Your Financing Strategy
Ask questions from your bankers which of one these will benefits you most and which one could be costly to you. You can also get free checks when you open your account, you do not need to pay for checks. All checks are processed the same way that is up to you and how you manage your money.
-Savings Accounts: Custom Savings, Money Market Account Checking Accounts: Economy Checking, Express Checking, -Regular Checking, Senior Checking, Student checking
-Your Debit/Visa Card to use for shopping could be free when you open your account, make sure you ask for it, at times they will ask you if you want one or not. Where you use your Debit/Visa Card to withdraw money matters to your bank, it could cost you for using it at the wrong places, ask your banker for information where you could use your card without paying extra charges...
Some banks charges between $1.00 up to $3.00 if you use their card to withdraw money from another bank that they do not do business with. It is your money...
Each one of the above has advantages and dis-advantages, be careful when you are opening your accounts; you could loose money to the bank right away. You also need to know if your monthly statements are going to be free or not, when you make inquiries, the bank could be charging you for too many inquiries. Some things are free from the big banks and something's are cheaper from the community banks.
Basic Requirements for lending you money:
· Savings and Checking Account
· (2) Good Credit or No Credit it depends where you are getting the money.
· (3) Collateral such as your House, Car, Boat, Gold/diamond or any valuable assets they can hold on
· Driver's License,
· Social Security numbers
· Good Employment, at least for six months.
Lenders Information:
Big Bank requirements-
Can be very tough to meet because they have to abide by the 'Federal Reserve Bank or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)' regulations. They got their money from the Federal Reserve Bank at a lower rate, however, they could turn around and loan it to the smaller banks at a higher rate, and the smaller banks loan it at higher quote rate to the public.
Community Bank requirements/Credit Union:
Well, the community bank is no different either, they turn to the big banks to borrow money at a lower rate so that they can loan it to their customers/clients at a higher rate to make some profit to stay in business.
Private Capital market requirement:
This is where the business gets tougher. The Capital Market enterprise is a big boy on the Wall Street, where they can finance just about anything they like, because they are not being regulated by the government, it is an individual rich businessmen that have money to loan out at a higher rate. They are not required to follow financing rule rigidly as the bank does, but they still have follow the consumer law that protect all of us from being taken advantage of.
Family friends requirement:
This one is your best source of financing, if you could find a rich friend or family friends that can loan you money without any attachment or collateral. They may ask you to pay them some small interest, or none it all depends what you are using the money for, at they would like to get a piece of the apple when they know you are going to make a lot profit.
Collateralization:
There some companies out there that would loan you money to meet your emergency needs, but becareful, they may ask you to give them your house, car, motor cycle or any of your valuables for collateral just in case you were unable to pay them back, but, they are very quick to take your valuables and you may not have any re-course to take them to court for doing so. I would stay away from such financing unless you have to...
There is going to be a time when we are going to need finance or re-finance our mortgages, car, motorcycle, big boat, air-planes etc., that we cannot come up with up-front lump sum money to pay for it This force us to turn to our bank, family friends, private capital market, small loan companies to loan us that money. This is where we are being taken advantage of by offering us some sort of un-affordable rates. At first you would think this a great opportunity that it will not be problem, you could afford that payment being offered to you by your lender, you better think again before you sign that dotted line. They could be collecting interest from you money for long time without any of it going to your principle.
Pay attention to dotted Line and Small print in the loan documents:
The loan documents can be very tricky to read when you are not an attorney, the small fine prints areas are very important areas to pay attention to, because this is where they hid rates, timeline, and warrante, but if you don't pay attention to the rates they quote or offer to you in the loan document that you are going to sign you could be losing a lot of money. You probably better off to take to your attorney before you sign the dotted line.
In the fine print of the loan documents is where they hid most important information that your lender did not want you to know about, especially mortgage and credit card documents. It sounds strange, but it is true, If you don't believe what I said here in this document, go to your loan documents and read the small prints in there you may find out something that you would not like to see or hear about, or if don't believe what I said here, ask yourself a question of why didn't they just print the whole loan documents in a readable format with nice fonts that an average third grader can read and understand it without having to scratch their head or look up words in the webster dictionary for interpretation of words, after all you are the consumer paying them for this services and they will be collecting interest from your financing for such a long time. 95% of mortgage homeowner never gets to the point of paying principle or their mortgage finance off before being taken away from them, but the bank or private investor already started to benefit. Yes, I understand they took the risk to finance us.
I think what is fair is fair, they should make the loan documents more readable for us, and there should be no small prints that is had to read on any loan documents. They should be in a readable format that average Joe can understand; my question all the years was why are they making it so complicated to read if they do not have anything to hide? I also think the loan documents should not have so many pages when we are talking about saving the threes... Not too many consumers read all these pages, it has no value to have so many pages when no one really reads it, of course the attorney will not be making money if they these document could be reduced to minimum.
My solution to this big fat loan documents should be to reduce them to minimum, all it should it be contain is, who own the house, the rate, how long is going to be paid, warranty, borrower's and co-borrower, and all other very valuable information it should not be more than 10 pages long.
Hati-Hati, 11 Barang Tiruan Yang Hampir Sama Dengan Produk Original!
No BS Talk About Personal Finance
Below is a straight-talk, no b.s. article about personal finance: 1. You must have an earnings. This is basic, of course if you don't have an earnings, then you actually have no money thus nothing to manage. Look for something you love to do and earn from it - be it as an employee or as an entrepreneur. It doesn't really matter. What matter is that you "enjoy" what you do and at the same time earn from it. Why I suggest that you enjoy what you do and earn from it? So that it doesn't feel like work and you'll not feel burnt out. If you don't have a job, you can contact me. 2. Make sure your earnings are higher than your expenses. This is also important as you've got to have excess money to save up for "future needed funds". If you're earnings are lower than your expenses, you can either add-up another source of income (meaning, you don't have to leave what you currently do) or look for a better paying gig (meaning, don't waste your time and efforts in what you do, look for a greener pasteur). If you already have a job but wants to have another source of income or wants a better career, you can contact me. 3. Make sure to have a "6 months emergency fund". In USA, their only suggested to have a 3 months emergency fund. But here in the Philippines, there is no suggestions or whatsoever from the government. So, a lot of financial planners suggest people to have at least 6 months emergency fund. So if you're spending P10,000.00 every month, you should have an emergency fund of equivalent to P60,000.00. This fund will and only be used in case you temporarily loss income. This will be the fund you'll use while looking for another job or looking for another source of income. Your emergency fund should be placed in a very liquid investment instrument such as the savings account, a time deposit account, etc. 4. Make sure to have a yearly budget for health and medical bills. You don't want to use up your emergency fund should you or your family have a medical emergency. You and your family should have a health plan so that in the event that you or your family get sick or experienced an accident, you're well prepared for it. Your emergency fund is not intended for health or medical expenses so you better have a health plan. If you still don't have a health plan or wants to change your existing plan, you can contact me. 5. Make sure you have budget for different one-time big-time yearly expenses. One-time big-time yearly expenses are called Sinking Fund. This is used for one-time big-time yearly expenses such as Christmas, Valentines, Birthdays, etc. You should have a sinking fund for each and every one-time big-time yearly expenses you have where you save money on a monthly basis. You should never use your emergency funds for this. 6. If you have kids, make sure you have a budget for their education until they graduate. This is your responsibility as a parent thus it is NOT optional. You don't have a choice but to have this one. This is a packaged-deal for having kids. Tuition fees and other school needs increase every year, just like anything else, because of inflation. Unless you're a super dooper mega over rich person, you won't be needing to save up for your child's education. An educational plan can help you attain this one. I know that CAP, TPG, Pacific, and other preneed companies failed to deliver their promise on their educational plan holders. But a life insurance company is very much different to a preneed company. You should not be confused. A life insurance is a financial industry more like of a bank. It is strictly governed by a separate government entity called the Insurance Commission. There's a lot to talk about life insurance and this article is not the avenue for it as this is a straight-talk, no bullshit article about personal finance. Be closed-minded on these things, and you'll risk your child's future. I tell you, you can not save up for your child's education by yourself unless of course you have the "skill and knowledge" that most professional investors have. If you wish to know more about the education plans that life insurance companies offer, you can contact me. 7. In relation to number six, make sure you have a life insurance. A life insurance is a financial product used in the event of permanent income-loss due to total disability or worse, death. Your life insurance coverage (coverage is the amount that will be given to your beneficiaries (your spouse and/or children) in the event of your permanent income-loss) will depend on the lifestyle that your family have. If you don't have a life insurance or should you wish to know if your coverage is already enough for your family or not, you can contact me. 8. Make sure you have a retirement fund. This fund will be used by you by the time you no longer "actively" work for money (whether intentionally or unintentionally) for your daily/monthly expenses. Of course all of us will retire eventually whether by force or by choice. In this event, even though you've already retired from working, it doesn't mean that your expenses will also retire. It doesn't work like that. You retire from working for money but your expenses don't retire in asking for money. So, you've got to have a retirement fund for your expenses such as food, shelter, clothing, transpo, communication, medical/hospital, etc. The amount of your retirement fund will depend on your chosen lifestyle. You can never accumulate your needed funds in a savings account. You should use one or any or combination of different investment instruments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, UITF's, life insurance, variable life insurance, forex, etc. If you still don't have a retirement fund or should you wish to know if your retirement fund is enough for your retirement, you can contact me. ===================================================== You can share or copy/paste this to your websites or forums as long as you copy the entire article as this is a copyrighted material. DAVE AGUILA is a Financial Advisor and currently connected with AXA Philippines (a joint venture between Metrobank and Global AXA) that offers investment products that secures you and your dependents financial future. He also conducts personal financial seminars on his free time as a part of his advocacy in helping as many Pinoys as possible in understand the psychology of money. He will be attending the Registered Financial Planners Training on May 2008 and become recognized as a Registered Financial Planner (RFP) in a few year's time.
