Sometimes ? whether by their own choices or through circumstances beyond their control ? people find themselves getting behind on paying their bills. Although debts should be paid, and the creditor has a right to the money owed them, there are cases where debt collectors go beyond reason and actually break the law.

It's that time of year again ? you will soon begin to gather information to prepare your taxes. You may want to keep in mind a few things to make the process run more smoothly.

You may not be aware that there is an indicator for the stock market called the Fear and Greed Index. This is a measure of what emotion is driving the market, which affects the price of stocks. It is measured on a scale of zero to 100, with 100 being extreme greed and zero being extreme fear. In the last 12 months, this index has shifted from a low of nine last spring to a high of 92 this week. Quite a shift of emotion!

You have probably seen the commercials where people are walking around carrying their ?number? ? the amount they need to have in their retirement account before they can actually retire. So what is your ?number?? There are several factors that affect what this number should be.

January is Make Your Will month. Although this is one of the most procrastinated duties, it is of utmost importance. Ask anyone who has had to deal with a loved one's estate, and you will typically hear one of two things. Either the experience was as pleasant as it could have been, or it was terrible.

As the year end approaches, many are busy with shopping for Christmas gifts and planning holiday parties. However, this is a very important time to take advantage of several tax benefits. If you are planning to make any year-end charitable deductions, you may want to do so with investments you hold that are worth more than what you paid for them. If you held them for at least one year and one day, they can be gifted to your church or other charity at their fair-market value. The church will receive a great gift, and you will be able to take advantage of the gains without paying capital gains tax.

Recently the Chronicle of Philanthropy published a study on giving in America. There were some interesting points made. For instance, South Carolina ranks fifth in the country for discretionary income giving, at 6.4 percent.

It seems that there are a lot of people interested in our Social Security numbers these days! Actually, it has been that way for a long time. Recently, South Carolina residents were alerted to a problem whereby the Department of Revenue's computers were hacked into, and several million Social Security numbers were stolen. The State of South Carolina has provided a method for you to check on your Social Security number and, if it was stolen, they have provided security to protect your identity for one year. Hopefully, you have checked this out and have made the necessary provisions.

Do you plan to leave an inheritance to your children and/or grandchildren? Many people who are able to do this feel they are blessed to be able to leave something to their loved ones. There are two biblical principles regarding an inheritance, however, that many people do not realize exist.

As people get older, many begin to think about doing some estate planning. This is something we should all do right away, since we don't know how long the Lord will allow us to occupy this earth, yet it is something we love to put off until ?later.?