Archive for the ‘Personal Finances’ Category

Keeping An Eye On Your Personal Finances

Saturday, October 24th, 2009


The majority of us are sticklers for finances at work, but often disregard our personal finance at home. For those who are not accountants, the process of keeping financial records and ensuring all financial items are squared away can be quite boring and often confusing. Instead of ignoring your personal finance until a problem arises, take the initiative today!

The most important aspect of your personal finance is undoubtedly your credit. Your credit score, often a mystical number of much confusion, is critical to your success in the financial realm. Without a respectable credit score, you will be unable to borrow money or obtain a home or vehicle loan. This number can literally hold you back from completing your goals and can severely limit your future.

The credit in your name has a direct bearing on the credit number. Thus people who do not use their credit cards properly and have huge bills running in their names lend a bad streak to their credit. A point to be noted is that it is not the amount you charge but it is the amount that is kept on credit that poses the threat of being harmful. It is important to keep a check on the monthly statement and you should endeavor to pay it in full each month.

In today’s society, identity theft is often a problem. If someone steals your identity, they can wreck your finances, ruin your credit, and tarnish your good name and reputation. In order to prevent identity theft, carefully monitor all your financial statements and safe guard your personal information.

The attitude of most people towards money is spending today and saving later, thus relegating saving for a later part of their life. But this habit catches them unawares in the later part of their life where they get jolted with the rude shocks of a fast approaching retirement date and a non-existent retirement fund. So do not wait for tomorrow, start saving today by putting some portions of your income in the retirement fund account.

One of the best ways to handle the finances is a budget. This is the best way to keep a tab on the finances and keeping the spending in control. When you create a budget you need to make two columns, one meant for the incomes and the second for expenditures. You need to mention all the items of expenditure in the expenses column such as rent or mortgage payment, car payment, insurance, utilities, and food. Whatever is left after deducting all this from the income is the monthly excess that of course can be used in different ways.

It’s a good idea to consult an accountant if you are not sure about setting your personal finance records straight. This person will help you correct any potential problems and ensure nothing goes wrong in the future.

The world of finance is fascinating. There’s no need to be scared of it. Just keep your finances straight and you will be able to build, or rebuild, your credit score.



By: David Neehly

About the Author:
David Neehly is an independent Investment writer for “Investment Finances You’ll find all the latest Investment news there. David’s recent Investment articles are archived at http://InvestmentFinances.com/sitemap



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10 Money Making Tips – Everything You Needed to Know to Make Money in Todays Market

Sunday, October 4th, 2009


Here are my weekly money savings tips:

1. Maintain a good credit score! It will save you thousands of dollars in the short and long term when you need to borrow money to buy a car or a home. Creditors will give you an interest rate and the loan amount based on your income and credit score.

2. Large sums of money should NEVER be left in a checking account or even a low-interest bank savings account. Rather, put the money into a high interest savings account (like an ING savings), money market fund, or other forms of short term high interest investments with a fixed return.

3. If you have an employer matching 401K plan, maximize your contributions, so that you double your money!

4. Set aside 10% of your paycheck towards some form of long term savings account, like a money market account, mutual fund, retirement plan, or 401K. As you pay amount increases, your contribution will also increase automatically. 10% will also ensure that you stay ahead of inflation.

5. One of the best investments you can make is to first pay off all your high credit card debts. Credit cards typically carry a high interest rate and by paying off these debts, you get one of the best returns available which also is tax-free.

6. If you are losing sleep over an investment, whether its a stock, mutual fund, or retirement plan, its not worth it! Your lack of sleep is probably a good indication that it may be too risky, too good to be true, or just not the right invesment for you.

7. If an investment is projecting returns that are just too good to be true, they probably are. Unless you are intimately involved in the investment or are an insider, an investment that sounds too good to be true is probably too ambitious, too risky or just a scam.

8. Before you invest in something, always do your own research. Consulting with others and getting a second opinion is good, but you need to investigate for yourself. The internet is typically the best source for lots of information but make sure you read enough or get relevant data.

9. Always negotiate for commissions or fees paid for financial or real estate advice. Don’t be misled by standard commissions and “non-negotiable fees”. It is your money and the experts work for you.

10. Can’t get out of debt? If you are having problems meeting your debt payments each month and feel like you are digging a deeper hole, go talk to your creditors and banks to find a solution to get out of the mess. Beware of debt consolidators as they could charge higher interests in the long term and get you even deeper into debt.

If you like any of these tips, have questions on some, or have some feedback, I would like to hear from you. Visit this article by clicking on http://www.financialresource.org/blog/10-money-saving-tips/ and Post your comments. Look for more money saving tips each week!

Happy Springtime and be Money Smart!



By: Money Manager

About the Author:

Money Manager is part of the community at Financial Resource: Your Path to Financial Freedom!

A financial education blog to share experiences on 401K, assets, budgeting, cashflow, early retirement, finance, financial freedom, investing, money management and retirement planning using downloads of free audiobooks or books on tape, posts, podcasts and video.

Join our community in its path to financial freedom by visiting us at http://www.financialresource.org



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Get Out of Debt: Take Control of Personal Finances through Budgeting

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009


Today, millions of Americans are trying to get out of debt. The quagmire is most consumers carry an overwhelming amount of debt and do not have a clue how to tackle it. According to MSN Money, 43-percent of Americans spend more than they earn and carry an average credit card debt load of $8,000.

With today’s recessed economy, it can be challenging to get out of debt, but that does not mean it cannot be accomplished. If your money is stretched so tight you need to use credit cards to pay for basic necessities, now is the time to take a hard look at your finances.

Unless you are poverty-stricken, chances are you have more money than you think. Most Americans spend money on things they really don’t need. They visit drive-through windows for daily meals and max out credit cards to purchase the latest greatest big screen TV.

Sadly, the majority of U.S. consumers are wasteful spenders. We have been programmed by the media to want the best of everything NOW. Gone are the days of saving for special items and living within our means. As my mother would say, we are living champagne lifestyles on beer budgets.

As creditors tighten their financial belts, consumers are experiencing a credit crunch never before witnessed. Consumers are shocked to discover their credit card companies have reduced spending limits or closed their account. Those dependent on credit cards to make ends meet are rapidly finding themselves in serious financial straits.

It is important for Americans to take charge of finances and develop a get out of debt plan. Eliminating outstanding debts requires time, patience and commitment. Debt will not disappear overnight unless you win the lottery or receive a large sum of money through inheritance. Tightening your financial belt might cause a bit of pain. Sacrifices must be made. However, it will be worth it in the end because there is nothing better than being debt-free.

Budgeting is the most efficient and affordable way to get out of debt. My parents placed money in envelopes to pay their monthly bills. This method still works today. Most banks provide budgeting tools on their website. Consumers can use banking software to create “virtual envelopes” to allocate funds for monthly expenses.

If your bank doesn’t offer this option, a piece of paper can provide the same result. Draw a line down the middle of the paper. On one side calculate your household income. On the other side include all monthly expenses. If expenses are higher than income you are living a champagne lifestyle and it is time to put a cork in your spending habits.

Debt is not your friend and credit can quickly become your worst enemy. Interest rates can amount to thousands of wasted dollars. Careless spending can rob you of your future. There has never been a more important time to take control of your finances.

The Internet provides a wealth of information regarding debt management. Invest in your future by locating resources that can help you get out of debt and stay out of debt.



By: Simon Volkov

About the Author:

Real estate investor, Simon Volkov, specializes in helping individuals facing bankruptcy and foreclosure. Simon provides an extensive get out of debt article library offering information and resources to help consumers pay off credit cards, develop household budgets, understand the pros and cons of filing personal bankruptcy, and more. If you need help overcoming debt, visit
www.SimonVolkov.com today.



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Party Plan Sales Selling Tips: How To Double Home Parties Ratios For More Direct Sales Profits

Saturday, August 22nd, 2009


Dear Home Party Consultant, Direct Sales Rep., & Direct Selling Business Owner,

In my last article, An Open Letter To : Direct Sales Consultant, Direct Selling Business Owners On How To Triple Home Party Sales we laid the foundation for improving direct selling ratios. Today we are going to focus our minds of increasing and improving home party sales ratios. This will lead to more home party sales and direct sales profit!

There are 5 ratios that will factor into your tracking:

1. Dialing/Contact Ratio : How may dials and/or contacts to do you make a week?

2. The Home Party Booking & Appointment Ratio — Of the people you do connect with or have a conversation with, how many of them book an at home party?

3. The Hosting/At Home Party Show Ratio — Of those who make the appointment to host an in home show party, how many actually showed.

4. The Closing Ratio — Of those who showed, how many of those resulted in home party sales? In other words how many people made a purchase? These sales do not have to be limited to your in home party demonstration. Did you send out catalog to your hostess to hand out to those who are unable to attend home parties?

5. Follow Up & Follow Through Ratio — How often to you follow up with those have expressed an interest but haven’t nailed a time or place? What about those that show up to a home party and don’t purchase? What about catalog sales? The are sales waiting to happen. Don’t drop the ball because you got a no or a not now.

The most powerful direct sales training tips I ever got were from a man name Jeffery Zalweski “the power of 45”.

To get on the right track you must first set some benchmarks. For example, depending on what you are selling and how frequently people buy what you’re selling, set a target amount of people to speak to per day this is what we call a benchmark!

I recommend a 10 a day regimen. Most people will tell you that sales is a numbers game and they are right about that. Problem is what numbers count? Make it about quality not quantity! Make 10 dials/per day or 10 -15 contacts/day

Then, set a benchmark for the number of people you want to make an appointment to host a home party. Finally set a bench mark for the number or amount of home party sales you would like.

Start each day by tabulating/documenting exactly what happens. That will give you a rough idea of what your ratios look like.

The Appointment Ratio – 40% (If you speak to 10 people, 4 people will book home parties)

The Show Ratio – 60% (If you make an appointment with 10 people, 6 will show/attend the in home party)

The Close Ratio 50% – (If you do a home party demo/presentation to 10 people 5 will buy).

Based on these ratios, to get 3 sales per day, you would need to contact 40 people per day. Of those 40, 12 would make an appointment, 6 would show and 3 would buy.

As you put this process in place, you will see what your true ratios are, but it’s at the very least a starting point. As time goes on, you will also begin to figure out how many calls you need to make each day to reach your estimated goals. This right here is the key to home party plan success, knowing that it takes to get you to the next level.

Here is the best news ever, with time you will notice an interesting phenomenon, that once you improve your booking ratio, you will need to speak to less people to make the same amount of money. Or you could speak to the same amount of people and make more money.

In either case, you will be in a better position to be successful in direct sales, once you start learning direct selling ratios and managing your home party business based on real time numbers and not hear-say or upline advice.

Myself, and Ann Sieg, the Renegade Network Marketer, top notch sales people and others who are successful have been using these strategies for years.

Here’s to a more profitable home party business.

Party Plan Pat



By: Patricia Kagwiria Makhulo

About the Author:

Today I would like to offer you the gift of The Little Back Book Of Home Party Marketing Secrets, This book is about increasing home party sales. You will enhance your sales performance by elevating your ability to target, connect and focus on getting these ratios.



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Personal Financial Planning for the Future

Saturday, July 4th, 2009


In order to obtain financial success, you must begin with a reliable personal financial planning program. This program will help you address important factors relating to how you handle your everyday finances so you can maximize what money you got. With proper budget planning, you can get more value out of your money and avoid experiencing financial crisis.

Your first step is recognizing the importance of having a personal financial planning program so you can determine how you can reach your goal and what else can motivate you towards achieving it.

Getting Started With Personal Financial Planning

Today, when most people hear the word “budget”, it readily implies a negative connotation. They think that budgeting is only for those experiencing financial shortage or crisis. However, even with enough financial resources as of the moment, an effective financial planning program will ensure that you will be able to maintain your financial status.

Therefore, personal financial budgeting involves the following:

1. Financial budget for your day-to-day finances while not depriving yourself of what provides you enjoyment and satisfaction.

2. Setting up larger financial goals to which your daily budget and planning is aim towards.

3. Making sure that you have enough savings in case of emergencies or unexpected financial struggles.

The Importance of Budget

Others think that by creating a budget for your finances, it is similar to lack of financial freedom. However, it is of the exact opposite. By creating a budget, you are able to create a financial safety net so you have enough money to spend on things that you want without hurting your financial condition.

Regardless of how little or large you earn on a monthly or yearly basis, budget enables you to take an effective step towards a healthier financial foundation. Hence, you can easily realize whatever financial goals you have.

When making a budget, it is important to keep track of every detail in your expenses – even up to the last cent. Hence, you can also evaluate your spending habits. It allows you to determine whether you are placing your money on important things or whether you can do without it.

How To Set Financial Goals?

Financial goals serve as the endpoint of all efforts toward controlling your finances. Therefore, you need to clearly state what your goals are when it comes to your finances and what steps you need to achieve it.

Step 1: Choose a specific goal. It could be saving for your house’s down payment, sending one of your kids to college, buying a new computer, or going on vacation.

Step 2: Your main financial goal is typically long-term. Hence, you need to break it down into smaller goals, which will serve as your stepping stone towards that bigger goal.

Step 3: Inform yourself about ideas or strategies that will enable you to effectively handle your finances. There are several books or materials over the internet that provides the information you need.

Step 4: Keep track of your goal. Evaluate your financial records alongside your spending habits. Then, you can determine whether you are following the necessary steps that will lead towards your goal.

Therefore, you must get started on devising ways to maximize your finances and enjoy it to the fullest. A personal financial planning program would help you establish the steps that will lead towards more financial success in the future.



By: Larry Rivera

About the Author:

Hi, my name is Larry Rivera. I am a successful Internet Network Marketer. Are you in a network marketing company? Are you making money? If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you are getting. Wanna change that? The best support in the industry. Success University Review



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A Cpa’s Accounting Tips for New Businesses

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009


Starting a new business? You’ve got all sorts of ways you can complicate your accounting and your taxes. But if you want to keep your small business finances clean, lean, and low-cost, follow these five tips:

Accounting Tip #1: Don’t Incorporate

Yes, incorporation may reduce your taxes (in same cases). And, true, incorporation typically reduces your legal liability. But unless you really need a standard, old-style corporation, you should keep your accounting and your taxes simple and more straightforward by staying “un-incorporated.”

Here’s why: Incorporation means annual corporate income tax. And even if you’re the only person working in the business, incorporation means annual and quarterly payroll tax returns. That’s just too much paperwork for your new business.

By the way, if you are concerned about your legal liability, know that you have another great option for protecting yourself. You can set up a limited liability company. You should get the same legal protection. And if you’re a one-owner LLC, you’ll be able to treat your business just like any other sole proprietorship, which means no corporate income tax returns and maybe no payroll tax returns.

Accounting Tip #2: Setup a Simple Accounting System

If you own and operate a business, you really do need a simple accounting system. Don’t fool yourself. Invest the time (an hour?) and the money (about $100?) to get a simple accounting system like Quicken Home & Business or Microsoft Money Home & Business.

You’ll need an accounting system to track your profits anyway. That’s actually the law. Furthermore, by starting out with a good accounting system, you’ll much more effortlessly capture tax deductions that will later save you money.

Accounting Tip #3: Use a Separate Bank Account for Your Business

You don’t want to co-mingle your personal and business accounting. Get your business its own business bank account. Use that account for your business’s deposits and for your business’s payments.

Only bad things happen, accounting-wise, when you pay personal expenses out of your business account and business expenses out of your personal account. For example, you’ll miss tax deductions. You’ll inappropriately count personal expenditures as business expenses. And you’ll lose your ability to precisely measure how much money you’re making or losing.

Accounting Tip #4: Make Quarterly Estimated Tax Payments

One of the responsibilities you shoulder when you become self-employed is paying quarterly tax payments using the 1040ES form (both form and instructions are available from www.irs.gov). But this makes sense.

Someone who is an employee doesn’t have to worry about paying income taxes on their wages. Their employer automatically deducts taxes from their payroll checks and then remits that money to the Internal Revenue Service.

But you need to pay the income taxes on your business profit. And you should do so in quarterly chunks as the year progresses: one-quarter of your tax bill on April 15, another quarter on June 15, another quarter on September 15, and, finally in the next year, the last quarter on January 15.

In general, you’ll owe a combined tax of about 20% to 25% of what your business makes.  So you want to use your accounting system to regularly estimate your profits and then you want to set aside 20% to 25% of that profit in a savings account for later paying your income taxes.

If you make $80,000, for example, you’ll owe $16,000 to $20,000 in tax. And you would pay $4,000 to $5,000 a quarter in estimated taxes.

By the way, the big crisis you want to avoid here is not a penalty. That’s the least of your troubles, in a sense, if you don’t make quarterly payments.

The big crisis is having April 15th roll around and then finding you need to pay a surprise $16,000 or $20,000 tax bill. Ouch.

Accounting Tip #5: Don’t Put Personal Assets into the Business

And a final tip for keeping your accounting clean, simple and low-cost: Don’t put personal assets like cars or home computers into your business and then think or try to write off the purchase.

The accounting rules for expensing these kinds of “easily-used-for-personal-stuff” assets are cumbersome. You’ll find the rules hard to follow and easy to break. And if your accountant charges for the extra work he or she needs to go to on your tax return, the money you save is embarrassingly modest.



By: Stephen L. Nelson, CPA

About the Author:

Seattle tax accountant Stephen L. Nelson, wrote the bestsellers Quicken for Dummies and QuickBooks for Dummies, which have together sold more than one million copies, and the popular downloadable do-it-yourself guides forming an S corp online , the forming an LLC web sites.



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Managing your Finance – Where Does My Money Go?

Friday, February 13th, 2009


Where does all my money go? If you are like most people, then you must be asking this to yourself most of the time. You must have more than likely discovered, at a most inconvenient time, that yours is gone! A way to manage your finances in the most resourceful way is one of the hardest things to figure out. If you learn to manage your money well, you’ll enjoy the sense of independence that comes from being in control of your finances, instead of your finances being in control of you.

For most people, it is not how much they earn, it is how much they are able to keep. Spending more than we earn is the recipe to certain financial disaster. Yet most people do just that. The most important thing to do is ‘Organize your finances’. You need to know how much money is coming in, how much is going out, and most importantly where it’s going. This is a task all too many people avoid if in debt, but avoiding your budget won’t make it any better if you’re not making ends meet every month, and that’s one of the reasons people get in debt in the first place. Write down your monthly expenditures and break them all down as much as possible. Are there non-essentials you can eliminate? Are you spending more money than you should be on something in particular? Getting everything down on pen and paper can help show you the real picture when it comes to your finances and so help you make decisions accordingly.

There are a few basic steps one could follow to make his task easier. Firstly, identify your income sources. Your income would include job earnings, savings, gifts, grants, financial aid, money from other sources, etc. You should list all sources of money, even if you don’t consider them to be significant. Secondly, list fixed and variable expenses. It’s usually easy to list the fixed expenses. You know what they are. If you have a car payment or a home loan installment, you know how much it is and when it’s due. The same is true if you have rent, car insurance and other fixed bills. Thirdly, it’s wise to have a savings account and deposit a regular amount on a monthly basis. Even a small amount can add up to a sizable sum over time, when you add to it consistently.

Even small efforts can sometimes help you in a larger way. Like organizing your errands should make a tank of gas last longer. If you plan to pay off a credit card, pay off the one with the highest rate first. This will definitely relieve you for a while.

There is another very powerful thing that you can do to prepare yourself to handle money wisely. If you want to have money, I suggest a good place to start is with your own discipline. If you want to elevate your self esteem and improve your discipline both at the same time, try the following. It will ensure that you have money all the time:

Go to your bank. Withdraw the biggest single denominational note you can (say $100). Put the note in your wallet or purse then, and here comes the most important part, DO NOT SPEND IT! Nothing will give you greater self esteem and nothing will build financial discipline stronger than doing this. You will get tremendous self esteem to know that you can afford to buy lots of things if you want. You are in control of that money, it is not controlling you.

Poor financial management is one of the leading reasons that makes people fall into debt. In order to accomplish your goal of saving money, you have to be committed to it. Decide now that you will live on your spend-able income and put the rest away. You’ll be surprised at the peace of mind you will feel when you start paying yourself.

Nowadays Money Day and Taxation Day are celebrated all around the world, you can send Ecards to your friends and colleagues from sites such as 123Greetings.com



By: Sean Carter

About the Author:

Sean Carter writes on holidays, Money matters and events around the world. He also writes on family, relationships, Taxation , inspiration, religion, love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry. He writes for 123greetings.com



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A Cpa Explains How to Fire Your Financial Planner

Friday, October 17th, 2008


Have you gotten tired yet of paying the five, ten or twenty thousand dollars a year that you’re currently paying your financial planner?

You should think about taking a do-it-yourself approach to financial planning. By following a handful of steps, you can actually plan and manage your personal finances yourself. And as long as you’re thoughtful and careful, the job you do will beat the performance of about 99% of financial planners and registered investment advisors.

Seriously, firing your financial planner is easier than you think. You simply need to follow five steps:

Step #1: Learn to Invest Passively Using Index Funds

The first step in firing your financial planner or investment advisor is learning how and why passive investing works–and then committing to using passive investing as the foundation of your wealth-building.

If you don’t use a financial planner or investment advisor to pick your investments or make investment recommendations, you’ll need to come up with your investments. And passive investing provides an easy, powerful way to do this.

In a nutshell, with passive investing, you don’t try to pick the best investments. Rather, you buy all the possible investments. And, the weird thing is, you actually do better using passive investing because the cost of making bad investment choices is less than the fees a financial planner charges.

You can begin your research into passive investing by reading about index funds on various investment web sites. But you should also take the time to read one or both of a couple of books, The Random Walk Guide To Investing by Burton G. Malkiel, an economics professor at Princeton University and The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle, the founder of the Vanguard Group, a mutual fund company powerhouse.

Step #2: Get Serious About Retirement Saving

After you learn how passive investing works–and why you’ll always use an index fund if you have the choice–you need to get serious about your retirement saving.

Specifically, if you work someplace where your employer provides a 401(k) or similar retirement savings option, you need to participate. At a minimum, you want to participate at a level that means you get any “free matching money” the employer provides. And if you can save more money, even better.

If you work someplace where your employer doesn’t provide something like a 401(k), you need to use (and ideally maximize contributions to) an individual retirement account.

Almost always, people who use 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts to invest in a small handful of index funds build wealth much faster and with much less risk than people who use financial planners.

Step #3: Play Worst-case Scenario with your Finances

Here’s a third step you should take. Grab a pencil and pad of paper and list your family’s financial worst-case scenarios. You’re going to include scenarios like “loss of income due to death of the breadwinner,” “catastrophic medical expenses,” “disability of breadwinner,” and so forth.

To the extent that it’s practical, you want to buy cheap insurance to mitigate these worst-case scenario risks. For example, you want to buy cheap renewable term life insurance for the family’s breadwinner(s). You want to buy major medical insurance for family members. And, if possible, you want to acquire long-term disability for the family’s breadwinner(s).

Cheap insurance–which insurance agents often don’t like to sell–provides an effective way to minimize your biggest financial risks.

Step #4: Keep Your Finances Simple

A fourth quick step: Work to keep your financial affairs simple. Don’t put money into complicated investments. Don’t buy complex financial products. Don’t let your finances get disorganized.

Complexity doesn’t save you money. Complexity costs money. Furthermore, complexity leads to mistakes.

Step #5: Make Sure You’ll Pay Off Your Mortgage Before Retirement

A fifth final tip or step: Make sure you’ll have your mortgage fully repaid before you retire–and preferably well before you retire.

Related to this point, if you receive a windfall–perhaps an inheritance or an unusually large bonus from an employer–use part of the after-tax proceeds to accelerate your mortgage pay down.

Paying off your mortgage well before retirement should mean that you’re in good shape to retire when the time comes. And “siphoning off” a portion of any windfalls for accelerated mortgage repayment will mean that at least some part of any financial windfalls you receive get used for wealth-building.



By: Stephen L. Nelson, CPA

About the Author:

CPA Stephen L. Nelson writes about the limited liability company and the S corporation options and taught the Golden Gate Univ. class: Limited liability company versus S corporation



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Aussies urged to prepare finances for more rate rises

Saturday, October 11th, 2008


Last week’s base rate increase should act as an incentive for people to get more competitive credit cards and home loan products, it has been suggested.

After last week’s increase, financial experts are warning people to take steps to prepare their finances for further interest rates rises.

Indeed, an article in the Herald Sun points to predictions from a number of commentators that following the recent decision to increase the interest rate by 25 basis points, another rise could happen on Melbourne Cup Day – November 3rd – with further hikes to come.

And while rises of both 25 and 50 basis points have been predicted for this date, the publication states that however much rates go up by people should prepare their finances so that they will be able to take on higher monthly payments.

This could mean taking the time to compare accounts in order to get a better financial deal.

Nicole Rich, director of Consumer Action Law Centre, points out that as banks and other lenders offer differing rates of interest and fees on credit cards and other products it is worth shopping around for a competitive deal.

However, she claims that the cost of any exit fees – such as early termination charges – should first be taken into account before people decide to switch.

Borrowers were also advised to concentrate on paying off their credit cards while rates remain relatively low.

Meanwhile, Tammy May, director of MyBudget, states that people looking to switch mortgages need to ensure they are making the right decision.

“There’s no point moving to a fixed loan or a cheaper loan without first knowing what the fees and exit costs are going to be,” she tells the publication.

Prior to last week’s interest rate rise, Australian Mortgage Options managing director Robert Projeski told Adelaide Now that people should prepare their finances for predicted increases by consolidating their debts, reducing expenditure and increasing the amount of money placed into saving accounts.



By: Sam Gooch

About the Author:

OZ Price Comparison website – http://www.which4u.com.au compares Credit Cards, Savings Accounts, Bank Accounts, Loans, Mortgages and Insurance to find the best OZ deals



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Credit Crunch Still Affecting Personal Finances

Friday, August 8th, 2008


The effects of the credit crunch are still having an effect on people’s personal finances and the country’s economy has not yet returned to its normal state, it has been claimed. Economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research Charles Davies said that both consumers and businesses are being affected by the credit crunch, with growth continuing to slow.

And not only is the credit crunch biting people’s finances, continuing inflationary pressures are also having an effect, Mr Davis suggested. Indeed the British Chambers of Commerce recently reported in its Quarterly Economic Survey that there is now a serious risk of recession across the country.

“The situation has still not really completely normalised and what you have seen is the effects of it start to seep through to all different sectors of the economy. Clearly, the financial system is fundamental to the functioning of the market economy and as funds drying up have had an impact on firms, there has also been a very great impact on consumers,” said Mr Davis.

He added that this has had an ongoing effect on the housing market and that banks are still reporting weaker results than in the past few years. Indeed there is still a level of uncertainty about banks recapitalising, he added.

But people who are perhaps feeling the effects of the credit crunch may now wish to consider the benefits that a secured loan can bring to payments, as all debts can be consolidated so that monthly outgoings can be paid off in one. Such a move may prove to help minimise the effects of the credit crunch, as outgoings can be kept under control.

Mr Davis noted that the inflationary pressures on the economy are proving to be a “dual hit” on the country’s purse strings and are making things “very difficult” for people. A recent study conducted by Nationwide, in partnership with TNS, found that consumers are now less confident than they were about the overall state of the economy, borrowing and loans on the whole.

The research, published in the Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index, found that overall consumer confidence is now down 18 per cent on the level it was at last year. Spending has also fallen, to stand at 54 points in July this year, down from 65 points the same time a year before.

Indeed some 61 per cent of people do in fact believe the current economic situation is bad and some 85 per cent are of the opinion that the situation will get worse over the coming half-year. And opting to take out a loan to help cover any outgoings may be one way to cover costs such as mortgage or debt repayments.

Last month, research from mortgage advisory group mform found that people looking for new mortgage deals are now seeking out longer-term deals. Indeed the organisation found that some 11.5 per cent of people wanted to sign mortgage deals for the duration of their borrowing period and some 13.5 per cent of people wanted deals of longer than five years.



By: Abbi Rouse

About the Author:

Abbi Rouse is Editor in Chief for All About Loans. Our visitors have access to cheap online loans of all types: From home improvement loans to bad credit debt consolidation loans.



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