Retire in 10 Years

Retirement has become a popular subject recently. When you understand the current situation, you’ll understand why retirement is on the minds of so many people. Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the world today. There are approximately 79 million baby boomers and starting Jan. 1, 2008 every 7.7 seconds, a boomer will turn 60. Americans have seen 30% or more evaporate from their 401(k) plans due to the stock market meltdown. Social Security Trustees have admitted that the fund will be insolvent by 2017 because it will be paying out more than it receives. It will be depleted of funds by 2041. Medicare Trustees have reported that Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will become insolvent by 2019.

Read more at www.retirein10years.com

The Dangers of Bad Credit

A low credit score is very serious.

Suffering from Emergency Expenses

Emergencies can arise at any time. Many people do not even have an emergency savings account, so they do not have anything to fall back on in an financial emergency situation. This is a time where your credit score is crucial. You can use whatever credit on your credit cards you have in order to gain money for this emergency until it passes over. These emergencies can be difficult to overcome if you do not have credit to fall back on. What money will you use then? You do not want to put yourself in a position to be overtaken by emergencies because of your bad credit. Use credit restoration in order to help you gain some of that credit back.

Not Being Able to Buy a Car or Home

Automobiles are a fact of life for most people. They need them to take their kids to school everyday and to go to work. There will come a time when you need to purchase a car. When this time comes you will need an auto loan. What happens if your credit is so low that you get turned down for an auto loan? How will you be able to afford that car now? You may now find that it is very difficult to make it to work on time. It is tough to struggle with finding an auto loan that will fit your bad credit needs.

The same thing goes with a home. It may be time to start a family; therefore you will probably need to get out of that apartment. A mortgage is not something that you are entitled to, you must earn it. Bad credit can really halt your mortgage search. Therefore you now find yourself continuing to dump money in an apartment without seeing any return. If you had good credit you would be in a house and earning equity and value within the house.

Click here to learn how to eliminate your bad credit score.

10 Side Effects of a Low Credit Score

According to the results of the 2012 National Financial Literacy Survey, many of us could use a little more literacy when it comes to our finances. The report, released by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA), showed that 42 percent of Americans give themselves a C, D, or F when it comes to their knowledge of personal finance and these grades are in line with the rest of the survey results.

Here are a few stats that stood out to me from the survey:

39% Carry Credit Card Debt
This is roughly the same number as last year (40 percent), so at least things aren’t getting worse. But this is a precarious position to be in. If you’re one of these folks, and it’s at all possible, stop using your cards and focus on paying down the debt. I suspect, though, that some of those in this group are carrying debt because they don’t have the cash flow to pay the bills off every month.

If you must carry a balance, use the card with the lowest interest rate. And if you have excellent credit, check out zero percent APR credit cards. Do whatever you can to minimize your interest expense.

"What's the big deal with a low credit score," you might ask. Since so many businesses now judge you based on your credit score, having bad credit can make life extremely difficult from getting a job to getting a place to live. Here are some of the most common side-effects of bad credit.

1. High interest rates on your credit cards and loans Creditors and lenders see bad credit applicants as riskier than their better credit counterparts. They make you pay for this risk by giving you a higher interest rate. Over time you’ll end up paying more in interest than you would if you have better credit.

2. Credit and loan applications may not be approved Because creditors and lenders think you’re a risk, they might not want to lend to you at all. You may find that your applications are being denied because of bad credit.

3. Difficulty getting approved for an apartment Who knew that landlords checked credit before allowing you to sign a lease? It’s true. Having bad credit can leave you homeless or close to it.

4. Security deposits on utilities Utility companies – electricity, phone, and cable – check your credit as part of the application process. If you have a bad credit history, you may have to pay a security deposit to establish service in your name, even if you’ve always paid your utility bills on time.

5. You can't get a cell phone contract Yep, cell phone companies check your credit too. They contend that they’re extending a month of service to you, so they need to know how reliable your payments will be. If your credit’s bad, you may have to get a prepaid cell phone or go without one at all.

6. You might get denied for employment Certain jobs, especially those in the finance industry, require you to have a good credit history. You can actually be turned down for a job because of negative items on your credit report, especially high debt amounts, bankruptcy, or outstanding bills.

7. Higher insurance premiums Insurance companies check credit too. They say that lower credit scores are linked to higher claims filed. Because of this theory, they check your credit and charge a higher premium to those with lower credit scores, regardless of the number of claims you’ve actually filed.

8. Calls from debt collectors If you have past due bills, chances are debt collectors are calling you for them. It typically comes with the territory when you have bad credit.

9. Difficulty starting your own business Many new businesses need banks loans to help fund their startup. A bad credit history can limit the amount you’re able to borrow to start a new business, even if you have the greatest idea and the data to prove it.

10. Difficulty purchasing a car Banks check your credit before giving you a car loan. With bad credit you might get denied or you might get approved with a high interest rate. Most of those “no credit check” car lots charge extremely high interest rates that make it difficult to make your monthly car payments.

Making the decision to improve your credit score is the right decision!

Visit CreditScoreCounseling.com and apply for the Credit Score Counseling Membership which can help you raise your credit score and lower your risks.

How To Buy Your Dream Home

Here is Information on Buying Your Dream Home

Even though it's not easy for everyone to buy a home, it is in fact easier than ever to get a home these days with most lending agencies and banks IF you know how. Even if you don't have a lot of capital or a lot of money to put down, you can still get the home of your dreams at a very affordable price IF you know how.

A lot of us think that buying a home is a tough process, needing a large down payment, although this isn't always the case. Buying a home largely depends on your budget. If you put a down payment on your home purchase, it will go towards your overall purchase. The more money you put down on a home when you purchase, the lower your monthly payments will be.

Those who don't own a home live in rental houses and apartments. This can be a worthwhile solution, although you are still paying money towards your housing that you could instead be putting towards a home of your own. Owning a home is a dream for many of us, especially when it comes to that dream home that we all hope to own one day. Apartments and homes are great to rent - although most will cost you just as much as a mortgage payment - which doesn't make any sense at all.

Instead, you can easily convert your rental payments into monthly installments towards your own home. All across the United States, you can find of lot of banks and lenders that offer easy to get loans for purchasing your own home or real estate property at low interest rates IF you know how. With a lot interest rate, you can get the home of your dreams and enjoy low monthly payments.

Keep in mind, you need to choose a loan plan that's best for you. You can go through a bank, through a lender, or use a service online. There are many different ways that you can go, although real estate agents seem to be the most common now days. Good real estate agents will be more than willing to help you get a great deal on the home, at prices that are right for you. Anytime you buy a house, you should always plan ahead, get yourself a real estate agent, and then pursue your dream home.

If you plan your budget and take things one step at a time, you'll be closer than you think to the home of your dreams. If you choose to keep renting and pay money toward something you don't own - the home of your dreams will continue to slip away. Take action now and stop renting - find the home of your dreams and put your money towards owning it instead.

Click here to learn how to get the best possible interest rate on your dream home. The best possible interest rate could save you thousands of dollars as well as lower you monthly mortgage payment significantly. The best possible interest rate could be the difference between getting your dream home now or letting it slip away forever. Click here now.

Terms You Should Know

Annual Percentage Rate – The interest rate which reflects all of the costs of financing. This rate will probably be higher than the original interest rate quote because it includes all of the other costs of getting credit, such as loan fees.

Bad Credit – A term used to describe a poor credit rating, usually a credit score below 650. Common practices that can damage a credit rating include making late payments, skipping payments, exceeding card limits or declaring bankruptcy. “Bad Credit” can result in being denied credit.

Balance – The total amount of money owed. It includes any unpaid balance from the previous month, new purchases, cash advances, and any charges such as an annual fee, late fee or interest.

Collateral – Property that is offered to secure a loan or other credit and becomes subject to seizure on default. (Also called security.)

Credit History – A partial profile of your financial life, given within a particular time frame (usually measured in years). Your credit history shows the extent to which you pay your bills on time and how much you owe.

Credit Report – A report that displays a person’s credit history. A lender orders this report from a credit bureau when you apply for credit and often make their decision on issuing credit based on the credit score.

Credit Score – A score ranging from 300 to 900 which reflects the credit worthiness of a borrower. The score is determined by payment history, credit ratio, length of credit history, types of credit and credit inquires.

Debt to Income Ratio – A ratio that is computed by dividing the amount of total debt by the total income. Lenders use a debt to income ratio to help them determine an applicant’s capacity to repay a loan.

Finance Charge – Interest and fees billed to you on your statement for using the credit.

Minimum Payment – The lowest amount of money that you are required to pay on your credit card statement each month. Usually this payment is 3% – 5% of your current balance.

Secured Credit – This type of credit requires that you provide something of value to guarantee repayment (i.e car loan, boat loan, mortgage loan).

Unsecured Credit Cards – Credit cards that are not secured by collateral. Customers qualify for such cards based on their credit history, their financial strength and their earnings.

Equifax Personal and Business Solutions: Your Credit Score Report is in Good Hands

The purchase of a new home, a new family sedan, or starting a business is some of the reasons why people take out loans. These assets could cost you tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars each, thus it will really be a huge financial burden to acquire these properties using cold cash. Taking out a loan (whether it requires you a collateral or not) will help you in making the purchases of these properties.

However, there are two facades in taking out a loan—its either you win and take it all or you lose and go home with nothing at all but a sad face.

Your success or failure in taking out a loan depends on a variety of factors, yet your credit score is the most significant factor whether you are eligible for the loan of your choice or not.

The rule is simple: if you have a good credit score, you have high chances of getting the loan of your choice. On the other hand, if you have a bad credit score, you have slim chances of doing so. Instead, your lender will provide you a selection of loans with a common base—high interest payments.

Before applying for any loan that you need, you must understand the role of a FICO credit scoring system, which is the standard for the credit score used by most lenders in determining how risky you are to be loaned money to. FICO (Fair ISAAC & Company) is the leading credit report agency that loan providers turn to with regards to credit scoring for any loan application. In other words, if you possess a bad credit history, the lenders will know your credit situation and decide on your loan application based on your credit history.

Here is the summary of the FICO credit score classification:

• If you have a credit score of more than 700, you are eligible for a loan with the best interest rate under excellent terms.

• If you have a credit score of between 640 and 700, you will be able to qualify for 125 percent of your preferred loan.

• If you have a credit score of between 600 and 640, you will be able to get your preferred loan without making down payment.

• If you have a credit score of between 500 and 600, you will be eligible to your preferred loan provided you are willing to make a down payment.

• If you have a credit score of less than 500, there is a slim chance that you get your preferred loan.

Once you determined your credit situation and you think you can secure a loan, you need to have a credit report to be submitted to your preferred lender. There are hundreds of credit companies that furnish reports to commercial lenders, but you might want to try the services offered by Equifax Personal and Business Solutions and see yourself getting approved for the loan that you have applied for.

Equifax Personal and Business Solutions compiles your credit reporting data from credible sources and creates a credit file, which will reflect to your personal credit history, including your FICO score. Through Equifax, you will be able to monitor your entire credit history and check for any inaccurate entries.

Realizing the need for an accurate and free-of-fraud credit reporting, Equifax is now offering online credit report services which have an easy and immediate access to 3 nationwide credit reports, customer care for any inaccurate credit data on your report, and daily monitoring of 3 credit reports with alerts for any changes that must be done.

With Equifax Personal and Business Solutions, your good credit score report is in good hands.

Tips to Check and Improve Your Credit Score

You're in your home watching your favorite television show. Since you're enjoying it too much, you run out of snacks. So you put on a jacket, and scramble your way outdoors to go to the nearest store. When suddenly you stop and walk your way back towards your house. What could be the reason behind this?

Well, it's quite simple. You can't proceed to the store because you haven't paid your debt. If you're always like this, there is a big chance that you can't handle bigger debts. And with the overabundance of people incurring debts everyday, they are looking for quick and easy ways to improve their credit scores.

Credit scores helps in building a good credit history, so if you constantly leave your bills unpaid, and don’t take your credit transactions seriously, your credit score will eventually go down.

If you have credit, you must be responsible enough to repay what you owe, otherwise this will reflect in your credit report. Suppose now you have a low credit score; its time that you start improving or cleaning it up little by little. How will you do it? Consider the following tips:

1. Review your credit report on an annual basis. There are three credit-reporting agencies, so you must get a copy of your credit report from each agency. Check for any mistakes, and if you do find some, you must have it corrected. This will usually take about three months before the change can take effect. If you are planning to apply for a loan, you must do this ahead of time.

2. Start paying all your dues on time, and if you can afford it, always pay the bill in full. Don’t leave balances because this will greatly help in improving your score.

3. If you have a credit card, you may want to start paying your remaining balance until you've reached about 25% of the credit limit.

4. Credit insuring is important if you want to purchase a car. Having a car nowadays is important especially if you need to travel every now and then. Car dealers can help in arranging your finances. This is called repossession insurance. Though it can be expensive, it is one way to improve your credit score and secure vehicle loan.

5. Start applying for account overdraft if you have a checking account. This means that you can issue a check more than what you actually have in your checking account without getting extra charges. The excess amount will be reflected in your monthly bill. Banks report to credit agencies, so make sure that you pay your debt on time to have your credit score improved.

6. Join clubs which charges annual fees and those that report to credit bureaus. Just make sure that you meet all the club's requirements. Some clubs arrange for financing, and if you receive credit, pay your debt on time. This is also one way to improve your credit score.

If you follow the tips mentioned, you're on your way to repairing your credit report. Your credit score is your only way to getting finance on credit, so make sure that once you've improved it, stay on the right track and avoid getting bad debt again.

Maintaining a high credit score entails great responsibility and discipline. Start now, while you still have room for improvement.