13Mar

American Express’ Preferred Rewards Green Card (financial advisor)

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By Richie Lindsay

  Established in 1850, American express happens to be one of the oldest and most honored financial service organizations in the world. Also referred to as “Amex”, the concern excels in credit card, charge card and travelers’ cheque businesses. Credit cards from American express are known for providing unparalleled customer service and immediate purchasing power. Preferred Rewards Green Card from American Express is an exceptional Amex credit card.

The Target Group

Though Preferred Rewards Green Card from American Express is recommendable for everyone, yet it is ideal for those who can afford to pay the full balance every month to successfully skirt accumulation of credit card debt. This is because an accumulated debt leads to a very high rate of interest, which is inconvenient for an individual to pay later.

Key Characteristics

With no pre-set spending limit, the Preferred Rewards Green Card from American Express comes fee-free for the first year. It is not just the annual fee of the basic card, but fees for up to five additional cards are waived in the first year of card membership. After the expiry of the first year, an annual fee of $95 is charged for the basic card and $30 for each additional card.

Additional Benefits

Preferred Rewards Green Card from American Express is recognized in numerous places all over the world. This card provides several additional benefits like fraud protection, extended warranty for purchases, purchase protection, medical and legal referral services, roadside assistance, emergency cash replacement, auto rental as well as lost luggage insurance, emergency card replacement and a travel accident insurance up to a maximum of $100000.

Cardholders also get various Internet a/c related services and have easy access to the global assist plus hotline that proffers several assistances even when the holders are more than 100miles away from their home. At the year-end, all the cardholders receive a financial statement that carries all the minute details of the financial transactions.

The Reward Program

Merely signing in the card, inducts one into the reward program and the cardholder receives a warm welcome in the form of 5000 bonus membership rewards points (which can be redeemed right away). After this, one point accumulates for every dollar spent using the card and these points are redeemable towards fifty big names in entertainment and shopping, or for rewards from 21 airlines, over 50 cruise itineraries, hundreds of hotels worldwide, vacation packages and spa retreats.

This apart, the holder can transfer the points to eleven frequent flyer programmes at the rate of one point equated to one frequent flyer mile or frequent guest credit. It is mention worthy that there is no limit to the amount of points that can be earned and the points never expire on a Preferred Rewards Green Card from American Express.

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Buying Your Dream Home

By Richie Lindsay

  Lots of people are dreaming about that little cottage with the white picket fence or that modern apartment with a killer view or that fixer-upper in the country or…

The dreams are endless, but the idea is all the same - owning your own home is a major milestone in life. Many people fell like they can’t ever reach the day they move into their own home, but it is possible for anyone. All it takes is a lot of hard work.

Owning your own home is more than just the dream. There is a reality too it also. You have to consider the many responsibilities that come with it. Don’t jump into buying a home before you are ready. Make sure that all of your bases are covered first.

Here are five things you must do before you buy a home.

Create good credit

This doesn’t just prepare you for buying a home, but also for all of your life. You should start really concentrating on your credit long before you ever plan to purchase a house. Often, you may need at least a year to get to where you need to be. It could be longer if you have bad credit.

The main things that will help your credit score is paying your bills on time and using your credit wisely. This often means using it very sparingly. A poor credit rating will result in you being turned down or having to accept less beneficial terms - higher interest and less money.

Save, save, save

The biggest advantage you can give yourself is as much of a down payment as possible. This shows lenders that you are putting a serious investment into your home.

You should also recognize that you will have additional expenses in owning a home. A savings plan can help you to handle any hidden costs or unexpected expenses.

Make a budget

If you don’t already have a budget, you need one. Look at all of your expenses and decide how much you can afford for your new house. Don’t just include your mortgage payment, think about your insurance and taxes also. If you are moving further from work, include the difference in commuting expenses. You want a realistic budget. It will tell you how much you can afford.

Don’t forget that you will have utility costs and hookup fees, some maintenance, closing costs and moving costs. These are extra expenses that are easy to overlook.

Get help

Ask family members or friends what it is like to buy a home. They can be a great source of information. Everyone has a good story about what can go wrong. You can also ask for recommendations for lenders and realtors.

Become emotionally prepared

Finances aren’t the only thing that will stress you out. Emotions run high when buying a home. Be prepared and plan ahead. This is the best way to make the experience positive. Don’t set your expectations too high. If you are well prepared and ready to adapt to any possible changes, you will be able to buy a home and enjoy the process.

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13Mar

How to Get a Home Equity Loan (financial business coach)

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By Richie Lindsay

  Home equity is the difference between mortgages and the current market value. It has a zero rate of return and is not liquid. In home equity loan the borrower utilizes the equity as collateral. These loans are essentially advantageous as they are able to provide individuals with larger finances. In a home equity loan a lien (security interest that is laid against an item of property) is created with the borrower’s house.

Home equity loans can be held by first, second and third positions deeds. But in order to get a good loan it is necessary to have a good credit history so as to enable an individual to get a good value loan.

Types of Home Equity loans

There are two types of equity loans:

Closed end home equity loans

Open end home equity loans

In closed end home equity loans an individual receives a large some of finance in just one loan. He/she is not entitled to get any further loans after this sum has been paid to the borrower. As the name suggest “Closed end” which means that the borrower doesn’t have a specified period of getting the loan, but just a particular time upon signing the agreement of the loan. The loan amount that an individual can get depends upon the credit history and the collateral of the person. These types of loans have a fix rate of amortization and have to be paid up in the period of fifteen years. Since the borrower has taken a large sum of loan he has to return the sum at the end of the period which is also called balloon payment.

In Open end home equity loan the borrower get a specified amount of the loan over a period of time. This specified period of time is called home equity line of credit (HELOC) as the time period for this loan is not specified. However the lender sets a specific credit line for the borrower based upon the equity in the property. Similar to closed ended equity loan the person can get 100% of the value paying it back after a specified period of time. The time period for this type of home equity loan is up to 30 years. The interest rate can vary depending on the suitability of the loan as the borrower can base the rate of interest on the prime rate or margin.

Advantages and disadvantages of home equity loans

Advantages of the home equity loans include:-

Home equity loans enable a borrower to take a large sum of money which can help in debt consolidation

The period of returning the loans is more flexible than other loan periods.

The home equity loan enables leads to decrease accumulation of debts.

There is only one disadvantage regarding equity home loans, which is people are not able to maintain a good credit history which might lead to further accumulation of debts.

Therefore home equity loans are one of the easiest loans that borrowers can procure as it enables easy payments in terms of the rate of interest.

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11Mar

(Financial coach) The Importance of Being a Lead Generation Expert

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By Joel Booker

  The term Internet Marketing includes, network or mlm marketers, affiliate marketers, and any person with an online home based business.

Here are some compelling, but not limited to, reasons why you must become a lead generation expert:

The Bad Side Of Not Generating Your Own Leads

1. Relying on advertising your business directly is not enough, and what’s more, it is very expensive. If you are a network marketer, or an affiliate marketer, you know that when you signed up for that program, the company gave you a URL with your username and/or code to pay you a commission for every sale you make. Once you have your affiliate page, some merchants will give you an online back office with some marketing materials such as Banners, emails, etc. All you have to do now is advertise your mlm or affiliate page. Besides making phone calls you now have to advertise your business to expose it out on the worldwide web to get leads and/or prospects. There are many online companies that can advertise your business, but if your advertising budget is limited, you can’t risk throwing away $2,000 bucks or max your credit card.

2. Renting email lists to advertise your business is not very effective either. Although renting email lists is Spam free, many of them are not legitimate, others are very expensive, and still many others are constantly bombarded with ads that your ads go straight to the trash.

3. Buying lead packages. Many companies advertise targeted leads, and again there are many frauds that will tell you their leads are fresh, but they keep selling them over and over! There are some good companies, but their lead packages are far from affordable. The worst thing about it is, that after you purchase a lead package and the leads turn out very unresponsive, you’ve lost your investment. So what is your Return On Investment? A waste of time, money, and your own efforts!

4. Posting on FFA sites. It doesn’t work either. People who visit FFA sites expect everything for free, and don’t plan to pay for anything. So why waste your time and effort?

The Good Side Of Generating Your Own Leads

1. The first good news is-it is not very difficult to become a lead generation expert!

2. There are some amazing cost-effective ways to generate your own leads. Learning to generate leads on your own is more cost-effective, efficient, and productive.

3. Becoming a lead generation expert gives you a feeling of being a leader. Once you learn, you can teach others how to do it and follow in your footsteps.

4. You can tailor your lead generation tactics to target specific niche markets. This allows you to have more targeted prospects, and therefore improving conversion rates.

5. It is the only way to build a foundation for your business. Generating leads creates a list of prospects, and having prospects in your list is what will bring paying customers to you and your business.

How Do You Generate Your Own Leads?

When I was a rookie, I was ignorant when someone spoke about a lead capture page, or an opt-in page. I used to ask, what is a lead capture page, or an opt-in lead, and how does it work? If this is all new to you, don’t feel bad, we all go through this learning curve.

Basically a lead capture, or opt-in page, is a web page with an offer, and a form where a person can opt-in or subscribe to a newsletter or email list. The prospect inserts his/her name in the form, and he/she is taken to another page, either a thank you page, a download page, or the actual affiliate or mlm website. Once a prospect has entered his/her name, he/she has opted-in to your list, or, you have captured his/her email address, and has become an opt-in subscriber!

The offer in your opt-in page should be something appealing, with a perceived value to give your prospect a good reason to opt-in to your list.

Your opt-in form should have fill boxes to let the prospect input his name and email address or more information depending on what your business is about.

Once you have captured his/her name and email address, where does the information go? Your opt-in page and form should be tied in with an autoresponder system. The autoresponder system takes care of the mechanics.

When your list starts growing, it is your responsibility to nurture and cultivate your prospects with free useful information about how they will benefit somehow with your products and services.

In summary, create your own opt-in page, and drive targeted traffic to it. Becoming a lead generation expert is best thing do because is more cost-effective, can target more focused niche markets, less chance to go out of business, and more importantly, this expertise will help you build your own client base, or prospect/customer list, and ultimately make you more money.

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Having a Successful Team Building Weekend

By Joel Booker

  Somewhere in the world this afternoon, a group of office mates are strapping on safety equipment and preparing to scale the side of a cliff together. In another city, another group of mates is engaged in a retreat designed to foster their sense of teamwork. Late at night in yet another town, six men who usually compete in the office are cooperating on building a robot. What do they all have in common?

The phrase is team building, and it has come to represent a way of doing business that takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of each member of a workgroup. The basic concept of team building weekends is to bring a group of coworkers together and, by subjecting them to various hardships, events and activities, cement them into a team that supports each other and works together toward a common goal.

The only problem with that scenario is that all too often, it doesn’t work. Once the group is back at the office, they fall back into the old ways of working and the team building weekend is no more than a fond memory. The problem is not in the concept of team building, but in the notion that it can be accomplished in a weekend, no matter what that weekend entails. It’s not that team building weekends are a bad idea - it’s that they’re expected to do a job that should be undertaken in your office, every workday of the year. The purpose of a team building event should be to introduce, reinforce and reward, not to single-handedly forge a group of coworkers into a team. If it’s used to replace the work your company (or you as a manager) should be doing every day, then you’re missing out on some important points - and the major benefits of dragging everyone out of the office for a weekend of exhilirating and challenging activities.

So how do you forge the bonds of a team if not by dipping them into the crucible of a team building weekend? In simple street terms, you can’t just talk the talk - you have to walk the walk. If you want your staff to believe they’re a team and function as a team, then you have to treat them as a team - and yourself as an important member of it.

- Communication is the key to building a team.

o- The single biggest mistake that ‘management’ makes is failure to communicate. Your company doesn’t have to be an open book to all employees, but sharing goals and intentions gives employees a sense that they are a part of a larger team working toward a specific purpose.

- Build teamwork into the work flow.

o- In order to work as a team, people need to be treated as one. Start each project with a team conference to define and refine goals. Create a central ‘lounge’ area where team members are comfortable grabbing coffee in the morning - and taking a few moments to catch up on things together. Hold regular team meetings where team members can report progress and delays so that no one feels left out of the loop.

- Make recognition of achievement a priority.

o- Recognizing achievement is important to reinforcing the team feeling. It needn’t be formal - in fact, informal and unexpected recognition can be very potent. A word in passing in the hallway, a moment taken to pass on praise from a client while having a cup of coffee, a casual ‘great work on that proposal, guys’ at the end of a meeting are all part of the teamwork frame.

- Make time to play as a team, too.

o- Whether the play is a softball team, a bowling league or a semi-annual weekend where the team members can really stretch their wings, teams work best when they have something in common besides their work. A trek up a snowy mountainside builds shared memories that help cement the bonds that have formed throughout the year.

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11Mar

(Financial mentoring) Refinancing Your Home

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By Brad Cullipher

  Refinancing your home is an extremely important option to homeowners for many different reasons. While there is a cost involved, typically the benefits far outweigh the negatives and homeowners sleep easier at night following a refinance. Here we will address a number of very important reasons why homeowners seek to refinance their homes and the benefits it may give to these individuals.

Interest Rate Reduction

Currently, interest rates are at an all time low in the United States. We havent seen interest rates this low in decades, as they have been this way for about the past 12 months. Although the rates do vary daily so it is important to check with a lender or mortgage professional, if you happen to be eligible to refinance from a higher interest loan, you could save thousands of dollars simply by refinancing. This will also potentially lower your monthly payment, meaning more money in your pocket to pay your monthly expenses. There are closing costs and other fees to be concerned with, so consulting with a professional is necessary to see what your true savings amount will be.

Removing/ Adding Names from a Mortgage

Many people choose to refinance their homes due to marriage or divorce. If you become married, it is a good idea to be added to the home loan you are paying towards in case of unfortunate divorce or death. Similarly, if a couple becomes divorced, it is typically necessary to remove one party from the deed. This can be done through a refinance and the name removal is typically ordered by the courts in the divorce proceedings. Some people choose to sell, but many people who want to stay in the home will refinance, removing the other party from the loan and ownership of the property.

Solid Loan Options

People also often choose to refinance simply to change programs. If a person gets into their home using a balloon payment program, typically within a few years they choose to refinance to move to a safer, fixed rate mortgage. Of course the value of this depends on your overall goals and how long you plan to live in your home, but for many, this is a decision that solidifies future financial safety and avoids the mortgage increases substantially in the future.

Get Rid of High Interest Debt

Those who experience unfortunate personal losses like disability or loss of a job almost always begin putting living expenses on credit cards. If you wind up in severe debt but have a lot of equity in your home, many people choose to refinance and pull money out of the equity, to pay off high balance, high interest credit cards, and to settle into one monthly payment versus owing many creditors money. This can be a fix in many cases, although you must first have equity in your home to be able to do so.

Refinancing can be the key to putting yourself on a better path. If you are interested in refinancing, speak with a mortgage lender right away to see what you may qualify for.

American Capital Home Loans is your professional mortgage company specializing in home loans, mortgage, refinancing, reverse mortgages, debt consolidation, and home equity loans. Serving Austin, Dallas Mortgage, Houston, San Antonio, Ft Worth, and all of greater Texas.


Home Loans in a Bad Economy

By Brad Cullipher

  The recession and recent difficult economic times over the past several years have put horror stories in to the minds of many people considering home loans. We are constantly hearing horror stories of friends and family being foreclosed on, seeing the realization of balloon payment loans, or being turned down for equity loans. Many Americans are feeling the strain of being upside down on their homes even though they have put years and years of payments towards their homes. Although it has been a very difficult few years, many people who are financially solvent right now are able to take advantage of this stressful situation and get into a home for a reasonable price at a great interest rate.

There are several reasons why now may be a good time to get into a home loan if you are a new home buyer, or if you have been a solid payer on your current loan but are ready to upgrade to something new. For those folks who have maintained their good credit through the past several years, now may be the best time to buy, and here are a few reasons why.

First, housing prices are at a low point, at least as far as researchers are concerned. We will never go back to prices similar to those over ten years ago because of the quickly rising market that increased home values to an exorbitant level. But what researchers look at is where the bottom of the market seems to be, and it seems as though it may be now. Homes are starting to sell again, and people are starting to gain a bit of equity back. Now is the time to buy if you are ready, before the market starts making a comeback.

Secondly, there is a government tax refund happening right now if you buy a home. At first, this started as a first time home buyer tax credit, where buyers needed to repay a certain amount per year until the 0% interest loan is paid off. The government then changed it to be a tax refund, meaning it is not required to be paid back. Then, to stimulate the market even further, they expanded it to allow people who had previously bought a home to see some of the reward. It is important to consult with a mortgage or tax professional to fully understand these tax benefits, but the government has tried to encourage people to get back to buying which is why these programs came about.

Lastly, people with good credit are being rewarded. For so long, mortgage carriers were giving mortgages to people who shouldnt have had them. Then, the market was so strict that barely anyone could buy a home. Now, things are settling down, and people with good credit are being rewarded with easier to get loans at interest rates that are lower than those throughout about the last 30 years of history. For those who saved money and are ready to buy, now is the best time to qualify for good home loan programs that previously may not have been available.

American Capital Home Loans is your professional mortgage company specializing in home loans, mortgage, refinancing, reverse mortgages, debt consolidation, and home equity loans. Serving Austin, Dallas Mortgage, Houston, San Antonio, Ft Worth, and all of greater Texas.

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10Mar

How to Secure Financing After a Bankruptcy (financial coach)

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By Barton Simmons

  Unless you are willing to pay terribly high interest rates, you should try to raise your credit score as much as possible. The lower your credit score, the higher the risk for the lender to grant you a loan and the higher the risk, the higher the rate. This is unavoidable, of course there are special situations that may have caused your financial breakdown, but there are no means to avoid this and lenders can’t take subjective facts into consideration when it comes to fixing the interest rate.

Repairing your credit

Repairing your credit may take some time, but here is the way to start. Open a savings account and start making regular deposits. You don’t need to deposit large amounts, but the fact that you have an income that lets you put away an amount of money regularly will soon be recorded to your credit history and will highly contribute to raising your credit score and improving your credit history. This is just the first step but as a first step, the most important one.

Credit Cards

Once you’ve a reasonable amount of money in your savings account, use it to apply for a secured credit card. Secured Credit Cards are just like regular credit cards only that you can only borrow the money that you’ve previously transferred to an account. There is no risk for the card issuer so you’ll be able to get it even if your bankruptcy is close in time and your credit is not that good.

After using your secured credit card for a while you can apply (if you haven’t been offered one yet by that time) for an unsecured credit card. Your credit score improvement will most surely let you get approved without hassles. Make sure you use the card wisely, make small purchases pay the credit card balance always in full if possible, and never miss a payment nor make late payments.

Using your credit card wisely will help you skyrocket your credit score. Now is the time to start requesting small personal loans. Asking for small loan amounts will guarantee that you’ll get approved. Your regular monthly payments will do the rest, your credit score will soon reach a status where you’ll be able to request personal loans at very reasonable interest rates.

Final Steps

At this time you should have reached a good credit tag and you’ll be able to obtain any financial product that you need. Refinancing your home loan would be the next wise step to continue improving your credit score. Or you could request a home equity loan. Either of them will prove to future lenders that you are able to commit to repaying higher amount loans and that you’ve finally put behind your bankruptcy.

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What Exactly is Escrow?

By Barton Simmons

  When we talk about escrow as it relates to mortgages and real estate we are actually talking about two different topics that concern home buyers: the closing of the sale on a house (referred to as escrow) and the mortgage escrow account (a fund set aside for on-going expenses while the lender holds the note on your house). Let’s take a brief look at both of these concepts so you can be better prepared when you decide to buy your first home and take on a mortgage.

Escrow

Buying a house is not a simple procedure. With very few exceptions, it will be the largest financial decision you will ever make and will mean that you have an obligation to your lender for many years to come to pay down your mortgage note. It is important that when you purchase a house that certain procedures, rules and paperwork be followed and signed. In almost all real estate transactions you will be dealing with a neutral third-party called the escrow holder (or escrow agent). The purpose of the escrow holder is to make sure that everything is in order so that all parties involved follow the rules and are protected.

An escrow holder will make sure that all documents are received and filed. They will also insure that all stipulations in the buying and selling agreement are met before the sale of the home is finalized. They will request a title search to make sure the home is free and clear of any liens. They are in charge of receiving the funds from the buyer and releasing them to the seller only when the sale has been finalized.

An escrow agent will never give advice to either party. They are to remain neutral. If you suspect that your escrow agent is not being neutral you should immediately inform your mortgage lender and realtor. They also will not offer tax advice or opinions on your mortgage. Again, they are there to make sure all the t’s are crossed and I’s are dotted - they are not there to get involved personally in any way.

Escrow Account

The second topic is escrow accounts. You can think of these as “home bank account” in some ways, even though it is not a typical bank account. Escrow accounts are used to fund certain on-going payments that must be made over the life of the loan. Such items that have on-going payments include property taxes, insurance and mortgage insurance.

Escrow accounts are usually partially funded at closing and then a certain amount from each month’s mortgage payment is directed to the escrow account. When items come due, the escrow account is used to make payments on behalf of the mortgage holder.

It is important to note that not all mortgages have escrow accounts. If they are needed for your loan they will be disclosed to you when your mortgage lender prepares the documents and terms of your loan.

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10Mar

Latest Developments in the Economy (financial business coach)

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By Barton Simmons

  Many of the jobs in President Bush’s “recovery” are low-wage, low-benefit service and retail jobs. The overall growth in jobs masks a harsher reality for families trying to maintain or build a middle class standard of living.

Key among them: debt coupled with paycheck paralysis.

Most people coming out of college with or without a degree are starting life off with about $20,000 in debt trying to get a degree.

Then they try to support themselves on low wages after getting out of school.

A generation ago finishing high school was what was needed to get a job and to have a reasonable amount of security.

Now what is needed is a university degree and not just any degree, look at all people working in low class jobs with an arts degree.

In the last 30 years compensation for somebody with a university degree has actually decreased when adjusted for inflation.

Personal bankruptcy filings nationwide last year exceeded 2 million, the highest annual level on record.

There were significant increases in consumer bankruptcy filings in every region. The total of 2,043,535 was up 32 percent over the 1,552,967 filed in 2004. That translates to one in every 53 households filing bankruptcy petitions.

So are these 2 million people Scofflaws?

Credit counselors say the debtors coming to their offices can’t afford to pay basic living expenses or make even minimal payments toward their debts.

Corporate profits have reached record highs.

People are working longer for the same or a lesser amount of money.

During the period from November 2003 to March 2004 - when job growth was increasing - average hourly real wages actually fell by 1 percent.

Companies are reducing health care benefits and are declaring bankruptcy to get rid of pension liabilities to their employees.

Yes, but there are Tax Cuts.

Tax Cuts have to be paid for by somebody at some point in time.

If the tax cuts were financed largely or entirely through spending cuts or: if the tax cuts were financed through a combination of spending cuts and progressive tax increases this is what is projected by experts:

The net result seems to be net tax cuts for about 20-25 percent of households, financed by net tax increases or benefit reductions for the remaining 75-80 percent of the population.

So 75% to 80 % of Taxpayers are going to be worse off with tax cuts.

The “losers” are going to be low- and middle-income wage earners.

The trade deficit for last year is estimated to have swollen to another record high, above $700 billion, increasing America’s indebtedness to foreigners.

At some point in time these foreigners are going to want their money back.

Then what?

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Car Finance - A Small Rant And A Plate Of Biscuits

By William Penworthy

  A friend of mine was recently moaning about car finance. He’s been moaning quite a bit lately, but then I suppose he has a fair bit to be a bit dismal about. Car finance is his latest grudge, and as I have got to know him quite well over the years, I let him vent for a while.

The problem, he was explaining carefully to me, was that the banks, the financial institutions and the companies who hold the purse strings to credit and financial freedom, don’t understand money.

This was perhaps a slightly dramatic statement to make, and he understood that such a statement clearly needed a little backing up, so he continued.

It seems that he had gone to his bank for a car loan. He wanted to buy a car - no, that’s not right - he needed to buy a car. His old one died several years ago - it just hasn’t stopped moving yet. The rear doors no longer open, so passengers have to either climb over the front seats, or crawl through the boot. Lucky for him it’s a hatchback or he may have had to resort to cutting an escape hatch in the roof.

The suspension is so bad that if he buys milk from the supermarket it’s turned to butter by the time he gets home, and he’s discovered that buying eggs is simply a waste of time. The steering isn’t great either. It’s okay as long as he keeps turning left, but for some reason the car makes an appalling noise in a mechanical argument should he ever have the temerity to turn right.

To get from one side of town to the other he has devised a very cunning route that’s actually a very scenic spiral. As long as he’s never in a hurry.

So it was clearly apparent that he needed car finance or a car loan to replace his worn out lump of scrap metal and replace it with something with four wheels and an engine, all of which work together in union rather than making weird noises at each other in disagreement. His bank turned him down.

When he asked why they explained that they carried out a credit check, and his credit rating did not meet with their requirements. He explained to me that this was their way of telling him that they thought he’d run off with their money and never pay it back. Which is unfair really, because he may be many things, but he is at least honest. To a fault sometimes.

Anyway, having been turned down for a car loan by his bank he looked elsewhere for a car finance solution, and decided to go straight to the dealers. Cars on finance, cheap car finance - car loans at low rates, drive away today. It all sounded really good, and he enjoyed spending quite a while browsing the showrooms.

These places are different, he thought, because they see me as a customer, rather than a beggar. He settled on a delightful car, sat down in the office, was handed a steaming mug of tea and a plate of biscuits whilst they handled the paperwork. He applied for car finance, and after a single phone call he was told that he had failed the credit check. The biscuits were taken away and on his way out he admits to deliberately lifting the windscreen wipers up of at least six cars. He was a tad peeved.

But as he explained to me, these companies don’t understand money, because his credit rating is only low because he was made redundant a year ago. That’s history now though - credit history. His problems are behind him and he now has disposable income - why can’t the financial institutions see that?

After much sympathising and making cups of tea, I suggested he try a company I’d dealt with who offer guaranteed car finance. His reaction was swift - he wouldn’t deal with guaranteed car finance because the rates are high, and they only let you spend it on one of their own cars from their own very limited range.

Not this company, I explained. They offer guaranteed car finance for people with bad credit ratings because they check your current circumstances, rather than what happened in the past, they offer cheap car finance rates, and they’ll let you use the car loan to buy any car you like, from any dealer you like, anywhere in the UK. After a few mumbles and another couple of biscuits he sauntered off. A week later he picked me up in his new car, praising the car finance industry for their ability to understand money so well.

Car Finance http://www.carloan4u.co.uk/ Guaranteed Car Finance

financial advisor

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Categories: finance