Archive for the ‘money management advice’ Category

Investing for Our Financial Future

Monday, September 8th, 2008

Our road of responsibilities for our children is still long and winding. Besides our responsibilities in regard of teaching them the best attitudes for their future, we also have to think about the fund we need for their future needs, from education, health, and many other things. We have to remember that we are not always to be productive in earning income forever.

Thus, in securing some fund for the future, besides the routine budgeting and saving, we need to consider about some other investment. The most common ones are investing in commodity like futures trading, stock markets, and any other business opportunities. If we don’t know anything about finance and investment, find some experts and have consultations regarding what investment is the right one for us.

No Balance Transfer Fee Credit Card as a Solution

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

While it is not really recommended for anybody to accumulate so many balance (read: debts) in several credit cards, this kind of case happens to lots of people. One solution for this problem is to apply for some no balance transfer fee credit cards and use it to consolidate those balances into one credit card. By then, we can use actually transfer the balance to some 0% APR card with transfer fee.

There are several companies that offer those no balance transfer fee credit cards. However, we need to be careful, since unlike it used to be, this offer is only for less than 1 year. So, if you don’t have any other sources to zero the balance, this solution might help.

Repairing Our Credit – Is It Important?

Monday, May 12th, 2008

How do we earn our credit score? Our credit score is a number that is based on our credit report, and is used to represent our creditworthiness, whether we will pay our debts or not. Lenders, such as banks and credit card companies, use our credit scores to evaluate the potential risk posed by lending money to us. Using credit scores, lenders determine who qualifies for a loan, at what interest rate, and to what credit limits.

If, one way or another, we get low to bad credit score, then it will be difficult for us to get approval for any kind loans, or we will need to pay much higher interest rates for the loans. But, how can repair credit so that we are not punished by this bad financial situation for the rest of our life?

Nowadays, there are credit repair services that can help make our credit rating better if not very good. What they do is analyzing our credit reports, removing bad items that our credit bad, and turn our credit report into good again. When our credit is good as new, then we can have normal financial life.

Thus, I think credit repair is very important. After all, we still have a long journey ahead of us, with so many responsibilities, including financial responsibilities, to our children.

Young People with Too Much Debt and Bad Credit

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

You will be shocked to know that so many very young people are trapped with so much debt. They probably dream too much, want too many things in life, but without considering the consequences that can ruin their real dream and financial future. Here I enclose a summary of one from so many stories of young people with bad credit.

“I am 21 years old and I have a huge amount of debt and bad credit. Yes, I know too young, but it happened. I now realized my mistakes but that is not helping me get out of this hole. I have a $470.00 car payment a month that I can’t get rid of. Can’t sell it because I still owe $15,000, I have $5,000 in credit card debt, and I live alone. Rent, utilities, and car maintenance is a debt within itself. I have a desire to own my restaurant within the next 8 years. How can I reach my goal? I am paying bills every month but I cannot save a dime. How do I balance my life out? This is seriously damaging my future and every positive thing it holds. HELP ME!”

Of course nowadays there are many offers for bad credit loans, such as bad credit credit cards, personal loans, home loans, auto loans, and credit report to regularly check credit ratings. These loans can surely in some degree help that girl. However, that is not the point. The point is as parents we need to educate our children regarding this matter and teach them to save money from early age. We need to work hard, so that the above case will not happen to our children.

Don’t Worry Too Much about Financing the Children Education

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

As parents, we often wonder if we are going to be able to afford higher education for our children. We often think about how we can get the fund for college costs, since costs for education, especially college and university costs, are quite high. Actually, although of course we still need to save as much money as possible for education fund, there are several types of student loans that can help us.

The lowest rate student loan is of course the Federal Student Loan. However, if the federal loan doesn’t cover the total cost and our money cannot cover the rest of the cost, then we can still get the private student loans. Private student loans are unsecured, credit-based loans available to students for tuition and fees, room and board, school supplies, and other education-related expenses. These loans can be applied at the beginning of the school year, in the middle of the term or near the end.

If, along the way, we get to have several student loans, federal or private, we actually can lower the monthly payments by getting the student loan consolidation. And when we consolidate the student loans, we could get more time—up to 20 more years—to repay.

Thus, we don’t need to worry too much about financing our children education. When there is a will, there is a way.

Is It the Time to Change Health Insurance Policy?

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

We all need health insurance policy that covers the whole family. Some people have health coverage from the company they work in. Some other people, especially self-employed people, need to get their own health insurance coverage. However, needing health insurance coverage doesn’t mean that we have to stick to one insurance company our whole life. How do we know then whether it is the time for us to change health insurance company or not?

First of all, some people are very concerned about saving money. So, if they think that the health insurance rate is getting too high, then it is time to shop around for new company. On the other hand, some other people prefer what they think to be the best. So, if they think that the present health insurance company doesn’t deliver what they need, then it is time to look for health insurance company with better coverage and services.

Which one are you?