Manzini, Swaziland (IRIN) – Erratic pension payments, a rising cost of living and changing social circumstances are leaving Swaziland’s elderly with no choice but to fend for themselves and adjust to living alone. This is unprecedented in a country where an extended family system traditionally provided a social safety-net and companionship.

“I thank my God that I am still alive at 72, but I never thought I could be so lonely. In the old days there was never ‘alone’, but many elderly are living by themselves today, like me. What happened?” asked Amos Ngwenya, a farmer in the central Manzini region.

“You were in a Swazi family and so you were taken care of, from cradle to grave. It was a simple life and government didn’t have to assist anyone. Now, if I don’t get my old age pension I might go hungry if I do not use my imagination,” Lucy Simelane, 65, told IRIN.

Swaziland’s desperate financial situation caused suspension of the US$21 pension pay-out in the second quarter of 2011, in favor of a grant to cover the school fees of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). About 5 percent of Swaziland’s approximately one million people are 60 years old or older and eligible for a government pension. Roughly two-thirds of Swazis live below the poverty line.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch, King Mswati III, has turned to South Africa in the hope of securing a $1.47 billion loan to save the country from collapse after being rebuffed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, according to media reports. The country does not have sufficient funds to pay its public servants in June.

Coping strategies

Simelane, the youngest of her late husband’s three wives, cares for her ailing HIV-positive 25-year-old son, who has tuberculosis. “Life is hard taking care of [my son] by myself, and I worry about getting enough for us to eat,” she said.

Most days she scours the nearby hillsides with neighbors, searching for seeds, berries and wild spinach to supplement the staple food, maize-meal – coping strategies that in the past were adopted only in times of drought or economic distress.

“The older of our people are adopting ‘coping mechanisms’ like never before. It’s not just the economic downturn that makes this necessary, it is because Swazi elderly are alone now as never before,” Mkhuluza Zwane, the head of Umtfunti Wemaswazi, an advocacy group for the elderly, told IRIN.

But such coping methods are temporary solutions, Zwane said, as they rely on seasons. Simelane, like others in the neighborhood, is using water from a communal borehole to grow vegetables.

“Swazis growing vegetables is a new thing. We have water to do this now. I can even sell extra vegetables and make some money. Winter is good for growing because we never get frost, and with the sunshine the cabbage still grows. But the soil is not good and the cabbage is not big,” she said.

Amos Ngwenya, an octogenarian and a widower, is fit enough to cultivate his fields, but allows his neighbors to till the land in exchange for some sacks of maize at the end of the season.

Once employed by government as a local agriculture advisor, he has a small pension that meets most of his needs and he resides rent-free on communal Swazi Nation Land, where 70 percent of Swazis live under the jurisdiction of traditional chiefs.

“I feel sorry for old people who only have that pension to live on because it is so little, but even a little bit helps. You must remember I grew up when there were no pensions for anyone, and somehow we coped. We must remember those old days and borrow those lessons to survive as old people today,” he said.

The multi-generational family farm that was a fixture when he was born – when few Swazis traveled more than 80 kilometers or so from their birthplace – has been replaced by the effects of urbanization, with children and relatives scattered over long distances.

Although Swaziland has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates – 26.1 percent of people aged 15-49 are living with the virus, which has reduced average life expectancy to 39 years – more than 70 percent of the population are not infected and will probably live into their seventies.

Self-worth

“It’s ironic that in Swaziland of all places – because we are a very gregarious people and a family-oriented society – you find more older people living in isolation. This is not only dispiriting for them but is unhealthy and dangerous. The elderly are prey to criminals and they face discrimination,” said Angelina Dube, a social worker in the Manzini area.

Simelane laments that she is not part of her grandchildren’s lives. “They live far away. Some of my grandchildren live in town, where my daughter works, and a stranger looks after them during the day,” she said.

“The absence of the responsibility of taking care of grandchildren is a terrible loss for many elderly women. They have no substitute activity, and their sense of self-worth is threatened by the absence of what Swazi grannies always used to do,” Dube said.

“It is disturbing how many young people make fun of the elderly nowadays. It didn’t used to be that way. Swazi society was based on respect of the elders, and we worshiped our ancestors.”

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– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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Indianapolis, IN, United States (AHN Sports) – According to numerous reports, the NFL is canceling next month’s rookie symposium in Canton, Ohio.

League officials are scheduled to officially inform teams of the cancellation during today’s NFL Spring Meeting in Indianapolis.

The symposium is designed to teach rookies life lessons on dealing with football, finances and their new lifestyle. Those lessons will have to wait.

Scheduled for June 26, the symposium was to been held in Canton, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, for the first time.

The league and the NFLPA are both waiting for a June 3 court hearing before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the legality of the ongoing lockout — the event is not going forward.

Teams have laid off or furloughed employees and had staff take pay cuts but the symposium is the first event to be called off due to the current labor unrest.

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However, if you are a homeowner, all is not lost. Having a poor credit history does not totally exclude you from getting a loan. If you have a seriously damaged credit record, it may require a little more effort, but finance should be available in the long run.

The first thing to do is contact a reputable finance broker that specialises in personal finance for homeowners. There is little, if any, point in going to a mainstream or High Street Bank, as they tend to offer unsecured loans to people with perfect credit records. A good finance broker will be able to offer you a secured loan which is more suited to your situation. They will have a panel of lenders and, unless you are bankrupt, they should be able to cater for people with pretty much any type of credit history. There is also little point in applying to more than one broker. All the main brokers deal with pretty much all of the lenders in the market today.

When applying to a finance broker, they will look into your present credit obligations and talk about any problems you may have, this will be done in the strictest of confidence. They will analyse your situation and then try to match you with the lender most likely to suit your situation. The broker will look at the loan plans available and which one will best suit your credit record,with the best interest rate, which will then determine the lender. Every lender has their own means of determining one credit rating, this will be based on employment, residence and past credit. Each and every lender has a different credit scoring system, some will agree to certain levels of adverse credit onto their scoring system.

Once the finance broker has identified a potential loan plan, or possibly two, they will contact you to discuss the relative merits of each plan and identify if it is suitable and the right loan for your needs. If you decide to go ahead with one of the plans, the broker will give you the significant document for you to check over. This initial documentation is only information at this point, there is nothing to sign at this stage. There is a statutory ‘cooling off period’ of 14 days during which you have time to properly review all the terms and conditions of the loan and finally decide that you want to go ahead with the loan.. At no point during this time is the broker allowed to contact you, however you are allowed to contact the broker. When the week (7 days) is up, the documents will be sent to you for signing. This is still within the 14 day cooling off period and cannot contact you, but if you are happy with everything, you are allowed to sign and return the documents at any time.

Once the documents have been received back at the broker, they will then set about getting all the relevant supporting documentation together to complete the loan application, i.e. proof of residence, proof of earnings, property valuation etc. Once they have all that they need, they will submit the loan application to the lender. The lender might give you a call as a last check to confirm that you are the person applying for the loan and that you are happy to carry on with the process. Once the lender is happy that the loan application meets all their specific requirements, they will issue you with the cheque.

It is vitally important that you keep up with all the repayments on time. When you have had the loan for a few years and you have met the repayments on time, there is a chance your credit score will have improved, this means you might be able to refinance the loan and get an improved rate of interest. To discuss this matter further, contact the broker to find out if this could be a possibility.

Steve Smith writes for Bad Credit Loans Arranged a specialist bad credit loans broker who will do what they can to get your bad credit loan paid out. Visit today http://www.badcreditloansarranged.co.uk/information/

Article Source: Ezinearticles.com

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I t’s the time of year when taxes weigh heavily on the mind for so many of us. Not only is the federal income tax filing deadline today, it is also traditionally about when Florida’s Tax Freedom Day falls. Last year, the average Floridian worked until April 5 to pay all federal, state and local taxes for the year. That’s about middle of the pack compared with other states. Alaskans get there fastest (March 26). They take the longest in Connecticut (April 27). So just how does Florida stack up when it comes to paying state taxes? Take a look. You might be surprised.

(All numbers per capita for fiscal year 2009, unless otherwise noted.)

The big picture

State tax collections

1. Alaska: $7,145

44. Florida: $1,729

50. South Carolina: $1,577

U.S. a …

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In today’s society credit is very important, companies run credit to apply for a loan, rent an apartment may even to get a job. As you can see, people use credit to evaluate not only whether you if are able to pay back a loan, but also to rent a house or get a job.

This may sound unfair, because a bad credit situation may have been out of your hands, with loss of a job, medical expenses, or other life situations.

For Bad Credit Loans, try:

First Choice

100 day Loans.

This company started with the idea of helping the traditional Pay Day loan consumer obtain a loan with better terms that have been traditionally afforded to them. So instead of getting only a 14 day loan, they are giving customers 100 days to pay back the loan.

How does the process work:

First Apply Now (find the link below) this is an easy application.

Second, Get your Approval status immediately, 4 out 5 applicants are approved

Third the funds that your need are deposited in your bank account within an hour.

So if you need a Fast No Credit Check Loan? Why not start here?

Second Choice

Payday One

Apply today to get cash by tomorrow with PayDay One!

In 2001 Payday One revolutionazed the online loan process by providing the first faxless loan. They take pride on their consumer satisfaction rates as they strive to make the customer experience their top priority. Payday one offers a great rate guarantee. If you find a lower proce from another similarly licensed online lender, they will match it.

What Pay Day One Offers :

- One of the few State License Lenders in the industry
- 100% Faxless
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The type of these loans makes these similar to the secured loans against car to a great extent as here too you will have to provide your car as a security. Providing your car or the logbook of your car as security for getting money is just the very same thing as without the logbook you cannot claim to be the owner of a car. So, once you keep it as a guarantee with the lender, the car legally becomes his property. Logbook means those whole lots of documents which prove that you are the owner of a car. Such documents include the engine number, the car model, the VIN number, registration number of the car and your address etc all very important things.

By providing this logbook, you can avail quite a handsome amount and that can help you in lot many purposes. But the most important thing that you must know in this context is that these loans are available for a term of 5 years only and during this period you have to finish paying off the loan amount. The reason for the repayment term being 5 years is that a particular logbook is valid for 5 years only. Hence, with a logbook you can expect to get instant logbook loans for a maximum of 5 years only.

All poor credit holders too can avail suchsecured loans against car. A few of such bad records in spite of having which one can expect to borrow money are County Court Judgments, defaults, bankruptcy, late payment, arrears and IVA.

But he’ll be in for a rough time passing any such sweeping changes through a wary Congress before the next presidential election.

Republican leaders blasted Obama’s speech even before they knew what he would say. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio called any tax increase “unacceptable and a non-starter,” while Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Obama had to be “dragged into this discussion” on the fiscal crisis.

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Q2 2011 Earnings Call

March 15, 2011 5:15 pm ET

Executives

Company Speaker –

Howard Jonas – Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Nominating Committee

Bill Ulrey – Vice President of Investor Relations & External Affairs

Presentation

Bill Ulrey

Welcome to IDT Corporation’s Second Quarter Fiscal 2011 Earnings Presentation. This is a Bill Ulrey, IDT’s Investor Relations Officer. IDT’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Howard Jonas; and Chief Financial Officer, Bill Pereira, will discuss IDT’s financial and operational results for the three months ended January 31, 2011. In addition, during today’s presentation and from time to time during future quarterly discussions, key managers and executives will provide investors with updates on their respective businesses.

Today, you’ll hear from Jonathan Reich, Vice President for Sales and Business Development at Fabrix. He will speak following Howard Jonas. Both of this audio file, consisting of management’s prerecorded remarks and Complete Story »

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How To Make A Good Credit:

A good credit record is the integral part of the financial planning. Financial success is a lot about discipline and self-restraint and hence the money healing program provides the direction and meaning to financial decisions.The Money Healing program explains about the personal finance that includes the cash flow management, education planning, retirement planning, investment planning, insurance planning, tax planning, estate planning and business succession planning. One’s personal financial situation can be assessed by compiling simplified versions of financial balance sheets and income statements. A personal balance sheet lists the values of personal assets along with personal liabilities like credit card debt, bank loan and mortgag.This enables for the prosperity of a good fortune.

Planning often requires consideration of self-constraints in postponing some enjoyment today for the sake of earning money in future. To be effective, the plan should consider the individual’s current lifestyle, so that the pain in postponing current pleasures is bearable over the term of the plan. In times where current sacrifices are involved, the plan should help ensure that the pursuit of the goal will continue. A plan should consider the importance of each goal which brings abundant of wealth in life and should be able to prioritize each goal.

Reduce Unsecured Debts:

Money Healing program is also the resource for debt and credit related issues. Hereby defines about the debt consolidation, debt help, credit counseling and credit repair services. Debt consolidation helps by combining multiple debts into just one at a lower interest rate and people can consolidate all your monthly debts into single reduced monthly payment. All the unsecured debt can be reduced by 30-50%. It is a proven way of reducing all unsecured debts and reaching the status of financial independence. Hence shortly debts can be thrown off only through pre-planning of money spent in day-to-day life. Credit card debt is a cause of serious concern today as it is rising day by day at an alarming rate. The reasons for people to opt credit cards are they can easily get a credit card from any company and finally they find themselves in a huge financial mess. The only way to get relieved from credit cards and debts is to analyze every movement of spending money in life. And saving up money is the only way to earn more in life and get enriched.