minutes in advance so you have
time to wrap up what you're doing. This way, you can give
it your full attention instead of taking constant checks on
the time.

Give these time management tips a try. They may just be the
productivity boosters you're looking for. Every minute
counts for a financial analyst.

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Corinne Lor is a success coach for financial analysts.
Visit her blog: http://www.financialanalystblog.com