Finding a cheap remortgage
October 13, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
If only the question of finding a cheap remortgage was a matter of choosing the one that required the lowest monthly repayments. But, of course, nothing in life is quite as simple as that!
Cheap is a relative term, of course – what you may regard as cheap, your neighbour might not consider to be so inexpensive. More than that, a cheap remortgage is also defined by just what it is that you want or need from your replacement mortgage. You might certainly make the monthly repayments cheaper, for example, but does that mean that you choose to extend the duration of the remortgage in order to do so? You might choose to do so, or you may choose to pay more each month in order to pay off your mortgage at an earlier date.
When comparing products, in a quest for what you might consider to be a cheap remortgage, therefore, it is likely to be important to ensure that you are comparing like for like – in terms of the type of remortgage, the amount to be borrowed and the repayment term.
Thanks to the number of relevant websites, comparison along such lines is simple and straight forward and a number of sites also include a remortgage repayment calculator, so that you may quickly estimate the likely cost of your monthly repayments for any given type of remortgage, given your desired borrowing sum and repayment term.
Something that you might want to pay special attention to avoiding, however, is making lots of “trial” applications in which a lot of your personal detail is requested. Each su Complete Article…
Four Reasons Why Your Credit is Important
October 10, 2011 by Hudson Watts · Leave a Comment
There are lots of things you cant control in life, but one thing you can control is your credit. But why should it matter to you what your credit score is or whats in your credit report? There are several reasons you should pay attention to whats going on in your credit life, and some of them may surprise you.
It will work for or against you when youre applying for a loan.
One of the most significant reasons to pay attention is because your credit comes into play when youre shopping around for a mortgage, auto loan or credit card. The information in your credit report, boiled down into your three-digit credit score, tells lenders whether or not they should approve you for a loan. It also tells them how to set the terms and rates of your loan. For instance, while you may be able to get a mortgage with a credit score of 660, in order to get the best terms and rates you typically need at least a 720.
Is Social Security Income?
September 27, 2011 by Charlie Stedman · Leave a Comment
Heres a question about Social Security that I came across not too long ago:
Im in my 60s and am receiving Social Security every month. How much, if any, can I still contribute to my Roth IRA?
In other words, the question is Is Social Security income? Or more specifically, is it earned income. So heres the answer:
Social Security Does Count as Income
Yes, Social Security is definitely income received. However, it doesnt mean its fully taxable. To the extent that the IRS looks at your Social Security as income that must be included for tax purposes depends upon how much income you earn from other sources and your marital status.
In 2010, the IRS has base amounts of:
In other words, if you make more than the base amounts you must include Social Security as income for tax purposes. To learn more check out Publication 915 from the IRS.
Social Security Does Not Count as Earned Income
Is Social Security income? Not in the sense of earned income. So
U.S. Consumer Confidence Ticks Higher In September But Remains Fragile
September 26, 2011 by Laura Reveley · Leave a Comment
– After reporting a sharp drop in consumer confidence in the month of August, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing a modest increase by its consumer confidence index in September, although the index increased by less than expected.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index edged up to 45.4 in September from a revised 45.2 in August. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to 46.5 from the 44.5 originally reported for the previous month.
With the modest increase, the consumer confidence index regained some ground after dropping to its lowest level in over two years in August.
“Consumer confidence remains very fragile as the economy remains on stall speed and recession probabilities rise,” said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
Credit cards are so 2000 and late
September 26, 2011 by Charlie Stedman · Leave a Comment
By Rich Mintzer
Nicki, a college student, decides it’s time for a new laptop. She finds exactly what she wants online, but can’t buy it because she does not have a credit card. Her close friend offers to put it on her card, but she’s already over her card limit. These are not uncommon situations; in fact, a quarter of U.S. citizens do not have credit cards while so many more are in credit card debt. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, cardholders topped $886 billion in credit card debt in 2010, and that number is expected to top the $1.1 trillion this year.
The alternate route
With those sobering statistics in mind, entrepreneur Danny Shader thought it was time to revitalize the basic concept of paying by cash for those without plastic, those who abuse it and those who don’t want to write checks on their savings accounts to make loan payments.