Do You Have Healthy Credit?

Title:Do You Have Healthy Credit?Word Count:719Summary:Have you ever wondered about credit reports, credit scores and how to protect your personalinformation?Keywords:credit, score, reports, information, check, credit report, report, companies, free, informationcreditArticle Body:Read more and learn how to keep your credit healthy.Jeanne S. answered an ad that promised 0% financing for her new car. When she got to thedealership, the best she could get was 6%.Marco N. and his wife found their dream house. But their loan officer told them that the interestrate they qualified for was so high that they couldn't afford the house anymore.Karen W., after a long search, found an apartment to rent - but the landlord turned her down asa tenant, after he ran a credit check on her.

All of these peoples' lives were affected by information in their credit report. Sometimes ourown credit history affects us-decisions that we make ourselves. Sometimes we are hurt by thethings that other people do-through errors on our reports or, worse still, identity theft.Credit reports and credit scoresQ. What is a credit report?A. It's a history of how you pay your bills. It also includes where you live, whether you've beensued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy, and which companies have checked on yourcredit-worthiness. All of this information is collected by three nationwide consumer reportingcompanies. You should know that the information that they've collected may not always be thesame, so it's important to check out all three companies when you check your credit history.Q. What is a credit score?A. Information in your credit report is boiled down into a number that helps lenders and othersdecide whether to give you credit-and at what rate. It's supposed to represent how likely you areto repay your debts, because it's based on information in your credit report. Scores range from300 to 850. Most people score in the 600 to 700 range.Q. Why do they matter?A. The better your credit history, the higher your credit score. The higher your credit score, thelower your interest rates will be. That's true if you're buying a home or car, or if you're simplyusing a credit card. To creditors, a higher score means you're a lower risk, so companies willcharge you less to loan you money.Even if you're not in the market for more credit, you should know that your credit history andscore may both affect whether you can get auto or home insurance, and how much you'll payfor it. Since many landlords check credit histories, your credit may also affect whether or notyou can rent an apartment. The same is true of employers. Many now check credit historiesbefore offering you a job.Q. How can I get my credit report?A. There are several ways. The best place to start is by requesting your free reports. A new right,by law, allows each of us to get one free credit report from each of the three nationwideConsumer Reporting Companies (CRCs): Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.There's only one source for the free reports, but you can request them online, by phone, or bymail. Here's how:Mail: Annual Credit Report ServiceP.O. Box 105281Atlanta, GA 30348-5281You can request one, two, or all three reports at a time. It's up to you. You'll have to give yourname, address, Social Security number, and date of birth to get your reports. You may also haveto answer some questions with information that only you would know-such as the amount ofyour monthly mortgage or car payment. This is to protect the security of your creditinformation.You'll be able to get your free reports every 12 months. But if you want to check your reports inthe meantime, you can always buy them. They cost about $9.00 and are available directly from

the three nationwide CRCs.Q. Should I buy my credit score?A. Different CRCs may have different scores for you. If you're about to make a big purchase, itprobably pays to find out which score your lender will be checking. Much of the time, that'syour FICO score. You can buy that score at www.myfico.com. You can also buy your creditscore directly from the three CRCs. If you're not making a big purchase, though, you may notneed to check your score very often. What's most important is being sure that the information inyour credit report is accurate-and actually belongs to you.Title:How To Get Cheap Health Insurance Online In IowaWord Count:717Summary:Health Insurance is expensive no matter where you live. Here in Iowa nearly 17% of all thestate's residents cannot afford health insurance of any kind. If your place of employment or anorganization you belong to does not offer affordable group-rate health insurance then you haveno choice but to look for cheap health insurance online.The good new is that there are ways for you to bring down the cost of your health insurance.Obviously there are dozens of websites tha...Keywords:Article Body:Health Insurance is expensive no matter where you live. Here in Iowa nearly 17% of all thestate's residents cannot afford health insurance of any kind. If your place of employment or anorganization you belong to does not offer affordable group-rate health insurance then you haveno choice but to look for cheap health insurance online.The good new is that there are ways for you to bring down the cost of your health insurance.Obviously there are dozens of websites that will let you quickly and easily compare costs forhealth insurance from different insurance companies, but before you jump on one of those sitesyou need to make sure you are structuring a policy that will let you get the cheap healthinsurance coverage that you want.For example, you need to stop smoking and you need to stop using any tobacco products of anykind. If you want cheap health insurance this is just something you need to do. If you alreadyhave health insurance and you were a smoker when you first applied but have since quit, youneed to tell your agent ?because you could very well be in for a nice reduction in your monthly

premiums.Losing weight is even more difficult than quitting smoking ?but if you are overweight you aregoing to pay more for your health insurance. If you can lose even a little weight you may findyourself in a lower-risk category and that could save you some real bucks each and everymonth.Don't participate in dangerous sports or hobbies. Extreme sports or hobbies may get youradrenalin pumping, but they also drive up the cost of your health insurance every single month.Can you increase your co-pay? Most health insurance policies require you to make a co-pay anytime you visit the doctor's office or use most any health service. Many people have a 20% or25% co-pay, meaning they pay up to 25% of the bill for a doctor's visit in cash at the time of thevisit.If you can increase your co-pay to 50% you can save quite a bit on your health insurancepremium each month. Obviously this works best for people who do not see their doctor on aregular basis, but it is something for everyone to keep in mind.And that brings us to your deductible. How much can you afford to pay for your own healthneeds each year before you even ask your insurance company to help you out? Consider youranswer carefully as this is money you will have to come up with each and every year ?but thehigher your health care deductible the lower your monthly health insurance premium will be.If you still can't afford health insurance but you have a home or a savings account or otherassets that you need to protect from an unexpected medical emergency, then you may want toconsider purchasing a super-high deductible health insurance policy.A policy with a deductible of $2,000 or more is very inexpensive. These policies are notdesigned to help you with your normal health costs each year (you'll pay for your own doctor'svisits and even out-patient surgeries). What these policies are designed for is to protect yourhome and assets in the event that you should suffer a catastrophic accident or illness that putsyou in the hospital with huge medical bills in the tens of thousands or even hundreds ofthousands of dollars.Now that you know how to design a health insurance policy that will save you the most possibleeach and every month it's time to get online and start comparing prices for that policy at everyinsurance company that operates in the state of Iowa.Don't fall into the trap of believing that you only need to make comparisons on just one website.Unfortunately that's not the case. Each website only compares a handful of the differentinsurance companies operating in Iowa. If you're serious about getting cheap health insuranceonline then you'll need to take the time to make your comparisons on at least 3 differentwebsites.Once you have done that then you can feel confident that the lowest price you have found reallyis the best price you're going to get on cheap health insurance online in Iowa.

Title:The Inportence of Health and Nutrition as you AgeWord Count:577Summary:Nutrition is know to interact with the process of aging in many ways. Nutrition problems of theolder population are increased due to susceptibility to chronic disease, decreased organ functionwhich may affect digestion and absorption, metabolism, and excretion of nutrients. Eightypercent of people over 65 suffer from at least one chronic disease and nutrition is an importantfactor on there prevention and recuperation from the disease.Keywords:diet,Nutrition,diseases,elderly,foodsArticle Body:Nutrition is know to interact with the process of aging in many ways. Nutrition problems of theolder population are increased due to susceptibility to chronic disease, decreased organ functionwhich may affect digestion and absorption, metabolism, and excretion of nutrients. Eightypercent of people over 65 suffer from at least one chronic disease and nutrition is an importantfactor on there prevention and recuperation from the disease.Caloric needs change with aging due to a greater percentage of body fat and lower percentageof lean muscle. Decreased activity can cause further decreases in calories. The challenge is tomeet the same nutrient needs as when younger but consuming fewer calories. The answer tothis is to choose nutrient dense foods. Protein needs are not thought to change for the elderly,although protein requirements may vary due to restrictions or disease.Reducing the overall fat content in the diet of an elderly person is reasonable , it is eating nomore than 30% of daily calories from fat is desirable. Carbohydrate intake should comprise60% of the calories. Emphasis should be placed on complex carbohydrate. Glucose tolerancedecreases with age and lower refined carb intake puts less stress on your body. Dietary fiberintake is also recommended , and with adequate fluid intake you can achieve normal bowelfunction. Fiber is also thought to reduce inflammation of the intestines. Veggies, fruits , grainproducts, cereals, seeds, legumes, and nuts are all good sources of dietary fiber.Water is the most important and serves many essential functions. Adequate water intakereduced stress on the function of kidneys, which kidney function tends to decline with aging.Consumption of 5-8 glasses of water every day can be beneficial. Aging people do not realizethat they are thirsty and can easily become dehydrate and water intake should automaticallyoccur and should not wait till you feel thirsty. It is important that diets planned for the elderlyhave proper fluid intake.As the body ages food may not seem as appetizing or smell as appealing due to loss of smelland taste. If an elderly person is told to cut down on salt or sugar food may not be as good tothem any more because they need extras for taste. Loss of vision may impair cooking withaging . An elderly person may not know how to read food prices, nutrition labels or may forget

抯how to cook or have fear to cook. These losses are not usually complete but may affect oneability to eat healthy.The need for electrolytes, sodium, and potassium can be altered in the elderly when drugs areused to control certain diseases such as hypertension or heart disease and diet should bemodified to fit those needs. The fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body and usually it isthought that the elderly are at lower risk of fat soluble vitamin deficiencies. There is a risk ofvitamin A toxicity and vitamin D defiecenicy due to low intake of dairy products. Of all theminerals iron and calcium intakes have been reported to be low in many elderly. Eating awide selection of foods, including calcium rich foods and low fat diary products is the bestadvice.Nurtitional assessments are often done by health care providers because it can help determine issymptoms a patient has is a nutritional deficiency. Overall for any age group, selecting foodsfrom a wide variety which can be eaten and enjoyed is what is important.