While statistics regarding the number of Americans without a will tend to vary fairly widely, even the most conservative estimates put the number at around 50%. If you are one of those without a will, today’s discussion may persuade you to write one.

As you know, a will allows you to designate who will get your belongings and assets in the event of your death. Without a will, a court will decide how to divide your belongings. If you have a child, then a will is an absolute necessity. While some people might not care as much about what happens to their money when they die, they most certainly would care about what happens to their children. Your will allows you to name guardians for your children. Again, this is something you would certainly not want handled by the courts, without your input, after your death.

Just like with insurance, it’s the people least likely to need a will who actually need one the most. When a young, healthy person dies unexpectedly, the situation tends to be the most complicated. No one wants to think about dying young, but with a little planning, the process of writing a will is relatively straightforward.

Depending on your situation, you have various options for creating your will. The two most common are hiring a lawyer and using will preparation software. For basic wills, without many complicated circumstances, software may be adequate. I personally feel more comfortable using a lawyer for such an important matter, but only you can decide the right choice for your situation.

I think of a will in the same light as life insurance: I hope I never need them, but if I do, I’ll be glad I have them. You’ve worked hard during your life to earn your assets and care for your children, so you should be the one who decides what happens to them. We’re always advocating taking control of your financial situation here on the Lending Club blog. A will is your final method of control, and one that you should certainly considering using.

When I first opened my IRA, I spent a lot of time making the decision about whether or not I should maximize it. I don't have a steady income, being a student, and I was worried that I would need that money at some point but not be allowed to touch it. In essence, IRA money isn't liquid. If something bad happened, I thought I would be like an idiot kid trying to reach into a chokepoint candy jar and not realizing he can turn it upside down--inches away from the candy, but unable to get it out.

Fortunately, the creators of IRAs planned for this. IRAs allow penalty-free early withdrawals if the owner really needs money. IRA early withdrawals can be taken out without a penalty in cases where there are significant life events. Some of these events include:

• Medical necessity

• Buying a house

• Paying for school

• Health insurance

Additionally, you can set up a 72t early IRA distribution, although from my understanding this is something that doesn't make sense to do when you are young.

One other thing to remember is that if you have a Roth IRA, you are allowed to withdraw your principal money tax-free. Your principal is the money that you actually deposited, not the interest you make on your deposits.

At Lending Club, we want you to fund your IRA. It'll make your retirement much more comfortable. Even if you really need the money and you can't take it out tax- free, you’ll only have to pay a 10% penalty---while that might be a lot, it isn't going to kill you.

Building on the success of the 50 State Quarters program, the US Mint began a Presidential $1 Coin Program this year. Whether this newest dollar coin will finally gain acceptance is a matter that only time will tell.

The Presidential $1 Coin program will release 4 coins a year and bear images of the former Presidents in the order in which they served. This year’s releases were/will be:

Recent releases of dollar coins have proven to be largely unsuccessful. It seems that prior failures have caused the mint to change its tactics. Both the Susan B. Anthony Dollar and the Sacagawea Dollar, which were the two most recent dollar coins intended for circulation, were marketed for their historical significance. It was also highly touted how much more cost effective dollar coins were to paper dollars due to their extended lifetime.

The Presidential $1 Coins are being marketed in a completely different light. They are marketed as collectibles and it’s no wonder why. The 50 State Quarter Program saw a renewed interest in coin collecting that the mint likely hopes will continue with this program. When people collect coins, rather than use them as currency, they are effectively taking the coins out of circulation. This creates a profit, or seigniorage, for the government because the coins cost much less than their face value to produce. Since its inception in 1999, the 50 State Quarters Program has generated over four and a half billion dollars in this manner.

Although collectors may keep the Presidential $1 Coin Program alive and profitable, it seems to me that the only way for a dollar coin to truly catch on is to eliminate the paper dollar. Until that day comes, if it ever does, we will have to enjoy the latest dollar coins for their beauty and collectible nature if not for their use in our daily lives.

Building a p2p lending company from the ground up is a great challenge, and with each big release of features and functionality, our team takes a few minutes to cheer and then begins to look ahead.

Now that we have expanded beyond Facebook and can serve borrowers and lenders in (almost all of) the United States, we are extending and revising our product roadmap. This is our chance to look ahead and confirm where we want to go next. We have lots of ideas – some clearly need to happen, some are great opportunities, and some are fairly speculative.

Some ideas will be rolled out to the site without fanfare and be made available generally. We will have others where we will use a test-driven approach.

To accomplish this, we may survey our current members for their input on proposed features and pilot programs to ensure that we take your own needs and experiences into account as we evolve the site. We may also ask people who are not yet members for input in order to evaluate different marketing
approaches.

If you have ideas that you would like to see implemented or concepts that could make Lending Club more useful, please send us your thoughts at feedback@lendingclub.com. We want Lending Club to address the market’s needs, and you are all important players in that market.

Reading personal finance articles every day can make you start to rethink every single piece of your financial life. I know that I've questioned myself sometimes about my own purchases. Do I really need this book? Or that cup of coffee? Maybe I can skip lunch with my friends and just get some fast food? Options like this can start to rack up until you question every single thing you do.

I just read an article about the top ten money drains at Bankrate.com, in which the author talks about expenses that can quickly add up. After looking at lists like these, it becomes natural to just think that you are doing everything wrong, especially if you buy coffee a lot or enjoy eating out.

The point of this sort of article, however, is not to chastise you for doing things that you enjoy. It's to remind you not to do them too often! It's not a bad thing if you like buying new shoes or getting a manicure, as long as you do it in moderation. As I wrote in my coffee article, buying coffee every day is incredibly expensive, but buying it once or twice a week isn't that bad.

Just remember---everything in moderation. Follow that rule, and you'll notice that your financial problems---indeed, most of your problems---will just start to work out.