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Saving for a home, retirement, a vacation or anything else can be difficult.

The median retirement savings of all working-age families in the United States is $5,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Given that many financial advisers recommend having about $1 million in retirement, that leaves many families far short of their retirement plans.

Don’t let such big goals keep you from striving for them. Many mobile apps help people reach multiple savings goals, often in painless ways that only require the change you’d normally get at the cash register.

For a retirement plan, home down payment or other large financial goal, you’re probably best off by maximizing automatic paycheck deductions or contributing regularly to a savings account. For smaller savings goals, here are some apps to check out:

Qapital: Set multiple savings goals and have money moved into savings based on rules you set. The service is free.

You won’t have to sacrifice the things you love buying. Buying an espresso every morning at your local coffee shop? Tell the app to save $5 every time you buy coffee. Or it can round up that coffee purchase by a lower amount, such as moving a $3.50 coffee to $4 and putting that extra 50 cents in your account.

Digit: This service has a different way of helping users save money. It connects to your checking account and analyzes your income and spending and finds money it can set aside for you. It never transfers more than you can afford, so you don’t have to worry about overdrafting your account.

Digit used to be free, but now charges $3 per month for its service. A 100-day free trial is available.

Acorns: This micro-investing app turns every purchase you make into an investment.

It connects your accounts and cards that you use to make everyday purchases and rounds your purchases to the nearest dollar. That spare change is automatically invested. You can also set up recurring or one-time investments.

Acorns costs $1 per month to use. For accounts of $5,000 or more, the fee is 0.25 percent per year.

SmartyPig: This online saving account lets you save for specific goals by making automatic transfers from your linked bank account. Want to save for a new TV? SmartyPig can help you set up an account for that.

The service is free. Up to six withdrawals per account can be made each month.

I hope you found this helpful. Contact me for more insights and info.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

To stop a criminal from using your personal information to open a credit card in your name, start by preventing lenders from checking your credit unless you first unfreeze your information.

Even if you have poor credit”or are low on savings”protecting your credit from identity theft by taking advantage of a free credit freeze is a good idea.

Thieves can steal your personal information (i.e., Social Security number, driver’s license number and birth date) and create new identities to fraudulently get loans and open credit card accounts in your name.

A credit freeze prevents lenders from checking your credit in order to open a new account. So, if a criminal has your personal information and tries to open a credit card in your name, a credit freeze will stop the lender from checking your credit. If you have a credit freeze in place, you must remove it to apply for credit.

Also called security freezes, free credit freezes were required under federal law in May 2018. The three major credit reporting bureaus”Equifax, TransUnion and Experian”now allow free freezes of consumers’ credit files. The freezes prevent information from being provided to lenders unless you “thaw” the freeze with a personal identification number.

While identity thieves can steal personal information through data breaches such as the one that occurred at Equifax in September 2017 that compromised sensitive information for nearly half the population of the United States, it’s important to remember that consumers are responsible for initiating the freeze.

In addition, consumers must also keep track of the necessary PINs in order to lift the freeze before applying for any new credit. It’s also important to note that credit freezes will need to be thawed at all three credit bureaus since it’s impossible to know in advance which credit bureau a lender will use.

The new law also allows parents to create and freeze credit files for children under the age of 16 so that their identities aren’t misused.

If you’re looking to protect yourself by setting up a credit freeze, make sure you freeze your information at the three major credit reporting bureaus, as well as at the National Consumer Telecom & Utilities Exchange (NCTUE). With the NCTUE, a consumer reporting agency that provides data to some cellphone, subscription-based television services and utility companies, a freeze is free. Bear in mind that freezing your credit reports at the main credit bureaus isn’t always enough, as identity thieves can still steal your information by hacking cellphone companies and other utilities.

Setting up a security freeze is a good start when it comes to protecting your credit from identity thieves, but it won’t protect you from other types of fraud that involve someone using the credit card number you already have or impersonating you to claim your Social Security benefits.

To prevent these types of fraud, check your credit card statements for suspicious charges, check your credit reports periodically and monitor your online Social Security account.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be construed as professional or legal advice.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Paying your medical bill is one of the last things on your mind when youre at a hospital emergency room. And how that bill could affect your credit score is probably much less of a concern. But even a non-emergent hospital visit can result in a large medical bill months after your health insurance covers a portion of it. If you dont pay the bill or pay it late, it can go to collections and hurt your credit score.

Here are some of the ways unpaid medical bills can hurt your credit:

Late Payments
An unpaid medical bill can end up on your credit report in a few ways. Your doctors office may report a late payment or unpaid bill to the three major credit bureaus. A large hospital may report the outstanding bill, but a small doctors office may not. If it goes to a collections agency, the debt will likely be placed on your credit report. The largest part of a credit score is payment history. It accounts for 35 percent of a score, and shows if youve paid past credit accounts on time or missed payments entirely.

Medical Debts Weigh Less
Medical debts have less of an impact on credit scores from the Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO, which are the most widely used. Most lenders in the U.S. use an older version of the FICO credit scoring system which doesnt pay much attention to the type or balance of a collection.

Under the old system, a small, unpaid medical bill could hurt a credit score just as much as a larger debt. The new scoring system protections dont apply if you paid the medical bill with a credit card. If the credit card bill is paid late, your credit score could still be dinged.

Wait Seven Years
Legally, collections can only stay on a credit report for up to seven years. If you can wait that long, then the medical debt will go away and your credit score should gradually improve.

If you want your credit score to improve during those seven years, some lenders may want to see that youre paying off collections that are less than seven years old. Others may not care and may continue denying you credit during that time. The more recent a collection is, the more it will hurt your FICO score.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

The best way to improve your credit score is simple, but not always that easy: Reduce your debt.

Paying off your credit cards, or at least paying them down substantially, will not only increase your credit score, but having less debt will probably be more satisfying than a great credit score. And not using your credit cards anymore and paying off the balances is easier said than done.

But there are smaller, easier steps that can improve a credit score. Here are six:

Set payment reminders: Making credit payments on time is one of the best ways to improve your credit score. Set payment reminders on your phone or whatever calendar you use, and check if your bank offers online reminders through email or text messages.

Dont open new accounts: If you have a short credit history, then opening a lot of credit accounts too rapidly will lower your average account age and can drop your scores if you dont have a lot of other credit information.

Fix errors: Get a copy of your credit report and check it for errors. These can include accounts that are listed as open but closed, incorrect late payments and wrong personal information, such as your birthday. If you find any credit report errors, fix them online with the credit reporting agencies.

Dont move debt around: How much you owe accounts for 30 percent of a FICO credit score, one of the most common types of credit score. It can be tempting to pay off one credit card with another, but that type of shell game can hurt a credit score. Instead, pay down the debt and have fewer open accounts.

Dont max out: Stay away from hitting the top of your credit limit on your credit cards so that your credit utilization level is low. Credit utilization is the amount of your credit card balance relative to your credit limit. The higher it is, the worse it can affect your credit score.

This may be easier said than done, but keeping balances to 30 percent or less of your credit limits will improve a credit score just as much as paying your credit bills on time will.

Pay your bills twice a month: This is easier than you think and can be done with the same amount of money you were going to pay for the full month anyway.

If youre paying down a credit card with $500 per month, for example, pay half of it just before the statement closing date and the second payment just before the due date. The first will reduce the balance that credit bureaus see and the second will ensure you wont pay a late fee.

I hope you found this information helpful. Please contact me for all your real estate information needs today!

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Compromise is an important part of marriage. From deciding how much to spend on a new living room set to what to watch on TV tonight, compromise is constant.

It can also be a big part of retirement conversations. While agreeing on the financial and logistical issues around retirement is great if you can get there, chances are, there are some aspects of a life together without work that will be a compromise. Getting on the same page before retirement can make it a lot easier.

Here are some topics couples should talk about before retirement:

When to Retire
Do you both plan on retiring at the same time? Maybe one person wants to wait until age 70 to receive the most Social Security benefits, while the other wants to collect them when they’re first eligible at age 62.

What Are Your Retirement Goals?
Each person may have different dreams of what retirement should be. One may want to travel immediately, while the other wants to stay home.

Both can be done, of course. Discussing what you want to do in retirement is one of the best things about planning for it. Doing those things together”after figuring out what they are”can make your retirement dreams come true.

How to Pay for It
Social Security is an important part of funding retirement, but it shouldn’t be the only way. If your goals are bigger than your assets, you’ll have to make some adjustments. To determine how much money you’ll have in retirement, a couple should meet with their financial advisor.

Each spouse should have access to their savings, investments, pension, insurance and other accounts, and have a short monthly meeting on where they stand. Make sure each person is listed on the paperwork for each account, and that beneficiary information is complete.

What’s in Your Will?
This is the unpleasant part of planning for retirement, but it’s something worth doing. Set up a will together so that your family knows how your estate will be handled, and what they should do about taxes and other financial issues. Your financial advisor should be able to help, as should an attorney.

This is the final step of retirement, and of life, and it’s one you don’t want to avoid. With proper planning, it will be after a long and enjoyable retirement.

Where toFind Free Help With Taxes
Preparing your tax returns can be a chore. The good news is that filing your taxes is free”if you can figure out how to fill out the forms accurately. If not, you may want to buy some tax preparation software or hire a tax preparer to do the detailed work for you.

If you prefer not to spend money for tax prep help, or don’t have the money for it, there are some free alternatives. Here are a few ways to get free help preparing and filing your taxes:

Free E-File Forms From the IRS
The IRS offers free file forms that can be completed online. The program operates from January through mid-October, when accounts are erased from the server. Estimated tax payments can be paid online, and tax refunds can be paid through direct deposit to your bank.

For incomes above $64,000, free file forms are available. The forms offer only basic guidance, and you must know how to do your taxes yourself. You must have your tax return available, and state tax prep isn’t available.

Free File
For incomes below $64,000, another IRS program, called Free File, offers help. It works with a dozen tax software companies in the Free File Alliance to provide free tax filing assistance.

The program is geared toward low- and moderate-income taxpayers. Some may have restrictions on age and where you live, and the program will walk you through programs that meet your criteria. After selecting the software that works best for your tax situation, you’ll be transferred from IRS.gov to the company’s website to complete your returns.

AARP Aide
The AARP Foundation offers free help through its Tax-Aide program that’s run by volunteers.

The program has helped nearly 50 million low- to moderate-income taxpayers since 1968, and is available to anyone 50 and older who can’t afford a tax preparation service.

It’s offered at more than 5,000 locations in libraries, malls, banks, community centers and senior centers. AARP membership isn’t required.

Volunteer Income Tax Association
Known as VITA, this program from the IRS offers free tax help to people who generally make $54,000 or less, persons with disabilities, and limited English-speaking taxpayers. IRS-certified volunteers provide free basic income tax return preparation with electronic filing.

Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE)
The TCE program is another IRS program, offering free help for all taxpayers, but focusing on people 60 and older. Its volunteers specialize in questions and pensions and retirement issues that are unique to seniors. It’s offered at the same types of sites where the AARP program is, and many of the TCE sites are operated by the AARP Tax-Aide volunteers. Some sites also offer free help with web-based tax prep software to file basic federal and state tax returns.

Published with permission from RISMedia.