September 29th, 2011 -- Posted in Personal Finance |
By Larry Lane for InvestorZoo.com
Ok, so your current car is bleeding you dry. The tires are well worn; you leak more oil than the Exxon Valdez. With over 175,000 miles, and the transmission is starting to slip. You’ve overheated on several occasions, causing you to be late for appointments. In short, it’s time to get a new car.
Looking for your new automobile
There’s an old saying, “Your car reflects you and your personality.” I on the other hand have my own opinion “Your depreciating asset that you’re driving should be a vehicle that suits your needs and lifestyle.” You should know, the second you buy your car, you’ve just lost money. So, let’s take a good logical look at your car purchase.
1) Here are some tips when purchasing a vehicle:
2) Write first write down a list of things you absolutely NEED in a vehicle:
3) Do you have kids? If they’re involved in sports, do you need plenty of room for their sports equipment?
4) Do you like to go on road trips/camping?
5) Do you just need your car to go to work or travel locally?
Once you have those questions answered get the car review issue of Consumer Reports, Kelly Blue Book or Edmumds not to sound like a commercial, but Consumer Reports really does a great job with their reviews, especially vehicles. You can check out complete car specifications, how each car did in crash tests as well as a host of other options. All three magazines are available by subscription. Never fear though; you can go to your library and check them out for free.
You’ve now narrowed down your search to two to three vehicles which suite your needs. Is it time to go to your local dealership and go on some test drives? Not quite yet. Your next step is to shop around for car insurance. Ask each insurance company for a quote on the vehicles you’re thinking about purchasing. You will be astonished at the differences in price between two seemingly similar cars. Insurance prices can even vary within the actual car. For example, a two door Toyota Corolla DX may be less costly to insure than a 4 door LX. Why? If you get into an accident, there’s a greater chance a passenger will be ejected and thrown out the car.
Buying New or Used?
Over the first year some cars depreciate at a rate as high as 35%. KBB.com states the average car loses 65% of its value in the first 5 years. Purchase a car which is 5 years old and you can get a 65% discount over buying new! I’ve actually never purchased a new car. Add in the cost of depreciation, sales tax, insurance, and licensing fees and I think you’ll agree, purchasing a used car over a new one is a no brainer.
Of course there is a downside to used cars. There’s a very good chance you will have unforeseen repairs on a used car at the worst possible time. However, if you budget correctly and make car repairs as part as your overall monthly expenses, you will be prepared against unforeseen expenses.
Leasing vs. Buying
When making a ‘lease or buy’ decision you must make a determination of what’s important to you. Is it important to drive around a flashy new car every couple of years or do you want to own your vehicle outright? When you purchase your next car, you will have an asset (your vehicle) to sell or trade in.
When you buy, you pay for the entire cost of a vehicle; regardless of how many miles you drive it. If you finance your purchase, you will typically make a down payment. You will also pay sales taxes and pay interest on your purchase based on your credit history. You should buy if:
1) You can handle high monthly payments
2) Prefer to build up equity, as you own your vehicle. When you purchase your next vehicle, you will have one to trade in.
3) Like that fact that after paying off your loan you’ll be payment-free for a while
4) You are prepared for some maintained costs as your vehicle ages
When you lease, you pay for only a portion of a vehicle’s cost. You pay sales tax only on your monthly payments (in most states). You may also be required to pay acquisition fees and possibly a security deposit. You make your first payment at the time you sign your contract for the month ahead. You will also be capped at the amount of miles you can drive during your lease. At the end of your lease, you may either return the vehicle, or have the option to purchase it.
Leasing is also a good idea if you:
1) Like driving a new car every two or three years. Remember, you will walk away owning nothing after you turn your car in.
2) Want to have lower monthly payments than purchasing,
3) Like having a car that is always under warranty. You don’t want any unexpected expenses.
4) Have a stable predictable lifestyle and income (if that exists anymore)
5) Drive an average number of miles, and properly maintain your car. Leasing is generally not a good idea for those who are outside sales reps or frequent long distance drivers. You could be liable to pay penalties if you exceed your number of allowable miles driven at the end of your lease.
The actual car buying process
Once you narrowed your car choice, your choice of payment, make sure you go to at least two different dealerships or check out car related websites such as cars.com or even craigslist.org.
Here is some common pitfalls to avoid:
1) Never tell the salesman how much you’re looking to spend per month. Car dealerships are famous for manipulating down payments, interest rates and monthly payment options.
2) Never tell the salesperson the maximum amount of money you’re looking to spend. They will always push you slightly over your pre determined maximum amount of your budget
3) Never buy a car the first time you visit the lot. Always give yourself a day or two to think about your purchase
Buying smart:
1) If you purchase a car from a dealership, find the youngest looking salesperson. A sales manager is more likely to negotiate a better price for “the new guy”.
2) Buy the last day of the month. Most if not all car salesmen are compensated by straight commission. If you don’t buy, they don’t get paid. Knowing this, by purchasing at the end of the month, you are more likely to acquire your car at a lower price.
There are many issues to consider when purchasing a vehicle. You are now armed with information to make a smart purchase. You’re going to be driving your car for a many many years. By doing research, shopping right, and taking all the emotions out of your purchase you will make a smart buy. Your wallet/pocketbook will thank you in the long run.
Larry Lane is the editor for InvestorZoo.com, a social networking site specializing in personal finance. Email questions and comments
September 29th, 2011 -- Posted in Currency Trading |
Every year thousands of people enter the forex niche. Some go on to become highly profitable traders, whilst others end up losing money. However it’s important to point out that there are many ways you can make money in this industry.
It may be the case that you are making some decent profits from your trading, but are still trading relatively modest amounts. In which case you will probably want to find a way to make a little extra money, and one way of doing that is by selling your trading signals.
If you are a profitable trader, then your trading signals will always be in demand from other traders. So you could either start up your own website and promote it heavily in order to attract monthly subscribers, or you could sign up to an automated signal provider and let people access your signals this way instead.
There are a few of these websites up and running now and they work by bringing signal providers and people looking for signals together. The visitors can subscribe to as many providers as they like from one central website. As a signal provider you will get a small commission per trade per subscriber, so you can make a very nice income if you are a profitable trader because you will inevitably attract many subscribers.
The second way you can make an additional income from forex trading is by selling your trading system, or creating some kind of information product detailing everything you know. Again if you have a proven system in place and are clearly a very successful trader, then you should have no problems finding buyers for your product.
You can take this one step further by getting in touch with some of the main bloggers and marketers in this niche. These people will have very large email lists so you can offer them a commission for every sale that they generate in order to encourage them to promote your product to their list.
One final way you can make some extra money is one that is ideal if you are not yet a profitable trader. You can simply set yourself up as an affiliate marketer and promote various products that you come across, that other people may be interested in buying. Product owners will often pay a sizeable commission (sometimes as high as 50-75% per sale) so this alone could provide you with a full-time income.
It is certainly a lot less stressful than trading the markets yourself. All you do is create a website or blog and set about building an email list so you have a large list of prospects. Then you can sign up to affiliate programs and do deals with product owners to start making some sales and generating some serious cash.
So the point is that there are a lot of opportunities in the forex niche. If you are making money from trading, then you have even greater opportunities to make even more money. However even if you are a poor trader yourself, you can still make a big profit from promoting various products and services in this niche.
September 29th, 2011 -- Posted in PayDay Loans |
The never-ending needs and wants of your family might be pushing you to arrange more finance as this has almost become a trend nowadays. Perhaps that is why the payday loans and cash advances are so much in demand. This service gives you ready cash, whenever required. However, this doesn’t mean that there are no pros and cons associated with these cheap payday loans and cash advance services.
Pros of Payday Loans
Here, the “pros” is all about instant availability. Yes, the moment you fell that you require cash, simply get onto the internet and search for a reliable money lender by using keywords like loans cheap, payday loans, cash advance or cheap payday loans. Once approached the concerned person, you will get the money within a short span by just sharing certain personal and professional details. Also, during emergencies and urgencies, payday loans are the sources of instant cash. Apart from this, there is barely any other source via which you can borrow money instantaneously.
Payday Loans cons
Even cons are no less in the case of payday loans. Comparatively, you end up paying heavy interest rate with the basic amount of your payday loan. In case, if you couldn’t repay the loan on time, then you ought to undergo a huge loss where you ought to bear heavy interest plus late fee, which is a bomb. In such cases, payday loans and cash advances turn up as an expensive option of money borrowing. Thus, you ought to ensure that you repay these cheap payday loans on time otherwise these won’t remain cheap for you.
For some people, these cash advances and payday loans are a source of finance, till the time they won’t get their paychecks. And certainly, people take advantage of payday loans like this only. However, you must not forget that this is a quite expensive form of credit and could turn up as a long term debt if it won’t be paid back on time.
Checking the interest rates
Irrespective of the circumstances, you must check the rate of interest over which you’re taking a payday loan. Here, the interest rate varies from lender to lender, thus ensure that you’re taking the same at a minimal rate of interest. At times, these payday loans become horrific prospects for the loan-takers as the rate of interest they pay is around 15% for two weeks, which is quite heavy on the wallet. Hence, keep a check on the interest rate otherwise you’ll end up facing repercussions.
Certainly, payday loans are difficult to bear, but at the same time, it’s the fastest and easiest way to borrow cash. So what all we can suggest here is – go for it but do contemplate the aforementioned pros and cons.
September 29th, 2011 -- Posted in Debt Consolidation |
If an individual wants to get rid of his or her debts quickly and easily then a debt consolidation company is a best option in this regard. A debt consolidation company organizes debt relief programs, deals with various types of creditors including mortgage companies, credit cards companies and banks in order to trim down the amount of money.
In addition to this, debt consolidation companies also assist in consolidation of current debts, debt settlement and in some cases also amends re-payment schedules and debt negotiation. From here, it becomes very important to choose trustworthy and good quality debt Consolidation Company. For this, one needs to consider the following points:
Skilled counselors
It is important to go with debt Consolidation Company with well-informed, accomplished and experienced financial counselors. They must understand their responsibilities and provide debtors with high quality budget analyses and credit counseling.
BBB Approval
This is another important factor that should be taken care of. Make sure that the company you are hiring must have a membership with BBB for a minimum of 5 years. BBB is an organization which puts forward both negative as well as positive aspects of any business in front of public. BBB approval for any company means one can rely on that company.
Total experience and reputation
Always go with debt Consolidation Company which is highly experienced in this direction. This can be done by interacting with past clients of that particular company. The company should be reputed and capable of dealing with all kind of creditors.
By considering all these vital points, one can make a high-quality selection of a debt consolidation company.