European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 13, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                May stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 29 your Money heading off relatives Money request dear Liz my husbands parents have been divorced for More than 20 his father is very Selloff but his Mother does not have a Nickel in when they she was Given a hefty amount of Stock which she blew through rather my Moth Erin Law is living paycheck to paycheck and still needs her mothers social Security to help pay the i am afraid that when my Hus bands grandmother passes my Mother inlaw will be in some Finan Cial trouble and will expect us to help her i do not want to be put in that Situa my husband and i make Good salaries but we Are trying very hard to save Money so we can buy a House and Start a family of our own in the coming i would be willing to help her be come More knowledgeable about finances and maybe even help contrib Ute a Small amount each month to a retire men Type plan for but i do not want her to rely on us on a regular basis for financial since she knows we have the Means to i am also afraid she will use guilt As a weapon against my How in the world should we approach this answer As a youve mentioned what youre willing to do but not whether your Hus band agrees with your if you Are not together on the Issue is Likely to be a continuing source of tension Money talk Liz Pulliam Weston and guilt could be a much More potent weapon for your of its impossible to know at this Point How much help your Mother inlaw May request in the or even whether Shell ask at but its still a Good idea for couples to discuss when and How much they might give to family members who make such re presenting a United front and articulating Clear limits is a powerful defense against those who would make you feel guilty for trying to be responsible with your you mentioned being willing to help your Mother inlaw become More perhaps the Best gift you could give her now would be a few sessions with a fee Only financial plan who could review her situation and perhaps help her Craft a workable dear Liz i have built up in a retirement fund through my i am also in a chapter 13 bankruptcy repay ment would i be Wise to withdraw some of that tax free Money to pay off my debts answer you would be the Antithesis of the Money is tax free Only if it remains in your retirement the minute you make a the Money is taxed and penalized so much so that youd probably lose on Quarter to on half of the whats Money you withdraw from a retirement fund cant be so you lose forever any future tax deferred returns you might have if youre in your that could easily grow to Over by the time youre in your 60s if you leave it your retirement funds Are protected from creditors in bankruptcy dont throw away that stick with your re payment plan and leave your retirement plan dear Liz in your Book Deal with your debt you write that you should pay All your Bills on does that include your Utility Bills i ask that because you do not incur late penalties and fees As you would on your credit answer Many utilities do charge late and people who Are late enough face the ultimate penalty having their service shut it is True that in the utilities typically didst report to credit so the Only time you would find a Utility reporting a Pas due account was after the account had been turned Over to some utilities do report their customers monthly pay ment habits to credit note to readers a recent column mentioned that the borrowing limit for Stafford Loans was for firs year on july that limit rises to Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of the books your credit score and Deal with your both published by Prentice questions for possible inclusion in her column May be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon studio Ca or via the Contact Liz form at distributed by no More red mortgage talk to your Lender from Page 28 if refinancing is not an take a look at your mortgage state ment and Call the company that manages your that Call should be made the More time the More a homeowners credit limiting a lend ers ability to work out a payment lenders tend to be most Amena ble to the possibility of a forbear in which they suspend or re Duce payments for a few months and then tack on portions of those payments to future they will also consider lowering monthly in Terest extending the life of the loan or altering the loan in some other lenders say its in their interest to work with servicing a healthy loan costs them about a and manag ing a delinquent or foreclosed one costs them about and said Robert an analyst at Bane of America that does not mean theres a solution for every Trou bled homeowners whose incomes cannot support their mortgage May get nothing More than a sympathetic ear if that from whoever handles their fridays Market 1 High Low chg chg chg Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 1 nose amex 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United technologies 18 advisor Tiv seat 2w5 funds a gig vap Exchange rates military rates euro costs May Dollar buys May British Pound May japanese yen May South korean won May commercial rates Bahrain British Canada China Denmark Egypt Hong Kong Hungary Israel Japan Kuwait Norway Philippines Poland saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey new military Exchange rates Are those available to customers at military Bank ing facilities in the country of issuance for South the Netherlands and the United for no local currency Exchange rates purchasing British pounds in Germa Check with your local military Bank ing commercial rates Are inter Bank rates provided for reference when buying All figures Are foreign currencies to one except for the British which is represented in and the which is precious metals new York merc close Gold Silver interest rates prime discount Federal funds Market 3month 30year sources the associated Bank of America and sensibility Money tip of the Day How to Chase scholarships Market watch new York High school students applying for one of the thousands of scholarships Avail Able to help fund your College education then follow these tips from Mark director of advanced projects at for maximizing your chances of getting one of those checks in the mail apply to everything you you cant win if you dont says if your Odds of winning an individual scholarship Are pretty the More you apply to for which you the greater Chance you have of it usually Doest take a lot of Effort to apply to multiple scholarships you can reuse youll find theres an awful lot of overlap in scholarship programs in terms of the questions they the first time you write an it takes a lot of but the next time you can just tweak and slant it to that so dont let fear or procrastination get the better of you Send that application apply Only to scholarships youre qualified dont Send out applications for ones that dont meet the Basic most of these awards receive far More qualified applicants than they have awards Avail adds so save yourself some time by reviewing the minimum requirements and making sure you Are in always include Concrete if you write something very like in a there not going to take your word for they want to see a Way in which you demonstrated your Leader ship make sure you get Good let ters of if you ask a teacher or an adult you know to write you a letter of rec Many will write it even if they dont think youre the Best so when you make the ask if they can write you a Good they will probably give you an honest says online at your Hometown newspaper