Once the decision to divorce has been finalized, most people pass through the stages of grief associated with the loss of a loved one. While no two people experience the same journey, we all experience the stages, with some people skipping a stage while others repeat some of the stages. Those stages are Denial, Anger and Resentment, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You will likely experience most or all of these stages. Google the stages of grief. Understand them. Anticipate them. Make them yours, and then let them go.

Push through the pain to understand your financial condition. It’s important for you to understand what that condition is, so you can be a helpful part of your legal team in looking after your best interests. No one knows better than you what is best for you, and to be a emotional wreck curled up in a fetal position won’t help your future.

Like the coach on the sidelines, you are the one person responsible for guiding your team toward its goals. Your legal or accounting teams are your quarterbacks on the field, where they call plays and physically move the team. You call the shots, however. You send in the plays. You direct the Big Picture. Be involved and stay involved.

Make certain you don’t put yourself into a position where you accept an unfair divorce settlement knowingly. Most partners who just want to walk away and avoid a fight usually do so at their own future peril. As tough an enormous emotional challenge as this is, see it through.

Take a financial snapshot of yourself and your situation soon after separating from your spouse. Inventory everything you own. If possible, make a video of as many possessions as you can.

Avoid mistakes. Trying to undo mistakes after the fact, especially after considerable time has passed, can be very difficult. If you give short shrift to any of the following, you run the risk of getting less than you deserve.

Create an interim budget based on what expenses you personally will need to maintain. Call this your separation budget. This budget will serve you (and any attorney) well when you begin discussing transferring assets with child support, alimony or any transfer of possessions.

Determine the fixed expenses you’ll incur over the short term, which will contain housing, utilities, retirement, insurance payments or auto expenses. Make lists of expenses you’ll retain, expenses your ex will retain, and expenses that may need to be negotiated. Are there any assets that are at risk if the payments don’t get paid? If so, identify them along with how long the creditor will remain open to payment. You may wish to hire a Certified Divorce Financial Analysts who can thoroughly sort out your marital accumulations.

Understand the degree of liquidity of your assets, and how they relate to the current economic conditions in society. Some assets like real estate or automobile collections can be highly illiquid if market conditions are bad, or if you and your spouse disagree on a price for those assets.

Know the liquidity difference between retirement accounts versus brokerage accounts. Retirement accounts are somewhat illiquid, in that assets removed from them result in tax consequences, and if the withdrawal occurs before age 59 , an IRS early withdrawal penalty.

Get a complete picture on how much cash is on hand. Make sure you include any accounts used for specific purposes (vacation, Christmas, etc).

Personal collections, which can include autos, guns and the like, can be somewhat illiquid, with valuations speculative.

When fashioning a wish list of what assets you want from the marriage, don’t take on too much illiquid assets unless you’re certain you can manage without being forced to sell those illiquid assets. If you get the house and he gets the cash, you could be at a disadvantage if you need to raise some cash in the future.

Assemble the marital assets according to cash flow from each. Here again, you may not want to assume assets that don’t produce cash flow.

If a particular asset should be sold, is the market good or not so good? In light of depressed 2009 economic conditions, one asset may be preferable to sell over another.

Be certain to identify all assets- Leave no stone unturned. Spouses have been known to conceal assets prior to or right after a marital separation. You (or your team) will need to be sleuths to be certain all assets are included. Some are hesitant to disclose a piece of art or jewelry, but if you’re forced to admit it exists and you lied to your attorney, it makes for messy relations.

On occasion a forensic accountant is hired to locate missing or hidden assets, and the costs are borne by the overall aggregate in most cases.

Be certain you have copies of tax returns. They provide the basis to begin the discovery process (most people are afraid to lie to the IRS). You or your team will want to go back 5-7 on tax returns, looking for evidence of trusts, partnerships, private placements, real estate holdings, and the like.

For couple involved in a business, tax returns can expose a spouse trying to cook the books in his or her own best interest. A common ploy is to put a friend on the payroll and, for a fee, return the salary back to your spouse.

Get copies of checking and savings accounts, going back several years.. Reviewing statements can reveal the transfer of money or the payment for a now hidden asset. Income and/or capital gains will also appear on one’s past tax filings.

Brokerage accounts offer the same paper trail. Obtain copies of these statements going back at least 5 years.

Determine if there was ever an expense account connected with employment. Examine what was paid back and how it was categorized.

Companies often grant stock options to employees. These stock options are often listed with benefits statements from the employer. Make sure your side demands to know about any stock options and the potential value of them in the future.

Are there any children’s accounts? UGMA, UTMA, 529 plans (College Savings Accounts) or other accounts? Stock dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPS)? It’s wise to get copies of these account statements too, because assets can me moved around, or accounts can be liquidated and residual value returned to the parent. These accounts can be great places to park money until after the divorce.

If there were previous marriages between you two, and assets were owned before your marriage, they will likely be treated differently than marital assets. Your Financial Planner or Forensic Accountant can explain how each are treated.

Know your Insurance Policies.

Home and vehicle insurance should be reviewed, and consider contacting your agent to request notice of any changes.

Life insurance annuities or other insurance contracts, including business-related 2nd to Die insurance policies or Buy-Sell agreements, should be examined. If you and/or your spouse have owned a business, be sure to explore all insurance policies.

Debt and Credit Issues. Retrieve copies of your credit report from each of the three national credit-reporting agencies. Federal law allows us all to receive one free credit file per reporting agency per year. Determine your FICO score(s) and scan each file for any unrecognizable account listed on each.

If it makes sense to do, consider placing locks or holds on credit files to prevent further credit being applied for. Speaking with a divorce lawyer on this one would make sense.

Close all joint accounts. Doing so early on in the separation and divorce process can get tricky. Closing them in most cases can be done just by yourself. If you close a joint bank account and remove cash, consider giving your spouse half, or less than half if you intend to reserve some cash for joint bills. As long as you retain, and spend the money fairly, you likely won’t get into hot water with the court. Some might be tempted to leave more than half in the account, being considerate that your spouse will use some of it for your half of expenses. Don’t assume this will happen. Many spouses will take the money, consider it all theirs, and then demand “your half”.

Your marital status at year’s end will determine how you file next year’s taxes. Whether you file married filing jointly or married filing separately can be determined by you and your spouse, or your attorneys, but in no case should be left out of your final written agreement.

Have a contingency in the final decree that should there be any penalties, interest or further taxes owed by either, that it be spelled out who pay, when they pay, and how they pay.

Retirement Accounts- Know the rules of the road.

A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is a court order mandating that certain assets in a retirement account be transferred from one spouse’s account to the other. You need to fully understand the many tax ramifications and penalties associated with not using a QDRO or distributing from a retirement account.

IRA Accounts. Regular IRAs, Roth, rollovers etc. Know how these accounts are treated tax-wise. Removing assets often involves taxes and often penalties before age 59 and 70 . 401(k)s and 403(b)s are most often the accounts that receive QDROs.

Taxes. If there are significant assets, consider an accountant to determine what tax obligations would be incurred selling any of your assets.

Knowing one asset incurs a much larger capital gain tax if sold rather than another asset may cause a decision to choose one asset over the other. If either of you were married previously, and one of you moved into your spouses home, and that home is sold, a capital gain calculation will be different than if you two bought the home together. Speak with your team to determine which tax filing status is more advantageous to you, and negotiate toward that end. Insert language that spells out exactly how an asset is to be sold, how the taxes are claimed or distributed, and how any taxes must be paid.

If you sold a home prior to 1997 and rolled that capital gain over to an existing home, and then sold that home, the old rules apply to determine the cost basis for the current capital gain amount. This would increase your gain and possibly influence when and how much you might sell the property.

After the Divorce process is completed

Credit, Debt and the New You.

Begin by establishing your own credit file. Federal Law requires that each credit customer be allowed one free credit report from each of the three national credit-reporting agencies. You’ll want to request the file individually, but the reports will likely result in joint information. Requesting the report individually actually establishes an individual file.

If you have an inadequate amount of individual credit history, you’ll want to establish several accounts as soon as possible. Keep in mind that you only want credit cards that you’ll actually use, so don’t go crazy trying to accumulate credit cards.

Retrieve the budget you created during the early part of your divorce, and revise it based on your new circumstances. Make sure fixed costs appear there (housing, utilities, car payments, contractual payments, etc.) and include any new spending pertaining to your single needs.

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there

Be flexible. Your new life, especially if it includes raising children, will offer more surprises than expectations. Remember that while you personally endured the divorce, children suffered through an event too.

Attend to beneficiary concerns. You must name them as soon as possible, because if you don’t, and you die, your state will impose a will on your heirs (in testate) that can result in your wishes not going fulfilled. Wills, Trusts, retirement accounts, bank accounts and insurance contracts will need to be revised. Don’t put it off.

If you haven’t already, create a personal blueprint that lays out goals, wishes and aspirations you’ve developed over the years. Be sure to include the dreams and desires you may have developed in a marriage that didn’t allow them being fulfilled.

Of course you don’t want to make any late payments on your credit cards or loans and affect your credit report and score unless you absolutely have to, but what happens if you’re unable to avoid it? It all depends on whether you’re 30, 60 or 90 days past due. If it’s only one late payment you may be able to dispute it and get it removed from your credit report but if it’s more than one that may be difficult to do. And it depends on whether it’s currently past due or long term past due, and other factors.

Understanding how FICO credit scoring works for late payments will help you avoid late payments and understand which late payments will show up for the long term and which payments won’t.

Put simply, FICO credit scores are used by credit card companies, loan and mortgage companies, utility and insurance companies etc., to predict how reliable you’ll be as a customer and how much they can trust you make the payments.

If you’re 30 days late on a payment it will affect your credit score only when it’s reported to the credit bureau. The same applies to 60-day late payments. However these are considered short term and may not cause any lasting damage to your scores. If this happens over and over then this will not be the case. Also a one time late payment of 30-60 days may never be reported to the credit reporting agency. You can avoid a lot of worry by finding out if the creditor reports a currently 30 or 60-day late payment or not. Many do not.
If you’re 90 days late it’s another matter. This can damage your credit report and score for seven years, unless you can get it removed. If it was in error or you had some special circumstances and your credit history has been good then it is worth a try by writing a letter to the credit report company. The three main credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and Trans Union.

Credit card companies and other creditors look at 90-day or 120-day late payments as a red flag. They can no longer trust you to make your payments on time so your credit score will go down. Their purpose is to determine whether you’ll be able to make your payments on time or at least before 90 days have passed. It doesn’t matter if the payment was for $25 or $1000, they will look at it the same way.

Also sometimes late payments may cause a rise in the interest rates on your credit cards.

If you can avoid making any late payments you’ll dramatically improve the scores on your credit report. And if you haven’t gotten your copy of your personal, annual, free credit report online yet then get one now. Study it and then find out how your current creditors look at late payments. Call them up and find out if they report a 30 or 60-day late payment to the credit reporting agency.

Best of all find some emergency ways to completely avoid making any late payments. Try making your payments online a few days early to avoid payments getting lost in the mail. If at all possible find things you can sell or do some small part-time work from home and try to make a small emergency fund.

Do anything you can to avoid making a late payment. But if it happens, make it as soon a possible so it doesn’t go into a 90-day problem. Ninety days is the point where it’ll be difficult to turn things around and seriously affect your credit report and score and future borrowing opportunities. It’s best to spend a little time learning about credit reports, how you can fix or repair your credit report and scores now and how you can raise your credit scores fast. You may be doing some things you had no idea would cause your scores to drop.

As consumers continue to extend themselves by using more and more credit, their ability to repay their debts and loans is becoming harder and harder. As a result, the median credit score is taking a plunge and lenders are faced with turning away more business. Those who are seeking to get approved for a loan are left facing the facts of their repayment history and money management skills.

Now that you know why your credit score is what it is, it’s time to take actionable raise credit score steps that will have the greatest impact in the shortest amount of time. Start with taking a look at your available credit to debt ratio and make sure it is below 30%. This is the fastest way to make an improvement in your credit rating, and can be done just by picking up the phone and requesting a credit limit increase (of course there are some tricks on how to make that happen every time). Continue to find other credit behavior issues that you can change to immediately increase your credit score.

From there you want to start the dispute process. Since this can take up to 30 days, you want to get started on this early. If you need to raise your credit score quickly, your best bet is to pick 2 or 3 items that are hurting your reputation as a borrower the most. This will get the reporting agency to work fast for you. Plus, if you submit everything at once, the reporting agency is less likely to take you seriously.

Assuming you already have a copy of your annual credit report you may have already found some errors that should be removed. Errors should always be a big concern because they can and probably have affected your credit score, also called a FICO. You can repair your credit with a little bit of help.

It may seem like a lot of work but it’s really easy. The hardest part is actually sitting down to do it. You’ll need to check all three credit bureaus to make sure the same error isn’t on all three but if you just have one credit report, start with that one.

First make a list of any and all errors that you find on your personal credit report. These could be in the form of personal information such as birth date or more likely there will be information that you know not to be true such as late payments or no payments recorded etc. If you think there is any possibility that you could be wrong check your past history with the creditor in question first.

You want to make sure you are right before you make the request to have any information removed from your credit report.

You will be sending the letter only to the credit bureau mentioned on the report, which would be Esperian, Equifax or TransUnion. You don’t want to sound angry in the letter, just be matter-of-fact, straightforward and business-like. Just outline the facts – name of creditor, dates, and the error(s) or problem(s) you’re finding on the credit report.
Here is a sample letter:

Date:

To whom it may concern at Esperian (or other credit bureau):

I recently acquired a copy of my credit report and found some errors that I’d like to dispute. I am enclosing documentation to prove the information is incorrect and would like a correction. I value my good standing and good credit history and want to maintain a good credit rating and credit score.

Name the creditor along with the reference date including the month, day and year if possible.

The error(s) I have found are:

I’m including copies of my payment record, with a (cancelled check or online payment print-outs or any other documentation that you have).
I would appreciate any attention to the matter as I would like my credit report to be accurate. I’m sure you understand that credit bureaus need to include only information that is accurate in my file.

Thank you for taking a look at my letter and file and hopefully making the necessary corrections so I can continue to maintain my good credit standing. Please let me know that my file has been reviewed and what action has been taken. I would also like a copy of my corrected credit report sent to the enclosed address. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Besides your full name as shown on the report, include you mailing address, a copy of the report that you have, your social security number, driver’s license photocopy and any other documentation such as a cancelled check or online payment confirmations.

Make a copy of the letter for yourself and a copy of any enclosures with the letter. Send the dispute letter by certified mail with a ‘return receipt’ requested. Then make sure to get the free credit reports from the other two main credit bureaus or reporting agencies to make sure they don’t have the same incorrect information. You can get free instant credit reports from the other two online.

Also known as the Fair Isaac Corporation Score, FICO is a financial history with a rating between 300 and 850. In calculating the credit score, a number of factors are put into consideration and they include the length of the credit history, late payments of bill, amount of debt and the current credit limits. The main reason for frequently checking our credit report is to check out for errors since any form of outdated, fraudulent, duplicate or wrong entries can negatively affect the FICO score rating.

Both The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Accurate Credit Transactions Act statethat it is the right of the consumer to request a copy of their FICO credit report once a year. It is therefore important that you request your FICO credit report in order to discover the various things you can do to  improve the score by reading all the details. Fortunately, you can easily and quickly achieve this by use of the various free credit report websites. These websites offer other serives such as credit monitoring, identity theft protection but you need not require them to get your FICO credit score.

(PRWEB) July 20, 2004

We at http://www.goldmedalmortgage.com have programs specifically for California residents who have a high FICO score and qualify for a low home mortgage loan rate that could potentially save you hundreds of dollars a month.

As an example on a $ 150,000 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage a borrower with a high FICO could pay as low as $ 895 a month, where somebody with a lower score could pay $ 1238 on the same loan.

A FICO credit score can range from 300 to 800. Remember, the higher the FICO credit score the better the home mortgage loan rate! Most borrowers fall into the 600-800 credit score range.

A high FICO score is your reward for paying bills on time. This is one of the most important factors that determine your home mortgage loan rate. A borrower’s high FICO score is the best signal to the lender of how well you’ll make your mortgage payments.    

The three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and Trans Union) use a slightly different system to arrive at a credit score. The best known is called the FICO score, developed by Fair Isaac and Company (FICO).

FICO is used by Experian. Equifax’s credit score is called BEACON, while Trans Union uses EMPIRICA.

The most important information that the credit agencies use to determine your credit score are:

Credit History – How long have you had credit? The longer you’ve had good credit the higher the FICO credit score.

Payment History – Do you pay your bills on time? One 30 or 60 day late payment can damage your good FICO credit score.

Credit Card Balances – How much do you owe and how many accounts do you have? A person who has many credit cards even if there are small or no balances on the accounts has a greater potential to incur debt. Close out the credit cards that you don’t use!

Credit Inquiries – How many times have you had your credit checked? The fewer inquiries on your credit report the better the FICO credit score. So when you sign up for a free gift at the mall and your credit gets checked you might have lowered your FICO score even if you have no intention of using the new card!

It is very important to know your FICO score even if you are not in the market for a home mortgage loan rate. You could have errors on your credit report which are lowering your FICO score.

The 3 credit agencies have valuable information on your credit scores. http://www.equifax.com, http://www.experian.com and http://www.transunion.com.

We at http://www.goldmedalmortgage.com have programs specifically for California and Nevada residents who have a high FICO score and qualify for a low home mortgage loan rate. We also have programs for people who have FICO scores which are lower. We make many loans that banks can not. As we like to say, “We make loans that banks do not”!

For more information call 866 398 4664 or please go to:

http://www.goldmedalmortgage.com

# # #

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

located within the United States and its territories.

Why am I getting this instead?

Best answer:

Answer by jpocia03
I would look at annualcreditreport.com. From there you will have access from Experian, Transunion and Equifax. These credit bureaus are FICO based.

You should have access to that via internet from the Phillipines.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

What do you think? Answer below!

Fico scores affect whether you can get credit and what interst rate you pay for credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and other kinds of credit. When testing to see what type of loans you are eligible for, most companies will base your approval off of your credit score. This means that having a high FICO score will always be a benefit towards those in a lending situation.

Planning on taking out a loan for a car or obtaining financing for a mortgage? For most kinds of credit applications, higher scores mean you are more likely to be approved and pay a lower interest rate on new credit cards or loans.

When looking for loans and credit cards, having a high FICO score will determine what your interest rates are through the company that you are obtaining a card or loan from. Did you know shaving just 2 or even 3 percent off of a 0,000 mortgage will save you more than ,000 in the long run. That is ,000 that one could put towards a new car or modifying their home or really whatever they wanted.

When trying to rent an apartment or obtaining loans for houses, good FICO scores come into play. Without good fico scores, your apartment application may be rejected. Having a high FICO scores can reduce how much you will have to pay on a deposit for your apartment. It will also lower security deposits for utilities inlcuding phones, electricity, cable TV and even natural gas.

Banks and businesses that use your FICO score will look at your scores constantly for fluctuation. Creditors and banks look at your scores when deciding whether to change your interest rate or adjust the limit on a credit card. Having good credit scores will help you obtain low APRs on mortgages, as well as loans, and will work towards benefitting your finances in the long run.

To improve one’s FICO score, you need to do small things over time that will positively affect your score. Changing a FICO score does not happen instantly, so do not be lured into promises by loan companies that claim immediate alterations to your credit score are possible. In order to positively alter your FICO score, you need to pay your bills on time, always repay more than the minimum on loans and credit cards, and make sure you do not miss any payments on what loans you currently have out.

There are now low cost services available where you can monitor your FICO score. Monitoring your credit through the major three credit agencies will alert you to fraudulent actions on your account and allow you to fix any attempted identity theft.

What can also occur when trying to improve your FICO score are little nuances that show that you have a good score. Many credit card companies that monitor Fico scores will start sending you credit cards through the mail along with directions on how to activate them. Such small actions actually show that card companies trust your current score and want you to be a customer with them.

A site to test your score at is myFico.com. This site gives you an estimate of your FICO score by asking simple questions. It takes less than five minutes to do and just involves a basic relay of information from one’s loan and credit card history. The estimate given at the end can tell you where your score should be, and help you setup an accurate estimate with what your FICO score is.

Credit monitoring services now examine your credit reports through TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax for accurate and up to date FICO scores. These company’s sites allow the user to check their score annually, so space out your checking with the three major companies over the course of a year to monitor your credit score.

With the high amount of identity theft monitoring your Fico score is no longer a luxury, it’s an safeguard for your financial well being.

The higher your score in your credit report, you can buy the confidence of the financial institutions. You will be able to take your pick from a variety of financial institutions while applying for a loan. Your credit reports and your FICO score are the best tools available in the hands of the financial institutions to judge your reliability.

Calculating Your FICO Score

Calculating your FICO Score by means of a complicated mathematical formula is done taking into account your present and past financial dealings. There are a number of things that are taken into account; mainly your financial records are probed deeply. You income is assessed in terms of your expenditure, the debts that you have incurred are also considered. Whether you are involved in some sort of a loan with other financial institutions or have dues in car payments or have a host of credit cards that you used previously.

Your accountability factor in terms of repaying your loan is judged. If you are punctual and have maintained a desired level of consistency in paying back your loans, then you are likely to have a higher FICO score, otherwise not.  Calculation of your percentage score is done on the basis of the financial activities that you have been involved in, both in the past and the present.

However, it is imperative that you go through a copy of your credit report online frequently, so that you can check for any sort of frauds, errors or wrong information. You need to keep a tab on the credit report as any wrong information or errors will invariably harm your reputation and affect your credit score. With time, the whole system is becoming advanced and more transparent and you can readily get the required information, free copy of your FICO score via the internet.

The Average FICO Score in the USA

The average FICO Score varies but the range is 300 to 850. Now Americans who boast of good credit score have 850 in their kitty, having the highest score. For that matter a credit score above 700 is considered good enough for the moneylenders to trust you. Your credit history should be good enough if you want money or big loans from the money lenders. The unfortunate ones who get the tag of having a poor credit usually have 300 credit score.

Los Angeles, CA (Vocus) July 22, 2010

Figures recently released by Fico Inc. show nearly 43.4 million Americans have a credit score of 599 or below. This marks them as being a high risk for most lenders.

Many Americans facing a low credit score are unlikely to be able to obtain a credit card, car loan, or mortgage. Lower credit scores; resulting from heavy consumer spending and debt has been attributed to the recent slow economy.

Morgan Drexen, Inc. CEO Walter Ledda says, “Creditors were over lending money to consumers and solely basing their underwriting standards on FICO scores. They need to take responsibility for the credit crisis because they over extended credit based on the FICO scores.”

Morgan Drexen provides proprietary software and automated administrative services to attorneys across the nation. This automated software, creates efficiency so that attorneys can spend more time with their clients who are in financial difficulty and less time doing paperwork.

As consumer credit heads south, Morgan Drexen CEO Ledda adds, “ In the month of June alone the attorneys we support have engaged over one thousand new clients; in June 2009 there were a little over two thousand new clients, so numbers are down this year. These clients are consumers in severe financial difficulty. It is my hope, that consumers are now taking big steps to reduce their debt. I personally think consumers should look at their finances and try to lower their debt.

For most people a FICO score below 600 represents poor credit, but what does that really mean? Carey Howe, of Morgan Drexen says. “ Most people strive for a high FICO score, as this represents credit worthiness. Unfortunately, FICO does not consider the debt versus income ratio. It is based on five key factors. These are payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit and types of credit cards. There is no consideration for how much a person actually earns. In my opinion the FICO score often is not a true representation of credit worthiness.”

Mary Allison contacted attorneys supported by Morgan Drexen to help her with her debt. Mary’s FICO score was 802 despite the fact that she was in severe financial debt. There are many like Mary who have high FICO scores but still need help managing their rising debt.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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