Friday, April 18, 2008

Lowest Interest Rate Mortgage Refinance Loans - 3 Ways To Get A Low Rate Refinance

The lower your interest rate on your refinance mortgage, the more money you will save. But not all refinance loans are created equal. To get the lowest interest rates, follow these three tips when applying for you refinancing.

1. Refinance Your Entire Mortgage

Refinancing your entire mortgage will help you to qualify for the lowest rates. Having split mortgages or a home equity line of credit elevates your risk level and rates.

However, if you have a really good rate on one mortgage, then you may not want to combine those mortgages. Take the time to request quotes for both loan situations. Within minutes, you can get an answer from lenders and know which is your best option.

2. Don't Cash Out Your Equity

Cashing out part or all of your home's equity will also raise your refinance rates. So keep that equity in place while you apply for refinancing. It acts much like a down payment did for your original home loan. The larger your equity, the better your rates.

If you want to tap into your equity, consider applying for a separate loan after you refinance, like a home equity line of credit. That way you won't be paying a higher rate on your entire principal.

3. Lower Your Rate With Points

As with your first mortgage, you can lower your rates by buying points. This is a bit risky in that you have to keep your loan for seven years usually to recoup the cost. To make sure this is your best choice, compare lending offers. Calculate the cost of points and your potential savings.

In addition to these tips, comparison shopping will also help you get a lower interest rate. Each lender looks at refinancing applications differently, so with careful searching, you can get a better deal. Start by requesting a loan quote, then compare numbers, both interest and closing costs.

Just remember that the lowest interest rate will not always be the cheapest loan. Factor in the cost of fees to be sure you will come out on top, especially if you plan to sell or refinance in a couple of years.


Article Source: http://www.PopularArticles.com/article9607.html

Mortgage Loan Information - Know The Basics When You Refinance Or Purchase A Home

If you are currently looking for a new home, chances are that in all the excitement you won’t really give any thought to the type of home loan mortgage you take out, instead going with the first one offered to you. This could be a serious mistake – costing you thousands, if not tens of thousands. Make sure you know all about the different types of home mortgage loans before you starting looking for that new dream home!

Here are some of the basic types of mortgage loans:

Fixed-rate home loan mortgage -

As the name suggests, this is a plain-vanilla home loan. Basically you borrow a certain amount over a certain period at a fixed rate of interest. You then pay the same monthly installments for the life of the home loan. The benefit of a fixed-rate home loan is that you can easily budget for the repayments. The downfall of a fixed-rate home loan is that you could end up paying a higher rate of interest than everyone else – no one knows what interest rates will be in 15-20 years time!

Adjustable-rate home loan mortgage -

Mirroring the fixed-rate mortgage is the adjustable-rate mortgage. Again, you borrow a certain amount over a certain period, however in this case the interest rate is not fixed, but is adjustable (or ‘floating’ as you may also hear it called). The upside to adjustable-rate home loans is that the interest rate at the start of the loan period can be lower than the fixed rate would be. The downside is that it is difficult to budget for, as the amount can change, and you are at the mercy of something outside of your control – interest rate fluctuations, which can change quickly.

Hybrid home loan mortgages -

Trying to fill the void left with the downside of the fixed and adjustable/variable-rate home loans, the hybrid home loan lets you fix the interest rate over the first part of the home loan, and then switch to an adjustable/variable rate later. The upside of hybrid home loans is that they allow you to budget for your repayments during the expensive time when you first buy the home. The downside is that if floating rates are much higher than your fixed rate when the switch happens, you could find you are paying a much higher repayment each month.

To see our list of recommended mortgage lenders with competitive rates for refinance, purchase loans, second mortgages, home equity loans and all other mortgage loans, visit this page Recommended Mortgage Lenders

Carrie Reeder is the owner of ABC Loan Guide, an informational website about various types of loans. The site has informative articles and the latest finance news.



Article Source: http://www.PopularArticles.com/article12568.html

Saturday, February 23, 2008

4 Remarkable Ways of How Debt Consolidation Can Help You

Debt consolidation is viewed as one of the best ways to manage your debt more effectively. Find out the many reasons why in this article.
It’s not unusual for someone to incur debt. Even the richest do. After all, it’s not all the time that you have the immediate funds to settle certain financial obligations. Debts, in forms of loans, also allow you to purchase certain needs of your family, such as a home.

The problems start to set in, however, when you can no longer manage your debt properly. This can happen when you’re spending more than what you earn. Because your income will never be able to sustain payments to your debt, you are in a terrible financial burden. Worse, you can even go on default, a potential candidate for foreclosure.

Fortunately, you have a choice, and this can be in the form of debt consolidation. By definition, it simply means combining all your existing debts into one and applying for one loan for them. This method is popular among borrowers these days because of the many benefits they give them:

1. You will only be thinking about one payment. One of the reasons why people tend to be so hard-up is because they’re finding it really difficult to keep track on their payment schedules. For example, you have different due dates for your credit card and home loan. However, with debt consolidation, you are given the opportunity to combine at least majority of them into one single loan, and you can start thinking about one single payment. What’s more, you can completely close the account for your credit card, if you wish to do so, so you will stop incurring any more expenses.

2. Debt consolidation can lower down interest rates. Because debt consolidation loans are treated as brand-new ones, you can have the chance to lower down your interest rates and even extend your payment terms. This will surely guarantee you bigger savings every month, the money of which you can utilize to pay dues that are not covered by the debt consolidation. Another method of using your savings is to pay more on your loan. This way, you will cut down your number of payments and lower down your interest.

3. You can enjoy tax deductibles. Interestingly, debt consolidation loans can actually entitle you to tax deductions. Though it may never erase your debt, or even pay a portion of it, you can at least find great solace in knowing that you will be able to lower down your tax. Nevertheless, you must talk this over to a tax advisor. This way, you will not catch the ire or suspicion of the IRS.

4. You can get rid of warning calls. Debtors who are finding a hard time paying their debts will also be receiving lots of warning calls from lenders. Thankfully, there are also numerous companies that not only consolidate loans, but can also act as your representative to settle your debts with these lending organizations.

Indeed, consolidating your debt will save you from drowning yourself into your dues. Nevertheless, it should never be used as an excuse to not practice wise spending.

Do you want to consolidate your loans? Visit Debt Consolidation or Debt Consolidation Loan now and we will advise you not only the basics of this process, but will also provide you any assistance that you need. This way, you won’t be forever burdened with your debts.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Three Ways to Reduce Debt

Credit card debt is not an issue to be taken lightly. It has made many individual victims of bankruptcy and devastation. Report has it that the Average American family has over $7000 in debt on their credit card alone. This debt coupled with the high interest rate charged by the credit card company over a period of time, if not checked will get families into the ocean of accumulated debt.

But thank goodness, there is a way out of credit card debt irrespective of the amount involved. The tips below will be of a great benefit to you in reducing your credit card debt...

Transfer of your Credit Card balances

The interest rate is an enemy that makes credit card debt increase. There are credit cards that have very high interest rates and there are some that have low interest rates, avoiding the former and embracing the latter is a wise decision.

However, if you already have a credit card with high interest rates, this debt could be transferred to a low interest credit card with a transfer option.

The advantage of this method is that it compresses your debts into a card, which invariably helps you to focus on paying your debt on just a card instead of multiple payments. Also, it eliminates the interest you would have paid on the high interest credit card, thereby making extra cash available for payment of your credit card debt.

It should be noted that when credit card balances are transferred, the account has to be closed to avoid mere movement of money from one credit card to another.

On-time and Above-minimum credit payment

Paying above the minimum credit payment requirement is a wise decision to make. It will reduce your credit card debt repayment period. Again, the amount you would have paid if the minimum payment were what you were making would have reduced tremendously.

Late payment of your credit card debt is risky! It will increase you debt. A day delay in the payment of your credit card debt will lead to payment of a higher interest on your debt. This has to be avoided at all cost if credit card debt reduction is your goal.

Budgeting

It is said, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail". There is always a very great need to plan all your expenses. This planning has to be done without leaving out any detail no matter how small. Here, all your needs and your wants have to be broken down and analyzed.

It is advisable that your budgeting should not be done on a monthly basis. This is because there is a high tendency of losing track of some of the details in your budget. The best way of doing budgeting should be on a weekly basis. Budgeting your expenses may look strenuous but it has a lot of advantages. It saves you from impulse purchase thereby reducing your expenses.

A well-executed budget will help you condition your mind on what to acquire and what you don't even need to acquire, thereby making available for you some cash for the payment of your credit card debt.

The borrower they say is a servant to lender. Being free from debt is good! So work at it and you definitely get there.

This article was posted at iReprint.info on 2006-04-09. Webmasters and publishers are free to reprint this article as long as the resource box and all the links remain intact.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

which mutual funds are right for me?

There are thousands of mutual funds on the market,so it can be a challenge to choose a mutual fund


Fund Type:
Every fund has a particular investing strategy and purpose,you should have a fair understanding of the different kinds of mutual funds.

Example: bond funds, tax-free bond funds, and international funds .Finding a mutual fund that fits your investment criteria and style is absolutely vital; . You must know and understand your investment.

1) Find funds that match your investment objectivesAdjust your portfolio for growth or income.Compare a specific type of mutual fund to others in that same category.

2) What I will invest example: $1,000Based On What I'm investing What I'll have when I sell

3) Buy only from registered advisers:

4) The next step is to determine how much risk you can tolerate

5) What is the current unit price?

This tells you how many units you can buy with your money.

6) Determine how long the fund manager has managed the fund.

7) Time Horizons: Does the investment fit with your expected investmenttime horizon short time or nothow long years example: 5

8) Flexibility: Will you be entitled to switch your investment to other funds inthe same ‘fund family'

9) What fees will I pay?

Fees Sales Fees (Load)When I Sell (Back End)When I Buy (Front End)None (No Load)

10 Fund Performance.

Even tough past performance doesn’t guarantee future returns,but it certanely cangive an idea looking at both long term and short term past performance .

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Equity investment

Equity investment generally refers to the buying and holding of shares of stock on a stock market by individuals and funds in anticipation of income from dividends and capital gain as the value of the stock rises. It also sometimes refers to the acquisition of equity (ownership) participation in a private (unlisted) company or a startup (a company being created or newly created). When the investment is in infant companies, it is referred to as venture capital investing and is generally understood to be higher risk than investment in listed going-concern situations.


Direct holdings and pooled funds
The equities held by private individuals are often held via mutual funds or other forms of pooled investment vehicle, many of which have quoted prices that are listed in financial newspapers or magazines; the mutual funds are typically managed by prominent fund management firms (e.g. Fidelity Investments or The Vanguard Group). Such holdings allow individual investors to obtain the diversification of the fund(s) and to obtain the skill of the professional fund managers in charge of the fund(s). An alternative usually employed by large private investors and institutions (e.g. large pension funds) is to hold shares directly;in the institutional environment many clients that own portfolios have what are called segregated funds as opposed to, or in addition to, the pooled e.g. mutual fund alternative

Analysis
To try to identify good shares to invest in, two main schools of thought exist: technical analysis and fundamental analysis. The former involves the study of the price history of a share(s) and the price history of the stock market as a whole; technical analysts have developed an array of indicators, some very complex, that seek to tease useful information from the price and volume series. Fundamental analysis involves study of all pertinent information relevant to the stock and market in question in an attempt to forecast future business and financial developments including the likely trajectory of the share price(s) itself. The fundamental information studied will include the annual report and accounts, industry data (such as sales and order trends) and study of the financial and economic environment (e.g. the trend of interest rates).

Reference : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_investment

Mortgage: The Key Points that You Should Know

A mortgage is a kind of an agreement made to pay the money, which was loaned, to a person by keeping the house as collateral. Mortgage is a promise made to pay the debts by putting it in writing basically. Mortgages have terms and interest rates which are either adjustable or fixed.

Mortgage terms:

Mortgages are designed in such a way that they can be paid in installments for a certain period. The time frame which allows the person to pay back his mortgage is called the term. The term may be 10 or 15 or even 30 years. The length of the term determines the amount of money to be paid, which is actually spread in installments.

Mortgage interest rate:

The interest rate depends on the percentage to be paid on the mortgage loan amount. The interest rates vary according to the credit score of the person. If the credit score of the person is very high, the interest rate and the amount of monthly installments are lower. If the credit score is lower then the interest rates and the monthly installment amount are higher. Hence a good credit score will help getting lower interest rates to the debtor.

Types of mortgages:

Mortgages - Adjustable rate of interest

Under this type of mortgages, the interest rate changes from period to period according to the fluctuations of the market. The degree of change of mortgage interest rate is directly associated with the index to which it is tied. Since index will differ as they may be tied to a foreign bank rate of interest in certain cases, it is good to ask to which index the adjustable rate of interest is tied to. Usually they are fixed for a period of 1-5 years and then become adjustable.

Mortgages – fixed rate:

The interest rate of the loan amount is fixed in the case of fixed rate mortgage till the end of the term regardless of the market fluctuations. The debtor will never have to pay more than the fixed interest rate at any cost. The only means by which a fixed rate mortgage can change is through Refinancing.

Refinancing:

It is a process of changing the existing mortgage terms of agreement. The debtor can go for refinancing when the interest rates are lower so that he can save money qualifying for the lower rate of interest. The length of the term can also be adjusted to be either long or short using refinance option. Care needs to be taken when going for refinancing of mortgages as it entails for new closing costs. Fees and closing costs are involved in this method.

Appraisal:

The crucial part of mortgage is the appraisal. Before going for a loan from a bank, the value of the house must be assessed properly. An appraiser can determine how much the house is worth actually by inspecting the features of the house and by comparing it with the neighborhood houses. If any addition or embellishment is made to the house, it can raise the value of the house, but may require to appraise the new value of the document.


Source: Free Articles

Tips For Choosing High-Performance Mutual Fund

Most people who invest in mutual funds don't know what they are doing. They take advice from someone at a bank or perhaps a friend and plunk down money into a fund. Sometimes this strategy works, but most of the time, it doesn't.

When you invest your money in a mutual fund, you are trusting someone to invest in the stock market for you. Because of this, you want to be sure this person knows what he or she is doing. Also, you want to make sure that this person is not charging you too much to manage your money for you. Mutual funds fees are "hidden," in the sense that they do not charge you an upfront fee but rather a percentage of the amount of money in your account. If this percentage is too high, you would do better just blindly picking stocks yourself.

Here are five helpful tips for choosing the right mutual funds.



1. Keep the fees low. Generally, expense fees should not be much higher than 1% if it is just a basic domestic equity fund. You should never invest money in a fund that also charges a "load," which is an additional fee that is ridiculous to pay. Never invest in funds that charge loads; those funds are for suckers.

2. Check the asset base. Mutual fund managers only know of so many good investments. When they have too much money to manage, they begin investing in stocks they don't like much but need to invest in anyway or else they'll just have money laying around. There's little reason to invest in a fund with over $5 billion in assets. It's best if it's under $2 billion generally.

3. Consider an index fund. This is a fund that tracks a stock index, such as the S&P 500. For these funds, the manager just buys whatever stocks happen to be in the index. Since this is not much work, the fees are much lower. Even though this method is simple, it has proven to perform better than most mutual funds. Some high performance index funds include FSMKX (Fidelity S&P 500) and VIMSX (Vanguard S&P 400 Midcap.

4. Evaluate the fund's strategy. If you have a long term outlook, look for a more aggressive fund that invests in small-cap stocks, international stocks, and riskier stocks in general. High risk tends to result in high performance in the long run. If you are more risk-averse, consider an S&P 500 index fund.

5. Keep the fees low. Did I mention this already? Well, I'll mention it again. This is where most people mess up. Make sure you are not paying a load or paying too much in fees to the mutual fund.

More information about mutual funds can be found at Research Mutual Funds.








Source: Free Articles

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Mortgages - Some Important Points You Need To Consider


By: James Copper

There are many potential perils and pitfalls that a borrower can face when buying a home and taking out a mortgage. Many borrowers can fall foul of these perils due to misinformation or a misunderstanding.


Read on as we try to discover some common pitfalls facing the potential mortgage borrower.


Interest Only Mortgages


Interest only mortgages are becoming increasingly popular, especially with first time buyers looking to take that first step onto the property ladder. Although having an interest only mortgage will result in lower monthly repayments, it will not however pay off any capital owed on the mortgage.


Interest only mortgages do have there place in the market and can be extremely useful in times where money is very tight or when there is an investment vehicle in place to repay the outstanding mortgage balance at the end of the term. For most borrowers however, interest only mortgages do seem to be a false economy - no headway will ever be made into reducing the balance owed.


On the whole, an interest only mortgage should only usually be adopted on a short term basis before reverting to a Capital repayment type mortgage.


New Build Enticements


Land is a precious commodity in the UK, especially in our densely populated towns and cities. In recent times, property developers have looked to seize upon every available scrap of land in order to service the need for new homes - and of course, to make a quick buck.


The need to fill these new developments as soon as they are constructed is big one - building contractors will commonly offer special deals in order to entice prospective buyers. Such methods to entice customers will include paid up stamp duty and full or partial deposit payment.


It is important to remember in many walks of life that if a deal looks too good to be true, then it usually is - builders and developers will often factor these costs into the actual price of the house or flat.


Dont Move Home On The Weekend


This is one tip that you may have heard before however it is one that is often overlooked - Dont move home on the weekend! Moving home on a Saturday remains the most popular time with people generally reluctant to take time off work. It is the busiest time to move and also the most expensive with many removal firms and van hire companies increasing their prices accordingly.


Attempting to move house on your own can mean the stress and hassle increases ten fold - although removal firms may seem to charge very high fees, moving without their help can often mean repeated trips and lots of strained muscles.


Trust Your Own Judgement


The house buying process and securing a mortgage, to many is a very daunting prospect. It is very important to stand your ground when it comes to sticking to budget - it is typical to put in an offer below the asking price to negotiate the best price, with most sellers expecting you to do so.


By the same token, if you are selling a property, it is not common for the seller to accept the first offer they receive in pursuit of the best price. Holding out for your favoured price can often pay dividends - it is often worth trusting your own judgements.


Shop Around For Insurance


More often than not is pays to shop around for insurance policies. When taking out a mortgage, it is common for the lender or mortgage broker to peddle insurance policies that they will arrange on your behalf.


For them this means extra commission! Insurance policies such as buildings and contents insurance, life assurance and mortgage payment protection insurance to name just a few. These policies can often be arranged at a cheaper premium if you are prepared to shop around for yourself!


Look Before You Leap


Taking out a mortgage with friends or a partner is becoming an increasingly popular way of buying a home. It becomes important therefore that if you do decide to take this big step, you must be confident that you are going into it with someone you know and trust.


Relationships do however turn sour at times and if this becomes the case, then sorting out your financial predicament will be an unwanted hassle - It is important to establish at the very start exactly what should happen if things go wrong and keep a record of who has contributed what. A consultation with a solicitor could prove to be worthwhile also.


Honesty Is The Best Policy


It always pays to be honest - this becomes particularly relevant in the case of arranging a mortgage or insurance policy. Dishonest or inaccurate information could leave an insurance policy worthless and dishonestly could be seen as a fraudulent offence on a mortgage application form.

Author Resource:-> James Copper is a part time finance writer. He works for Any Loans who specialise in the Secured Loan UK and UK Mortgages.

Article From Free Find Articles

Friday, February 8, 2008

Defaulting On Mortgage Payments | Mortgage

You have taken out a mortgage loan, and have been paying your dues regularly as a responsible home owner. You have been paying your home owner insurance and keeping all the tax dues well up to date. But things do go wrong with people. You are suddenly faced with retrenchment and you lose your job. You may meet with an accident and get injured. You may be faced with a dilemma, whether to pay your mortgage installment or have your car repaired, which takes you to your job, by which you get to pay your mortgage installments. It is a catch 22 situation. Hoping that you would never face such situations, it is helpful to have knowledge, which could be helpful to you.

Under normal circumstances, mortgage loans carry a grace period of 15 days. In some cases this grace period is 10 days. Many of us put off our payments or delay the payments thinking of the grace period in the terms of the mortgage contract. Very little is thought about this, and even the lender, at times, does not take notice of this delay. As the grace period of 15 days end, on the 16th day a late fee is assessed, and there could be a friendly call from your lender regarding the matter. It just could be that this delay in payment would not even show up in your credit report. The total scenario changes on day 30. Things start to turn serious at this time onwards.

Mortgage defaulting laws varies from state to state in the US, and so does foreclosure law. The lenders approach the defaulters in various ways, which differ from how big the mortgage lenders are. On the 30th day, you incur an additional mortgage fee, which is usually 3% of the principal amount outstanding, which is a typical figure of $600,000 mortgage loan. As you pass the day 30, the lender would perhaps allow you to pay a partial sum out of the past due amount. Some lenders may also insist upon you to clear up all the dues and bring the account up-to-date.

By day 45, you will start to get phone calls from the mortgage collectors, and the frequency will gradually increase, limiting them to the law in that particular state. There may be aggressive demands of helping you with the foreclosure. By the end of 60 to 90 days, the lender will send you a demand notice for the amount pending. This notice is usually sent by certified mail, in which the lender provides you with a definite time, asking you to clear the outstanding within that time. The amount mentioned could carry additional charges of collection fees. If this goes unattended by you, the lender's legal department will now take over the matter, and you will start incurring serious legal charges.

The law provides every opportunity to the owner to stop the process leading up to the foreclosure, even to the minute before the auctioneer's hammer comes down. In some instances the opportunity may be available even beyond that. In some of the states, a law, right to redemption, comes into operation. You got to know the law so as not to be misguided by some of the unethical lenders. The foreclosure process may takes place in the front yard of the property in question, or it may be "by public outcry" on the steps of the county courthouse. This is embarrassing and frightening to the home owner.

Monday, February 4, 2008

How To Make Money In The Stock Market

When it comes to learning how to make money in the stock market the first and most important lesson is to ignore what Wall Street is telling you and try to avoid that broker.

Suddenly you are faced with brokerage fees and you are reliant on contacting your broker to get the job done. If you listened to a Wall Street broker the only words you would ever hear are buy. That’s why you need to learn how to make money in the stock market.

The problem is anyone can buy stocks but it’s knowing when to sell stocks that makes you rich. It’s having an exit strategy that works and those that have made millions had just that. Your broker get’s wealthy because he sells you stocks and makes a commission. It’s time you developed your own exit strategy and knew how to make money in the stock market.

You need to first study the market. Look for companies that are undervalued and stocks with a lower price earning ratios than similar stocks then seek out bad news. Wall Street loves to overreact. This is your chance to make some investments with great potential. Investigate company balance sheets and watch for good cash flow, low debt ratios, and consistent earnings. And most of all know when to cut your losses and bow out gracefully once you learn how to make money in the stock market.

As a shareholder there are two ways you can make money – by being paid a dividend or by holding the stocks and selling when their value increases. Remember a company does not have to pay out dividends if they do not wish too. Personal preference is to go for the hold and sell at an increased value which is where your exit strategy comes into play which when you learn how to make money in the stock market you will also learn the exit strategy.

There are three things to consider when building your exit strategy. You have to ask yourself how long you are planning on staying in this trade, How much risk you are willing to take, and where are you wanting to go from here. When you answer these questions truthfully your path will become clear and you will be on your way to making money in the stock market.

Making money in the stock market is your ticket out of the 9 to 5 world.

Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)


About The Author: Joel Teo invites you to submit your best articles to www.GlobalProsperity.info/ the best free article directory.

Bad Credit Personal Loan and Bad Credit Loans

Bad credit personal loans are widely available these days. These are personal loans marketed to individuals with a poor credit score or poor credit history. A bad credit personal loan can be obtained through a lender who specializes in bad credit personal loans or through some banks. Many bad credit personal loans can be found on the Internet. This makes applying and getting approved fast and convenient. Despite the accessibility of bad credit personal loans, all borrowers will want to weigh their options before signing for a loan.
Finding a Lender
A bad credit score puts a person behind the eight ball when it comes to finding a lender as well as a competitive interest rate. However, all hope is not lost as there are ways of shopping around to find a lender while preventing prospective lenders from making a credit inquiry.
Securing the Loan
1. Be sure to never give out your social security number because once prospective lenders have a social security number in hand, they will not hesitate to run a credit inquiry which results in another red mark on an already bad credit line.
2. Research prospective lenders online and then call before making a face to face visit.
3. Be honest with the loan officer but spare them your bad luck story.
4. Be prepared to state your case over the phone in a concise manner.
5. Show up to the face-to-face interview with your credit report in hand and go over the report with the prospective lender while making sure to accentuate the positives.
6. Make them aware of any changes in your lifestyle that you have recently made that would show them you are turning things around and making an effort to repair your bad credit.
7. Ask the prospective lender up front questions in order to determine whether or not they are truly interested in lending despite your questionable credit history.
8. Only after the lender genuinely seems positive about the chances of you securing a loan should you provide personal information and a social security number to the lender which would allow them to do a credit inquiry.
About the author: Tony Reed is the author of "Bad Credit Personal Loan and Bad Credit Loans", visit his website Bad credit loans & Credit repair for more information.
This article is free for republishing as long as you leave the article title, author name, body and resource box intact (means NO changes) with the links made active.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Learn The Basics of a Mortgage

Learning more about the basics of mortgages can help consumers better understand the home loan process and possibly keep some from getting into trouble.

What exactly is a mortgage?

A mortgage is a loan contract or legal agreement between the lender and the buyer. The mortgage will contain important information about the loan such as the interest rate that is being charged, the amount of the loan, the payments, and other information, some of which is required by law to be in the contract.

What is a down payment?

The down payment is the lump sum of money that has to pay upfront that will reduce the amount of money you have to finance through the lender. Buyers are allowed to put down as much money as they wish. The more money that is put down the less the monthly payments will be.

A normal mortgage payment is made up of:

Principal - This is the total amount of money you are borrowing from the lender. This is the amount of money that you are financing through the lender.

Interest - This is the amount of money the lender charges for giving you the loan. It is a percentage of the total amount of money you are borrowing.

Taxes: In many states, the money that is needed to pay property taxes is put into an escrow account or is paid at the time of the closing. In other states, the tax money is put into a third- party account until it is time to pay the taxes. In other words, a portion of your property tax is added to your monthly mortgage payment and held in escrow until it is due.

Insurance - There are many kinds of insurance that can apply to a mortgage. You may have hazard insurance which is used to protect you against losses from fire, storms, theft, and the like. You may also have to buy flood insurance if the home is in flood risk zone. If you cannot put down at least twenty percent of the home's value, you will have to buy private mortgage insurance. This is also known as PMI.

All of the above is usually referred to as PITI.

For the most part, home mortgages are paid off in incremental payments. In the early years of the loan, most of the payment goes toward paying the interest. In the latter years, more goes toward paying down the principal. This is known as amortization.

Once the loan goes into effect, homeowners may wish to make additional payments on the loan. This will help to reduce the length of time, and the amount of interest, on the loan.

Sub-prime loans are those loans that are issued to people with less than perfect credit histories. These loans can have any number of terms and are usually adjustable rate mortgages.

Prime loans are issued to those with good credit and they are usually less expensive because they have lower interest rates. Prime loans can be either adjustable rate based, or they can be fixed-rate based.

Article Republished From: Liberated Press Releases and Other FREE Information a web site that DOESN'T use Google Adsense text links in or around articles.

Author Resource:- Peter Kenny is a writer for The Thrifty Scot, please visit us at Compare Loans and Homeowner Loan
Visit Finding the right finance for bad credit

Friday, February 1, 2008

Cash Flow Loans: Help You Carry Out Your Business

Any business activity requires a sustainable source of fund. Often your business may fail to generate appropriate funds even when it is making profit. This problem generally arises when the major income of the business is tied with receivables that take much time in liquidation. Taking the account of urgency of the requirement of your business, you are helped with Cash Flow Loans. Since, this financial assistance is granted after assessing the cash flow of a business, this is commonly known as cash flow loans.

Cash flow of company is that amount of cash that is left with a company after taxes, depreciation, or any other obligation. The cash flow of a company determines the repayment capability. Thus, the more the cash flow of the company, the more amount of loan it will get.

To obtain cash flow loans a company has to show a valid statement of total receivables and total payables. The surplus from receivables and payables shows a company’s financial strength, that’s why it is considered as the essential requirement while providing cash flow loan.

Cash flow loans are available in two types i.e. secured and unsecured. The secured type requires collateral or security that is generally the business assets. This type of the loan provides you a somewhat lower rate of interest and longer repayment duration. Whereas, with the unsecured form, no collateral is required that keeps a somewhat higher interest rate and shorter repayment duration.

Your good credit record can definitely yield a better deal for you. However, bad credit holders too have chance to avail this loan. Borrowers, having CCJs, arrears, defaults, IVAs, bankruptcy can even avail this loan but with somewhat higher rate of interest.

To avail this loan you can contact both offline and online lenders. The online lenders accept online application that voids much hassle documentation and saves a lot of your time. A horde of these lenders are available in the market with differed rate of interest that can be compared for a better option.

For all that, the cash flow loans help you when your business is on the verge of great loss. It is available to you only by assessing the cash flow of your business. So, a good business performance can help you availing the appropriate fund for your business. It helps you grabbing a potential opportunity that you may loose because of lacking on appropriate fund.

Summary: Cash flow loans are granted to business enterprises. It is financed in the time, when the company is left with no any other cash alternative to meet the different cost of the company. Loan is available with either of the options of secured or unsecured.

Angela Alderton is a specialist advisor of Small cash loans and is curently working with Cash Loans UK. She holds a masters degree in economics from University of Warwick. For further details of cash flow loans, bad credit cash loans, cash loan, cash loan UK, quick cash loan, bad credit cash loan you need to visit http://www.cashloans.uk.com/

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_464738_19.html

Angela Alderton is a specialist advisor of payday loans and is curently working with QuickCashPaydayLoans. She holds a masters degree in economics from University of Warwick. For further details of Quick cash payday loans, bad credit payday loans, online payday loan service, payday loan you need to visit http://www.quickcashpaydayloans.co.uk
http://www.quickcashpaydayloans.co.uk/

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Mutual Fund Fees

As you might expect, fees and expenses vary from fund to fund. A fund with high costs must perform better than a low-cost fund to generate the same returns for you. Even small differences in fees can translate into large differences in returns over time.

For example, if you invested $10,000 in a fund that produced a 10% annual return before expenses and had annual operating expenses of 1.5%, then after 20 years you would have roughly $49,725. But if the fund had expenses of only 0.5%, then you would end up with $60,858.

These fees and charges are identified in a fee table, located near the front of a fund’s prospectusShareholder Fees

Sales LoadsFunds that use brokers to sell their shares typically compensate the brokers. Funds may do this by imposing a fee on investors, known as a "sales load" (or "sales charge (load)"), which is paid to the selling brokers. In this respect, a sales load is like a commission investors pay when they purchase any type of security from a broker.

There are two general types of sales loads—
a front-end

a back-end or deferred sales

Sales Charge (Load) on PurchasesA front-end sales load investors pay when they purchase fund shares .The key point to keep in mind about a front-end sales load is it reduces the amount available to purchase fund shares.

Deferred Sales Charge (Load)A back-end or deferred sales load investors pay when they redeem their shares.When an investor purchases shares that are subject to a back-end sales load rather than a front-end sales load, no sales load is deducted at purchase, and all of the investors’ money is immediately used to purchase fund shares (assuming that no other fees or charges apply at the time of purchase)

No-Load FundsAs the name implies, this means that the fund does not charge any type of sales load. As described above, however, not every type of shareholder fee is a "sales load," and a no-load fund may charge fees that are not sales loads. For example, a no-load fund is permitted to charge purchase fees, redemption fees, exchange fees, and account fees, none of which is considered to be a "sales load."

Redemption Fee A redemption fee is another type of fee that some funds charge their shareholders when the shareholders redeem their shares. Redemption fee is not considered to be a sales load. Unlike a sales load, which is used to pay brokers, a redemption fee is typically used to defray fund costs associated with a shareholder’s redemption and is paid directly to the fund, not to a broker.

Exchange Fee An exchange fee is a fee that some funds impose on shareholders if they exchange (transfer) to another fund within the same fund group.

Account Fee An account fee is a fee that some funds separately impose on investors in connection with the maintenance of their accounts

Purchase FeeA purchase fee is another type of fee that some funds charge their shareholders when the shareholders purchase their shares. A purchase fee is not considered to be, a front-end sales load because a purchase fee is paid to the fund (not to a broker)

Management FeesManagement fees are fees that are paid out of fund assets to the fund’s investment adviser (or its affiliates) for managing the fund’s investment portfolio , and administrative fees payable to the investment adviser that are not included in the "Other Expenses" category (discussed below).

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

This line of the fee table is the total of a fund’s annual fund operating expenses, expressed as a percentage of the fund’s average net assets.

TaxTaxesWhen a fund manager sells a stock for a gain, the law says it becomes a taxable event. That transaction may be offset by any losses the manager incurs when he sells a doggy stock. But if the sum of all the transactions during the year equals an overall gain, somebody has to pay the tax billThese gains are paid out in the form of taxable distributions. There's nothing worse than ending the year with a fat one you weren't expecting. It's even more bitter when the gain falls into the short-term category -- a big problem with fund managers who trade often. Short-term gains are taxed as regular income instead of at the lower 20% tax rate levied on long-term capital gains

Before investing in any mutual fund be sure to review the prospectus carefully. If you have any questions about the fund, be sure to consult your financial or investment advisor

Types of Mutual Funds and some basic terminlogies

1) Open-end mutual fundAn open-end mutual fund is a collective investment which can issue and redeem shares at any time. An investor can purchase shares in such funds directly from the mutual fund company, or through a brokerage house. An open-end fund issues new shares as new investors invest in the fund

2) Closed-end FundsA pooled investments fund that has a fixed capitalization after the initial issue. Fund shares are bought from or sold to other investors in the over-the-counter market or traded on an exchangeA closed-end fund limits the number of shares available


Mutual fund categories

aggressive growth fund,asset allocation fund,balanced fund,blend fund,bond fund,capital appreciation fund,clone fund,closed fund,crossover fund,equity fund,fund of funds,global fund,growth fund,growth and income fund ,hedge fund,income fund,index fund,international fund,moneymarket fund,municipal bond fund,prime rate fund,regional fund,sector fund,speciality fund ,stock fund and tax-free bond fund.

Net asset valueThis is the total value of assets the investment company holds, minus the total value of liabilities. This total is then divided by the total number of shares outstanding. This value reflects the ups and downs of the value of the underlying securities held by the fund.

Example, if a mutual fund has an NAV of $100 million, and investors own 10,000,000 of the fund’s shares, the fund’s per share NAV will be $10. Because per share NAV is based on NAV, which changes daily, and on the number of shares held by investors, which also changes daily, per share NAV also will change daily.

NAV) represents a fund's per share market value. This is the price at which investors buy ("bid price") fund shares from a fund company and sell them ("redemption price") to a fund companyBecause mutual funds distribute virtually all their income and realized capital gains to fund shareholders, a mutual fund's NAV is relatively unimportant in gauging a fund's performance, which is best judged by its total return.

An investment company calculates the NAV of a single share (or the "per share NAV") by dividing its NAV by the number of shares that are outstanding.

what is mutual funds

Definition of mutual funds

A mutual fund is a professionally-managed form of collective investments that pools money from many investors and invests it in stocks,bonds, short-termmoney market instruments, and/or other securities

In a mutual fund, the fund manager, who is also known as the portfolio manager, trades the fund's underlying securities, realizing capital gains or losses, and collects the dividend or intrest income The investment proceeds are then passed along to the individual investors.

The value of a share of the mutual fund, known as the net asset value per share (NAV), is calculated daily based on the total value of the fund divided by the number of shares currently issued and outstanding


Advantages of Mutual Funds
1) A professional skilled in choosing stocks does all of your work for you.
2) A mutual fund gives you instant diversification.
3) A fund exists for every financial goal and risk tolerance level.
4) Mutual funds are also quite liquid. A mutual fund investment can be converted into cash upon your request.

Disadvantages of Mutual Funds

As with any type of investment, there are drawbacks associated with mutual funds.

1) Mutual fund investors have no control over what to invest in. Unlike picking your own individual stocks, a mutual fund puts you at the mercy of the manager.

2) Mutual funds generally have only small holdings of so many different stocks. When a fund’s top holdings jump to high numbers, this doesn’t make much of a difference in a mutual fund’s total performance. There is really just small gain realized from even top the top performing stocks. This is caused by over diversification.

3) There are fees and expenses associated with investing in mutual funds that do not usually occur when purchasing individual securities directly.Funds will typically have a range of different fees that reduce the overall payout. Often, these fees are not well explained to investors

4) Changing market conditions can create fluctuations in the value of a mutual fund investment.


5) Misleading AdvertisementsThe misleading advertisements of different mutual funds can guide investors down the wrong path. Some funds may be incorrectly labeled as growth funds, while others are classified as small-cap or income.


6) Evaluating Funds Another disadvantage of mutual funds is the difficulty they pose for investors interested in researching and evaluating the different funds. Unlike stocks, mutual funds do not offer investors the opportunity to compare the P/E ratio, sales growth, earnings per share, etc.Past performance doesn’t provide exact information for future performances, it can only assist you appraising fund’s volatility over time.


Prospectuses will not contain all the costs that affect the net return on your investment. This is why it is important to compare net returns whether or not the fund in a no-load or load fund.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

3 Questions to ask yourself before you consider consolidate debt loans.

The first place to look before you get a debt consolidation loan is quite simply at your self.

Do you see a person with very little self discipline and control over their money?


The second thing to do is ask your self why I have too much debt. Did something unfortunate and unexpected really happen or is because you just bought too many things on credit and you are not likely to stop!

The third thing to do is be bluntly honest with your self and consider the reason for taking out a debt consolidation loan. Is the real core of the problem your own poor financial knowledge and money management skills and a tendency to overspend no matter what?


7 disturbing facts about consolidate debt loans. Debt consolidation loans do not get you out of debt. They still remain your debts but consolidated into one loan. You will find the monthly payments are lower. This is because the interest rate is lower and the term of the loan extended over a longer period of time.


You do not owe any less; you just take more time to pay off the money. The longer the time, the greater the interest. This interest will cost you a lot more of your money. For example £10,000 over 10 years will accumulate £6000 in interest alone. £10,000 over 25 years will cost you a massive £18,000. These are the only a mid range of the interest rates charges at time of printing and have been rounded to the nearest thousand. They are only available if you have an existing good credit rating and you are a home owner.

The debt consolidation company that has consolidated your loan is not a charity but a profit making concern. They make their money from the interest you pay them. It is in their interest to have you paying interest for as many monthly payments as possible.


If the loan is secured against your house and you cannot keep up with the payments you could loose your home.


I am sure we have all seen Debt consolidation companies make promises like "you will have money left over to treat yourself to a new car or that holiday you have always dreamed about". Stay clear of these 'hooks' for they will lead you into even more debt

When you sign up for a debt consolidation loan you will be signing a binding contract. This contract will have an impact on you and your financial life style for many yeas to come. You may make things seem a little easier to pay but that loan will be your financial burden for anywhere between 10 or 30 years! With a bit of effort to learn about personal finance, budgeting, frugal living and getting truly independent advice from the likes of Citizens Advice Bureau - www.citizensadvice.org.uk or National Debtline - www.nationaldebtline.co.uk you could be getting clear of the same debt in around 5 years but still remain debt consolidation free. You will have also learned valuable monetary skills along the way that will help you steer clear of more debt in the future.

As soon as you are clear of debt you will be able to consider investing your money so that it makes you even more money rather than spending money you have not got and then resorting to expensive consolidate debt loans.

Remember the questions at the start of the article? If you answered them honestly and you are now aware of those valuable facts you will know if you are going to be the person who can live debt consolidation free by addressing the actual problems of why you got into so many bad debts in the first place rather than that person who falls for that delusory feeling of freedom that comes from having what seems to be more money but remains in debt for most of their life.

This article is free for republishing

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_462747_63.html

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Mortgage Loans - Issues You Will Run Into

Finance is one of those areas where the details matter. Small tweaks can save or cost you a boatload of money. This is never more the case then when we talk about mortgage loans where a small tip can save you tens of thousands of dollars.

Everyone who gripes about the fees charged by lenders. Some lenders are now trying to charge administration fees through the life of the loan. Think about that. You pay a fee every month! Avoid these lenders like the plague.

Honeymoons are great things, right? Well, not in mortgages. Many lenders will offer honeymoon interest rates on loans to get you as a customer. The rates are often very low. Six months to a year later, they go up. They often go above normal rates.

The mortgage industry is based on markets, which means the rates on loans change each day. This can cause a problem. If you get pre-approved for a loan on the first day of the month, but don't close to the end of the month, the rate on your loan can change!

The interest rate is the cost to borrow the money from the entity financing you. The APR is that cost plus all other fees. The APR represents a better picture of what you are paying out, but represented as a percentage.

A great way to get sellers to give you a better deal is to have them pay down the interest rate on your mortgage. The trick to this approach is to agree to a price close to what they are asking for the home, but with the pay down included in it.

Most people realize that there are plenty of lenders that want there business, but few realize how many. There are thousands of lenders who want to talk with you. Yes, thousands. Shop your loan for the best deal!

Lenders will look at your last two years on loan applications. They are also looking at credit card payment and installment payment histories. Check your credit report for problems in these areas and fix them.

The interest rate on an adjustable mortgage can fluctuate, but how high the rate can go and how often can it be adjusted? If a loan can only be adjusted once a year, you run a lot less risk of having problems than if it can be adjusted every quarter.

The lender has indicated that you will qualify for a bigger loan with bigger payments than you're comfortable with. Listen to your inner voice. Buy something you feel you can afford. Don't overspend and sweat monthly payments.

Adjustable mortgages are tied to something called indexes. These indexes deal with the cost of borrowing money. There are five different indexes. Make sure you understand which index you are tied to and how it works.

Searching for your perfect home is rewarding. Nobody has ever said the same thing about searching for the perfect mortgage. That being said, a person that understands the process is going to suffer less than one that does not.


Article Source: http://www.kalifanayla.com/niche_art

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Thursday, January 24, 2008

How To Surely Avoid Debt

What I’m about to share with you are strategies you should use to get your self out of dept and stay there. It’s really hard to move on with your life financially free and succeed knowing that you are on dept with every person and company all over the country. The smallest penny you get which can help you start your business just pays your dept.

Debt, the dreaded burden of paying back what you borrowed, is becoming the major contributor to worry and stress in today’s living and brings a sense of hopelessness about the future. You should avoid a borrowing and useless spending mentality. Don’t associate your self. Run away.

The quickest and most sustainable way to get out of debt is to put into practice “self-control.” We live in a world, which promotes spending. We are subjected to an almost constant shower of TV, radio and magazine advertisements influencing us to spend, spend and spend. We need to become more aware of how we are tempted by advertisers to want things that we do not really need. We need to remember other expenses that may become a priority in the near future e.g. school fees, bond repayments and a car. We simply cannot buy everything our hearts desire.

Some low and middle-income earners are able to satisfy their needs but the challenge is to avoid getting locked in unnecessary wants and become heavily indebted. Good money management is about understanding the difference between needs and wants and spending your money wisely and not incurring debt unnecessarily.

As long as we live from hand to mouth, we need to take even more control over our money. So the secret in money management starts from drawing a budget and demarcating between needs and wants, which is called discipline. The people who cannot determine their needs end up spending all their money on wants (things you can do without). This spending is made easy by the availability of credit and we are tempted into borrowing when we should not

The money we earn should be spent on the family’s essential needs before we satisfy wants, which are just nice to have. We should aim to save the money we have once we have done all the essentials. The solution is to prepare a budget for your income and expenses. All of us are capable of managing our affairs well by using a budget.

Staying out of dept is very easy when you tell yourself. Apply all these tips and you see a big change in your financial life and become financially free. Plan all of your money movements and implement these steps.

Makabongwe Maseko offers advice on the business industry on his weblog "Online Marketing Business Opportunity". To get more information and tips on business matters visit: http://online-marketing-business-opportunity.traders-online.net/


Refernce : http://www.articles-hub.com/Article/138259.html
How To Surely Avoid Debt
By Makabongwe Maseko

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Mortgage Rates - How Low Can We Go?

Well, surely it can't drop much lower? If you haven't locked a mortgage rate in by now, or haven't got yourself pre-approved, you had better hurry up. All those people who can remember the 11% mortgage interest rate will be trampling over each other to try and re-new at these rates.
Both the thirty year fixed rate mortgage and the fifteen year fixed rate mortgage have dropped by almost another half a point. Rates are really competitive for those who want to be able to budget and feel secure about their future. You can lock in the mortgage rate for fifteen years at an average 5.21% at the moment. This means that you will know exactly what your mortgage repayment will be for the next fifteen years. That's security!

A survey taken this last week on mortgages, reports that the fifteen year fixed rate mortgages are at their lowest rate since July 2005 and that for the first time in seven years the rate is lower than the average rate offered on a one year adjustable rate mortgage.

These results were published by Freddie Mac in the Primary Mortgage Market Survey. An announcement from Freddie Mac vice president stated that the further mortgage decreases were in large part a reaction to the drop in consumer spending.

Figures have been published which show that December's consumer spending was down by 0.4%. He added that sales of garden equipment and building materials were particularly hit, with the loss of sales in these areas dipping to an almost 3% loss from the previous month.


This explains why mortgage interest rates keep dropping. It doesn't explain why everyone is fairly cautious about re-financing or getting a mortgage - even a fixed rate! Is it possible that people are not buying their dream home until they have seen the lowest edge of the mortgage rates?

Just how much money is involved for the average member of the public here? Well, for every one eighth point on a conforming loan, you will pay an extra $25.00 per month. This week the rate for a fifteen year fixed is averaging out at 5.21%. A 15 year fixed rate mortgage last week averaged 5.43% which was down from the week before when it averaged 5.68%.

In real money, you could have saved yourself around $50 per month in repayments by just one week's difference in time. This means that the home you are hanging out for may be snapped up by someone else. A buyer who is who is prepared to pay the extra $50.00 per month; a buyer who has decided not to gamble on the ultimate lowest of the low rates, but rather to snap up the property that they want now.

It is anyone's guess whether the mortgage rate will go up or down. Unemployment figures rose last month compared to the month before, but the inflation and economic data has already been calculated to reflect long term lending risks. Lenders anticipate the news and indications are pointing to the fact that rises in the rates are more likely than drops in the rate.

First time buyers must be encouraged to at least try to get approval at this rate. Approval is not a contract, and it does not need to be taken up and used, but at least this low-return mortgage rate will be available to them for a few weeks, if they wish to buy a home - before the rate inevitably creeps up!

About the author:Eileen specializes in Upstate New York real estate. To learn about buying property in the Kingston NY real estate market, be sure to visit Eileen at www.VillageGreenRealty.com.

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgage Payment

California Reverse Mortgage is a loan where the lender either pays you a lump sum at one go, makes regular monthly payments, extends a line of credit, or a combination of the three. You continue to own your home and pay property taxes, operating expenses and maintenance. But because you make no regular pay outs on the loan, the balance owed rises each month with the interest applied to it. In the event of your death, your heirs would be responsible for paying the total debt, which is often done by selling or refinancing the house. There are a number of pros and cons for the various California Reverse Mortgage Payment Options.

A.Line of Credit: This is when the access funds are at your discretion. The Pros and Cons of this type of California Reverse Mortgage payment are as follows

Pros: Flexibility - One of the Pros of this Reverse Mortgage Payment is that you can access funds anytime, whenever you need them.


Potential - Another Pro of this Reverse Mortgage Payment is its growth feature. The unused balance grows. This does not mean you are earning interest. The growth factor takes into consideration that your home has appreciated in value over the past 12 months and that you are one year older.

Extra Income - You can use your equity to supplement your retirement income. You can take a lump sum of cash and a monthly check. You can also take a monthly payment and have a line of credit you can write checks on as you need.

Cons: Spending lure - One of the Cons of this Reverse Mortgage Payment is that is that the funds can be easily exhausted.

Red tape - To access your funds, you must submit a written request to the loan servicer managing your account. It includes several rounds of official documents and meetings to get the amount approved.

B. Term: here you receive fixed monthly payments for a set period of time. The Pros and Cons of this type of California Reverse Mortgage payment are as follows:

Pros Instant transfer - Funds are instantly and automatically deposited to your bank account meeting your instant finance or emergency needs.

Regular money generated - You can receive large monthly advances helping in planning out your regular expenses.

Cons Fixed amount - The amount of funds you receive each month is fixed, so if you need additional funds, you will have to request a payment plan change which is a time consuming process.

A major disadvantage of this Reverse Mortgage Payment is that monthly advances are not indexed for inflation.

C. Tenure: here you receive fixed monthly payments for as long as you live in your home. The Pros and Cons of this California Reverse Mortgage Payment are as follows:

Pros

Worth it - The monthly advances continue for as long as you live in your home, even if the total amount you receive exceeds the value of your home. Despite this, you will never owe more than what your home is worth.

No money worry - You can keep receiving payments for as long as you live. Your spouse will keep receiving the payments if he or she is still alive. You never have to sell your home even if you outlive the equity. The income you receive is tax-free.

Cons The amount of funds you receive each month is fixed, so if you need additional funds, you will have to request a payment plan change.

You leave less equity for your children if you choose the wrong program.

Article Source:
Pros and Cons of Reverse Mortgage Payment By: rateempire
http://keywordbeast.com

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Best Kept Secrets To Reducing Your Debt And Becoming Debt-Free

Growing debt can be very harmful and it can spread to unimaginable amounts. So if you have accumulated debt to a size you’re beginning to loose control over it, it is time to think about eliminating debt. This is a process that cannot be completed in a short amount of time; sometimes it will take years to become debt free. However if you take the time to follow this basic tips it will turn up to be a process that will not affect your daily life.

Taking Control Over Spending

Eliminating debt requires a bit of sacrifice, you need to understand that you have to take control over your spending. The first step would be to reduce inefficient expenditure, avoid buying things you will not need. In fact, do not buy anything other than what is strictly necessary. Tag your needs with labels such as “urgent”, “highly necessary”, “slightly necessary”, “unnecessary”, etc. Once you have established and committed to a strict budget you will be able to save money for leisure but till then avoid careless expenditure.

Budgeting

Design a budget where you will state your income and your spending, do not conceal anything. Do not forget to add any non regular expenses as your overall spending is not only made of everyday expenses. If you prepare it consciously you will see that you have expenses on a daily basis, weekly, monthly, bimonthly, yearly, twice a year, etc. You must be very careful in the process of making a budget since it will determine how much money you will be able to destine to eliminating debt.

Debt Settlement Agencies

You can contact a debt settlement agency. This agencies are specialized in providing assistance to those in debt and are known to reduce peoples debt up to 70% in some cases, do not expect such a high reduction however since it is only achieved in special circumstances. But you can expect a consistent reduction on the amount of interests that you pay and sometimes a modification in the length of the outstanding loans. Getting a cut on the principal of loans and credit card debts can sometimes be achieved but is more unlikely. Ironically there are more chances to get a higher reduction when your accumulated debt is out of control and your ability to repay is poorer.

Consolidation Loans

You can also apply for a consolidation loan; these loans are specially designed to be used to pay off any outstanding debt. The overall interest rate will be considerably reduced and so will be the monthly payments. More importantly you will end up with a single fixed monthly installment that will let you foresee your financial future with some certainty. Bear in mind though, that when this happens, you may be tempted to incur in additional expenses you have been postponing due to the lack of money. Refrain from doing so for you may reenter the vicious circle of debt you have just abandoned, your debt will rise again to higher amounts, you will not be able to consolidate again and all your efforts will be useless.

Melissa Kellett is an expert loan consultant who has worked for twenty years in the financial industry and helps people to repair their credit and get approved for home loans, unsecured personal loans, student loans, consolidation loans, car loans and many other types of loans and financial products.financial products. If you want to learn more about Debt Consolidation and Credit Card Consolidation you can visit her site http://www.speedybadcreditloans.com/

Debt-Consolidation Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Corporate bond

Corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date. (The term "commercial paper" is sometimes used for instruments with a shorter maturity.)
Sometimes, the term "corporate bonds" is used to include all bonds except those issued by governments in their own currencies. Strictly speaking, however, it only applies to those issued by corporations. The bonds of local authorities and supranational organizations do not fit in either category.
Corporate bonds are often listed on major exchanges (bonds there are called "listed" bonds) and ECNs like MarketAxess, and the coupon (i.e. interest payment) is usually taxable. Sometimes this coupon can be zero with a high redemption value. However, despite being listed on exchanges, the vast majority of trading volume in corporate bonds in most developed markets takes place in decentralized, dealer-based, over-the-counter markets.
Some corporate bonds have an embedded call option that allows the issuer to redeem the debt before its maturity date. Other bonds, known as convertible bonds, allow investors to convert the bond into equity.
One can obtain an unfunded synthetic exposure to corporate bonds via credit default swaps.

Risk analysis
Compared to government bonds, they generally have a higher risk of default. This risk depends, of course, upon the particular corporations, the current market conditions and governments being compared and the rating of the company.
The risk can be quantified using spread analysis, which seeks to determine the difference in yield between a given corporate bond


Refernce : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_bond