James Asks...

Q: Can I get a free credit report on this site. I read in the paper that I could? Please explain where I need to go on site

A: See answer below.

Ken Asks...

Q: Steve, I read an article in the Cincinnati Enquirer that was written by you. I would like to get a copy of my credit report and score. The article gave me this site. I have not been able to find a link on your site that would send me where I would need to go to get this information. Could you help me with this? Thank You, Ken

A: Thank you both for your questions. It gave me an opportunity to hopefully make my site just a little easier to find things. I've added a credit report link to the left hand navigation column and a new site search feature so people can easily find what they are looking for.

So for the link to get your credit report, look to the left now. I've also put a banner link right below for you.

Kara Asks...

Q: I have approximately $3400.00 invested in my 401k at work. I plan on quitting in a few months. Where should I put the money then, rollover into an IRA or Roth IRA, to avoid tax penalties?

A: Kara, you have several options. First let me say that when it comes to tax questions you should consult with your local tax advisor and them.

Your major options are:

• Roll over assets to outside IRA.
• Roll over assets to a new employer's plan.
• Stay in your current employer's plan.
• Liquidate your assets and take a cash distributions.

Each option has its own special advantages and disadvantages. I think it would be foolish of me to try to guess at the best option for you without knowing more information about your situation.

I suggest that you speak to a qualified investment advisor at one of the major mutual fund companies or a fee-only financial planner.

Christine Asks...

Q: I saw in an article from 2002, that you created a treatment program for compulsive spenders, does this still exist? Do you know of any treatment facilities that address this type of process addiction? It is very severe, has been going on for over 15 years, and the alternative to treatment is my family disowning my brother.

A: The treatment center no longer exists. We had a heck of a good program. It was a one week stay with daily meetings with a counselor and afternoons of field exercises mixed with spa treatments to help you relax. Clients who came loved it.

The largest obstacle the program ran into was funding. The folks that came to the program were generally compulsive spenders. They did not want to pay for the program and while we were working with insurance companies to certify the program it was just too much of a paperwork jungle.

For some reason when it comes to money problems in our society people think that they should not pay, can't afford to pay or if they are an observer, they think the person with spending problems just needs to stop.

Its just not that easy. I remember one couple I was meeting with where the wife was the overspender. During our meeting the husband looked at her and said in a loud mean voice, "This is all your fault. Just stop spending." Now if it were only that easy.

In their particular case the wife did spend a lot on specific items, things for their two young kids. After much discussion we uncovered that the reason she lavished the kids with gifts was that they were the only ones in the home that she felt genuine happiness and love from. To make a long story short, everything eventually worked out fine once we tackled the underlying reason for the money trouble.

Anna Asks...

Q: I am carrying approximately $53,000.00 in credit card debt. I am on time with all my debts and have a credit score of 705 at this time. I only pay $25.00 to $50.00 over the minimum on those cards because that is all I can afford. What is the best way for me to pay down the balances faster? I don't know where to start.

A: Anna, with a credit score of 705 you've got about 50% of the population above you with better scores. It is time to take some action here. I suggest that you use my money saving suggestions to see if there are some easy expense reduction opportunities you can take advantage of to help free up more cash to use towards debt repayment.

Even though you may have made all of your payments on time your credit score can still be suffering from a high debt to credit ratio. Basically, you are getting too close to your limits on one or more cards. The only way to really check this out is to get a comprehensive consolidated copy of your credit report and see what all three bureas are saying about you. The report will also give you suggestions about what is brining your score down.

When it comes to reducing debt there are two basic approaches. You can either use logic or emotion. The logical approach is to get a custom Debt Eliminator report from Myvesta.org and it will prioritize your repayments according to the most economically efficient way to get out of debt in the shortest period of time without increasing your monthly payments. It can shave years and loads of interest off that you won't have to pay.

The other approach works better for many in real life. It is to focus on paying off the lowest balance creditors first so you can knock them off, get a positive feeling of accomplishment and when you think you are addicted to getting out of debt, switch to the approach above.

Pick the option that you think will work best for you and then reduce all of your payments to the minimum and user the extra cash to focus your attention on one creditor. Stop sending a little extra to the bunch. Send the extra to one and put your debt reduction in turbo.

If you want to put your finances on autopilot, think about a program like Breathe Financial Management.