Lending money to family members is one of the hardest things to do. You’ve probably heard a million times before: Money and blood don’t mix. But there are times when it’s just unavoidable and issuing a family loan to a loved one is the only practical financial solution.

For most people, having to lend money to anyone is an encroachment of their comfort zone, let alone someone they have a close relationship with. Yet, if done right, lending money to family can be very rewarding. If done wrong, you could end up losing your money and damaging a very important relationship. It’s a very fine balance that needs to be maintained.

After high school, I joined the legions of graduates who went to college. I lasted one year at a traditional four year university before adventure came calling. I had solid grades, but I didn’t know what I wanted out of college, so it didn’t seem right to continue getting my education when I didn’t have a plan in place. So I left. I didn’t drop out of college for good, but I did place my education on hiatus.

My situation isn’t unique–thousands of people put college on hold every year for one reason or another. In my case, I joined the USAF. I was seeking an adventure and 5 continents and 30 countries later, I decided I had my adventure and I wanted to complete my degree. So I went back to school while I was on active duty.

Thomas J. Feeney has been in the investment industry for over four decades. As the chief investment officer of both Marathon Asset Management Co. and Mission Management & Trust Co., there isn’t much of the financial world he hasn’t seen. As much as his schedule allows, he also breaks down his thoughts and strategies on his blog, Measure of Value.

Every other week, we’ll tap the insights of Tom to get a deeper perspective of what’s going on in the market and see through his eyes what the smart money is thinking about investments.

If you’re in need of a free online calculator to help figure out your finances, here are some tools for you. Whether you’re trying to calculate your mortgage, credit card debt, loan payments or retirement goal, Go Banking Rates has you covered. You could even calculate how much you need to save and earn to become a millionaire.

Mortgage Calculator
If you’re looking to buy a home but don’t know how much you’ll have to pay each month on that mortgage, punch in the figures and find out if your mortgage rate and amount makes sense for your finances.

Loan Calculator
Do you have student loans or personal loans outstanding? Use this loan calculator to help you budget your monthly and yearly payments. You could even use this tool for multiple calculations to see if consolidating your loans under one rate is a better option for you.

Retirement Calculator
Don’t know how much you’ll need for retirement? Use this calculator to help you find out. Plug in the numbers of how much you want to live off of each year and how often you’d like to make withdrawals.

Auto Loan Calculator
Buying a car is an exciting experience, but if you finance it with an auto loan you can’t afford, those monthly payments could be a nightmare. Calculate how much you can afford to borrow and what the best auto loan rate is for your needs.

College Savings Calculator
Whether you’re planning for your child’s college fund or budgeting for your own higher education expenses, this college savings calculator can help understand how much you should start tucking away for tuition costs by field of study.

How to Save a Million Calculator
This is pretty self-explanatory. Want to be a millionaire? This calculator will tell you what it takes for you to get there. Start saving today!

Quick Tips Savings Calculator
Don’t know where your money is going? Use this savings calculator to see how much you’re actually spending each month on things you don’t need. You’ll be surprised at the possible savings from just a few adjustments.

Aren’t car incentives the best? When you see exciting commercials with close-ups of your favorite car zooming down curved mountain roads overlooking the ocean’s crashing waves, you know for sure it’s the vehicle for you. It only gets better when they flash the amazing zero-percent financing/$4,000 cash back offer that “you don’t want to miss.”

After the commercial ends, you find yourself wanting to lace up your shoes and race to the nearest dealer. Before you do, why not take a look at a few things you should know about car incentives first?

Determining whether a living trust versus a will is more suitable for you and your beneficiaries is vital to estate and retirement planning, not to mention essential to the bigger picture of your finances. After all, you wouldn’t want the remainder of the assets you worked so hard to accumulate for a comfortable retirement to fall into the wrong hands once you’re gone. Though discussing details regarding your eventual absence from your beneficiaries’ lives may be hard, neglecting the arrangements could have disastrous results.

Living Trust vs. Will

This post is contributed by Mr. Credit Card from www.askmrcreditcard.com.

Life was good when I was a road warrior. Like the George Clooney character in the movie “Up In The Air,” I didn’t do anything without accumulating miles. These days, I have changed gears and it has been some time since I have traveled on business.

The economic impact of a disaster like the recent BP oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico is huge. Not only have the once thriving fishing and boating industries of this area been jeopardized by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, but everyone from homeowners to drivers to taxpayers have been affected financially.

That’s why BP has set aside a special fund of $20 billion to be paid toward damages claimed by Gulf residents over the next three years. The following is an explanation of how the money is being distributed and the significance of such a large sum from a global perspective.

The following is a guest post from MD of Studenomics. Make sure you check the blog out if you want down-to-Earth tips for finding the best online banking and killing your student debt.

You’ve been seeing someone for a few years and now it’s time to tie the knot. You’re already engaged and ready to start planning that colossal wedding. There’s only one little hurtle– one of you is in massive amounts of student loan debt!

By Casey Bond

The idea of owning an offshore bank account is a glamorous one for many people–it brings to mind images of billionaires in tuxedos, spy movie villains and mobsters in need of money laundering. Ask your everyday Joe what the purpose of offshore banking is and he may reply with something along the lines of keeping your wealth a secret or tax evasion.