Organizing Your Financess

If your financial life is in chaos, try the Homefile Financial Planning Organizer Kit. Created by two financial planners, Homefile consists of 23 preprinted file dividers with headings like "Autos," "Retirement Accounts," and "Warranties," designed to fit into a hanging file or accordion folder.

Each divider tells you exactly which documents to file in the corresponding folder and how long to keep them for tax purposes or other reasons. To obtain a kit, call 800/695-3453. The cost is $19.95.

Reverse Mortgages

The National Center for Home Equity Conversion (NCHEC), a nonprofit organization that educates consumers about reverse mortgages, recently compiled a state-by-state list of NCHEC-preferred reverse mortgages lenders.

These lenders have agreed to abide by NCHEC's Lender Code of Conduct. They also have access to NCHEC software that produces an individually customized, 12-page "Personal Reverse Mortgage Analysis" for consumers.

To obtain the list of preferred lenders, send $1 and a self-addressed, stamped, business-sized envelope to: NCHEC Preferred, Room 115, 7373 147th St., Apple Valley, MN 55124. You'll also receive a copy of NCHEC's new brochure, What You Don't Know About Reverse Mortgages CAN Hurt You.

No More ATM Fees

Thanks to the No-Surcharge ATM Alliance launched last year by Credit Union Cooperative Systems of California, it's getting easier to avoid ATM surcharges, those $1 or so per-transaction fees imposed by banks on noncustomers.

The Alliance now includes 300 credit unions and 120 banks in 11 states. At the group's 2,800 ATMs bearing theno-surcharge logo, you can make an unlimited number of transactions surcharge-free. And a recent survey by Bank Rate Monitor found that some125 banks and S&Ls nationwide let noncustomers use their ATMS free of charge.