1. Mint.com
	A long-time leader in personal finance management, Mint.com provides efficient and user-friendly budgeting tools. This mobile version, which securely connects to your bank accounts to track and categorize expenditures, optimizes the budgeting program. The mobile software allows you to manually enter pending and cash transactions on-the-go, meaning that your accounts are always up-to-date. Mint’s app will let you quickly check how much you have remaining in, say, your food budget, so you can smartly decide to grab a can of beans or splurge on a nice cut of meat while standing in the grocery-store aisle. Free from iTunes but you’ll need a free Mint.com account first.
2. Balance
	While automatically updating apps are nice, manually entering your purchases can make you feel more accountable for what you spend. Balance is a basic app to help you manage the balances on all of your accounts. Whenever you make a purchase, pay a bill, or deposit a check, you simply enter the transaction into the app. It then recalculates your new balances. The app also supports recurring transactions—like that monthly gym membership—and enters them automatically. Just the exercise of writing down all of your purchases might make you spend less. With this app, you’ll really learn how quickly those three-dollar lattes add up. Plus, you’ll avoid overdraft fees by always knowing how much is in your accounts. Free from iTunes.
3. BillTracker
	With this handy app, you’ll never pay a bill late again. BillTracker tracks due dates, amounts owed, and confirmation numbers for payments. You can set up reminders so that your phone will alert you when a payment is due soon or overdue. It also lets you set up recurring bills and view bill history to confirm when you sent a payment. Use the app for all of your payments, from water and electric fees to cell phone bills and insurance expenses. The company also makes a free, lite version, but it does not handle recurring bills. $1.99 from iTunes.
4. Debt Minder
	If you’re struggling to pay credit card debt and student loans, Debt Minder will help put you on the debt-free track. The app tracks debts for big purchases—like cars, houses, credit cards, and student loans—and monitors how you pay them off. It even creates personalized plans, including highest interest and smallest balance, to help you pay off debts when and how you want. With color-coded graphics and charts, the app lets you visualize where your money is going and how you are handling your overall debts. $0.99 from iTunes.
5. freecreditscore.com
	Your credit score can make the difference in many of life’s biggest moments, from buying a house to getting a new job. This app tracks your score in real-time so that you can be in charge of your financial future. To use the app, you must be a member of freecreditscore.com—which costs $14.95/month—but the immediate updates and alerts provided by the app may pay for themselves in terms of your peace of mind. The app provides detailed information about what’s hurting and helping your score. If you pay a credit card bill late, for instance, the app will track how your credit score responds. It also includes a Score Estimator to help to make smart financial choices. Free from iTunes.
6. Mortgage Calculator Free
	iTunes contains a handful of mortgage calculators, but this one is the most popular because of its ease of use and simplicity. The app provides multiple mortgage options to figure out whether you can afford to buy your dream house. You can also use the app to configure monthly and yearly fees, including private mortgage insurance and home insurance. It will calculate property taxes using a variety of settings, including how frequently taxes are paid. Whether you’re in the market for a new house or just interested in learning whether you could afford that condo down the street, this is the app for you. Free from iTunes.
7. Expensify
	While compiling expense reports is typically an annoying and unorganized process, this versatile app makes it a breeze. Expensify syncs with your various credit cards and bank accounts to track business-related purchases. It also collects digital receipts from merchants and lets you send copies of paper receipts using your phone’s camera. Simplifying organization, the app sorts expenses by customized categories like meals, mileage, and company. When you’re ready to send in an expense report, Expensify will compile all necessary purchases and email a PDF to the appropriate contact. You can even be directly reimbursed to an online checking account. Free from iTunes.
8. Gas Cubby
	If you own an automobile, car maintenance and gas expenses are probably taking their toll on your wallet. Download this app to save money and keep your car in tip-top shape. The app uses your phone’s GPS to chart car mileage and how much gas you’re using. It also tracks gas prices at different locations so that you can get the best local deals. In addition to recording gas usage and mileage, the tool has customizable service updates. Use it to get reminders about when to change your car’s oil and other maintenance needs. By keeping up with basic automobile upkeep, you’ll save money on larger expenses and your car will run for years to come. Free from iTunes.
9. iTrade
	If you want to learn more about the stock market without putting your finances at risk, look no further than iTrade. The app lets you manage a virtual stock portfolio, compete with information from other members, and research stocks with news and history graphs. Although just a game—at the end of the month, the app calculates top players—iTrade looks and feels like a real trading platform. It only operates during actual trading hours and even includes virtual broker fees. Practicing on the app will prepare you for the real stock market while eliminating risks—even the app is free. Free from iTunes.
10. Real-Time Stocks
	If you already have investments in the stock market or are looking to join in, check out Real-Time Stocks. While there are many stock-tracking apps for the iPhone, Real-Time Stocks is probably the most basic and easiest to use. The app displays real-time quotes and charts for most U.S. stocks. It even lets you monitor multiple stocks at once. Using the app, you can create a watch list for stocks most important to you and track global indices. It also allows you to manually enter stocks in non-U.S. exchanges. Even if you don’t have a stock portfolio, the app is an excellent way to track the market and learn more about its ups and downs. Free from iTunes.
11. Wikinvest Portfolio
	Wikinvest Portfolio Image: Wikinvest.jpg If you have one or several stock portfolios, Wikinvest Portfolio, which monitors all of your investment accounts in one place, is the app for you. The secure interface automatically imports your holdings from over 60 common brokerages, including Merrill Lynch, Fidelity, Etrade, Moran Stanley Smith Barney, Schwab, and more. The app lets you compare your portfolios’ performance to major indices and view real-time quotes and news for all of your investments. You can also research future investments with the app by viewing company charts, community analysis, and news. Free from iTunes.
12. iSlick
	iTunes contains tons of apps for sales, freebies, and group-based coupons, but iSlick combines all of these categories into one smooth interface. The app lets you track sales from shopping and deal websites, like Amazon.com and Groupon, to get the best prices on everything from electronics and household products to spa services. It also lets you choose from specific deal-types—such as freebies—and enter keywords. On the hunt for a new laptop? Use the app for up-to-date deals on the best machines. Free from iTunes.
13. Ask Dave Ramsey
	With this app, Dave Ramsey’s popular financial radio show is at your fingertips anytime, anywhere. The app has a database of hundreds of popular calls made to the show with real-life money questions and answers. You can read a short summary of the question or listen to the actual radio clip. Financial concerns are sorted into categories, like taxes, insurance, and budgeting. You can also choose to listen to a random clip to deepen your knowledge about all things money. Want to learn more about how to save when unemployed or how much you should budget for pet emergencies? Grab this app for answers to these and many more money predicaments. Free from iTunes.
14. PayPal
	PayPal’s app is one of the most popular financial apps available for the iPhone, and for good reason. The app lets you send money to people as gifts, collect funds for a group gift, and receive payments. You can also use it to create and manage fundraising campaigns. The app’s “split bill” feature is particularly convenient when dining out with friends—it even has a tip calculator. Download this straightforward app to save time writing checks and trekking to the ATM. Free from iTunes.
15. Your Financial Institution’s App
	Mobile banking makes it easy to check balances, transfer funds, and pay bills from anywhere. Almost all major banks now offer banking apps that make managing your money simple and convenient. Some of these apps, like the one from Chase, even let you take deposit funds by taking pictures of checks with your iPhone’s camera. You can also use your bank’s ATM-finding tool to locate the nearest cash machine, saving you extra dollars in fees. Here are a few of the major banks with apps in the iTunes store: Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, ING, SunTrust, Wells Fargo.

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice is a freelance technology writer living in Brooklyn.

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Guest author David Bakke shares his insights on money management, smart shopping, and getting out of debt on Money Crashers, one of the top ranked personal finance blogs.

In this day and age, people are constantly upgrading just about every appliance, device, and gadget they own. Therefore, it’s not surprising that many people feel the need to buy a new car every few years. Personally, I think the obsession with “upgrading” is silly, but I also understand that it’s just one of society’s latest trends.

Unfortunately, this trend can often cost you more than just the retail price—buying a new car rather than keeping your old one carries quite a bit of added expense. Here are five great reasons why you should hold onto that “outdated” vehicle a while longer.

5 REASONS TO KEEP YOUR OLD CAR

1. Life Without a Car Payment
It took me a long time before I got to experience the joy of life without a car payment. Unfortunately, I wrecked my first two cars right before they would have been paid off. Then, in 2000, I finally paid off a car that I was still driving.

Let me tell you something: not having to write a check for a car payment every month amounts to huge savings in your personal funds. Just imagine having an extra $300 or more left over at the end of every month. I was able to use the funds to pay off all my credit card debt and begin seriously saving for retirement.

If you are currently driving a car that is paid off but are contemplating purchasing a new one, ask yourself this: “Do I really want that chunk of money coming out of my pocket on a monthly basis again?”

2. Opportunity to Save for Your Next Car
If you’ve just paid off your current car, why not use the opportunity to save for a new one? Continue to “make” your car payment, but set it aside in some sort of interest bearing account.

If you hold onto your current car for three more years, putting that $300 or so payment away each month, you would have almost $11,000 to put towards your next car. And that doesn’t even include the interest you’d gain on that money!

3. Depreciation
I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times before, but it’s important to remember when you’re tempted to purchase that shiny new vehicle: a new car begins to depreciate in value as soon as you drive it off the lot.

It’s impossible to give you any hard numbers on the matter since it fluctuates based on the purchase price of the car. Here’s a rough estimate to keep in mind: you can expect to lose somewhere in the area of at least 50% in value during the first five years of owning a new car. Compare that to the cost of maintaining your current car over the next five years. I bet Old Reliable’s looking pretty good right about now.

4. Indirect Costs
Oftentimes, people do not take the indirect costs of owning a car into account when considering whether to buy a new vehicle.

Take auto insurance, for example. If you purchase a new car, plan on paying significantly higher insurance premiums. To illustrate, I obtained quotes for insurance on a 2010 Toyota Corolla and a 2005 Toyota Corolla utilizing identical factors (including age and driving record). If you purchased the newer car, you would be paying almost $300 more annually for your auto insurance coverage.

There are also tag renewal fees to consider. I currently own two cars: a 1994 Toyota and a 2005 Toyota. The annual tag renewal fee for my 2005 car usually runs about $150. The renewal fee for my “clunker,” however, is less than $30. Combine these two expenses alone and you’ll save over $400 per year by keeping your current auto.

5. The Environment
Did you know that keeping your current car helps the environment?

The act of replacing your vehicle has direct effects on the world we live in. The process of building a new car expends both energy and resources, and there are also environmental costs to disposing of an old car. It takes energy to shred and recycle metals, and some car parts that cannot be recycled end up in a landfill. The leftover fluids, refrigerants, and other chemicals simply turn into hazardous waste.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I drive a 1994 Toyota Tercel. Yes, 1994. It is not the most attractive car in the world, but it gets me from point A to point B just fine. For several years, my reasoning has been that I will continue to invest money in the maintenance of this car until a repair comes along that costs more than the car’s current value. That hasn’t happened yet.

If you’re worried about the repair costs involved in maintaining your current car, ask your friends and family members if they know someone who does repairs on the side. Alternatively, if you’re handy, learn DIY car maintenance tips. You’ll save a bundle over taking it into the shop. If you think that you “need” a new car right now, look at the overall financial cost. You may just want to hold onto your current car for a while.

Did you choose to keep an older car rather than purchase a new one? How did you use the extra money?

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Do you need a financial advisor?

You may think that just because don’t have a lot of money yet, you don’t. And even if you want a financial advisor, you may think it’s impossible to get a qualified advisor to work with you if you don’t have six figures in the bank.

Many of the people I’ve been meeting with lately have echoed these sentiments, but I can tell you that just the opposite is true. Even if you don’t have large assets to manage, you may find that by working with the right advisor, you can reach your financial goals faster. In fact, it’s my opinion that, in many cases, young people need advisors more than older clients!

The question remains, how to choose the right advisor? The best way to answer this question is to be very clear on what your financial needs are.

Most of my younger clients need help in the following areas:

• Starting Investing
• Finding Small Business Funding
• Budgeting
• Buying Life Insurance
• Setting Up Wills and Trusts

The first thing you have to understand that financial advisor is a generic term. An advisor can be anybody who helps you with financial matters including: an attorney, an accountant, a banker, financial planner, or wealth manager. It’s no wonder that when trying to choose a financial advisor, most people don’t know where to begin!

But if you are sure about which of the five areas listed about you want help with, the job of finding the right advisor is actually pretty simple.

Starting Investing

If you’re looking for the best investments to make, a money manager will be the advisor for you. Try as hard as possible to avoid working with anyone who works on commissions like stock brokers and insurance agents. They may be as honest as the day is long. But if a person makes more money by selling you one investment or another, that is what they’re going to try to sell you.

Now, it may be difficult or expensive to get a money manager to work with you if your resources are limited. But here’s a tip that may work. Speak to a successful friend or family member and get them to recommend a good advisor. Ask your well connected friend to make a call and introduce you to her advisor. Ask your friend to convince her advisor to meet with you as a personal favor. Advisors don ‘t like to turn their well-to-do clients down. As a result, you’ll have a good shot at working with a top advisor even if your resources are very limited.

An alternative, if you can afford it, is to look for a good fee-only financial advisor who charges by the hour and hire him or her for a few hours to review your investments and make a plan.

If $500 or so is too much for you at this point, you can start investing on your own with an online broker and guidance you glean from books and blogs like ours. Don’t go all crazy day trading. Find a few low-cost mutual funds and regularly invest in them. But when you’ve amassed $20,000 or more, spend a few hundred bucks to make a plan with an advisor.

Finding Business Funding

Let’s say you have some great business ideas but you need some help getting your enterprise off the ground. People come to me all the time with scenarios like these. But in this case, what you really need is a business lawyer and a good CPA. These professionals are much more important to the success of your business than a financial planner. Save your time and money by visiting with them first.

At the same time, you may consider alternative funding resources like a start up business loan from Lending Club. They may be able to help you raise the money you need quickly and inexpensively. You won’t need a financial planner for this either.

Budgeting

If you are convinced that you need help with budgeting, you may be able to find a fee-only planner or money coach who specializes in this kind of planning.

Before you spend your money that way, however, explore free or affordable self-service options like a budget tracking software package like You Need A Budget or Mint. Of course, once you master your software, you have to really use it. I’m a big fan of recruiting an accountability partner to make sure you stay on course— a friend who wants to get his or her budget in line too.

Life Insurance

If you need life insurance, you can determine how much life insurance you need by yourself and then shop for the coverage you need without an advisor. In fact, I’ll make it even easier for you. If you’re asking yourself whether to buy term life insurance or whole life, always opt for term life insurance when your main objective is to protect your family. Many agents love to sell you whole life or universal life but my experience tells me it’s a waste of money.

Wills and Trusts

If you’ve started a family and/or inherited money, it may be time to start thinking about your will and, if you do have significant assets, creating trusts for your children. Obviously this may come later in life, but it may apply to a few of you! In this case, you’ll want to talk to an estate attorney who specializes in this field. You can search for attorneys in your area using the ABA’s Lawyer Referral Service.

IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU NEED

Now, some of us don’t always know what we need—and if that describes you—hire a good financial planner who will work with you on an hourly “fee-only” basis.

You may be tempted to work with a stock broker or insurance agent because they’ll offer to meet with you for free, but don’t fall for it. While they’d love to get in front of you for a few hours without charging you, they’ll do whatever they can to sell you a high-commission product that you likely don’t need. You may feel like you’re saving money by getting a “free” evaluation or plan, but if you blindly buy the investment products this kind of advisor recommends, you may be spending far more than you would for a few hours of a financial planner’s time.

Meet with a fee-only advisor. Pay for an hour or two of his or her time and map out a financial plan. It’s worth it!

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For example, unless you’re sitting on a seven-figure trust fund, the best financial advisors probably won’t return your calls. (And you should be wary of those who do, especially if they’re hawking life insurance policies to you when you’re 24, single, and childless). And if you do find a trusted financial advisor, you may not be able to afford regular planning sessions.

But just because you don’t have millions in the bank (at least not yet) doesn’t mean you don’t deserve investment advice you can trust.

Enter Bo Lu and his company FutureAdvisor.

Bo and his team realize that not every investor is best served by exclusive—and expensive—financial advisors. That’s why they’ve launched FutureAdvisor, a new Web application that provides automated portfolio analysis and diversification recommendations. Essentially, it’s a virtual investment advisor.

Today, I bring you the FutureAdvisor story for two reasons. For one, I think FutureAdvisor is a promising product—especially if you agree with my simple, low-cost investing philosophy. But this post is as much about entrepreneurship as it is investing, and a good start-up story should inspire anybody, whether you’re trying to make it on your own, too, or just earn a few extra bucks to get on top of your finances.

*To clarify something that came up in the comments, I am NOT part of FutureAdvisor’s affiliate program nor do I have any sort of financial relationship with them…Bo approached me through a fellow blogger and I liked his ideas and company, hence the post.

Here’s Bo:

Seeing The Need

Long before FutureAdvisor, my cofounder Jon and I were rookie software engineers at Microsoft. Like many of our peers, we were geeks in our early 20s who never before had much money (nor cared much for it), and suddenly started earning almost six figures.

As you might expect, some predictable things happened: friends bought BMWs, posh waterfront apartments downtown, and all the plasma TVs and video games you could imagine.

But something else happened, too: some of us started asking each other: “I want to start saving some of this cash to maybe buy a house, and even retire early someday…but how? Where do we start?” And eventually, some of my friends started complaining to me that it wasn’t easy to figure out how to start or manage 401(k)s.

Becoming Reluctant Advisors To Our Friends

Some of our friends went to find financial advisors, but found two problems.

One, many advisors have asset-minimums, meaning that you needed usually $250,000 or more in assets before they would take you as a client. We in our early twenties didn’t have anywhere near that much.

Second, the few advisors who would consider working with us wanted to charge 1% of our total portfolio value, which was a ton of money, and would quickly become thousands of dollars a year as we got older.

Meanwhile, I had been investing since I opened an IRA with money from my first summer job at the age of 16. I had read up on the research behind index investing, and why low-fee, broadly diversified mutual funds and ETFs are the absolute best way to invest.

My friend Simon, who is a CFA and had worked for Putnam Investments and the Bank of England, ran his investments the same way. We helped our friends over numerous dinners, teaching the underlying tenants of passive investing and proper asset allocation. Slowly, one-by-one, we helped our friends clean up their 401(k)s and create broader portfolios.

It took forever, but along the way we quickly realized that while everyone’s financial situation was different, much of the underlying tenants of our investing advice were broadly applicable.

The Idea

We realized that the underlying math to pick the best funds for a particular purpose (such as finding the lowest-cost way to broadly index domestic blue-chip stocks), and the algorithms to tailor a portfolio to an individual’s financial situation (such as a 27-year old who wants to retire early at 55), was something that computers were well-poised to handle.

I talked this over with my good friend Jon, an experienced investor himself and a graduate of MIT’s Computer Science program, and we decided to build ourselves a prototype to see if our hunch proved out. We applied to the start-up incubator Y Combinator, a California boot camp for new companies run by experienced entrepreneurs.

We consider ourselves exceptionally fortunate to have spent the summer working with some of the best start-up advisors and fellow founders in the world. Soon afterwards, we built a team of engineers and finance professionals and began our journey in the historic Pioneer Square district of Seattle.

FutureAdvisor’s Mission and Methodology

FutureAdvisor is a registered investment advisor now serving thousands of clients with unbiased, personalized investment advice delivered via the web application FutureAdvisor.com.

We implement well-known best practices of personal investing and apply it via algorithms to address the unique financial situations of each of our clients. We believe that you shouldn’t pay mutual fund managers thousands of dollars in fees to pick stocks for you, because research shows that stock picking doesn’t work for the long-term. We believe in asset allocations that match your time horizon and risk tolerance, implemented in low-cost, passively-managed mutual funds and ETFs.

(Here’s a screen shot:)

Throughout the application, whenever we give advice, that advice is backed by research and clearly-written explanations.

We believe FutureAdvisor is especially needed now, as companies completely move from pensions (defined benefit plans) that guaranteed employees a certain amount per month in retirement, to 401(k) and similar plans (defined contribution plans) under which your financial future is in your own hands.

We also think that professional quality investment advice should be personalized, research-driven, and available to clients anytime…even in your pajamas. Most importantly, we believe that advisory services should be accessible regardless of how much money you have now or will have invested someday.

This is our story; we hope join us on our mission to democratize unbiased and high-quality financial advice and make it affordable to all.

Learn More: Give FutureAdvisor a free test drive for 14 days.

*Note on the free trial. The FutureAdvisor site currently requires a credit card to enroll in the free trial, but Bo has offered to waive that requirement for Money Under 30 readers if you email him at bo@futureadvisor.com.

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But that’s not the only reason credit cards are the safer way to pay. To discuss some valuable but often-overlooked credit card perks, here’s Michael:

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the fact is many credit cards come with some benefits you just can’t get with debit cards or cash. You probably know about rewards and fraud protection, but lesser-known credit card benefits are sometimes the most valuable.

What I’m talking about are various insurance benefits many credit cards offer cardholders. Here are some of the most useful:

INSURANCE FOR STOLEN OR ACCIDENTALLY DAMAGED ITEMS

How many times have you bought something, only to break or lose it soon after? I actually just had this happen to me a couple weeks ago. I bought a hoodie that I snagged on sale, only to totally mess it up a week later in the dryer…the fabric melted!

Unfortunately, I bought this with my Discover card. I used it to earn the 5% cash back at the department store, but, sadly, Discover doesn’t offer this benefit. If I had used an American Express card like the Preferred Rewards Gold Card, I would have been covered with Amex’s Purchase Protection insurance. In a nutshell, here’s how it works:

On eligible purchases you will be protected up to $1,000 in the event of accidental damage or theft occurring within 90 days from date of purchase.

Not surprisingly, the fine print lists a barrage of Purchase Protection exclusions, but most of them are to be expected. For example, you can’t blame AmEx for excluding motorized vehicles, living things, and perishable items. (Otherwise people could make claims for the moldy bread and bananas they forgot to eat.)

Visa offers a similar program called “Purchase Security” and MasterCard has “Purchase Assurance”, but both of these come with more restrictions than the AmEx program. Furthermore, not every Visa/MC includes it.

TRAVEL ACCIDENT INSURANCE

This benefit is included on most mid-tier and premium cards. The amount of coverage varies by card but it’s usually in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $500,000.

So when is all that moolah paid out? Well, if you die during “Common Carrier Conveyance” travel (an insurance term for passenger plane, ship, train, etc.), then your beneficiaries should be paid the full amount. If you survive the accident but are “dismembered” (i.e., you lose a limb or finger) then you will be directly paid a fraction of the amount.

There are a couple important things to point out here. First, this benefit only applies to travel paid for with the credit card. Second, some issuers also provide coverage beyond the “Common Carrier” part. For example, if you were on the way to the airport for a flight and your crazy taxi driver crashes, some cards may still cover you since you had technically already begun your trip. You’ll need to check with your card issuer to find out what is and isn’t covered.

One last thing…make sure you tell your loved ones about this benefit! Why? Because if, God forbid, you do die in an accident, you won’t be around to remind your parents or spouse about this benefit. Otherwise all that money may go unclaimed!

INSURANCE FOR LOST, DAMAGED, OR STOLEN LUGGAGE

In addition to your life, your luggage may be insured, too. Fortunately, you don’t have to die to get paid for this one!

Like the travel accident insurance, credit card luggage insurance applies to “Common Carrier Conveyance” (for most of us, this means travel on an airline).

If your luggage is lost, damaged or stolen, the credit card company may offer up to $1,250 (or more) in coverage. This is secondary to other forms of insurance. So if your luggage was worth $1,500 but the airline only pays you $1,000, then the credit card company will cough up another $500.

This benefit isn’t as common as some of the others mentioned here. Typically, you will only see it on premium travel cards and those with annual fees. There are a few exceptions, however, such as Visa Signature and World MasterCard tiers (which are sometimes free).

CAR RENTAL INSURANCE

This benefit is extremely useful as long as you understand how it works, because there is a boatload of fine print that goes along with it.

For starters, with almost every card you are given secondary coverage. So if you total that bright shiny 2011 Mustang you rented at Hertz and your personal car insurance provides coverage for rentals, don’t expect your credit card to pay any more than the deductible. However, if there are no other forms of coverage in place (i.e. you don’t own a car with insurance), then the cardholder coverage will kick in.

The benefit varies greatly by card and issuer but here are a few things to point out:

• If you don’t pay for the rental in full using the card, you won’t be eligible for this benefit.
• There’s a laundry list of vehicles that are excluded. Luxury cars, exotics, trucks, and even some SUVs are not eligible.
• Most cards will also cover you outside the United States but there are excluded countries.
• Coverage for administrative, loss of use, and other fees that rental agencies will ding you for aren’t always covered.

You can compare car rental coverage by credit card company, in which you’ll notice there are a couple of options if you want primary coverage instead of secondary. The Continental Airlines OnePass Plus and most Diners Club cards offer it.

EXTENDED WARRANTY COVERAGE

It rarely ever makes sense to pay for an extended warranty, but what if you get it for free? Well, you may be surprised to learn there’s a good chance the card in your wallet already gives you this benefit! Quite a few Visa and MasterCards include this, but American Express is the granddaddy of them all because they include it on all of their cards and provide more extensive coverage:

American Express will extend the terms of the original U.S. manufacturer’s warranty for up to one additional year on eligible purchases with warranties of 5 years or less, when the eligible purchase is charged to the card.

I have heard from members on my forum that had their laptops, phones, LCD TVs, and other devices covered b AMEX. It’s an extremely useful benefit, but you’ll wan to verify certain coverage exclusions imposed by AmEx.

TRIP OR TICKET CANCELLATION INSURANCE

Ever book a trip that you were unable to take due to illness? Or maybe you shelled out big bucks for tickets to a concert or game, only to come down with the flu a day before?

With some some credit cards, you can actually be reimbursed if your trip/ticketed event is cancelled or interrupted due to qualified circumstances. What qualifies, you ask? That varies by issuer, but if you or someone you’re traveling with has a serious illness or injury, there’s a good chance you will be covered. Some card issuers even cover things like natural disasters, losing your job, terrorism, labor disputes, and more.

If you want a card that offers this type of insurance, you may want to check out Escape by Discover.

INSURANCE FOR UNRETURNABLE MERCHANDISE

I think you probably would agree with me that stores are mostly accommodating when it comes to accepting returns, but every once in a while we encounter one that gives us a hard time or just doesn’t accept returns, period.

When that happens, this benefit can come in handy. Here’s how the AmEx version works:

If you buy an eligible item and the merchant won’t accept your return during the first 90 days, AmEx will refund the full purchase price, up to $300 per item/$1,000 annually. However, shipping and handling costs will not be refunded.

Some Visa cards offer similar coverage but the benefit is capped at $250 per item/$1,000 annually. MasterCard is the same as Visa, except that coverage is only available up to 60 days after purchase.

Weigh in: Have you used any insurance benefits on your credit cards? What happened? How’d it work out?

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I know you may not be an active (or even aspiring) real estate investor, but I think the principals of real estate investing can benefit ANYONE. Real estate investing is about identifying opportunities through careful research, leveraging your own assets and the financial system to make the investment, and managing your investment to produce cash flow (recurring monthly income).

Today, Arthur’s shares a little bit more about why he invests in real estate (despite the risks) and the formula he uses to ensure every investment property is profitable.

Here’s Arthur:

The following is a true story but names have been changed in case the parties involved read this!

It’s ten o’clock in the morning and John has just gotten another phone call from the property manager who’s currently trying to fill a vacancy in his duplex. He’s told that the existing tenant is breaking the lease because someone has broken in and stolen the tenant’s tools—for the second time in 12 months.

This property has been nothing but problems since John bought it a year ago. Here are just a few of the things that have gone on over the past year:

• John’s been unable to secure a tenant for longer than six months.
• John had to replace two broken windows from vandalism while units were vacant.
• John received three midnight phone calls reporting gunshots.
• There is a busted crack house across the street.
• The next-door neighbor (an elderly woman) was kidnapped from her front porch and is still MIA.

You would think that after dealing with these headaches, John would abandon real estate investing all together.

But that’s not the case.

In fact, he’s more passionate than ever about acquiring rental properties.

Why?

Well, for one, John’s learned some very painful and important lessons from the above nightmare. In fact, over the course of the past year, he’s come up with a strict set of criteria that will ensure that many of these problems aren’t repeated. I’ve taken John’s formula, added a few notes, and even threw a couple of my own criteria into the mix.

The result? A near-perfect strategy for buying cash flowing rental properties.

Before I continue, I just want to emphasize that this strategy is the result of HOURS of reading, multiple conversations with other investors, property managers and real estate agents alike, and an in-depth analysis of our own investments —this strategy is a bi-product of our own personal experience and could vary depending on yours.

Here we go…

The first step to ensuring that you don’t end up with a real estate nightmare is:

EDUCATION

Before getting into specific techniques, I’d like to re-emphasize that just like any other investment out there, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you will get burned and lose A LOT of money. I always recommend doing your homework and investing FIRST in your education.

Here are a couple of things I do to get educated:

Talk to other investors – make sure you are getting solid advice from people who have accomplished what you are trying to do, not from broke family members! You will be surprised by how many well-meaning people are eager to give you free advice on something they know NOTHING about.

Read, Read, Read

I am a HUGE fan of reading. It’s advisable to read a variety of authors who have different approaches. Your job will be to read enough material to begin seeing patterns and to form your own opinions and strategies.

Consider Buying Courses

There is a TON of quality content out there; however, just like any other industry, there’s also plenty of snake oil salesmen peddling get-rich-quick schemes, so be careful. Usually, a thorough Google search will help sort out the bad apples.

KNOW YOUR MARKET

I recommend buying in an area that you are familiar with, at least for your first few properties as you get your feet wet. If you are not familiar with an area, try spending a few weekends in your target market over a period of months. Drive around in 2-3 zip codes you are interested in and talk to neighbors, local shop owners, property managers, etc. so you can get a feel for the area and the potential clientele you’ll be dealing with.

What type of neighborhood should you be looking in?

Well, each person’s strategy is different, but here is how I analyze properties and scout out neighborhoods:

I evaluate them as one of three categories…

A Class

These are in “pride of ownership” neighborhoods occupied predominantly by homeowners. The houses are typically well maintained with green lawns, tree lined streets, etc. These tend to make great homes to impress your friends, but don’t usually pencil out as great investments. I stay clear of these areas.

B Class

This typically has the largest range of product between the three classes. These houses usually serve the greatest number of people within the community and have the largest amount of inventory. I usually try to target a neighborhood where there is a large portion of blue-collar workers and where there is a 35/65 percent ratio of renter to homeowner. You can usually tell if you’re in one of these neighborhoods by the number of utility vehicles parked in driveways – cable repair vans, constructions trucks, etc.

C Class

These are in “run-down” neighborhoods occupied predominantly by renters. These rental properties typically have a high renter turnover rate. People tend to RUN in these areas at night, NOT jog. There’s high crime, gang and drug activity, substantial cop presence, etc. I am not saying these are poor investments; typically the cash flow on these deals can be high. But the successful investors taking these on are probably running a tight operation and have a specialized property management team in place. For someone looking to acquire one or two investment properties as a way to supplement income, I would recommend against this. I haven’t purchased one and I don’t think John is eager to buy another one either.

THE FOOLPROOF FORMULA FOR BUYING INCOME-PRODUCING RENTALS

a. Buy below market 10-20%.

Think of this not only as a way to grow your net worth, but also as a way to ensure your financial security. If you ever have to sell due to an emergency, that 10-20% is going to allow you to lower your offering price to move it quicker. On a positive note, if you don’t have to sell in an emergency, you’ve just made an instant return on your investment.

b. Property must generate at least a 15% ROI, cash on cash.

That means the rent minus the debt (if mortgaged) and expenses must equal 15% or more. For example, a $20K down payment would have to yield at LEAST a yearly cash flow of $3,000. This is actually fairly low – most of my and John’s deals have been well above the 20% threshold.

c. Buy in a B-class neighborhood, 35/65 percent ratio of renter to homeowner.

d. The rent should be at LEAST 1% of the purchase price.

For example, a $100K home should rent for at LEAST $1000 per month.

e. Due your due diligence regarding repairs before buying.

If the repairs plus your down payment exceeds 15% ROI, move on to the next property.

f. Maintain six months of cash reserves per property to pay the debt service.

This should suffice for any unforeseen repairs or vacancies.

TAKE ACTION

These next few years will probably go down as the best time to purchase income-producing rentals in our lifetime. In many markets, you can acquire property far below the cost to build. Interest rates are at historic lows. Generation Y is three times the size of Generation X and is expected to continue to rent for the foreseeable future—while property values have dropped significantly, costs to rent have not.

So what’s John up to now?

Since the acquisition of his nightmare duplex, he’s gone on to purchase three additional B-class properties and is in the process of buying a forth this month. Each house brings in roughly $400 a month in cash flow. And even though he still has to deal with the occasional headache resulting from his duplex, he’s still on track to generate a second income so that his wife can stop working during the first three years of childrearing.

If you’ve ever thought about investing in real estate, what’s holding you back? If you’re already investing, is there anything you might add?

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Arthur Garcia is a real estate investor who blogs at The Business of U, focusing on personal finance, business, and self development.

Arthur’s a 29-year old sales professional for a Fortune 500 company, but also has experience as a part-time real estate investor in Southern California, which ties into today’s post.

I’ve never advocated real estate investing simply because I don’t have experience in the area. I also don’t love the risk involved in taking out multiple mortgages and relying on tenants to generate cash flow. That said, I’m intrigued by investors who make it work, especially those—like Arthur—who have acquired multiple properties while still in their twenties.

Here, Arthur shares why he and his fiancée decided to use a $40k windfall to purchase a rental property rather than pay down debt. Read Arthur’s story, then leave a comment to let us know…would you have done the same?

Here’s Arthur:

Two years ago, my fiancée, Laura, had finally completed her bachelor’s degree and was ready to start working full time. Like many of today’s graduates, however, she graduated with student loan debt.

$30,000 of it.

How did we tackle this problem head on and manage to make 30K along the way? Here’s our story…

After graduation, Laura got a job at a small advertising agency. The starting salary was far from six figures, but enough to cover the bills.

Six months later, the student loans came due and we calculated the monthly payments were going to be roughly $480 a month. Ouch.

Fortunately for us, Laura isn’t very “spendy” and never amassed even a single dollar of high interest consumer debt; she owned her vehicle outright and had no credit card balances.

A few months into repaying her student loans, we learned that Laura’s grandmother passed away following a long illness. Unexpectedly, Laura inherited $40,000 from her grandmother.

WHAT WE DID WITH THE MONEY

Obviously, it was decision time. How should we best use that windfall?

It was interesting talking to different family members regarding how they would allocate the inheritance they received. Some were going to buy a new car, others were going to fix up their primary residence, and a few talked about locking the money away in CD accounts.

Ultimately, we decided to use the money to purchase an investment property.

Everyone we talked to approved of our decision to use the money to buy a house, but their jaws dropped when we told them that we weren’t going to live in it! Few could understand why we would buy an investment property before paying off Laura’s student loans—or at least buy a home for ourselves!

WHY WE DIDN’T PAY OFF THE STUDENT LOANS

Before I go into too much detail, I want to preface the following by saying that we did not decide to implement this strategy “blindly”. We have other rental properties and did our due diligence before making this decision.

With that said, here’s are the three big reasons we made this decision.

1. Student loan debt is tax-deductible. Laura’s loans have an 8% APR, which after tax deductions and the standard rate of inflation (3% if you believe government statistics—another discussion altogether) the actual APR she’s paying is closer to 4%.
2. Liquidity. If we used the windfall to pay off her student loans in full, Laura would have had no additional cash reserves. This would have made her incredibly vulnerable in an emergency (for example, if she needed major medical care or became unemployed.
3. Lazy money. We knew that if we paid off all of her debt, then those dollars would no longer be able to produce additional income for us. Based on our prior experience in real estate, we were convinced that a rental property could produce an annual 25-30% return on our initial investment of $40K or less.

Still scratching your head? Here’s how it worked.

The Details

After researching our target market for about three months, we finally got the perfect place under contract:

Here is what the investment looks like:

• Purchase price: $110k.
• Market Value: Between $135 and 145k (based upon traditional sales, i.e. non-REO or short-sales. Note that the property had $25-35K of built-in equity).
• Down payment: $27K.
• Closing costs: $4K.

Total out of pocket investment: $31.5K.

• Estimated Rent: Two units, a 2bed/1bath: $750 and 3bed/2bath: $1,000 for a total rent of $1,750. (We based on multiple conversations with various property managers).
• Estimated mortgage with tax/insurance: $700.
• Estimated repairs: $1,000.
• Estimated monthly expenses (water, trash, gardener, etc): $165.

Estimated cash flow: $1,750 – ($700 + $165) = $885.

• Cash reserves needed: $3,500 (five months of mortgage payments).

Yearly cash flow: $885 x 12 = $10,620 subtracted by a presumed vacancy rate of 7% ($743) = $9,877.

ROI: $9,877 (actual cash flow) divided by $31,500 (initial down payment plus closing costs) = 31% cash-on-cash return.

When factoring in the mortgage tax deduction, depreciation and possible appreciation, the actually ROI might be closer to 35-38%

CLOSING THOUGHTS

After acquiring this property, Laura will generate enough in rental payments to cover her monthly student loan payments each month and have excess cash flow.

This, in my opinion, is the ultimate example of OPM (other people’s money). Both the student loan interest and the mortgage interest are tax deductible, and she will be paying back the loans with her tenants’ cheaper dollars (due to inflation). And after the student loans are paid off, she’ll still have an income-producing asset.

I’m not advocating this strategy for everyone, but I thought this was an out-of-the-box approach to paying off debt that’s worth sharing. Let me know your thoughts…

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Enter Kristi.

Did you graduate from college in the last ten years? If so, chances are good you paid for that diploma with a colorful cocktail of financing options.

(If not, consider yourself lucky. Our generation is dealing with the most inflated higher education costs in history. Between 1982 and 2007, the sticker price of a four-year college degree climbed 439%.)

And if you’re an American with undergraduate student loan debt, at least some of your debt is probably in the form of public, or federal, student loans.

WHAT ARE PUBLIC STUDENT LOANS?

Public student loans are loans offered by the federal government; these include Stafford and Perkins loans. Both options feature fixed interest rates. In this post, we’re going to focus on the most common loan, Stafford loans, which come in two types: subsidized and unsubsidized.

When a Stafford Loan is subsidized, the government pays your interest as long as you’re enrolled as a full-time student and for a six-month grace period following graduation.

When you receive an unsubsidized Stafford loan, the interest clock starts ticking immediately upon disbursement (the date the loan funds were released to pay your academic institution).

Interest on Stafford loans is currently fixed at 6.8%, but some phased-in rate cuts for subsidized loans only might have given you a break. For either type of Stafford loan, you can expect to pay a one percent origination fee (that’s a drop from a high of 4% since 2005).

OPTIONS FOR STAFFORD LOAN REPAYMENT

Remember, Stafford loan repayment begins just six months after you toss your cap and tassel into the air.

If you have more than one Stafford loan, you might consider loan consolidation, which averages your interest rates and combines all of your previously borrowed federal loans into one monthly payment. You can apply for a federal consolidation directly here. (Note that this link only covers federal loans, not private ones. Unfortunately, since the 2008 credit crisis, consolidating private student loans has gotten more difficult. If you’re looking for private consolidation loans, try contacting your existing loan servicer first.)

Generally, you’ll have from 10 to 25 years to repay your loan, depending on which repayment plan you choose.

The Standard Repayment Plan requires you to pay a fixed amount each month based on your principal and interest, totaling no less than $50 or the interest that has accrued.

• Repayment period: Up to 10 years (120 months).

The Graduated Repayment Plan allows you to make lower payments at the beginning of repayment and every two years, your payments will increase. (Think of it as the professional raise plan; as you move up the career ladder over time, your loan payments also will increase.) Each payment must at least equal the interest accrued on the loan between scheduled payments and can be no less than 50% and no more than 150% of the monthly payment under the Standard Repayment plan.

Initial payments generally cover interest only for the first few years—meaning that you won’t begin beating back the principal loan until after that period.

• Repayment period: 12 years (144 months) up to 30 years (360 months).

The Income Based Repayment Plan (IBR) bases your monthly payment on your yearly income and your loan amount, known as your debt to income ratio. This plan caps loan payments to make them more affordable based on your income level and family size. (That’s your personal family size – i.e., you + spouse + kids; not you + mom & dad.)

For eligible borrowers, IBR loan payments will be less than 10% of their income—and even smaller for some borrowers with low earnings. IBR will also forgive remaining debt, if any, after 25 years of qualifying payments. As an example, if your initial salary is $35,000 with a household size of one, you can expect a maximum monthly payment of $132.91.

Your reduced payment under IBR may not cover the interest on your loans. If so, the U.S. Government will pay that interest on your Subsidized Stafford Loans for your first three years in IBR. After three years and for other loan types, the interest will be added to the total amount you owe. While your debt may grow if your payments are low enough, anything you still owe after 25 years of qualifying payments will be forgiven.

You can calculate your eligibility for an IBR plan here. If you believe you’re eligible, you’ll need to contact your loan servicer to apply.

• Repayment period: Up to 25 years (300 months).

The Extended Repayment Plan is for borrowers with federal loans totaling more than $30,000. This plan is similar to the standard plan in that it offers a choice of fixed or graduated payments.

If your entire outstanding loan balance is $7,500 or less, the maximum loan repayment term for which you qualify is 10 years. Let’s say you land on the other end of the spectrum: if your outstanding balance totals $60,000 or more, you’re eligible for the longest repayment plan—30 years.

Keep in mind that stretching out your payments over a longer term will reduce the size of individual payments but ultimately increases the total amount repaid over the lifetime of your loan.

• Repayment period: 12 years (144 months) up to 30 years (360 years).

You can evaluate what your Stafford loan repayment will look like with this student loan payment calculator.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU REPAY?

When you’re just out of school and searching for work (or higher paying work), you may need to choose a repayment plan based upon affordable monthly payments. That’s fine. Focus on getting your budget in line so you can afford your monthly expenses without getting into new debt.

As your income increases, however, you may find yourself with money left over in your budget and wondering if you should start to repay your student loans at a faster clip. Often times, you may be deciding whether to pay down student loans, save for a home, start investing or attempt some combination of all three.

In general, you want to do the following BEFORE accelerating your student loan repayment:

• Pay off any debt at higher interest rates (usually credit cards).
• Save a little bit of cash for emergencies.
• Start contributing a modest amount to a retirement plan.

For more guidance on how to allocate your money as you earn it, read Six (and a Half) Steps to Financial Stability.

Want to share your student loan story? Student debt comes in all shapes and sizes—small balances, big balances, federal loans and private ones. If you’ve got student loans, how are you coping? Are you making progress? Feeling overwhelmed?

Share your student loan story in a comment now »

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Kristi Ries is a freelance writer and editor who also works as the Director of Marketing Communication for a subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University, a job that’s taking her to Astana, Kazakhstan later this month.

Thanks to rrunaway for the pic.

Looking for some worthy splurges to help you ring in the New Year? Consider these investments in your career to kick your financial life to a new level in 2011.

It might sound counterintuitive, but spending money on a few key items can pay-off big time. Even when we’re cutting back and learning to be frugal in many other aspects of our lives, investing in our careers in ways that help us get promotions, a new job, or a new freelance assignment can help increase our take-home pay. And whether you’re earning the extra cash through a 9-to-5 job or side-gig, raising your income is one of the best ways to boost your overall financial security.

These five investments, taken from my new book Generation Earn, are designed to improve your earning power:

Outsource more of your chores. If you’ve been dreaming of starting up a small business, or want to start freelancing for glossy magazines, then you need the time to get started, especially if you also have a full-time job. If your evenings and weekends are currently filled with chores you could outsource, such as grocery shopping or cleaning, then consider paying someone else to do those tasks for you. The cost might pay for itself after you sell your first product or get your first freelance contract.

Work with a coach. Professional coaching can turn you into the star podcaster you’ve dreamed of becoming, or it can teach you how to be a better leader. Sometimes, a career coach or development course can help you get “unstuck” from a career rut. Talk about your goals for the session ahead of time to make sure you get what you want out of it. (The price of one-on-one coaching typically starts at around $200 an hour.) Less formal advice can come from meeting with more experienced colleagues and mentors over lunch or coffee; they will often be happy to talk with you.

Take a course. Check out the options at your local colleges and universities as well as online. Sometimes, a course in an area you’ve been daydreaming about can provide motivation to try out a new field or help you make connections that can lead to new clients or a new employer. At the very least, it will stir up your creative juices.

Revamp your image. What kind of impression do you leave? If you work in an office or meet with clients, a positive, confident impression can turn into promotions, more leadership responsibilities, and more referrals. Personal shoppers, which big department stories offer for free, can help you find a wardrobe that’s professional and stylish. Website designers, which can cost $2,000 and up, are well worth their price if your online impression is vital to your line of work. You might also want to consider buying business cards for a burgeoning side-business, whether it’s a blog or a freelance career.

Buy your domain name. If you might go into business for yourself one day, then you probably want to own the url of your name or your name plus your field. For example, if you dream of launching your own dog-walking business and your name is Amy, you might want to purchase AmyWalksDogs.com. Domain names, especially creative ones, are relatively cheap, and buying them can also help motivate you to start turning your idea into a real business.

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Note from David: If you enjoyed this post you can learn more about Kimberly’s book or buy a copy, or check out her writing for U.S. News & World Report.

I’m talking about health insurance. If you’re lucky enough to be offered insurance at work, you can simply enroll in your company’s plan. But like many young adults, I don’t get insurance through my job — I’m a freelance writer. When I bought my own health insurance plan over a year ago, I didn’t know what I needed to buy or how much I had to pay. I just picked a plan that sounded good and hoped for the best.

Since healthcare reform passed earlier this year, there are more health insurance options for young adults and new sources for health insurance information. So there’s no excuse not to get covered.

Why you need insurance, even if you’re young and healthy

Young adults are less likely to be uninsured than any other age group because we’re less likely to work in jobs that offer health insurance, according to a 2009 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report on the uninsured. We’re also likely to be in school or have low incomes, which can make finding affordable health insurance difficult.

Considering that medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcies, according to a 2009 New England Journal of Medicine study, health insurance is one of our most important financial protections. Even if you’re healthy, an unexpected injury like a broken leg could leave you with thousands of dollars of debt if you don’t have insurance.

New options for young adults under 26

If you’re under 26 and don’t get health insurance at work, a recently enacted provision of healthcare reform lets you stay insured under a parent’s plan, even if you don’t live with your parents or you’re married. Latching onto a parent’s plan may be your most affordable option – your parent’s premium may increase slightly, but the increase will likely be less than you would pay for your own plan. For more details about the new dependent health insurance provision, visit GettingCovered.org.

Buying insurance on your own

When I bought my own health insurance plan from the individual market, I didn’t know what kind of insurance plan I needed, how much I should pay for insurance or how to compare plans. So I asked Keith Mendonsa, a consumer specialist at the health insurance comparison website eHealthInsurance, for some pointers on shopping for health insurance.

First, determine what you need health insurance for, Keith said. Do you use prescription drugs? Visit the doctor frequently? If you’re a woman, do you need health insurance to cover medical care for a pregnancy? Do you want to visit a particular doctor?

Understanding your health care needs will come in handy when you search for insurance plans. If you plan to get pregnant, you’ll want to look for a plan that covers maternity care (not all insurance plans do). Have your heart set on getting check-ups from your favorite doctor? You should pick a plan from an insurance network your doctor belongs to – otherwise, your visits may not be covered.

Comparing plans

To search for an insurance plan, you can use a website like eHealthInsurance or talk to an insurance broker. But comparing plans for price can be tricky — you’ll need to consider premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance and out-of-pocket maximums to figure out how much you’ll pay.

I told Keith I was unhappy that my insurer raised my monthly premiums by about 25 percent earlier this year. I found a similar plan with a lower premium and asked Keith if it would be a good option for me. Keith explained that the plan with a lower premium had a higher out-of-pocket maximum, so while I would initially spend less on premiums, I could end up paying more in the long run if I get sick.

Although it’s tempting to pick the plan with the lowest premium, ask yourself how much you could afford to pay if you actually got sick or injured – if it’s less than the plan’s out-of-pocket maximum, you may be better off with a plan with a higher monthly premium. But even if you choose a plan with a higher deductible or out-of-pocket maximum in exchange for a lower premium, you’re still making a better choice than skipping health insurance altogether to save $100 a month on premiums, Keith said.

Health care you can get for free

If you bought your own health insurance plan after September 23, 2010, changes under health care reform require your plan to cover preventive care, like flu shots and blood pressure screenings, for free — your co-pay, co-insurance or deductible wouldn’t apply. If you bought a plan before that date, it might be “grandfathered in” and not subject to this new requirement. For more information about what’s covered under the preventive care provision, check out Healthcare.gov.

Options for people with pre-existing conditions

You may not be able to buy your own health insurance plan if you have a pre-existing condition like asthma or diabetes. By 2014, health care will prohibit insurers from denying coverage due to medical history. But until then, you may be able to get insured through the federal high-risk health insurance pool or a state program. Keith suggests visiting Coverageforall.org to see what programs are available in your state.

Emily Beaver is a San Francisco-based freelance writer who covers healthcare issues. Her writing has appeared in the Huffington Post and Youth Radio’s Generation Invincible series.