These days everybody wants to be completely self-reliant. Nobody wants to have to depend on others. There is a great sense of achievement in being able to deal with one's own needs and requirements without taking the help of others. The personal finance markets have realized this need that the people of the world of today have. As a result we are witnesses to the great proliferation in the numbers of loans to help people help themselves.
Are you looking for a car loan? How eager are you to actually invest in real estate? Are you going to need a lot of cash to fund your child's education? Well, whatever it is, there will be a great loan that will be absolutely perfect to take care of your needs. From large amounts, to low interest rates, to adjustable payments, you name it and you will discover a great loan that suits your specific needs.
And loans are not the only things that help us to be self-sufficient. What about the good old credit cards that we always take with us no matter where we go. There is no longer a need to carry bundles of cash when going out shopping for more expensive things. A credit card swipe works just as well and is certainly much more effortless. If your wallet gets robbed, you really cannot do very much about the money in it. However, you can do your part by informing the credit card company that your card has been robbed.
Life has become extremely convenient in the world of today. I find it very liberating to be able to walk out of my house with only my little credit card for company. And yet, I am able to return home with bags and bags of groceries, some DVDs of my favorite movies, and maybe even something that cost me a little too much.
Of course, the downside is that credit cards usually tend to make us overspend. They say that women are the shopaholics, but put men in the right store and they too end up spending much more than they had originally calculated on. The culprit has to be the credit cards.
In a similar way, when it comes to loans, we are developing the tendency to take on loan after loan. Eventually we have no choice but to keep repaying a multiplicity of loans that charge different interest rates and drain away various amounts of money from our bank accounts.
Yet, despite the many problems, loans and credit cards have made us more self-reliant and far more willing to look at life from an independent standpoint.
By: Ajeet Khurana
Thursday, January 1, 2009
University: A Course In Personal Finance
Recent findings from the Educational Policy Institute indicated that the UK is the third most expensive place in the world to go to university. Combine this with figures from the Prudential, showing that a third of university students have considered abandoning their studies due to the financial strain they have encountered, and it is not surprising that many prospective students are finding the need to seriously think through the merits of going to University.
Whilst it is true that there are currently loans available from both the government and from banks that are designed to see students through their period of studies, for many this will mean emerging into their adult life with mountains of debt. Barclays Bank has stated it believes that once top-up fees are introduced it will cost about £33,000 to put a child through university in England and Wales. At a time when the number of students has greatly increased and the number of high paid graduate careers appears to have diminished, students now have to factor in the cost of living when making the important decision of where to study. In an article by the Scotland On Sunday (http://business.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=644512005 ), the experiences of a university student from Glasgow show that the question of finance already weighs heavy for some students in their choices of where, or even if, they can study. Moving out of the parental home to take full advantage of university life may become less of an option for students as costs increase and financial assistance decreases.
The president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, Melanie Ward, said: "I think most students underestimate the amount of debt they will leave university with, which will be above £13,000."
With graduates needing to earn £22,000 a year in order to pay off anything more than just the interest on their student loans, many people are in their 30s or even 40s before their debt is fully cleared.
Graduates are also finding that they have to make tough decisions as soon as they complete their courses. With banks, building societies, credit card companies, and other private sector lenders requiring the sums borrowed to be repaid. The immediate question of, “Do I build on the knowledge, work experience and internships, that I've had over the last few years and pursue my dream career, or does the chasing of the perfect job I’ve been working towards for years, have to take second place to getting back into the black?”, is now an all too intrusive reality for many.
Some students are finding it so difficult to make ends meet that they are trying to seek alternative means of resolving their debt. Checkmyfile.com ( http://www.checkmyfile.com/) has shown that that the number of students declaring themselves bankrupt tripled in 2004. Another method of reducing graduate debt is getting the loans written off through undergraduate bursary programmes by the military or teacher training, in return for agreeing to a placement period following graduation. There are however some potentially serious drawbacks to both types of schemes. These include possible damage to future career prospects or compulsory placement period in a career which the graduate does not want to proceed with long-term.
All is not doom and gloom however, with university authorities and the Students’ Union offering advice at college, and after graduation. Public sector organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau ( http://www.cas.org.uk/ )can provide advice if real difficulties occur. Speaking directly to your lenders can often resolve problems. Switching between loans and credit cards is a good way to help reduce interest payments. Financial websites like Moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk ) can provide a useful source of information by enabling students and graduates to see which loan or credit card provider is currently offering the best deal and 0% introductory rate.
It seems budgeting and hard decisions are required by all potential students these days, with a degree in personal finance a desirable pre-requisite before starting actual studies.
By: Rich Green
Whilst it is true that there are currently loans available from both the government and from banks that are designed to see students through their period of studies, for many this will mean emerging into their adult life with mountains of debt. Barclays Bank has stated it believes that once top-up fees are introduced it will cost about £33,000 to put a child through university in England and Wales. At a time when the number of students has greatly increased and the number of high paid graduate careers appears to have diminished, students now have to factor in the cost of living when making the important decision of where to study. In an article by the Scotland On Sunday (http://business.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=644512005 ), the experiences of a university student from Glasgow show that the question of finance already weighs heavy for some students in their choices of where, or even if, they can study. Moving out of the parental home to take full advantage of university life may become less of an option for students as costs increase and financial assistance decreases.
The president of the National Union of Students in Scotland, Melanie Ward, said: "I think most students underestimate the amount of debt they will leave university with, which will be above £13,000."
With graduates needing to earn £22,000 a year in order to pay off anything more than just the interest on their student loans, many people are in their 30s or even 40s before their debt is fully cleared.
Graduates are also finding that they have to make tough decisions as soon as they complete their courses. With banks, building societies, credit card companies, and other private sector lenders requiring the sums borrowed to be repaid. The immediate question of, “Do I build on the knowledge, work experience and internships, that I've had over the last few years and pursue my dream career, or does the chasing of the perfect job I’ve been working towards for years, have to take second place to getting back into the black?”, is now an all too intrusive reality for many.
Some students are finding it so difficult to make ends meet that they are trying to seek alternative means of resolving their debt. Checkmyfile.com ( http://www.checkmyfile.com/) has shown that that the number of students declaring themselves bankrupt tripled in 2004. Another method of reducing graduate debt is getting the loans written off through undergraduate bursary programmes by the military or teacher training, in return for agreeing to a placement period following graduation. There are however some potentially serious drawbacks to both types of schemes. These include possible damage to future career prospects or compulsory placement period in a career which the graduate does not want to proceed with long-term.
All is not doom and gloom however, with university authorities and the Students’ Union offering advice at college, and after graduation. Public sector organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau ( http://www.cas.org.uk/ )can provide advice if real difficulties occur. Speaking directly to your lenders can often resolve problems. Switching between loans and credit cards is a good way to help reduce interest payments. Financial websites like Moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk ) can provide a useful source of information by enabling students and graduates to see which loan or credit card provider is currently offering the best deal and 0% introductory rate.
It seems budgeting and hard decisions are required by all potential students these days, with a degree in personal finance a desirable pre-requisite before starting actual studies.
By: Rich Green
Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had A Belly Full Of Personal Debt?
For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards. We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property Ladder and What Not To Wear. Whether you were born middle class, had middle class aspirations, you became middle class through your spending. Debt united people around the UK, we sympathised with each other on what we couldn’t afford – but it didn’t matter, we still bought it. Soon everybody had a bottle of Jacob’s Creek in their kitchen and olives and humous in the fridge.
Yet, it would seem as if a debt conscience is setting in. This morning, The Guardian printed a story based on the fact that Nationwide had reported a 0.2% decrease in the average house price, whilst the Times reported on a statement from the Bank of England, showing that credit-card borrowing was at its slowest rate for more than four years, with mortgage lending also very static.
According to the latest Department of Trade and Industry Survey, 5% of individuals reported finding their household’s debt repayments a “heavy burden” and 4% of individuals are currently behind in payments for at least one credit commitment or domestic bill over the past three months.
According to Credit Action, in December 2004, 1.2 million electricity and 1 million gas domestic customers were behind in repaying their debts to their supplier. Additionally 20% of people say that they often neglect checking their bank balance because “they are too scared to find out how much money they have”, according to Lloyds TSB.
Credit Action also reported that the number of people searching for help to manage their debts had almost doubled in May in 2005, compared to figures in May 2004 and a survey from Relate revealed that 44% of couples find money to be a contentious issue in their relationship and a quarter of people in debt are receiving treatment for stress, depression and anxiety from their GP.
It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom however. If you’re lucky enough to have no outstanding debt, you can keep you finances in shape by exploiting the services of sites such as moneynet, which provide financial product price comparison information and extensive consumer information guides. If you have any outstanding debts, you can seek advice from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) or Citizens’ Advice and financial comparison sites like lowermybills and moneynet also provide detailed research on debt consolidation loans and debt management.
By: Rachel Lane
Resources:
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card-guide/index.shtml
http://www.creditaction.org.uk/debtstats.htm
Yet, it would seem as if a debt conscience is setting in. This morning, The Guardian printed a story based on the fact that Nationwide had reported a 0.2% decrease in the average house price, whilst the Times reported on a statement from the Bank of England, showing that credit-card borrowing was at its slowest rate for more than four years, with mortgage lending also very static.
According to the latest Department of Trade and Industry Survey, 5% of individuals reported finding their household’s debt repayments a “heavy burden” and 4% of individuals are currently behind in payments for at least one credit commitment or domestic bill over the past three months.
According to Credit Action, in December 2004, 1.2 million electricity and 1 million gas domestic customers were behind in repaying their debts to their supplier. Additionally 20% of people say that they often neglect checking their bank balance because “they are too scared to find out how much money they have”, according to Lloyds TSB.
Credit Action also reported that the number of people searching for help to manage their debts had almost doubled in May in 2005, compared to figures in May 2004 and a survey from Relate revealed that 44% of couples find money to be a contentious issue in their relationship and a quarter of people in debt are receiving treatment for stress, depression and anxiety from their GP.
It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom however. If you’re lucky enough to have no outstanding debt, you can keep you finances in shape by exploiting the services of sites such as moneynet, which provide financial product price comparison information and extensive consumer information guides. If you have any outstanding debts, you can seek advice from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) or Citizens’ Advice and financial comparison sites like lowermybills and moneynet also provide detailed research on debt consolidation loans and debt management.
By: Rachel Lane
Resources:
http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card-guide/index.shtml
http://www.creditaction.org.uk/debtstats.htm
Personal Finance - Three Quick & Simple Ways To Improve Your Personal Finances
Many Americans and people in countries where ready credit is available find themselves in greater debt then ever before and this makes you wonder whether you are working for yourself or for your creditors. This ends up being a problem of financial spending & control and if you take a short moment to reconsider your own financial health, you might be able to correct your financial situation today.
You will find that many people today are living from paycheck to paycheck and running from payday loan provider to another. This article suggests three simple & quick ways to improve your personal finances.
Firstly, you might want to draw up a Cash flow statement for yourself. This is quite simple to do actually. Just take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line in the middle and consider how much money you are earning each month and list all the sources on the left and total it up at the bottom. Next on the right column figure out how much money you are spending each month, including how much interest and debt you need to repay. Take your credit card statements out and use it to work through this section. Once you figure this out, then you will be better able to manage your own finances or at least have a better idea about your spending habits.
Secondly, budget to save before you spend. This idea is taken from many millionaires who recommend that you use auto-transfer each month a sum of your money and either save it or invest it into some thing like real estate. My personal favourite idea is to take a sum of money each month and use it to purchase my favourite Exchange Traded Fund which works like a mutual fund only that it just buys up the entire index of stocks. This way you do not need to work about over performing or underperforming the market and the management fees for these funds are really low.
Finally, now that you know how much money you have left to spend each month, budget how much you want to spend each month. As terrible as it may seem, try to pay for things with cash and with a debt card so that you are kept in touch with how much you are actually spending. Its so easy to flash a credit card and then lose sense of reality and you only get hit with it at the end of the month when the bill arrives. So try to remind yourself constantly about the need to avoid spending exuberance.
In conclusion, doing a simple cash flow statement ever so often helps to keep yourself reminded of how your spending and investing patterns are each month. Budgeting to save before you spend will ensure that you will retire quite well off and budgeting before you spend will help you figure out how you want to use your available funds each month. Remember that the more credit you use on consumer products which drop in value really fast, the most the credit card companies are going to make from you and the less you will have to spend in the longer term. Take control of your finances today and you will find your life starting to look brighter and happier.
By: Joel Teo
Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)
You will find that many people today are living from paycheck to paycheck and running from payday loan provider to another. This article suggests three simple & quick ways to improve your personal finances.
Firstly, you might want to draw up a Cash flow statement for yourself. This is quite simple to do actually. Just take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line in the middle and consider how much money you are earning each month and list all the sources on the left and total it up at the bottom. Next on the right column figure out how much money you are spending each month, including how much interest and debt you need to repay. Take your credit card statements out and use it to work through this section. Once you figure this out, then you will be better able to manage your own finances or at least have a better idea about your spending habits.
Secondly, budget to save before you spend. This idea is taken from many millionaires who recommend that you use auto-transfer each month a sum of your money and either save it or invest it into some thing like real estate. My personal favourite idea is to take a sum of money each month and use it to purchase my favourite Exchange Traded Fund which works like a mutual fund only that it just buys up the entire index of stocks. This way you do not need to work about over performing or underperforming the market and the management fees for these funds are really low.
Finally, now that you know how much money you have left to spend each month, budget how much you want to spend each month. As terrible as it may seem, try to pay for things with cash and with a debt card so that you are kept in touch with how much you are actually spending. Its so easy to flash a credit card and then lose sense of reality and you only get hit with it at the end of the month when the bill arrives. So try to remind yourself constantly about the need to avoid spending exuberance.
In conclusion, doing a simple cash flow statement ever so often helps to keep yourself reminded of how your spending and investing patterns are each month. Budgeting to save before you spend will ensure that you will retire quite well off and budgeting before you spend will help you figure out how you want to use your available funds each month. Remember that the more credit you use on consumer products which drop in value really fast, the most the credit card companies are going to make from you and the less you will have to spend in the longer term. Take control of your finances today and you will find your life starting to look brighter and happier.
By: Joel Teo
Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)
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