Reverse mortgages are loans against your home that require no repayment for as long as you live there. As opposed to regular mortgage loans, reverse mortgages have no income requirements and are based solely on the equity of your home or condo. There are no monthly payments to make as the mortgage is due only when the borrower is no longer living at the residence.
Seniors over the age of 62 are eligible for reverse mortgages in the US, provided they own their own single family dwelling. No health requirements need to be met, nor is there any loss of government benefits such Social Security and Medicare as a result of obtaining a reverse mortgage. Some benefits, however, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid can be reduced under specific circumstances. Tax liability for monies received through a reverse mortgage are a non-issue, as loan advancements are not taxed, although interest on the loan is consequently not tax deductible. There are no income requirements to qualify for a reverse mortgage. You may be eligible for a reverse mortgage even if you still owe money on an existing mortgage. The reverse mortgage loan must be large enough reverse mortgage to pay off the existing loan entirely, however.
The benefits of a reverse mortgage are many, and include increased cash flow at a time when many are on a fixed income, putting the equity of your home to use and the ability to choose the method by which you are paid. Several installment options exist to help seniors structure their advances to fit their budgetary concerns and cash flow needs, affording them the ability to effectively plan for their immediate and long term financial future.
Many seniors may feel that borrowing against their home, especially later in life, is a risky endeavor. Reverse mortgages hold little if any risk for the borrower, however, as seniors are not borrowing against future income. Since keeping up with monthly payments is not an issue with a reverse mortgage, the reality is that many who choose this type of mortgage are able to enjoy what they have worked all their lives for in their post retirement years.
To find out more about Reverse Mortgages or to apply visit http://www.libertyreversemortgageadvisors.com/


Protect Your Credit Card
In addition to protecting your credit rating, it is also important to protect the physical credit card itself. Having the card in your possession is not enough, as people can write down the number on the card and use it to make fraudulent purchases. Identity theft has become a problem that costs consumers and companies billions of dollars each year.
Even if fraud, banks and credit card company have never directly affected you will pass down the costs of fraud to consumers. An example of this is the foreign currency transaction fees that you will have to pay when you use your credit card in foreign countries. When you look at it like this, credit card fraud has an effect on virtually everyone. There are a number of things you can do to make sure your card and the numbers on it are protected at all times.
Never provide your credit card number over the phone to someone you didn't initiate the call with. You should make sure you know whom you are talking to before you give them your credit card number. Even if the person says they are affiliated with a well known company, if you didn't call them, don't give them your credit card number until you're sure. If you mistakenly give them your information, immediately call your credit card company and cancel the card.
You also want to avoid using websites that you're not familiar with. Since the rise of the internet, fraud has become rampant, and many people have become the victims of identity theft. When you make a purchase at a website, make sure they have security statements. In addition to this, look for a small yellow lock that is closed. It will be located on the bottom right side of the screen. If possible, only carry one credit card at a time. People who carry around multiple cards are likely to lose them. Once you lose your card, the chances of you becoming a victim of fraud dramatically increase.
Always look at your monthly credit card statement to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. If you see something suspicious, immediately call the credit card company. Whenever you close an account, immediately cut up the cards before discarding them. When you get a charge receipt from the store, make sure you shred it prior to throwing it away. Doing these things will help you avoid becoming the victim of fraud.

Joe Kenny writes for CardGuide.co.uk, offering the latest information on credit cards, visit them today for more best buy credit cards.
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Credit Card Balance Transfer Revisited
Credit card balance transfers are one of the financial world's great empowering features, but they can only be done successfully if you follow the rules and don't fall foul of them. Firstly you must consider the benefits, then the pitfalls. These two aspects are more or less permanent features of the credit card balance transfer system.
The benefits can be summarized as the product of a twofold strategy:
You can transfer credit card balances once the initial interest free period is up to another card, and so continue your interest free credit.
You can more or less plan to do this in advance as long as you have a way of finding new cards to transfer to, and you stay in control of your finances and spending.
Taking these two together - the transfers and the planning - you can aim to give yourself interest free credit for a long time, even interest free credit for years.
The pitfalls are as follows, and must be considered carefully. These are:
Overshooting the Interest Free period
This is a crucial and fundamental issue. There is no point taking out a card with a known zero interest period or low interest period if you just go and breach that time period. Check the date that the interest free allotment ends, and then backtrack by about ten days before then. Ten days is about the right time to apply for a new card. Remember that the application itself will take time, and that this time will vary from card to card. Take into account seasonal changes in the speed and effectiveness of the mail delivery. In the run up to Christmas, for example, it would be wise to allow two weeks.

Minimum Repayment Obligations
Remember to check on what your agreed monthly repayment arrangements are. You may have to pay back a certain percentage (three percent or more, depending on the card) or risk incurring minimum payment fees. This is true even if it occurs within the interest free period, as the credit card provider will want to know that you can at least maintain a minimum repayment to justify the confidence in you when you originally signed up. On some cards, however, such an arrangement may not apply.
Late Payment Obligations
Much the same as above, but this time the emphasis is on paying within a certain time per month. Again, the card issuer may want some kind of assurance that money will be repaid even though interest is not being charged. There will be an extra fee charged if your payment is late, and for small balances this may well be proportionally higher than the interest which would otherwise have been payable (if the charge is a lump sum, as is usually the case). If this arrangement exists, then the best policy is to pay the minimum the same day as you get the statement.
Annual Fees

Remember to check the small print before you apply for the card. This may include information about an annual fee, which is the fee that the issuer will charge you every year for using their credit card. By no means all credit cards have an annual fee, but you must remember to build this in to the total cost of using the card. Things like annual fees tend to muddy the APR figures, which would otherwise give a good indication of how much your credit card actually costs. It is therefore an important factor to consider when deciding which credit card is the right one for you.
Exceeding Your Credit Limit
Whatever you do, don't exceed the credit limit that you agreed and signed up for at the time you applied for the card. If you do this then you will probably be charged (depending on the card supplier) a percentage or a flat fee. This would be particularly reckless, as it would go against everything that you set out to do in the first place, namely to gain a fixed amount of credit without paying any interest on it!
Of the above five negative factors to be considered, it is always best to think of them all together, as each of them may impact in different proportions depending on the credit card and lender. For example, one card may not charge annual fees, but will come down very heavy on late payment charges; while another card will be lenient about an overextended credit limit but will offset this with a fixed annual charge.
It is possible to meet the criteria of the first two positive benefits, as well as avoid all the pitfalls by careful timing. As long as you transfer your credit card balances in a timely fashion, and observe the rules of the transfer itself, you cannot go wrong. Always remember that there are more credit cards out there to transfer your balances to.

Gordon Goodfellow has a background in marketing research and is an Internet marketing consultant and technologist who lives and works in London, UK. His credit card sites automatically alert customers about 0 APR credit cards . The US equivalent site is http://www.credit-card-transfers.com