Getty Images Once you reach your 50s, you're generally at or near your peak earnings years. If making ends meet is a challenge now, it's one that's not likely to get any easier as time marches forward. Even more than for your younger counterparts, cost control and debt reduction will be key parts of your plan to avoid spending more than you make. Right now is your last, best hope of structuring your life in a way that lets you cover your costs and enjoy your life's journey. With help from these five tips, you can improve your chances of making ends meet in a way that minimizes the impact on the rest of your life. Tip 1: Negotiate your interest rates downward. Interest rates on everything from car loans to credit card debt are negotiable, and if your mortgage is at a higher interest rate than the current average, you can even try to refinance it to a lower rate. Refinancing a home loan will cost you a bit up front, but negotiating lower rates on other debt might not. The less you pay in interest, the more cash you can put toward paying down your balances. You can begin the process with a few simple phone calls. If you've got a great history of paying your debts on time, your creditors will be willing to work with you in order to keep you as a customer. If your payment history is not so strong, it still might be worth your while to make those phone calls and ask for lower rates. If your creditors are concerned that high interest rates may force you into bankruptcy, they might be willing to reduce your rates to help keep some cash flowing to their coffers. Tip 2: Snowball your debt payments. After you've negotiated your interest rates as low as you can get them, line up all your debts in order from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate. On every debt except the one with the highest interest rate, pay just the minimum. On the debt with the highest interest rate, pay as much above the minimum as you can, until that debt has been completely paid off. Once that first debt is paid off, take all the cash you had been paying toward that debt and put it toward the debt that now has the highest interest rate. Repeat the process until all your debts are paid off. Since you're in your 50s, you may want to include your mortgage in that list of debts to include in your snowball. While mortgage rates are low and mortgage interest is federally tax deductible, it's still a principal and interest payment that represents cash you can't do anything else with. Each time you pay off a debt, you free up a little bit of cash that gets you closer to being able to reliably make ends meet from the income you have. Tip 3: Prioritize and cut back your spending. Write down where every penny of your hard-earned income is going. Use a spreadsheet, pencil and paper, or personal finance software like Quicken or Mint.com to get a clear picture of your spending. Once you've got that information, go back and look over each expense and mark it as a "have to have," "want to have," or a "can live without." If you've marked an expense as a "can live without," stop buying it. That simple move alone can free up a decent amount of cash, without cutting back on anything you need or really want. For your other expenses, figure out if there are ways to reduce your spending. For instance, if your 50s brought you new medical conditions, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether generics or older brand-name medicines can treat your condition as well as the newest branded drug. Likewise, we all have to eat, and buying in bulk, cooking for leftovers, and using every bit of food are great ways to keep your costs low while still allowing you to eat the foods you enjoy. Dropping the costs you decide you can live without and getting more efficient on your other expenses will get you much closer to being able to make ends meet. If that's still not enough, then it's time to start cutting back on the things you want but don't necessarily need. Even then, see if it's possible to keep some entertainment in your budget, as it's a lot harder to keep a budget with no fun in it than one in which you give yourself a small reward for your thrift. Tip 4: Put your dependents on a financial diet, too. In your 50, you may well be part of the sandwich generation -- taking care of both aging parents and not-quite-yet-independent children. Continue to love your family and care for them, but do so in a way that doesn't break your bank. For one idea, consider having all the people who depend on you live with you. Multigenerational households aren't all that uncommon and can keep the total cost of living per person lower. Additionally, if your dependent adult children are capable of working -- even at a job that's "beneath" their education and experience -- they should be working or actively searching for work. Even if it takes a while to get them a job in their chosen field, it's easier to get a job when you have a job than when you're unemployed. Employers like to see experience, dedication, and consistent performance, not just academic credentials, and a degree with a job says far more than a degree alone. Tip 5: Use your expertise to your financial advantage. The reason you're near your peak earning years is because you've become an acknowledged expert in your chosen field. A great way for a 50-something-year-old to earn a bit of extra income is to hang out a shingle as a consultant. If going it alone doesn't seem like a good fit, companies like Your Encore are designed around helping experienced professionals find second careers and may be able to link you up to opportunities. Get Started Now Following these five tips can get you to the point where you're reliably making ends meet today and well on the path toward financial freedom for the rest of your life. Perhaps best of all, you'll quickly notice the improvement. Once you're reliably making ends meet, you'll feel like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders as the financial stress melts away.
Top 5 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: BGC Partners Inc.(BGCP)
BGC Partners, Inc. operates as a financial intermediary to the financial markets specializing in the brokering of various financial products. It provides electronic marketplaces, including government bond markets, spot foreign exchange, foreign exchange options, corporate bonds, and credit default swaps in various financial markets through its eSpeed- and BGC Trader- branded trading platform which can be accessed through its high speed data network, over the Internet, or third party communication networks. The company?s brokerage services include trade execution, broker-dealer services, clearing, processing, information, and other back office services, as well as cover various products, including fixed income securities, interest rate swaps, foreign exchange, equities, equity derivatives, credit derivatives, commodities, futures, and structured products. It also provides financial technology solutions, market data, and analytics related to financial instruments and markets . In addition, the company offers customized screen-based market solutions, which enables its clients to develop a marketplace, trade with their customers, issue debt, trade odd lots, access program trading interfaces, and access its network and intellectual property. Further, it licenses intellectual property portfolio and software solutions to various financial markets participants; and provides software development, software maintenance, customer support, infrastructure, and internal technology services to support electronic trading platforms. The company serves banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, investment firms, professional trading firms, futures commission merchants, and other professional market participants and financial institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and other Americas. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in New York, New York.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Selena Maranjian]
Finally, Tudor Investment's biggest closed positions included Apple�and the iShares MSCI Emerging Market Index Fund ETF. Other closed positions of interest include Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FTR ) and BGC Partners (NASDAQ: BGCP ) . Frontier, recently yielding more than 9%, is a rural telecom specialist. It's weighed down with considerable debt, and is shifting its business focus, favoring business customers more. It's been posting declining revenue lately, though, and its credit rating took a hit in recent months, also. Some worry that its acquisition of landline business from Verizon�may not be as lucrative as expected, and fear a dividend cut.
Top 5 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Orchids Paper Products Company(TIS)
Orchids Paper Products Company manufactures private label tissue products for the consumer market in the United States. Its product line includes paper towels, bathroom tissue, and paper napkins. The company also offers its products under the Orchids, Velvet, Colortex, Ultra Valu, Dri-Mop, Big Mopper, Soft & Fluffy, Tackle, My-Size, and Care brand names. It serves value retailers (dollar stores), discount retailers, grocery stores, grocery wholesalers and cooperatives, and convenience stores. The company markets its products directly, as well as through independent brokers. Orchids Paper Products Company was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Pryor, Oklahoma.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By David Goodboy]
My next step was to locate stocks in this industry. One company stood out above the rest as a top performer with plenty of upside. That company is Orchids Paper Products Co. (NYSE: TIS).
Hot Biotech Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Star Gas Partners L.P.(SGU)
Star Gas Partners, L.P., through its subsidiaries, operates as a home heating oil distributor and services provider in the United States. It provides its services to residential and commercial customers to heat their homes and buildings. As of March 31, 2011, the company served approximately 408,000 full-service residential and commercial home heating oil, and propane customers. It also sold home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel fuel to approximately 40,000 customers. In addition, Star Gas Partners installed, maintained, and repaired heating and air conditioning equipment, as well as provided ancillary home services, including home security and plumbing to approximately 11,000 customers. Kestrel Heat, LLC operates as the general partner of the company. Star Gas Partners, L.P. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Smith]
Stamford, Conn.-based Star Gas Partners (NYSE: SGU ) is about to get a new CEO.
The company (which, despite the name, actually spends more time delivering oil than gas for home heating), announced Tuesday that Chief Executive Officer Dan Donovan intends to retire on Sept. 30. When that happens, Chief Operating Officer Steve Goldman will move up to take the CEO's chair.
Top 5 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: SORL Auto Parts Inc.(SORL)
SORL Auto Parts, Inc., through its principal operating subsidiary, Ruili Group Ruian Auto Parts Co., Ltd., engages in the development, manufacture, and distribution of automotive brake systems and other safety related auto parts for commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses. The company, through its 90% ownership in Ruili Group Ruian Auto Parts Co., Ltd., a Sino-foreign joint venture, offers various products, including spring brake chamber, clutch servos, air dryers, relay valves, and hand brake valves. It also provides auto metering products, auto electric products, anti-lock brake systems, retarders, hydraulic brakes, and power steering products. SORL Auto Parts, Inc. markets its products under the SORL brand to automotive original equipment manufacturers and the related aftermarket customers in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Ruian City, the People?s Republic of China.
Top 5 Penny Companies To Own For 2014: Inventure Foods Inc.(SNAK)
Inventure Foods, Inc. engages in the development, production, marketing, and distribution of snack food products and frozen berry products to grocery retailers, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience stores, and vend distributors in the United States and internationally. The company manufactures and markets various healthy/natural and indulgent specialty snack food products under its own and licensed brand names. Its healthy/natural food products include the Rader Farms brand frozen berries; the Jamba brand smoothies; and the Boulder Canyon Natural Foods brand snack chips, including kettle cooked potato chips, rice and bean snack chips, and hummus tortilla chips. The company?s indulgent specialty foods comprise the T.G.I. Friday?s brand snacks; the BURGER KING brand snack products; the Poore Brothers brand kettle cooked potato chips; the Bob?s Texas Style brand kettle cooked chips; the Tato Skins brand potato snacks; and the O?Boises brand potato snacks. Its products also include multi-grain puffs, no salt kettle cooked potato chips, cheddar crunchy bites, zesty ranches, and blend-and-serve smoothie kits. In addition, the company manufactures and distributes private label and co-branded fruit and snack chip products for grocery chains and natural stores. Further, it purchases and resells snack food products, including pretzels, popcorn, dips, and meat snacks manufactured by others in Arizona. The company was formerly known as The Inventure Group, Inc. and changed its name to Inventure Foods, Inc. in May 2010. Inventure Foods, Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
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