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Friday, February 13, 2009

Signature Loans

By David Douglas

Do you need some financial assistance to help pay for your education, consolidate debt, or simply take a much needed vacation? A signature loan might be able to help you meet your financial needs. They offer money to you based on your signature that you are good for it and will repay the loan in full. Before you decide this is the right option for you, you might want to review some of the basics about the loan.

The loan basically will finance your need. You will be required to begin repayment on the loan within a month of borrowing the money. Interest on the loan begins to accrue immediately. This type of loan is beneficial for people needing to meet a financial quota by a certain deadline. The loan allows you to pay on time and pay back the loan over time. Terms on the loan can vary depending on the lender, but they can be as high as 60 months.

The terms and rates of the loan will be fixed. This is helpful because you know exactly what you are signing up for and can be confident that it won't change in a year or two if interest rates fluctuate. This can help you plan better for repayment.

Interest on the loan does start accruing from the time the loan is issued. Repayment begins right away as well. The loans are intended to help you cover expenses immediately, while actually paying for them over a period of time lessening the financial strain.

One of the main qualifiers for the loan, as with most loans, is to have good credit. If you have bad credit, it doesn't necessarily mean you won't be able to qualify, it just means the interest rate attached to the loan is sure to be higher than it would be if you had a good credit score. However, having bad credit does decrease the chances that you will qualify for the loan.

Signature loans are issued to be used for a specific purpose. This is another way they differ from other loans as well. While the uses of the loans might vary pretty drastically, most lenders want to know why they are issuing the loan. Sometimes, what the loan is going to be used for will have an effect on whether or not you qualify for the loan. It will almost definitely effect the terms of the loan. If the loan is being used to cover school tuition, you will probably qualify for a longer term than if you are using it to do repairs on your car or home.

When you realize that you need some financial assistance to help meet your goals, review all of your loan options. A signature loan might be something that helps you achieve those goals.

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How To Keep Away From Credit Card Debt

By Ras Reed

Are you in credit card debt? No? Then that's good for you. But that does not mean you should not make a deliberate plan to obstruct yourself from going in credit card debt in future. It's the easiest thing to become a victim of. There are ways that you can evade falling in credit card debt and they include;

- Read the fine print: Before you sign on for any credit card, you should be sure that you comprehend all the terms and conditions attached to it. The things that you should pay special attention to are the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and the time for payments. When you are tuned in to what time you are expected to pay your credit card bills, you can easily start preparing towards it. Also, if the APR on the defaulted payments is way beyond your affordability level, try and look for another credit card deal that comes with a lower APR.

- Pay up on time: To keep away from credit card debt, the most essential thing that you should do after you have gotten a credit card is to pay up your monthly bills on time. Bear in mind that your failure to meet up with the payments each month will push you into debt faster than anything else. When you fail to meet up payments for one month, you get charged an interest on the money due. If you fail to meet up on the next month, the interest charge increases and you will be saddled with the responsibility of trying to pay off the accumulating interest plus the amount owned.

- Don't exceed the limit: Stay within the confines of your credit card limit. Moving outside what you can afford with your credit card will lead you to a state of debt in a matter of time. Remember that a credit card is really supposed to help you curb any impulse to spend. Try to be judicious in the use of your credit card to get hold of things.

Basically credit card debt can be done without with the true information and a fair share of discipline and determination. It's not impossible to own a credit card and be debt free.

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Tips on Sending Money to El Salvador

By Chloe Banks

There are a variety of ways to send money quickly to El Salvador. The level of security, cost and amount of time it takes for money to arrive differ for each service.

In case of an emergency, a person sending money to El Salvador may need to make the money available as quick as possible. It is important to know what options might work best when time is the most important factor in making a money transfer. The most important thing to remember is not to panic, but to prepare now to have everything in place to initiate a transfer when necessary.

Often sending money online through services such as ATM Cash www.atmcash.com is the easiest and quickest way to get money when you need it. Services such as this allow you to send money 24/7 right from the comfort of your computer.

Another way to ensure a quick transfer of money to El Salvador is ensuring the recipient has an ATM or debit card. If the recipient is someone trusted, it's often useful for them to have a bank card linked to your checking or savings account.

If you are comfortable with the cardholder having access to your account at all time, they can have a card and PIN number to access cash through an ATM machine. If you do not want the recipient to have access to money at all times, a pre-paid debit card is a good solution. It works just like an ATM card except that it is loaded with a specific amount of money.

The cardholder will have no access to funds until you have refilled the pre-paid debit card. At this time you could notify the recipient via phone that money has been added to the card.

Another way to quickly send money to El Salvador is opening an account with a bank that has branches in both the U.S. and El Salvador. This would help facilitate easier transfers since you wouldn't have to deal with inter-bank transfers.

The above are some steps to ensure that money to El Salvador arrives quickly when you need it.

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Easy Ways to Sell your Homes

By Joaquin Costa

We all know that buying or selling a home can be a time consuming process. Although there are thousands of people looking to buy homes, it can be a tricky process finding the right person interested in your home. With hundreds of thousands of homes for sale in the United States, there is always some form of competition.

If youre looking to sell your home fast, youll need to attract as much attention as possible. A real estate agent can help, although he can only do so much. He can show your home and help to get it out there to buyers, although he cant make it sell. If you want to sell it fast, youll need to do some work yourself. If you put the effort into selling your home fast, chances are that you will.

The quickest way to sell a home is by staging it. Staged homes literally invite the buyer in, making him feel right at home. Staged homes are also appealing both inside and out, and are more or less ready to be moved into immediately. They dont sit on the market for long at all, yet they bring a top dollar sell. If you are familiar with staged homes - you should know that they are among the fastest selling homes on the market.

If you dont want to use a real estate agent, its still quite possible to sell your home - and sell it fast. Youll need to do everything yourself, which involves getting your home out there to the market and showing it to potential buyers. You can always list your home in local newspapers, magazines, and put a for sale by owner sign in the yard. This way, you are letting buyers know that your home is for sale. Some buyers prefer homes that are for sale by the owner, as they dont have to pay a real estate agent or deal with one directly.

When you sell your home, you should always make sure that the exterior is clean, the lawn is trim, and the interior is in superb condition. If you plan to live there until it is sold, youll want to make sure that you have the interior staged as best as you can. You want to give the buyer a great feeling, so hell stay and wont leave. If your home is visually appealing both inside and out, a buyer will want to see more.

Once a buyer wants to see more of your home, chances are you have found the individual who will buy it. You should never make the buyer feel pressured, but instead make him feel that you are interested in his thoughts and opinions. If you show a buyer that you care - you will go a long way in establishing trust - which will help you sell your home.

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Before You Apply for a Student Loan, Get Some Basic Information

By Michael Geoffrey

Getting a loan has become a very easy process, and student loans are no exception. The repayment process is substantially more difficult, however. For that reason, you should understand some basic information about student loans before you get one yourself.

Student Loan Information: What You Should Know

Before you apply for any student loan, be sure to ask yourself some important questions that will help you to make a well thought out decision. Start by asking, How much financial aid do I really need? and then What plan do I have to pay this loan back successfully?

Other important student loan information would be what the eligibility criteria for the loan are; where best you could apply for the loan; what is the time gap between the sanction of the loan and the repayment schedule of the loan; are there possibilities to earn while studying, etc.

The answers to such important questions will help you decide whether or not it would be wise in your case to apply for financial aid. You can also determine how difficult the process of repaying your student loan could potentially be. Be absolutely sure that you are well prepared to use the funds you would borrow wisely and to pay back everything you borrow plus interest payments.

Repayment Conditions: Dont Ignore This Important Aspect

Statistics have shown that roughly six out of every ten college students in the United States have incurred serious debt because of student loans and the irresponsible use of credit cards that they have to start paying after graduation. A bad credit history or score is not something that anyone wants to deal with when they are starting out with a brand new career, family, or both.

In order to avoid such unpleasant circumstances, you need to plan out how you will repay your student loan debt now. Even though making good financial choices is not easy when you are young, it is worth putting forth the effort to do. Contact your school for debt counseling instead of maxing out your credit cards if you find yourself in a financial bind.

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Time to Purchase Atlanta Condos

By J. Kim

If you're interested in buying, look no further than Atlanta condos for sale. One of the most famous Southern cities, Atlanta is popular not only for it's wealth but also for the nightlife. And as its nickname implies, temperatures heat up all year long.

You can burn those ugly winter clothes if you buy a property here. And there are plenty of things to do. From Braves' games to the CNN Museum to the hottest clubs in the world, you'll never be bored in Atlanta. Even a quiet evening at home is enjoyable, especially when it's all yours. Rent a movie, curl up on the couch, and enjoy another hot summer night. If you are considering Atlanta condos for sale, check out the following tips to make sure your property is to par.

Do your research ahead of time and know what you're getting into. Look at what you want on your own and figure out what the price tag should be. Be careful comparing comparable sales, as when the market is in a downtown things could be misleading. Then contact a Realtor. By doing this, you are taking control. Don't let your insecurity keep you from making the first move. Talk to potential neighbors and find out about the properties.

Maybe visit the property at night, you can tell many things at night that you have overlooked during the day. While majority of neighborhoods in Atlanta are safe don't be tempted by extremely low prices. Make sure you know everything before you sign the dotted line.

Checking out Atlanta condos for sale at night allows you a clearer picture of what the property is really like. Make sure you are fully aware of what your home is like all the time before you sign on the dotted line.

Atlanta will always be thriving, once one of the fastest growing cities in US, but with recent market downturn in housing, market has provided some opportunities. With low prices and low interest rates, right now might be just the right time to purchase.

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How to Buy a Home Wholesale

By Laeverneus Homebuysky

When you think of things that you can buy wholesale, houses are not necessarily at the top of the list, but the truth of the matter is that wholesale houses can go for bargain basement prices. A wholesale house is something that has a great deal to do with the nature of the sale, rather than the house itself, and you may be surprised at the quality of the houses that can en up being considered wholesale.

When you are looking at wholesale houses, you will find that they can be purchased and resold to make a profit, or you may find that they are your dream home. Given the current economical situation, you will find that there are lots of ways to buy homes like this, and you can just look for a motivated seller to help you out.

There are lots of reasons that people need to quickly turn their house to cash. Divorce, medical bills and debt are just among the top three, and home foreclosures often lead to lenders selling the foreclosed properties at very low prices in order to get the money they are owed.

People wishing to avoid foreclosure may choose to sell their home themselves at a low price so that they get a quick sale but still end up with some money. When it comes to buying a wholesale house, cash is king. If you don't have to obtain financing, you can often get a good buy if the seller needs cash urgently.

If you don't have cash and still need financing, the wholesale house market still has a lot for you. Just by streamlining the financing and making sure that there are no delays can give you a real edge when you are looking into making inquiries in this market. Having a good idea of what you want and how you are going to pay for it can help get you started when you start working with real estate agents

You will also find that searching online can make your search a lot easier. Look for foreclosure sales in your area whether you are looking at wholesale homes or properties, and you will find houses that are not listed anywhere else.

Make sure that you take the time to look at the various areas that you are considering. Look for prospective properties this way. If a house looks structurally sound but has a run-down look, the owner might be undergoing some real problems and need to sell. Think about just knocking on the door and making an offer. You never know when you are going to be someone's perfect solution, and when you can get a great buy. It never hurts to ask and there are a lot of success stories that start this way.

Estates belonging to the recently deceased are another good way to get property. Lots of people who inherit homes don't want to keep them, and they are often willing to accept a low offer and a quick settlement if you pitch it just right.

There are lots of benefits for purchasing a house wholesale. Whether you want to add value to the home and sell for a profit, or you simply want a new place to live, this can be a financially sound thing for you to consider!

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Is this the right time to refinance?

By Peter Daas

Because of interest rate lowerings, the interest rates for a mortgage refinance have gone down to all time lows. The national average interest rate for a mortgage refinance being around 5.5%, homeowners can save big time by making the decision to refinance. Refinancing can free up extra money that can be used for a variety of purposed, home oriented or not home oriented.

Living conditions can be improved by refinancing and oftentimes, improvement of living conditions is in fact the goal of refinancing a mortgage. The money that is freed up can be used for a variety of purposes or financial goals. It can also be used to invest back into the house, by buying home improvement and increasing the value of the house.

These days, houses are not selling all that quickly. A couple of home improvements could mean the difference between selling and not selling at all. Also, if you are planning to sell at a later time, your house will increase in value because of the home improvement. Using money freed up by a refinance to buy home improvements could be a smart decision.

The refinance process is best done with the help of a mortgage expert. Don't make the mistake of choosing your lender based on the lowest refinance rate alone. Instead, look at the best mortgage options for your individual situation. The choice of a wrong mortgage can haunt you down the road when an unsuspected balloon payment may come up or when you have to take out another mortgage to cover the rest of the payments.

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How to Send Money to Colombia

By Chloe Banks

There are different ways to send money to Colombia. One of these is through having a relationship with an American bank that also has a presence in Colombia.

Money being sent between accounts within the same bank is often processed more quickly. Therefore it might be a good idea to open an account locally with the same bank so that the recipient can get access to funds faster.

Bank transfers between different banks aren't difficult, but can entail a waiting period of up to 5 business days with higher costs.

Another way of getting money to Colombia quickly is through a wire transfer. This gets the money to its destination quickly, but fees can be very high and there must be a corresponding bank to receive the wire transfer.

Yet another way to send money regularly to Colombia is through an ATM or pre-paid debit card. This is not the best method in case of an emergency as it takes time for the card to be sent to the person receiving the funds.

Make sure you have a debit card that will ensure money can be withdrawn from a large network of ATMs in Colombia. If using an ATM card, make sure you trust that the recipient is not accessing funds without your permission. A pre-paid debit card is a safer way to ensure the recipient receives the exact amount of money intended.

In addition, online payment services such as ATM Cash are a popular way to get money to Colombia quickly. Online services allow you to send money 24/7 from your computer and for a less amount of money.

These are some of the methods you can use to transfer money to Colombia

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Tips on Sending Money to China

By Chloe Banks

Opportunities for Chinese emigrants grow as China's economy grows. Sixty percent of overseas Chinese professionals live in the U.S.

Chinese living in the U.S. are able to send more money back home than they ever have been. Chinese immigrants account for the largest amounts of remittance money being sent to their native country from the U.S.

There are a variety of different ways to send money to China. The majority of remittance to China is captured by formal service providers, mainly China Post, commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives.

If you are sending money back to a trusted relative in China, one way to do so would be through acquiring an ATM or debit card for them that is linked back to your checking or savings account.

If you would rather they do not have access to your account at all times, then a pre-paid debit card is another option. This allows the recipient access to funds only when you have refilled the pre-paid debit card.

Sending money to China via bank wire transfer is another option. However this can often be more expensive as US banks will charge a transaction fee. This service can often take up to several weeks to process.

A fast and easy way to send money to China is through an online service such as ATM Cash. This allows you to transfer money from your own computer 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Although multinational banks have developed direct online international money transfers, many of the facilities that deal with the international funds transfers to China are network based. These networks have expanded, thus making it easier and more efficient to send money to China, both to its urban areas and rural areas.

There are increased fears of money laundering and illegal activities associated with international money transfers. The U.S. government has stipulated that money sent to China cannot exceed USD 3,000 per capita/ per day and that checks are limited to below 10,000 US dollars.

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Give these Items to Appraiser at Inspection

By Marten W. Davis, SRPA

When you arrange for a new mortgage, refinance or purchase, it is important that you have things ready for your appraiser's inspection. If you have some important items ready for the appraiser it will make his job much easier.

Those that tou have will be extremely helpful to your appraiser.

Items to look for are: Mortgage Survey which is a small piece of paper with a drawing of the lot with the building outline. This document is usually prepared by a surveyor and has his stamp on it. The information on this document includes the specific measurements of improvements and lot, the legal description and the flood zone specifics.

Previous appraisals are helpful for physical characteristics information. If the dwelling is newer, any floor plan drawings (blueprints) is extremely helpful to the appraiser.

A list of recent improvements, date and cost. These will be helpful to itemize those items that have been upgraded and modernized. If you have a recent home inspection report, that would also be very helpful.

Any current listing information such as listing agreement, any easements for items like shared driveways, etc.

The appraiser can get the specifics of the property detailed much more accurately if you present the suggested items at time of inspection.

Marten Davis, SRPA

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Short Sales an Increasingly Attractive Alternative to Foreclosure

By Tomasheus Privetsky

A short sales is one of the tools mortgage lenders use in soft real estate markets to deal with the high tide of foreclosures they're experiencing today. When a homeowner with a high mortgage balance gets behind on his loan payments, a lender has a decision to make related to how to handle the default. He can either start foreclosure procedure or try to get the homeowner to sell the property and pay off the loan.

If the owner decides that it's preferable to sell the home, in many cases lenders are willing to accept a payoff amount that is actually far less than the current loan balance. Especially in a difficult real estate market, lenders would often rather give homeowners a fighting chance at selling the property by allowing them to list and sell it under market price before the foreclosure auction. When a home is sold for an amount that will not pay off the entire mortgage balance, this is called a short sale

Though it may seem surprising, many lenders will authorize the sale of a home at a price that will not pay off the existing loan balance that the lender is owed. These short sales are lender-approved sales in an attempt to avoid foreclosure. By facilitating a short sale, lenders mitigate or minimize the losses suffered as a result of foreclosure.

It seems strange that lenders would approve a short sale, knowing that financial loss will result. Why is this so? Lenders use this strategy to avoid foreclosing on a property because an actual foreclosure is an extremely costly process. Not only must the lender repossess the home and resell it, but there are legal fees, insurance, taxes, real estate commissions, lost interest revenue and eviction costs as well.

The net amount available to pay the lender is often more with a negotiated short sale than a home acquired through foreclosure and then resold to the highest bidder. Lenders are now so overwhelmed with REOs (repossessed homes) that they simply can't afford to add more foreclosure homes to an already enormous roster of non-income generating assets. The soaring costs of foreclosure aren't the only reason that lenders look to short sales as an alternative.

They also face major scrutiny from local municipalities to maintain their repossessed empty houses in good condition in order to keep drug related activities away, as well as reduce the vandalism. Some local government go as far as filing lawsuits against lenders who have a high number of REO properties in the area causing further expenses and losses. Under these circumstances a quick short sale settlement may look likeas a desirable alternative to foreclosure.

Many lenders slash prices deeply in an attempt to get rid of their crowded REO inventory, and lenders now realize just how much of a financial burden a large inventory of REO homes can be. Because of this, lenders are very motivated to avoid foreclosing on homes in the first place. Short sales have become so common that many lenders now have specialized staff on hand whose primary job is to handle short sale offers submitted on properties in foreclosure. Lenders are pulling out all the stops to avoid foreclosing on properties that add to their growing inventory of foreclosure homes with high ownership costs and associated expenses.

For those who buy homes through a short sale process, there is a golden opportunity to buy a home at a deep discount prior to the public foreclosure auction. Consider though that a short sale can only take place with lender approval. For investors, short sales present an opportunity to buy and resell a property at a significant profit, or to convert the property to a rental for ongoing cash flow.

What do homeowners gain from a short sale? In the current economic downturn, increasing numbers of homeowners are out of work. Without a steady paycheck, many families simply can't maintain their mortgage payments and are facing the possibility of foreclosure.

Imagine owners who have an over-financed house with high payments they can no longer afford. A short sale is often the only way for them to gracefully escape from their tough situation. For you as an investor a short sale is a unique selling proposition to foreclosure marketing and making great profits.

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Bad Credit Home Loans

By Gordon McKormick

Too many people are afraid that due to bad credit they will never be able to buy a home. This article is about bad credit home loans. By following a few simple steps you will be able to buy a home regardless of your credit.

So how can you qualify for a home loan if you have horrid credit? There are several ways to do it. We will go over a few of them here.

To begin with you should go and get your credit history. If you are trying to use a mortgage broker then you can ask them for a credit history. Using a broker will save you money because you can get the report for free.

Once you have your report in hand you should go through it and make sure that it is accurate. If you have been bad at paying bills then your report will stink. But if you are lucky you will have a few things that are wrong. A quick letter to the service bureaus will fix it.

When you have finished fixing your credit history you will likely have a better chance at getting a home loan even with your bad credit. The first option you will want to apply for is a FHA loan.

FHA loans are subsidized by the government for first time home buyers. The great advantage to a FHA loan is that your rate is cheap and your down payment is low.

When you get denied for a FHA loan you then have to apply for other loans. Call your bank and ask if they offer high interest home loans. If conditions are right they may be more then happy or not happy at all. But you have that option. If they cant help you then talk to your mortgage broker who would qualify you.

Of course the last option is also the best one. Just go save a lot of money and put 20% down. If you do this you will not only qualify but save thousands of dollars in interest charges.

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Getting Help To Erase Debt

By Nathan A. Bargigh

You probably are trying to get ahead in life and want the best way to do it, and erasing your debt is a great start. In the event you can erase your debt, you will open up a whole new life for yourself and be able to enjoy it on a different level.

When are actually searching for the way to lower your debt, you need to first get a grip on it. You have to do the math and add up the debt you have, because this allows you to know if you can actually pay all of it back. You have to be organized about this. You need to figure out not only what type of debt, but also how much has to be erased for you to have it manageable.

Once you get organized and understand the debt you have, you now have to think about how you are going to schedule a good method to pay it back. This is of some importance due to the fact that this will permit you to setup minimum payments for you to pay. You have to figure out what payments you can really afford, and then consult with the credit card companies. These companies often let you chip away at your debit a little chunk at a time.

If you are really serious about getting your debt paid, follow this next things that will assist you. The one thing you need to do is pay monthly payment targets which you can actually do every month easily. These targets should always be what you know you are able to pay, because you will know what targets you need to aim for every month, this will help you. This step will assist you down the line too, it will help you remove as much debt from your life as you possibly can.

Then be certain that you keep paying it down. Debt builds a bit at a time, and this is really the only way that you can get in control of it. If you keep making the payments monthly, and don't let yourself take on any further debt, it will most likely be easy for you to pay your debt back. You will need to keep up this organization because it will allow not only you to get rid of debt, but also set a standard for the years to come in your life.

Stopping any debt is the perfect idea. Make sure your payments are always paid on time. This is a truly viable method of making sure you are staying away from debt in the best method you can. Also plan ways of you spending money that does not put you into debt. This is important to do.

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Top 5 Debt Elimination Tips to Become Debt Free

By Jonathan Lemereaux

Debt is at the heart of the wallet. From the time young children are taught about money, they see commercials, advertisements and signs all around them telling them to charge everything they could ever want on credit cards, with loans and lines of credit. From cars to homes, there are few things that are bought today that can be paid for outright. This creates debt and the need for debt elimination and becoming debt free.

Debt elimination is the art of taking a life full of debt and moving that life past the point of owing and into the point of owning. Debt elimination can mean less stress, an overall happier life and more money in your pocket. Here are the top 5 tips to debt elimination and becoming debt free.

Cash Only - Cash is the currency that seems to be moving to the wayside for the use of cards, loans and credit. At the heart of a debt free lifestyle is debt elimination be not creating new debt. This means keeping your life in a debt free place by not creating any debt by purchasing something you can not pay for 100% at the time of purchase. Debt free life and debt elimination is about buying what you can afford right now, not what you can afford monthly.

Cancel Those Cards - Debt elimination can not start until those credit cards are out of sight, out of mind and out of the wallet. A debt free lifestyle and debt elimination means never charging anything again. Yes, you heard that right, NEVER! A credit card is the worst choice for someone who wants to live life debt free and eliminate all debt. Charging fresh amounts of money will just revert you back to being full of debt and stop debt elimination.

Minimum Payments Will Not Work - The credit card you used to charge the world away, is the nemesis to your debt free life and debt elimination. Those minimum payments are all interest and in order to choose debt elimination, those need to be taken care of immediately. The paying off of a credit card will require a larger than minimum payment and a lot of willpower. Becoming debt free was never going to be easy, but debt elimination feels good in the end.

Bad Monthly Payments - Our monthly payments mind set is what gets more and more people into trouble with debt elimination. As soon as one bill is paid off, there is another monthly payment waiting to claim that money. Debt free means no debt and no monthly payments.

Do Not File Bankruptcy - Businesses who are going under file bankruptcy, not the person who wants to be debt free. Eliminating debt for good requires learning how to live day to day in a cash only world. This can not happen if the debt free nature of out lives is given to us.

Our lives are so very filled with the need to have more of everything right now that we have forgotten about the debt free nature of life. We expect to live debt free when we are young, but then fall into charged and owed debt, thus making debt elimination seem like it is too far away to grasp. Our debt free lives depend on living everyday with a total cost mindset and the heart to live with what we can afford right now, thus making debt elimination a new beginning.

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Bad Credit Mortgage Loans

By Roger Dawkins

If you have bad credit and want to get a mortgage loan do not despair. There is still hope. In fact there are several ways that you can still qualify for a mortgage loan. So let's look at what is one of the best and cheapest options.

Most people that can't initially qualify are going to take the same first step. They need to get a copy of their credit report. After all if you don't know what is wrong with your credit then you will have a hard time getting it fixed.

Since most people with a credit score of 500 do not qualify for even a bad credit mortgage loan we need to fix our score. If you fit in this category then you are likely in luck as the steps are not that hard to get a score above 600.

The initial step is to go to your mortgage broker and ask for a credit report. Yes, you could use another service but they will charge money for it. A mortgage broker has an incentive to give it to you for free. He wants to sell you a bad credit mortgage loan.

If you have been penalized due to late payments then you have an easy fix. Simply call your credit card companies up and find out how long you have to make payments on time before they will lift the penalties.

When your main penalties are because of late payments you can easily fix it. Just call your credit card company and find out how long you need to pay on time to get the penalty removed.

Once you know the info you need to make your payments on time. Over the course of a few months you can bump up your credit score quite a bit. You then want to go back to your mortgage broker and see if you qualify for a bad credit mortgage loan.

If you still don't qualify then talk to your mortgage broker to see if there are other options available to you. In a lot of cases you can get a home with a high interest rate. You can also buy your house the old fashioned way by putting 20% or more on the down payment. The days of the super easy loan may be over but you can still get bad credit mortgage loans.

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Tips on Credit Cards

By Amanda Somrekli

What's more, there are far too many rogue traders eager to fleece you as you merrily click and buy and any number of phishers and ID thieves ready to whip credit card details from unsuspecting buyers.

Sign up for a newsletter - Most of the major credit card companies have newsletters that you can subscribe to. Simply go to the main credit card company's website and look for a place you can sign up.

This covers you in the event of something going wrong with the transaction and enables you to claim against the credit card provider or the trader.

Before putting the tax bill on a business credit card it may be worth investigating this option first rather than incurring interest charges on the amount via the credit card.

As financial belts tighten, business credit cards may start to become more of a luxury rather than a necessity for many businesses.

There are scams out there that you want to look out for such as a card without a major logo. If the card doesn't have a Visa or MasterCard logo, you'll want to skip over it right away because you're most likely asking for trouble.

Understanding the fine print, and the fees, on your credit card can save you not only a lot of grief, but a considerable amount of money, as well.

Credit needs to be used wisely, and careful management of a business credit card is still a good option for small and medium size businesses that want an additional line of funding available to them for everyday use.

Clearly, the foregoing facts point to constant vigilance as the key to avoiding identity theft and minimizing any damage if it does occur. What does this mean specifically as it applies to your credit cards?

While it is certainly necessary to exercise care in online credit card use, the attention devoted to high-tech occurrences of identity theft may sometimes obscure the fact that most abuse is the result of good old-fashioned hands on larceny.

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How does Debt Management/Consolidation Work?

By Amy Nutt

When an individual feels that they are so far in debt that there is no way out, they may look to a debt management company to help them find a solution. This is because a debt management company provides their clients with a number of options to help them get themselves back on track.

For example, the debt management company may offer a service in which they negotiate the debt with the creditors. This means putting a freeze on interest rates, negotiating a lower payment, and even lowering the amount of the debt. This can save an individual a lot of money and help them get out of their debt faster so that they can start over when the program is finished.

Debt consolidation

Another service that is offered is debt consolidation. This is where you take out a loan that pays off all of your unsecured debt for you. Unsecured debt is that debt in which collateral is not used to secure the loan. For example, a bank may require a car be put up as collateral on a personal loan. This insures the loan because the bank can take possession of that car to recover the money that they would lose if you were to default on the loan. That is why you cannot include secured debt in a debt consolidation loan or any sort of debt management.

The reason why unsecured debt is allowed is because the creditor will be at a great loss if you do not pay the debt or you file bankruptcy. Through a debt consolidation loan, you are given the loan and you use that money to pay off your creditors. It is then that you have just the one loan payment. That payment can actually save you money on interest and can be less than what your individual debts were costing you each month.

Credit counseling

It is usually called credit counseling when the debt management company has to negotiate with the creditors. Now this is where you may see an adverse effect on your credit score. However, the adverse effect is not as severe as it would be if you filed bankruptcy.

You can expect to be in a credit counseling program for a period of up to three years. The debt management company talks to your creditors and negotiates certain terms with them. For example, the debt management company says to them, "If you do not agree to these terms, this person will file bankruptcy and you'll get nothing." The creditor would much rather get something than nothing at all, so they will negotiate lower rates, lower interest, and any other terms that you have discussed with the debt management company.

When it is over

The debt consolidation loan is rather simple because you take out the loan and make your payments to pay off the debt. But it is the credit counseling aspect that requires some time. Negotiating lower payments and lower interest is not something that comes without consequence. If it did, then it would be too good to be true.

When the program is over, you will have to work on rebuilding your credit. This can be done by simply charging on one credit card and paying it off before your due date each month. Making payments before your due date is important because many creditors take up to 48 hours to post a payment and that can still result in a late fee. Nevertheless, you can have your credit rebuilt and you can ensure that you don't fall in the credit trap ever again. That way you can keep your credit score intact.

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Holiday Home Insurance: How to choose the best cover

By David Ball

Many people buying a holiday home or second home in the UK or in Europe are offered holiday home insurance cover by an insurer, broker, their foreign agent or notary. Of course it is too easy not to say "No", but the cover offered may not be suitable due to the special insurance requirements needed for a holiday home or second home.

With the risks of owning a second home abroad or in the UK being that much greater than your main home or residence, there is a real call for a second home insurance policy that is written in easy to understand English, that pays specific attention to the particular requirements for holiday homes, and that also has wide coverage.

Buildings and Contents cover should be flexible so that owners do not end up paying for cover that they do not need. Not every property has a swimming pool. Certain features are considered to be of vital importance, and therefore overseas home insurance cover for loss of use, legal liability for domestic staff, public liability and accidental damage to domestic supplies should be included as standard. Your holiday property insurance should also ensure that all local taxes on overseas properties are included within the premium.

The true value of any insurance is however only fully appreciated when a claim is made. Holiday home owners who own a property overseas and have overseas holiday home insurance should be spared the difficulties of discussing their claim with a foreign agent via a continental telephone call, and should be able to speak directly to experienced English staff that will provide assistance and be fully responsible for liaising with the overseas loss adjusters.

You might think that the best thing to go for is cheap holiday home insurance, but you really need to ask yourself whether you are really that well covered with the cheapest policy? Although low premium rates are often of importance, the overseas house insurance cover should be simple to understand, offer a high level of security and in the event of a claim a satisfactory result.

Using an insurance agent who does not specialize in, or fully understand the requirements of your holiday home or let property, you may find that you do not have adequate cover to fully protect your holiday home. It is essential that you get the correct property insurance to suit the specialized requirements needed for your holiday home. You must get specialist overseas holiday property insurance. And you must get insurance for buildings and contents designed exclusively for properties used as holiday homes or let for holiday use.

What restrictions are in place when letting and un-occupancy etc? Do you have cover for legal liability for domestic employees? And most important of all what do you do in the event of a claim? As an owner of a holiday home abroad, it is vital that you fully understand the extent and limitations of your insurance policy.

If your holiday home insurance policy has been placed through an insurance agent in the following countries: UK, Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus Greece, Ireland, Malta, Monaco or Andorra , it is more likely that they have not informed you and that you simply do not know.

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Your policy will not always cover all the personal possessions

By Rem

To safeguard your home in the event of a burglary, accident or fire, a house insurance policy can be arranged that can help replace individual items. If you own your property, you may be offered a shared policy that protects both the building and the contents as well although this may not be worth it if you rent where you live.

It is always a good practice to make a list of everything in your place that has any value, doing this on a room by room basis and preferably before you actually take out the household insurance. While you are carrying out this stock, why not make a camcorder record of all your rooms, paying extra attention to personal and costly personal possessions, or use a still camera if you do not own a camcorder. This can be added to your stock and will furnish a unique record of your household and possessions. Numerous individuals forget to keep there house insurance inventory current though and neglect adding new personal possessions to the list as well as taking photos to accompany that list.

Nearly all providers in the insurance market are able to provide quotes and terms online so it is possible to call for a few of quotes which gives you the chance to view the best for you. The advantage of getting an instant online quotation is that insurance quotations from major companies are brought to your personal computer screen in a matter of a couple of seconds. Online home insurance is usually less costly since overheads are cut from the picture so the providers can offer smaller premiums and insurance charges. You should not rush and choose a firm that does not have a good reputation just because they have offered the lowest insurance quote, as you may rue not checking this point.

Insurance providers call the amount they protection as the sum assured and this amount is the most they will pay out on your plan should you make a claim for complete loss through damage, accident or burglary. Luckily, some firms will include the sum insured in their contents quotation automatically. Others nevertheless, will appraise your place and provide cover based on their estimates or request how much cover you would like and then calculate the premiums on your behalf. This situation may also help your special needs as your individual contents worth may be much higher than the general sum assured, in which case you would be under insured.

The limit of protection that your plan covers is called the sum assured and this is the total amount that an insurance insurer will pay out should the contents of your house be lost, stolen or damaged. Many insurance providers work out this sum automatically for you so you do not have to physically assess the cost of a total loss yourself. Others nevertheless, will appraise your place and offer cover based on their estimates or request how much cover you would like and then calculate the premiums on your behalf. In some circumstances this may be a better option if you think that the automatic sum assured amount will not protection the cost of substituting your things you own.

The house owner should be aware that whatever the conditions of the insurance policy, it is the household owner who is responsible if a claim is rejected for something that the policy does not provide for so it is imperative that these matters are verified in advance of any decision being made.

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Retirement Planning Calculators Are Useful Tools

By William Blake

Retirement should be free of schedules, pressures and other worries, but individuals looking for a great retirement should start planning very early. A good retirement planning calculator can be very helpful in making the proper plans for a successful, enjoyable retirement. A retirement planning calculator can help people decide how much money they should save, invest or spend in order to have a successful retirement.

It is important to begin planning for your retirement early in your career. A Retirement planning calculator can be utilized and if followed can really help one prepare for the future. No one wants to be forced to stay in the workforce and put off their retirement because of poor planning. A retirement planning calculator can help.

A retirement planning calculator is often available from the human resources department of some companies, and other retirement planning calculators are available from banks and other financial institutions. These retirement planning calculators can often be accessed on the websites of these institutions.

Of course the retirement planning calculator will only be useful if the information entered is accurate. Also, once the information is entered the direction given by the retirement planning calculator must be followed in order to maximize your savings for retirement. So once you locate your retirement planning calculator you must give some serious thought to how you will use it.

A Retirement Planning Calculator Provides Figures For The Future

So many things change when you retire. Your job will no longer dictate certain aspects of your life. If you chose your current home because of a job opportunity retirement will afford you the opportunity to relocate to a preferred area. These new choices and changes will create new financial decisions and circumstances.

Also during years in the workforce we generally have to consider our family and their needs. It is important to live in an area where your children can get a good education. However, once the children have grown up and have home and families of their own that is no longer something you need to be concerned about. Again, this offers opportunities for you to expand your horizons a bit and base your decisions what is best for you financially and otherwise.

A retirement planning calculator will help you factor in the cost of health insurance during your retirement. If you are in a financial position to take an early retirement but you have not yet reached the age where you are eligible for Medicare you will need to consider how you will pay for the health insurance you need during the interim.

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What Is Your Credit Scoring Mark?

By Keith Harris

A healthy credit mark is fundamental in our financially motivated order. Paying your bills on time, tells employers and business concerns that you are a healthy financial risk and will give you a good reference grade. You might be surprised to know that this data can be utilised, no matter what attitude you have in society. You should have a healthy credit history, if you wish to buy a motorcar, buy a new home or even look for a new employment.

To be able to purchase a new car or house, an person must have a good standing in their credit history. If you have damaged your credit history recently, then you must take measures to repair the problem fast. This will enable you to use your charge card to purchase luxury items like vacations. You can locate this info without too much problem and the happy news is, it's free.

The web is a healthy place to start as they are business organizations that will give you your exact credit mark for free. Individuals can check their credit mark each year from these types of businesses. These companies will ask you a few easy questions which most individuals would be able to answer off the top of their head. Your credit mark and any outstanding debts would then be ready to view. If you find that you have a bad credit grade which will block you from purchasing anything on hire buy, there are a number of things you can do to rectify the problem.

The first step an individual needs to do to have a higher credit mark is to pay off old bills. Even if this was for 10 years ago, it will help in credit individual's credit marking vastly. A no credit or bad credit Master Card can be obtained as soon as people accounts] are wiped clean. This will be helpful for a individual to begin acquiring a good credit mark and be able to buy their dream home or vehicle. This can aid a individual to increase their credit score, which will enable them to buy a new automobile or their dream house.~Paying off any old bills] will help a individual increase their credit grade and help them to buy luxury items on the credit.

It takes only a a couple of short months to gain terrible credit and it takes a few years to create a better credit marking. Begin by buying one or two items on the new credit card and then paying it off immediately. This method will not only boost a person's credit rating, it will also assist in reaching a higher amount on the credit card.

Everyone has problems like this in their lifetime. Paying your accounts for a couple of months may be a problem. Suddenly your credit history starts to fall, this is when many individuals have troubles with debt. You your credit mark once again and there are many methods to do this. A few bad months out of life does not need to detour a person from finally receiving excellent credit for the things they desire in life.

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Student Loan Defaulted

By Justin Hutto

If you have defaulted on your student loan you are in a difficult position. Not only are you likely to have to repay this debt your credit will be ruined.

This is what happens when your loan is defaulted on; your account is sent to collection agencies and then there are various collection efforts. The government can garnish your wages, your social security benefits and more.

According to a law that Congress created called the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you only have a negative mark on your credit report for a maximum of seven years. Although, these debts can be collected upon for life!

If you have a defaulted student loan on your report, more often than not you will be turned away for a new line of credit. You are likely to have to pay interest rates of roughly 25% and place large down payments just to be approved.

There is a possibility that this mark can be removed from your report and a chance that you may be able to remove the debt entirely. To do this, you should dispute the collection marks on your report.

You should send a dispute letter to each bureau; in your letter provide an explanation as to why the mark is not accurate. For example; it has been reported for seven years already, not my account, account is paid in full and so on.

This is the most difficult item on a credit report to negotiate. As a benefit to you, we suggest that you hire a credit repair service to dispute it on your behalf. This will give you a licensed attorney fighting for you which will be knowledgeable of the new laws constantly passed by congress to help protect consumers.

You credit score impacts every aspect of your life and thus we feel it is worth the money to hire an expert. This can be done at very reasonable rates and compared to the high cost of low credit score it is a good idea.

Understand that government loans, such as a Stafford loan or the Perkins loan, will be much harder to eliminate from your report. A private loan, such as Sallie Mae, will be easier to remove than a federal loan, but still difficult.

Once the bureaus receive your dispute letter, the creator of the negative mark will be contacted and ask to verify the debt. The items verified will be that the account is yours, the balance of the account, and that the dates are correct.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that any unverifiable mark on your credit report must be removed. Therefore, if the account can not be verified, the negative mark must be removed from your credit report.

Errors are made all the time by the bureaus and lenders, but it is your credit that will suffer. Estimates show that 1 in every 4 people have an error on their report that is costing them money in higher interest rates. Therefore, if this mark is in error, it is very important to include all documentation that you have with your dispute letter to verify it is in error.

In conclusion, defaulted student loans are removed every day from credit reports. If you have this, it does not mean you will have a low credit score for the rest of your life. We suggest you dispute this mark with the credit bureaus.

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Linking Reverse Mortgages and Long-Term Care Insurance

By Terry Stanfield

As individuals age, the question of how to pay for their expenses in the troubling situation where they cannot take care of themselves comes up. Millions of seniors across America are beginning to look at the future and the possibility their children will have to pay the costs of their care, and some are doing something about it. Typically, it will come down to two choices for seniors. They can either go with long-term care insurance policies that will help keep them afloat financially while they are getting long-term care. The other option is they can look into a reverse mortgage to help finance their needs. The options of a reverse mortgage and long-term care insurance are becoming the two main ways seniors are paying for their own long-term care.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is made to individuals 62 years and over in the United States, which is used to release home equity on a property in one large lump sum, or multiple payments. The homeowner is not obligated to repay the loan until they die, the home is sold or they leave into a nursing home.

For a typical mortgage, the owner of the house will pay a monthly payment to the lender, whereas in a reverse mortgage, the home owner makes no payments and all interest is added to the lien on the property. Now, it may seem odd that there are no payments on the reverse mortgage, but the way that the loan is paid off is that if the home owner moves, goes into a nursing home or dies, is from the proceeds in the sale of the house, or in the event the heirs refinance the estate of the homeowner. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the loan, the owner of the house gets the difference. In the case of the heirs, they would receive the difference. If the sale does not pay off the loan, then the bank will absorb the difference.

This option is becoming very popular with some seniors when they have to choose between reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance because they get a lot of the money upfront, which can then be applied to savings. The draw back is that it could severely effect the inheritance that you may want to leave behind. Long-term care insurance is an inexpensive way to insure that your family is taken care of.

Conclusion For many seniors, the possibility of their children paying out of their own pocket to take care of them is simply too much to bear. As a result, seniors will look at the options of reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance to find a way that they can pay their own way through either a loan or a government program. In the case of reverse mortgages, they will be able to get a loan that they will not have to pay back until they die or move, and even then the loan is paid off on the sale of the home. This allows them to get the money up front to help pay for their own long-term care at home. It is of little surprise it has become such a popular trend for seniors looking for a way to pay their own way.

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Debt Consolidation Gives Consumers Chance to Save Money

By Dave Almentenk

If you find yourself in a debt situation that you are not sure how to get out of, there may be a possible debt consolidation loan in your future. These loans are dependent on the applicants credit, so it is a good idea to look into this option before there is a huge problem with your credit score. However, if you qualify, a debt consolidation loan can be very instrumental in solving problems many people have when your debt becomes too high, the rates increase, or you are having a hard time affording all of the payments.

There are several financial institutions that offer these types of helpful debt consolidation loans and doing research online will make choosing the right place for you much simpler. You will need to make sure whoever you choose has a foundation of ethical business practices and also that they have been around for enough time to have established a solid reputation. There have been many cases of disreputable companies taking advantage of clients and ruining the credit of consumers who were either already in trouble or trying to keep a situation from going very badly.

It is probably a good idea to try and find companies that will provide many services for free that other companies charge a fee for. There are ways to get your credit report for free, or to apply for the loan for free, so paying for these services will be a waste of money. There are many good, reputable companies that are willing to help without first charging a fee.

The federal government of the United States is currently in a state of flux in regards to its loaning policies. Things in the last few years in the mortgage and credit card industries have been terribly unregulated, and many people have been allowed to take loans that they really did not qualify for. Recently, many changes have taken place and regulations for filing for bankruptcy have become more stringent and getting a debt consolidation loan has become considerably more difficult.

Taking care of your credit is one of the most important components in maintaining good financial health and keeping your debts to a maintainable level is very important. Debt consolidation loans do exactly what they say, they bring all of your debt together in one lump sum under one rate, and you pay one loan instead of 3 or 5 credit card or loan payments.

If you find that you are in more debt than you can afford, have the need to consolidate your debts and a credit score that gives you the ability to apply and receive a loan chances are you will benefit greatly from the debt consolidation loan you get.

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Do You Need Permanent Life Insurance?

By David C Lewis, RFA

Life insurance is necessary. However, most individuals do not carry enough of it. The idea behind life insurance is that we all die. If your spouse dies prematurely, a life insurance policy will make sure that there is enough income to make your family whole for the financial loss you've suffered. Pretty much every adviser agrees having life insurance is a good thing.

But, this is where the consensus ends (sadly). Most every financial professional recognizes the importance of life insurance. However, "gurus" like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman have done a good job of painting the picture that whole life insurance is "evil". There is opposition though, and quite a debate over the issue.

Some financial advisors love cash value insurance, others hate it. Who's right? Who's wrong?

It is sometimes surprising that the financial industry is charged with the responsibility of informing and educating the rest of society about saving and investing principles, and yet many of the advisors that represent the industry seem to be less concerned about truth and honesty, and more concerned about injecting their own personal agenda.

In truth, neither the insurance industry nor the investment industry is doing a very good job of defending their respective positions. Point Blank: Financial "gurus" are leaving out critical information. Either they do not have a very good grasp of how life insurance really works, or they are outright lying. Either scenario is totally unacceptable.

Their reasons for lying can be many. Now, there's nothing wrong with pointing out the shortcomings in a financial product. In the case of life insurance; however, the attacks being made are completely baseless. This is especially disheartening because most, if not all, of these attacks are originating from well known financial "gurus". Here are a few of the lies being spread around:

Lie number one:

Don't waste your money on cash value insurance. It is a complete waste of money because the insurance company collects premiums from you for 20 years and then when you die you only get the death benefit. They keep all of your cash and your family gets ripped off. Besides, you could make more money by buying term and investing the difference.

Fact: Less that 2% of all term policies ever sold ever pay a claim. Which means: there is a 98% chance that your family will never benefit from a term policy. Term insurance may be the best type of insurance if all you are considering is the cost per thousand dollars of insurance. It is generally the worst type of insurance you can buy to insure your life if you are expecting your family to benefit from it (statistically speaking). You need to understand how life insurance companies position their products and how they make money.

Insurance uses something called the Law of Large Numbers. Basically this is how it works: the larger the group of people you are insuring, the more certain you can be about the number of losses you will sustain.

Let's suppose you were to start an insurance company and you only had one customer - let's call him "Jim". You would be taking on an incredible risk by insuring just Jim. If Jim kicks the bucket, then you're on the hook for a lot of money that you may not have. You would be business very quickly (imagine: Jim gives you $20 for a $500,000 death benefit and then they die the very next day...where do you come up with $500K for Jim's family?). However, if you have thousands of customers just like Jim, then you have the unique ability to better control the risk you take by insuring Jim's life. No one can predict when Jim will die, but if you study a large enough group of people just like Jim, then you can begin to make very, very accurate predictions about the number of people just like Jim that will die in any given year. Given the accuracy of insurance companies in predicting deaths every year, what do their statistics tell us?

They tell us that term insurance just doesn't pay...well not for policy owners anyway. Most people live until age 65. After that premium costs spike dramatically. This is why I say that, on most accounts, permanent is cheaper, even though there are probably a few critics saying "no Dave, it's cheaper on all accounts". Oh yeah? Watch this:

A male (let's use Jim again), age 25 and in good health with a wife and a child finds that he needs life insurance. Jim is looking for $250,000 in coverage. A typical 30-year term policy - a policy that has level premium payments for 30 years - should cost Jim around $370 per year until he reaches age fifty-five. At that point, the premiums jump up significantly (as all term insurance premiums do) to a tad over $4,700 per year.

At age 65, he will have spent $58,780 on policy premiums. Keep in mind that this is money that the insurance company collected but never had to pay back. Since there's no cash value in a pure insurance (term) plan, the insurance contract pays off only when Jim dies.

What would have happened if he had, say, purchased the same amount of death benefit but used a universal life insurance policy with slightly higher but level annual premiums of $1739 every year to age 100? By his 65th birthday, 'ole Jimbo would have had a total premium outlay of $69,560 ($1739 x 40). But, he would have built up $157,000 of cash value inside the policy.

That's $87,000 more than his premium payments for those 40 years. That's also money that can be used on a tax-free basis to help supplement retirement. This is called a living benefit, and a feature that term just doesn't offer. Some of the more competitive permanent policies also offer an option to spend down the death benefit if you become terminally ill. This can be helpful if you haven't accumulated a lot of money and something tragic happens to you and you don't die...or you don't want to spend down your savings.

Lie number two:

Cash value life insurance is overpriced for what you get. You never know how much money you are spending on the death benefit, how much money is actually going into the cash value of the policy, and how much interest you are really earning. Term insurance is so much simpler.

Fact: Whole life insurance is not very transparent. So it is difficult to determine how much the death benefit is costing you. That bothers some people. That's OK. Just don't buy whole life insurance. Universal life insurance, on the other hand, is very transparent. That's because UL policies are a term policy with a separate savings account. You can easily determine the cost per thousand dollars of insurance, how much is going to pay the death benefit, and how much is going into the cash value of the policy. Cash value insurance seems expensive in comparison to term insurance (at least initially) because insurance contracts are front loaded as far as fees are concerned. That's a good thing...because the contract becomes cheaper over time. Unfortunately, the initial cost is really driven home by the anti-cash value life insurance crowd.

Be thankful that you pay some of the fees that you do. It makes saving and investing money a lot easier. In regard to life insurance, you have a choice: the contract can be set up to maximize the death benefit (maximizing the cost of the contract), or it can be set up to focus on cash accumulation (minimizing expense charges). All of the expenses associated with permanent life insurance can be made just as efficient and in some cases more efficient than an investment product. But why compare insurance to an investment?

You will usually get all of your money back that you put into a permanent policy plus interest (depending on how you structured the contract). Additionally, the policy can give you a substantial tax-free income at retirement. The only exception to this is variable life, which typically has no guarantee on cash values

Lie number three:

Be smart with the money you have today and pay off your mortgage, car loans and other debt. Put enough money into retirement plans you don't need insurance 30 years from now to protect your family when you die.

Fact: You might need insurance to protect your children from a big tax burden. Even if you are "smart" with your money, you can't predict the future with absolute certainty. Some people alive today are experiencing a 40% loss in their retirement accounts 5 years before retirement. This is money that was supposed to be there for them and it isn't. If your investments take a hit right before YOU are ready to retire, it doesn't matter how "smart" you were with your money.

Is life insurance is necessary as you get older? You will be shocked at the costs of even a modest funeral these days. What does the average funeral cost in your home town? Ask a funeral director. What is the inflation effect in the funeral industry. If it costs $12,000 today, what will it cost in 10 years? 20 years? 30 years? Ask any beneficiary who has been left any amount of money what they paid in taxes and if it was financially disruptive to them personally.

The cash value life insurance that your financial guru told you was evil and that you didn't need could have prevented all of this by bypassing probate, providing an income tax free death benefit and, inside of a life insurance trust, completely avoided the estate tax thereby giving your heirs, your favorite charity, or your church 100% of the money you wanted to give them.

There are an alarming number of financial professionals that try to draw a connection between life insurance and investing. It's a huge mistake (even supporters of CV insurance make this mistake). Comparing cash value insurance to investing is like asking "how many walkmans does it take to equal an Ipod?". Even if you find an investment strategy that "beats" the insurance product...so what? Cash value insurance is supposed to provide a death benefit with a savings component, not an investment component (despite the mistakes of variable life).

Before you make any decision on whether to buy term or cash value life insurance, think about what you are trying to accomplish. If you want to invest your money, then learn about investing. Learn how to value corporations and buy stocks, bonds, no load mutual funds. If you want a long-term savings, then find an adviser that can maximize your savings through cash value life insurance.

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What Is Credit And Loan Credit Repair

By Lee A Beattie

Bad Credit Loans are essentially debt consolidation loans with higher interest rates that can be applied for many functions. For Instance, if you receive few unpaid debts, people with bad credit can utilize them for debt consolidation, which is comparatively more simplified to manage because debt consolidation normally furnishes a lower interest rate . Bad credit becomes an issue, when you call for to establish a major buy that would include acquiring a mortgage loan, auto loan or personal loan. When you go for for a loan or a line of credit, the creditor with whom you are applying for a loan, instantly pulls your credit history file.

Bad credit repair program is a tremendous timesaver. You can surely repair bad credit yourself without a credit repair software application to test and determine your online history, only in truth bad credit will demand many credit repair letters and redundant days and weeks to optimize, wheras a software program can automate the process substantially without the risk of missing anything in the mail service. You can have bad credit erased lawfully. And this really helps out enormously because identity theft is growing more mainstream and this type of software keeps you from losing anything in the mail service.

Credit repair counseling can be used in numerous paths; to prevent debt, to get out of debt, and to stay out of debt. When applying credit repair advice to prevent debt, it is significant that an individual recognize the difference between employing their credit options a healthy way, and taking advantage of lending extended to them. Financial determinations are personal, dependent on an individual's situation. Consult with a financial counselor before making any financial decisions to discover if they will present you the free credit reports they will employ to help.

And many a times individuals have to apply for bad credit personal loans or perchance bad credit auto loans depending on the interest rate given to you prior to receiving that new automobile when you can't make those unworldly payments.

Consumer reporting companies must investigate the details in question - usually inside 30 days - unless they regard your dispute superficial. They must also forward all the applicable data you provide about the inaccuracy to the organization that offered the selective information. Consumer Credit Counseling Service furnishes budget counseling, educational programs, debt management assistance and housing counseling. There are too many a local branches of this nonprofit organization, so find for one near your location.

Consumers with less-than-perfect credit ratings may be allured to use the help of a company predicting to "tidy up" or "erase" bad credit. Credit repair companies can do nothing for you that you cannot manage for yourself for free, and they may charge you hundreds of dollars to manage it.

Debt consolidation can make up the best selection if you are going through financial difficultness. Invariably keep in mind that debt expirations do vary, as well as assessments status. If you have delinquencies and charge-offs that are affectng your credit scores, credit and loan credit repair could be an selection considered when speaking to credit debt counselor during your bad credit counseling sitting.

Lenders are more unwilling these days to extend student loans to an individual who has a bad credit history. Therefore if your credit score is below 600 and you're desiring to obtain a loan for schooling, you might wish to check a credit repair service . Lenders will employ this info to verify if you are acceptable for a loan or line of credit. When they discover this "bad" information, they will most likely bill you a higher interest rate or worse, turn you down completely.

Ask the credit reporting agency for a dispute form or present your dispute in writing via a credit repair letter, along with whatever supporting documentation. Likewise make sure to not send them original documents , make a copy of that document and send it with credit repair letter. Ask your creditors to report the debt as paid to the credit agencies at once so this can reflect on all of your credit reports. You can also fax or send a copy of the debt settlement letters to the credit agencies yourself so they can update your credit history faster which presents you a huge relief.

Bettering poor credit can personify a long and problematic process. If you have sputtered through a period of financial difficultness, or yet filed for bankruptcy, your ability to acquire credit may be compromised long after you have gotten back on your feet and back to good credit. Bettering your financial state of affairs will have a positive affect on all aspects of your life.

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Tips about refinancing your mortgage

By Guy Winsley

If you're considering a refinance of your mortgage because of today's low interest rates, now may be the best time to do it. Making the decision to refinance your current mortgage can possibly save you a lot of money. Before taking this step, be sure to consult your current lender about the correct way of refinancing. Check out this article for a few good tips about mortgage refinancing.

When you are considering refinancing your mortgage, do your research on interest rates and terms. There are a few general ways to get better borrowing terms on your new mortgage.

The better your credit score is, the better the terms for your new mortgage. You will get better rates if your credit score is crisp clean. It signifies to the lender that you pay your bills, you pay on time and you take your responsibilities serious.

Always make sure to ask multiple lenders for a comparison of quotes and rates. Many times, when a lender realizes he is not the only one you're asking for a quote, you will get a better offer than usual. Be sure to get a complete quote, with all the lender fees included.

When considering a mortgage refinance, consider loan amount, payment options and interest rates. You can go online and compare rates and terms in a very short time period. Many lenders advertise online and make it easy for you to compare rates.

Make sure that your lender has a good reputation and that it's a stable company. In these days of unstable banks and crumbling companies, a solid company that can help you out with your mortgage questions is hard to come by.

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Bank Issue Payday Loans Could They Help You Out?

By Jacob Williams

Have you encountered any unanticipated crisis that has to do with your finances? If you can research further you will be able to find another option for you to secure another option for your finance problems. Bank issue payday loans will be able to support you with this problem and make it easier for you to get loans.

Bank issue payday loans are also refereed to as salary based loans. This type of loan generally covers your financial need for a small amount and have it processed faster than the usual banking loan service available nowadays.

You have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to bank issue payday loans. Let us say that your car needs repairing at the soonest time possible. Because without a your car you will not have the capability of traveling from here to there going to your work office or somewhere else important. Or might as well for instance you need to attend to an emergency and that emergency requires you to produce a certain amount of money that is not in your budget, bank issue payday loan may assist you to be able to provide you that small amount that you need in a short period of time.

So since the financial assistance would just be temporary chances are that you have to give back the amount immediately. Bank issue payday loans lacks continuity when it comes to financial assistance. As soon as your next paycheck comes, you will be entitled to pay the full amount of the money that you borrowed from the bank issue payday loans lender that you have borrowed the money from.

Bank issue payday loans includes interest rates that are higher that regular loan providers. This is to give the lender the freedom of the doubt that the borrower would pay accordingly to the terms and conditions stated upon the agreement. Take note that these type of loans impose high interests rates so definitely the borrower should be able to pay on time as much as possible.

Bank issue payday loans can benefit those who are really in need of instant cash and do not want to get into certain hassles just to be able to acquire the amount of money needed to cover a financial issue. What you have to act purposefully of is to be able to pay back the same amount of loan on or before the deadline to avoid penalty and higher risks for higher interest rates.

There is no doubt that bank issue payday loans can provide you the money you need for that certain period of time. What you need to make sure of is that the terms that the lender you have chosen to make a transaction with goes by with your financial need as well.

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