09 Feb

Buy or Lease?

It’s the classic dilemma that faces every auto-consumer out there: Pay
cash upfront or forego the ownership and pay monthly settlements instead?
Buy or lease for a new set of wheels?

As is the case with every other common dilemma, there is no slam-dunk
answer. Each option has its own benefits and drawbacks, and it all depends
on a set of financial and personal considerations.

First, your finances. Affordability is clearly key, and you need to ask the
question of how stable is your job and how healthy is your general
financial situation. The short-term monthly-cost of leasing is
significantly lower than the monthly payments when buying: you only pay for
“the portion” of the vehicle’s cost that you use up during the time you
drive it.
If you have a lot of cash upfront, then you can opt to pay the down
payment, sales taxes – in cash or rolled into a loan – and the interest
rate determined by your loan company. Buying effectively gives you
ownership of the car and that feeling of “free driving” that goes on
providing transportation.
If, say, you want to get into luxury models but can’t afford the upfront
cash of purchasing the vehicle than you’re a good candidate for leasing.
Unlike buying, it gives you the option of not having to fork out the down
payment upfront, leaving you to pay a lower money factor that is generally
similar to the interest rate on a financing loan. However, these benefits
have a price: terminating a lease early or defaulting on your monthly lease
payments will result in stiff financial penalties and can ruin your credit.
You need to make sure you carve out the monthly lease payment in your
budget for the foreseeable future, at least for the duration of the lease.

Besides the financial aspect, making a buy or lease decision depends on
your own particular lifestyle choices and preferences. Think about what the
car means to you: are you the sort of person to bond with the car or would
you rather have the excitement of something new? If you want to drive a
car for more than fives years, negotiate carefully and buy the car you
like. If, on the other hand, you don’t like the idea of ownership and
prefer to drive a new car every two to three years then you should lease.
Next, factor your transportation needs: How many miles do you drive a year?
How properly do you maintain your cars? If you answer is: “I drive 40,000
miles a year and I don’t really care much about my cars as I don’t mind
dealing with repair bills”, then you’re probably better off buying. Leasing
is based on the assumption of limited-mileage, usually no more than 12,000
to 15,000 miles a year, and wear-and-tear considerations. Unless you can
keep within the prescribed mileage limits and keep the car in a good
condition at the end of your lease, you might incur hefty end-of-lease
costs.

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04 Feb

Title:

Finding A Scholarship Or College Grant

Word Count:
495

Summary:
The cost of a college education has risen to unthinkable levels over the last two decades. Few parents have the extra cash on hand to cover these costs, so student loans and mounting debt have become a reality for many students. Image graduating with an outstanding debt of 50 to 100 thousand dollars. It almost defeats the purpose of getting that degree in the first place. With no end to tuition increases in sight, financial aid packages are essential for most students.

For…

Keywords:
scholarships, college grants, college financial aid

Article Body:
The cost of a college education has risen to unthinkable levels over the last two decades. Few parents have the extra cash on hand to cover these costs, so student loans and mounting debt have become a reality for many students. Image graduating with an outstanding debt of 50 to 100 thousand dollars. It almost defeats the purpose of getting that degree in the first place. With no end to tuition increases in sight, financial aid packages are essential for most students.

Fortunately, aid opportunities have also multiplied in recent years. Scholarships and grants were once thought of as only available for the poor or the brightest students. That is no longer true. These days, almost everyone is eligible for some type of award.

Free money for college can be divided into two basic categories: scholarships (usually merit based) and grants (usually need based). Of course, many other conditions apply to various awards. Minority status, gender, career plans, and field of study are the most common qualifiers for today’s financial aid awards. Almost everyone can use one of these categories to focus their search for aid.

One of the best sources for college grants is the federal government. Be sure to submit The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible. This will tell you if you are eligible for a Pell grant, and colleges will use this information to determine if you qualify for a school-sponsored grant. Private grant foundations may also require the FAFSA be completed before considering you for an award.

Ideally, a student would start looking for scholarships during the junior year of high school. This may seem early, but some awards require an application be submitted the year before you begin your first semester in college. Furthermore, collecting the names and contact information of prospective awards can take months. You must also factor in time for completing lengthy application forms, writing essays, and scheduling interviews.

In your search for scholarships, focus on three main sources. First, search your local community. Start with the high school councilor’s office, your local library, churches, community organizations, and any corporation that is based nearby. Next, contact the financial aid office of each college you are considering. They can tell you about all school-based awards that may not appear in the standard listings. Finally, use the Internet. The standard search engine is of some use, but dedicated scholarship search sites are a tremendous resource. Some of these data banks have up to 800,000 awards indexed. Best of all, you can search based on a personal profile that will match scholarships to your unique situation.

Of course, this article can only get you started in the right direction. College funding is a complicated process and it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Remember that almost half of all college students receive some type of aid, so the chances of success are good. With a dedicated and organized search plan, you can get your share too.

30 Jan

Title:

Annuity Basics

Word Count:
485

Summary:
Annuities can be very good things for some of us and a disaster for those of us who have not been made aware of the pitfalls and traps that in turn can easily befall them.

Keywords:
annuities, types, financial, insurance, immediate

Article Body:
Annuities can be very good things for some of us and a disaster for those of us who have not been made aware of the pitfalls and traps that in turn can easily befall them.
Since most people have or are going to look into annuities as a retirement or and an investment vehicle, make sure it fits into today’s needs and parameters. It has to be right for the times we are in and it needs to be periodically revaluated for tomorrow’s world.

Precautions to be taken when buying annuities:

1. One should not Buy Annuities With Long Surrender Periods:

People are talked into buying an annuity that locks up their money for an excessive period of time with a surrender period that is longer than another comparable annuity with similar interest rates.

2. Do not fall for First Year Bonus Interest Rates:

Some annuity companies offer you a ‘bonus’ or ‘bonus interest rate’ on your first year deposit into an annuity.

3. Understand exclusion rations and the value of a partial 1035 exchange.

This is a rather complicated subject because there are enormous variables in determining how to properly structure your annuity contract from day one so as to maximize the taxable exclusion ratios when and if you decide to take an annuitization income from your annuities in the future.

4. Do not use small companies with questionable financial ratings

An annuity by definition is a contract guaranteed by an insurance company. Annuity consumers sometimes forget this and buy and annuity without factoring the claims paying ability of the insuring company. This does not only apply to the questions of solvency or bankruptcy but to the more subtle effect it might have ones contract. If an annuity company has financial trouble it most likely will not go bankrupt (even though it is a possibility) because of the various government regulatory groups that monitor annuity companies. But what can happen is the annuity company will lower the rates at which it credits interest to your account in order to make up its losses in other areas of its business.

5. Know the guaranteed cover per person per insurance company

One needs to know if an insurance company goes broke what is the guaranteed cover per person per insurance company is available .One should not invest more than that in the fixed or guaranteed annuities and the variable annuities are not covered. Because if they broke then one may get stuck or spread the amount between different insurance companies.

6. Consider the shortest penalty free surrender date
The next thing you have to consider is getting the shortest possible penalty free surrender date term as possible so long as the interest rate is better than any CD.

Lastly and most importantly get the best professional help, one who will always tell you “like it is” even if its sometimes hard to listen too and even harder sometimes to act upon.

25 Jan

Title:

Avoiding all the scams in home business

Word Count:
297

Summary:
Just a few pointers on avoiding scams

Keywords:
invest, home, business, cash, from, work

Article Body:
Many websites claim to offer home business opportunties. Some people do make money at home through online jobs, but many of these so-called opportunities are scams. How do you know the difference? Here are some tips for avoiding home business scams.

First, use some common sense. If you are looking because you’re short on funds, it can be easy to talk yourself into believing the promises you will read online. Try to look at the offers objectively. Many scams try to convince you that you will become wealthy with little effort, and you might even see on the website that this is some “secret” for making money that is just now being revealed. Much later they reveal the cost for learning the secret. Before buying this kind of information, take a moment to wonder why it’s being sold. If it’s really that effective, the person selling it should be wealthy and not need to sell anything.

Second, don’t get involved in a pyramid scheme. These are programs that pay you to recruit but don’t really have a product to sell. You make money by getting other people to join the system. This only works for those who start the pyramid scheme, and is illegal in several states. Note that this is not the same as home party or similar plans where you get a percentage from what you sell in addition to a percentage from those you recruit.

Third, don’t pay to stuff envelopes or make products. In fact, don’t pay to work for anybody.

Avoiding home business scams means avoiding anything that offers easy wealth. It also means avoiding paying to work for somebody. Don’t expect anything online that makes no sense in the real world. Don’t get scammed.

Visit me at http://www.vanclen.com

20 Jan

Title:

10 Questions You Should Answer Before Building An Internet Business

Word Count:
589

Summary:
If you believe that the internet is still in its infancy, then you have to be aware that the infancy is almost over. The internet gains its maturity faster. Everybody wants to take advantage of the internet must treat it as if it a mature entity. You’ve got to be serious about using internet as your business vehicle.

If you still think that you can easily make fortune out of the internet, then you may miss the big picture of it unless you are aware of the things you should…

Keywords:

Article Body:
If you believe that the internet is still in its infancy, then you have to be aware that the infancy is almost over. The internet gains its maturity faster. Everybody wants to take advantage of the internet must treat it as if it a mature entity. You’ve got to be serious about using internet as your business vehicle.

If you still think that you can easily make fortune out of the internet, then you may miss the big picture of it unless you are aware of the things you should ask yourself and give your answer before you build your internet business.

You should understand that building an internet business is different from making money from the internet. You can make more money from the internet without building any business.

While building an internet business may ‘cost’ you big investment, making money from the internet may cost you nothing or less. But here’s the interesting part. Making money from the internet needs you stick to the internet all the time. Simply put, the money stops coming in when you stop your internet activity. On the other hand, if you do it correctly, the internet business you’re building will make money for you even while you’re sleeping or away in vacation.

So, to do it correctly, you should ask yourself these questions before building any internet business:

1. Do you have a vision?
What is your business vision? You should have it clear in your mind what your business be in the next 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years.

2. Do you recognize your business strength?
What is your business strength? This will affect the whole concept and strategies of your business. If you think that you don’t have that strength, then you must make an exercise to find that strength!

3. Do you set your business goals?
What missions you want to be accomplished to achieve your business vision? These missions will be your business goals. Make a list of clear and measurable goals with detail activities to reach it.

4. Do you have a business strategy?
What to do to win your business? Use a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to test your business strategy.

5. Do you have the technology?
What technology needed for your business? What will be involving? You need to decide which technology is appropriate to your business.

6. Do you have good quality products to offer?
What products you want to offer to your customer? You have to make sure that the product you want to offer to your customer is the one with good quality.

7. Do you have a good quality customer?
What kind of customer will you have? One part of your business activity should be about finding good quality customer. Good quality customer is the one who’s willing to observe, evaluate and buy your products again, again, and again.

8. Do you have a good quality information to offer?
Your customer needs information. Unless you can provide it, you won’t win the business game.

9. Do you have a business coach?
Who will mentor and watch your business growth from the outside? Sometimes you need more than just advice and consultation to grow your business. You may decide to get a business coach to help you grow your business.

10. Do you have the guts, the passion, the patient and the endurance toward the business?
The last things you should have: guts, passion, patient and endurance to build your business.

If you can’t answer just one of the 10 questions above, then you may cancel or think over again about building an internet business.

© 2010 Associate of Business, Life and Rich Chaser

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