Jan 27

I have worked in the same company as my partner for a number of years. In fact we have both worked there for longer. However we only started dating after a number of years and yes, I should have made a move earlier but I didn’t. Nor did she, so we are equally to blame for not starting the rest of our lives earlier. Still, as they say, you can’t change the past so I’m not going to beat myself up too much; suffice to say, I wish I had. Society would describe me as a professional, like my partner and we live a pretty comfortable life with a number of holidays and have savings to fall back upon should the need arise.

Financially I have always tried to keep a tight ship and regularly review my spending, keeping abreast of any new savings policies that have been released, trying to utilise my tax free allowance that the chancellor allows in the budget. I have spoken to both my parents and my partner’s parents about possible inheritance tax liabilities and the best ways of mitigating any potential liabilities there are, given the increased likelihood of their deaths before ours. However, where I feel I do make most of an impact on things is to keep an eye on where we have arrangements for our regular outgoings. Clearly our major outgoing is our joint mortgage and fortunately we have a tracker mortgage which has allowed us to enjoy relatively low monthly payments for some years now. I also keep an eye on the comparison websites such as Permanent Health Insurance to check on the cost of gas and electricity providers and telephone and broadband providers.

Source: http://www.permanenthealthinsurance.uk.com/blog/2012/01/27/i-use-permanent-health-insurance-website-see-if-im-paying-too-much/

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Nov 14

When I met my wife to be she was a tenant living in a friend’s property. We hit it off immediately and I knew that she was the person I was looking for. Fortunately for me she felt the same and we were married the following year. Since I remember both my parents had educated me about money, the need for saving, insurance and above all the need to get a career that would provide an income sufficient that would be able to support a family. My father had always dealt with a financial adviser and he was the man who arranged our critical illness cover that was very reasonably priced as I was taking it out at quite an early age. In recent years my wife and I have had a couple of children and my own business has flourished allowing me to delegate many of the mundane tasks to others allowing me to enjoy the fruits of success that I had planned for all those years ago. Clearly the education I received has enabled me to make the right decisions I have needed to or at least provided me the tools to know to spot an opportunity when it occurs.

Source: http://criticalillnesscover.uk.com/blog/2011/11/14/critical-illness-cover-product-which-should-be-compared-illnesses-covered/

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Oct 24

I have used the same insurance broker ever since I had my first car and I needed to arrange cover. They always seemed to work very hard trying to get me the most competitive premiums and the process seemed to take an hour or so and I would always walk away with a hand written cover note and a feeling that it was very expensive but I had the best deal I could get. Looking back on those days, the trust I had in the staff in that office was based on nothing other than blind faith combined with the hope that if I thought it sounded absurdly expensive I might try the insurance broker along the road. Although having already taken an hour or more to get the insurance sorted out, the last thing I would want to do is to go through the entire process again and waste my entire day off. These days of course, like virtually everyone, I no longer use an insurance broker. I use the online comparison sites and the rest of the population probably use the telephone. The online process is so advanced these days that, rather than taking half an hour, the time need to obtain a quotation is now down to 10 minutes and every form and cover notes are generated on a PDF file which arrived in your inbox within seconds. Whilst you’re on the website the system provides the facility to obtain other financial products as, from the comparisons site point of view, why stop with car insurance? Within minutes you can get a quote for critical illness cover and life assurance, arrange travel insurance then arrange a hire car to pick you up from the airport. The freedom the system allows is key, as you can access for your self a list of premiums and see for yourself how much cheaper one insurance company is over another.

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Feb 09

Cash flow is a definite problem in many businesses right now. The squeeze on financial products like secure loans is making it even harder for some companies to find the money they need for certain growth or employment wages. Increased fuel prices are also making it difficult to keep fleet trucks on the road and consumers happy. When cash flow is low, it can snowball into many different issues for a company. There are a few things fleets can do, though.

First they can review their insurance FAQs to see if there is any savings on insurance. The second thing they can do is a fuel cards comparison to find savings at the pump, since fuel costs are so high.

The last thing and perhaps most important is invoice factoring. Several companies are 30 to 60 days late paying invoices. If these companies can sell off invoices for a reduced rate it is possible to find enough savings to keep a business going. It is even possible to find an increase in cash flow. Those companies not getting paid can sell invoices to another company such as a collector to find the funds they need to at least keep their consumers happy, and the rise in factoring shows these companies are in fact using the concept.

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Jul 05

Need Debt Consolidation? – How To Do It With A Cash Out Mortgage

Taking care of your debts can be done rather quickly by getting a cash out mortgage. A cash out mortgage is actually a first mortgage and it will require you to refinance your existing one. There are some real advantages by doing it this way – such as getting the lowest interest rate for any loan. Here is how you can go about getting that new mortgage for you debt consolidation.

A cash out mortgage allows you to get the equity out of your home’s equity by refinancing your first mortgage, which pays that off, and by adding to the loan the amount of equity that you want. The lender, of course, will determine exactly how much of your equity you can get. This will depend on your credit score and your ability to repay the loan.

Getting the equity out of your home for debt consolidation allows you to do it with the cheapest type of loan possible – a first mortgage. You want to time it right, though, and watch the market for dips in the interest rate in order to get the best interest rate possible. Then you will want to lock your rate and remortgage. Wait for the interest rate to be at least 1% below what you are paying now.

You may also want to reduce the amount of repayment time by about five years. This may raise your monthly payment slightly, but it will save you many tens of thousands of dollars if you have more than ten years left. Since the object is to get out of debt as soon as possible, this is a good way to do it. Not only will this method allow you to have your debt consolidation, but it will also give you a brand new start as long as you take some good steps to bring further debt under control.

The equity that is available in your home is calculated by the present value of your home minus whatever you still owe. The balance is the equity. However, you only want to borrow a maximum of 80% of the value of the home so that you do not need to get Private Mortgage Insurance.

Getting a new first mortgage on your home, though, will mean that you should be planning on living in it for at least another seven years or more. The cost of refinancing will be similar to that of getting a mortgage in the first place, and it will take a few years to get back the cost.

Once you get your cash out mortgage, you can do with the money as you wish. The first thing, though, is to consolidate that debt by paying it off, and then see what is left for those extras. Home improvements are always a great way to use some of that money which will bring you the greatest returns in the long run.

Be sure to get several quotes before you get that new mortgage. Wise debt control starts by being careful in all of your purchases. This gives you the greatest amount of savings, and allows you to stay in control. And, hopefully, you will never have to worry about a need to consolidate those debts again.

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May 23

The World is in debt. Almost all people and organizations are carrying debt to survive, including the Governments of all of our Nations. This is just a fact of life and this is the way that we were raised. You must acquire debt to survive; there is no other way.

This is entirely not true. In fact if we chose to save for the things that we really want, we would be able to afford a lot more than we already have.

Just think about it for a minute. Without debt, we would only have to pay our bills. Rent or Mortgage (Debt, but necessary), Utilities and Insurance. Imagine all of the money that you would have at the end of the month. No credit card payments, no car payment, no personal loans. Now you can afford some of the luxuries that you used to pay for month after month on credit and it wont cost you three times the cost of the purchase as with credit.

Okay, this sounds great in theory, but it is a little late. Boy, if only you had told me this when I was 18 (like I would really have listened). I am in debt up to eyeballs and there is no way out. This is the way that it is supposed to be. This is the only way that it can be.

Rubbish!

This is the exact reason that everyone stays in debt and why the credit card companies are making fortunes. You can get yourself out of debt and take back control of your life. Of course it will take desire, will power, and perseverance. Most importantly you have to take the first step.

The key to getting out of debt is really quite simple; organization.
You cannot help yourself get out of any situation without first realizing what exactly you are into. This indeed is the first step.

Most people go on day-to-day paying their bills as if it is just a part of life. They get the bill, pay the minimum or a little over and wait for the next one. This is a vicious cycle and it has no end. As long as you keep doing this, is as long as you will stay in debt and stay at the mercy of your creditors.

You first need to gather all of your most recent statements. Write down or input (I use Excel for this) all of your creditors. At this point I would even put in your mortgage holder to give you the whole picture. Find out your current balance for each and input that. Now input your minimum payment for each one. At this point I would not even worry about interest rates.

You now have the whole picture. Sorry, I didnt mean to scare you. Now you know what you are up against and you can make a plan. Just remember, try not to take on additional debt.

You are now ready to take control of you financial life. Say goodbye to debt, say hello to life!

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Apr 17

9 Steps To Get Out Of Debt – Part 8

Step 8 – Getting Insurance

Most people are only one major disaster or a few weeks of unemployment away from bankruptcy. If you have done all this work to get out of debt, you dont want it to all be in vain, just by one major crisis hitting you or your family. Theres nothing you can do to totally protect yourself from every type of catastrophe, but there are steps you can take to significantly reduce your risk.

The first half of this article is going to be on insurance, and well start with the type of insurance that is most likely to save you from being completely wiped out, medical insurance. This is one a lot of people choose not to buy because its quite often very expensive. This is a very dangerous decision, though.

You never know when you will need medical care and we all know it isnt cheap. Even if you are in perfect health, medical conditions can pop-up over night. You could wake up tomorrow and either have a major internal problem show up, or possibly have an accident and break a bone. You can easily rack up bills in the thousands, ten thousands or even hundreds of thousands from a single incident, and you never know when one will strike. Once this incident occurs, its usually too late to get insurance.

If medical insurance is available through your employer this is usually the cheapest option, however you can still get insurance if your employer doesnt offer it. The next cheapest option is most likely to get a group plan from another organization you belong to. Some examples would be a credit union or NASE. If you cant find a group program, you can still buy insurance as an individual, it just typically costs more. The best way to reduce the cost is to go with a plan that has a high deductible. You may end up paying $2000 or so if you have a major incident, however it wont completely wipe you out.

If you own a home, you most likely have homeowners insurance because your mortgage company has required it, but if not, be sure to get it. If you rent, you may think you dont need insurance on your property, however if a disaster was to hit the apartment complex or other place you live, you can still lose all of your possessions. You may think the apartments insurance will cover your losses, but it wont; you will need renters insurance. This is usually fairly affordable. If you own a car, you are required in most states to at least have liability insurance, but depending on the value of your car and whether or not you can afford to replace it if you were in a wreck, you may also want full coverage to cover any damage to your vehicle.

The last type of insurance I would like to mention is life insurance. This is something many people overlook, especially younger couples. If you are single and are not responsible for supporting anyone you may not need this insurance, but if you are married and have children or anyone else you are responsible for caring for, this is something you are going to want to have.

To determine how much insurance you need, I suggest calculating how much your family would need to get by with you gone and multiplying that by fifteen. This will most likely be a shockingly high number, but it will allow you to support your family indefinitely by allowing them to live off the interest from this money rather than the principal. Youll learn more about this in the next article.

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Jan 19

A penny saved is a penny earner but with inflation we can say that a “A dollar saved is a dollar earned”. One can easily get out of debt for free. If a person starts saving on a monthly or a daily basis, the savings can amount to a lot of money. For example if you were to save $150 on a monthly basis, this would amount to $1800 annually. This is quite a saving.

This amount can then easily be used to pay back debts and small loans that you may have. This amount can also be used o fund any unforeseen expenditure such as a medical emergency which may not be covered by your insurance company. Debt is a financial burden, if not paid hence to, its essential that you write down all the debts for you to get out of the debt structure, in this way, you can prune your debts. Debts comprise of the principal as well as the interest component. If you miss the interest for even a month, the lender has the right to take away the service or the goods and will also charge you penalty for the same.

You can get out of debt free by asking the lender on an early settlement, the lender may charge a penalty for repaying the loan early. Ask the lender for all the clauses before you take debts from them. One can get out of debt provided that they act wisely to get out of debt free, in fact there are also many websites which can provide free advice for getting out of debt. They don’t charge any fees. The advice can be general, however you can take their tips and solutions and apply it to your situation to make it work. Debt not paid also makes your credit report negative, which is accessible to all future lenders that you may approach.

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