Rileybiz

By Steve J. Jackson

When you are trying to resolve a personal debt problem it can be very frustrating if you feel that your debt management company is providing a bad service. We consider what your options are if you find yourself in this situation. Thousands of people start debt solutions each month and most people are very satisfied with the service they receive from their debt management company.

However, if the service you are getting is poor, this can be extremely frustrating. If you find yourself in this situation your options will really depend on the type of solution you are using.

I am in a debt management plan

A debt management plan (DMP) is an informal agreement with your creditors to reduce the amount you repay each month so that this fits into a budget that you can afford.

The most important thing to understand about a debt management plan is that there is no legal contract between you, your creditors or your debt management company. This means that any of the parties can change the agreement at any time.

Often this flexibility can work against you because it means that your creditors can demand that you increase your monthly payments or start charging interest on the outstanding balances without warning.

However, it can also work for you. If you want to increase or decrease your payments or you are getting hassle from your creditors but feel that your debt management company is not responding, there is nothing to stop you moving to another company.

You can simply stop making payments to your old debt management company and start making the payments to one that you feel more comfortable with. There will be no penalties.

I am in an Individual Voluntary Arrangement

An individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) is a formal legally binding agreement.

Once an IVA is in place your creditors make a commitment to you that they will add no further interest or charges to your outstanding balances. They also agree to write off a certain amount of the debt you owe. These are of course significant benefits. However, unfortunately once you are in an IVA, you cannot change your IVA provider.

Even if you are unhappy with the service you are receiving, the only way you can come out of an IVA is if you stop making your monthly payments. However, you must understand that if you simply stop paying your IVA, it is likely to fail.

At best this would mean that you would be back at square one with any remaining unpaid debts still outstanding. But if you are a home owner, your IVA provider could very well then make you bankrupt.

Choosing the right company

The best thing is of course to pick the right company to work with in the first place. Follow the recommendation of a friend if you can. Failing this you need to do plenty of your own research.

The internet is a great place to start looking for the right debt management company. Have a look at the quality of information that they provide and familiarize yourself with the different options available.

Also have a look at some debt management forums where you can ask questions anonymously and judge the quality of the answers you get. Then speak to 2-3 different companies and choose the one that you feel most comfortable with. The bottom line is that if you decide to do a DMP or you are already in one, it is possible to change your debt management company.

If you want to do an IVA however, changing the IVA provider is not possible once the arrangement is in place. As such, making the right decision about which company to work with at the beginning is very important.

Steve Jackson is a debt adviser from BeatMyDebt.com in the UK. For more quality and unbiased information on Debt Management Plans, visit our website at http://www.beatmydebt.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_J_Jackson

A new book reveals the essential elements of a life well-lived

By Tom Rath and Jim NHarter, authors of Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements

“Much of what we think will improve our wellbeing is either misguided or just plain wrong.” So begins the new book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, Ph.D.

Rath leads Gallup’s workplace research and leadership consulting practice, and his bestselling books StrengthsFinder 2.0, Strengths Based Leadership, and How Full Is Your Bucket? have sold more than 2 million copies in the United States alone. Harter, Gallup’s chief scientist for workplace management and wellbeing, is coauthor of the bestseller 12: The Elements of Great Managing.

That’s a lot of intellectual firepower. But what could they know about wellbeing that the rest of us, who are intimately aware of our own, have overlooked? For starters, the fact that we overlook too much. As Harter and Rath discovered — through a thorough review of decades of scientific research and a comprehensive global study of more than 150 countries, which gave them insights into the wellbeing of more than 98% of the world’s population — most people don’t know what’s good for them.

For the complete story, go to gallup.com

From PhysOrg,com

Intel believes its customers would be willing to have a chip implanted in their brains so they could operate computers without the need for a keyboard or mouse using thoughts alone. The implant could also be used to operate devices such as cell phones, TVs and DVDs.

The chip is being developed at Intel’s laboratory in Pittsburgh, USA. It would sense brain activity using technology based on FMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging). The brain sensing chips are not yet available, but Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau thinks they are close.

Pomerleau said that with human beings and machines converging in many ways, people will want to give up the need for an interface such as a keyboard, mouse or remote control and operate the devices using their brain waves. Pomerleau believes that some time within the next decade or so people will be “more committed” to the idea of the brain implants.

Pomerleau said a headset incorporating brain sensing technology to operate a computer is close, and the next step is to develop the tiny brain implant, which would be much less cumbersome for the user.

While it seems unlikely many people would volunteer for the Intel chip implant at present, it could have applications for people who are unable to move, such as quadriplegics.

For complete story go to physOrg.com.