European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 1, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July stars and stripes Page 29 your Money lowering credit limit can lower fico score dear Liz if i asked my credit card company to lower my credit limit on my visa would this in any Way affect my credit rat ing answer potentially and not for the heres about 30 percent of the typical fico credit score is based on How much of your Avail Able credit youre the fico created by fair Isaac likes a wide Gap Between any balances and the limits on your credit lower ing your credit limit would reduce that Gap and could have a negative Impact on your credit in Case you dont Are three digit numbers that lenders use to help gauge your creditor the fico is the leading credit score if your credit scores Are you  worry about lenders Balking because you have too much available if your scores Arent you dont want to imperil them further by shutting Down or reducing your credit Money talk Liz Pulliam Weston a better credit improvement strategy is to pay off your credit cards and to use them lightly but regularly in the dear Liz i wanted to respond to a ques Tion you answered about How Long employ ers have to credit a workers contributions to his retirement the original questioner deferred a substantial amount of his salary into a retirement and his employer typically took two to three weeks to Deposit that Money into his Vanguard a you stated that two to three weeks didst seem unreasonable and noted the very latest Date for such a Deposit is the 15th Busi Ness Day of the following Ive been Over this Issue with my who sometimes took three months to Deposit my and my research suggests that most employers should be depositing this Money within a Day or two of the pay Day and in some cases the same answer youre quite both the labor department and the internal reve nue service have made it Clear that employ ers must Deposit retirement contributions to the appropriate accounts As soon As the Money can reasonably be segregated from the employers general Many Large employers can divvy up the Money and make appropriate deposits in a Day or employers who deliberately wait until the last minute to make the depos its Are actually violating the both Regula tors have that smaller or Les efficient employ ers May need More than a few Days to prop Erly credit retirement which is Why a two or three week lag int necessarily a violation of the that Why i told the Reader to bring up the Issue with the if the employer cant adequately explain the it May be time to ask the labor department to dear Liz you recently answered a Reader who asked Why retailers cancel credit accounts for people who file for bankruptcy even if the retail account want included in the bankruptcy your that the retailers dont mind losing such High risk does not make As far As i you can file bankruptcy Only every seven to 10 thus the person who files bankruptcy is a better risk than someone who because the person who has can no longer do in addition there Are Many reasons peo ple file bankruptcy that have nothing what Soever to do with their credit if you ask the entire system has been taken Over by the inmates like almost every thing else in this has become an Alice in wonderland answer you May think retailers Are Gaz ing through a looking but whats really distorted is the idea that being unable to file for bankruptcy somehow makes you a better people can erase their debts using Chap Ter 7 bankruptcy Only once every eight but that Doest necessarily mean that  pay the Bills they run up in the meantime or that there somehow less risky than people who manage their Money Well enough to avoid Liz Pulliam Weston is the author of your credit score and Deal with your published by Prentice questions May be sent to 3940 Laurel Canyon studio Ca or via the Contact Liz form at distributed by no More red accounts some know the risks yet still dont Deal with Banks from Page 28 did not write enough checks to make it Many people said they did not like dealing with some regulators could not provide a percentage Are in the country without some proof of identification such As a Drivers License or a they cannot set up a Bank a Check cashers and other out lets give them a financial you Purchase the transactions you when you need prices Are there Are no says Joseph president of rite Check cashing fridays Market summary indexes 52 High week Low name last net chg Ltd chg chg 52wk chg Dow Jones industrials Dow Jones transportation Dow Jones utilities nose composite amex Index Nash a composite 500 Midcap Russell 2000 do Wilshire 5000 nose most Active or More name last chg of adm Pfizer a Cielec a inc Psi corp Etc up Micron sprint nex i Tigre Exxon by 480579 423346 386034 357690 299586 296151 294045 280253 259887 239800 amex Nash a most Active or More name vol 00 last chg Spur 1750543 ishr2knya 963336 up incl 282464 Prus Haqq n 243246 Djina dam 186365 up engy up util Semi her inter Oil g oils vat 181513 108138 91979 91859 70864 most Active or More name vol 00 last chg pm she Sqq Sun Micro Microsoft Anmina Intel Cisco Apple inc Oracle Starbucks Rich Mon 1153574 1035964 675465 585752 478653 436492 396404 299722 285751 284224 key defense stocks name Valliant techno system Armor holdings Boeing computer sciences general dynamics general electric Halliburton Harris Allied signal l3 communications Lockheed Martin Northrop a Raythelon Rockwell Seq a Texas instruments text Ron United technologies div be last Ltd chg chg 19 25 31 30 17 19 15 16 22 22 16 17 19 8 21 14 24 19 key Mutual funds name Nav Ltd Fidelity invest Greco Fidelity invest Grolnic Fidelity spartan  Putnam funds a Erlna p Amer Century inv Ultra Fidelity invest amgr50 Fidelity invest Oversea Fidelity invest us i aim investments a const p Frnk a Sec Para aim investments a Char tap Fidelity advisor Fidelity advisor Tig oppt Putnam funds a  Fidelity advisor Tiu seat Putnam funds a gig vap which operates stores in new York cites Harlem neigh boyhood and the Borough of the a Texas cake Decora cashes her Check for free at the supermarket where she works and hides her Cash in books at when i pitch in for i Exchange rates military rates euro costs july Dollar buys july British Pound july japanese yen july South korean won july 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 interest rates prime rate discount rate Federal funds Market 3month Bill 30year Bond sources the associated Bank of America get it she but some times in scared the House can Burn my Money will be burned with she there could be a she some of the potential perils for the backless include forget Ting where you stashed your Cash or losing your despite All her fears about Alvarez says one Day she would like to become a steady Bank she thinks it will help her build a nest egg and feel More financially when i Cash my id maybe put in savings that would never get touched until something like an emergency Hap she Ems and sensibility if Money tip of the Day your retirement number by Vicki Lee Parker Raleigh news observer in his the author Lee Eisenberg said that Many people Are not motivated to save for retirement because they Haven mapped out plans to do something fun and fulfilling for the rest of their once they know what that something they can figure out the magic number that baffles so Many workers the amount of Money they need to that amount could be less than you need to maintain your life depending on How you de cide to spend the rest of your for if you decide to sell your House and live in a Small your Cost of living could de figure that out and then Start working toward that once you can afford to most experts recommend that you make an initial withdrawal from your investments of 4 per cent to percent of the portfolio adjusting each year for inflation you want a 90 per cent probability that it will last at least 30 if this sounds dont there Are several web Sites that can help you figure that one is Rowe prices retirement income calculator at heres How it works at the put in the age you plan to Click on the number of years you think you will be making plug in the amount you think youll have in your portfolio and the amount youll want to withdraw each select your portfolio i tried a conservative mix of 25 percent 40 percent Bonds and 35 percent stocks for my port Folio i put in my imaginary portfolio and chose to retire at 65 and live on a month for 30 would i have enough no Wor the result exceeded my monthly income allowing a withdrawal of As much As each and it gave a 90 per cent Chance of the funds lasting for More than 30 you will be Able to easily adjust the numbers to reflect your own financial