My goal is to minimize taxes and maximize returns.
1) I met with a personal financial planner yesterday who told me to open up a traditional IRA account and dollar cost average in the following index fund allocations (25% S&P 500, 25% REIT, 25% High Yield Corporate Bonds, 15% Small Cap Index, 10% Money Market)
2) A drinking buddy told me to open up a cash based service business and under-report my profits every year by the amount I planned to save.

Which of the 2 is better advice?

Would you take advice from a drinking buddy or a certified financial planner?

This one seems to be an easy question to answer.

LOL

My fiance and I are in debt but will be getting wedding money and I do not want to be foolish with it. We do not qualify for low-income housing or services such as United Way, but we do not have quite enough to live on our own comfortably, partially because of debt accrued (I had a high paying job and was suddenly laid off).

You are an intellegent person, you can make your own budget and pay off all the higher intrest rates first and then the lower ones. There are few that are free and even if they say they are there is usually a catch.

I’m a recent college graduate with a solid professional/academic resume, but I am lacking in the relative work history department. I’ve been pursuing entry-level analyst jobs in corporate finance and financial services firms but haven’t had any success landing one. Its now time to get job to fill in my resume/have income until I can secure a job in the investment industry. Any suggestions that would be a "plus" in the eyes of a recruiter?

Thanks in advance!
(My ideas so far… bank teller, internships, temp agency…)

Primerica is an option, but it may not be for you. Although recruiting people is very important to building a business with Primerica, if all you want is money to live on, it is not required. However, the only way to make more money (ex: increase commissions) in the business, is to build a team.

If you join to solely to make money though, you will fail. If you wish to make a difference in peoples lives, and focus on that, you will succeed in time.

However, from what I have heard from other insurance agencies and investment firms, they will not touch someone from Primerica because of what we believe. It’s contradictory to high profits.

In short, if you are simply looking for another job, stay away from Primerica. If you are looking to build a business you can be proud of, give it some thought. Only you will know what is right for you.

Edit: Corrected grammer.

Consolidation loans can be a major resource for the debt programs. Consolidation becomes the only feasible solution, when you are in the risk of repaying multiple debts. This route will help you to solve multiple financial problems using the professional services available for a personal debt consolidation loan. Financial help is offered by different sources such as credit card companies, banks, and private lenders, lawyers and nearly all financial advisors.

Money problems are inevitable when it comes to meet all living requirements after job cuts or any mishap with financial planning. Apart from monthly living bills, people are now forced to get in different debts due to the uncontrolled use of credit cards. However the condition becomes critic, if you are inefficient in the proper debt management. The default in the payment of bills due to scarcity of money or carelessness, it will lead you to the rim of financial disaster such as bad credit. Also you will be at threat of multiple debt collectors, which may haunt the personal and social attributes of a person.

A consolidation loan is a loan facility provided to a person to get rid of his personal debts. It can attribute many benefits over the multiple debts. The trouble of paying for multiple debts can be avoided through this single repayment. Also one can devoid the threat of multiple bill collectors. According to the credit status of the person, in need, different loans and repayment options are available. Generally the debt consolidation will be comprehensive to include the different debts such as credit card bills, bank loans, and private lender loans. Usually the interest rate will also be lower than most other loans. However it differs with the type of personal debt consolidation loan.

Personal debt loans are mainly available in the type of secured loan as well as unsecured loan. The secured options will be based on the collateral security of any of your property. Since the secured loan has the assurance of the property, the lenders are willing to give loans in larger loan amount and lower interest rates. The unsecured loan options do not require any collateral security. In most cases, the unsecured loan interest rate will depend upon the credit report of the person. However, some lenders are ready to offer unsecured loan to bad credit persons, but at a higher interest rate.

Personal debt consolidation loan is also available in other modes such as personal installment loan and personal revolving credit line. In personal revolving credit line type of loans, you can enjoy flexibility in using the account where as personal installment loan is similar to conventional loan.

However, the selection of an ideal consolidation loan is the most important aspect of procuring a loan. If you are not careful in the selection, the expected results regarding the benefits may not be feasible. Always shop around. Talk to 2 or 3 different advisors before making the final decision.

Doug Pare
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/personal-debt-consolidation-loan-explore-your-options-68801.html