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Debt Management and Interest Rates Debt Management and Collecting Your Debts
Most of us who are very good at managing our own personal and business finances are very poor at collecting the monies that are owed to us. We really hate to find ourselves in the position of being a debt collector.
Because we take our own financial obligations seriously, we tend to think that others do the same. They don't...at least not all of them.
Everybody has at one time or another loaned friends 20 bucks and never seen a penny of it repaid yet, and most likely never will. We all know that. We knew when we made the loan that it was really a gift. Those kinds of things you simple chalk up to experience and move on.
Other loans of substantial amounts that are made to family and friends should, however, have legal documents attached to them. Asking for collateral isn't unheard of, and neither is charging interest.
Advice given by very wise people of the past tells us to simply not lend money to family or friends, and it really is excellent advice. You aren't a bank or a lending institution. You are simply very good at managing your own finances.
If lending institutions won't lend your friends and relatives money, it is for a very good reason. The institutions have information that tells them that they aren't very likely to get their money back. You won't have the information about how they have handled debt in the past or how deeply in debt they are at the present. All you are going to know is what they choose to tell you.
The best answer when friends and relatives ask you to loan them a substantial amount of money is, “NO.” But if you do decide to make the loan anyway, at least make it legal and binding with contracts, collateral, and interest.
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Debt Management Services Workshops
| Debt Management and Credit Scores Debt Management and Interest Rates
It is sometimes just amazing, but people have no idea what interest rate they are paying on loans -- even on their mortgages. Interest rates matter.
Interest on credit card debt is the highest. Credit card interest rates are higher than bank interest rates that you may have for your car loan or the installment loan for furniture or appliances.
Another very amazing thing is that the majority of people do not understand what simple interest is and the difference between simple interest and compound interest. Every high school in America should teach this and the course should be a graduation requirement. Not understanding interest rates costs Americans hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
I do not have the space here to teach a course about interest rates. Remember this: simple interest is less than compound interest. The compounding frequency determines how much higher. Interest that is compounded monthly will be less than interest that is compounded weekly or daily.
Your credit score determines what interest rate you will be offered, and it will also determine just how much interest rate negotiating power that you have. The people with the highest credit scores will always be able to get lower interest rates than people with lower credit scores.
No credit history is viewed in the same way by lenders as a poor credit history, in that the interest rates that are offered will be virtually the same. Build a good credit history and you will get a lower interest rate.
First-time borrowers may have to pay higher interest rates, but it is to their advantage to make their payments on time and in full. If payments can be made prior to the due date, that will raise the credit score. Paying a loan off early will also raise a credit score. |
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Online Debt Relief Today - CareOneCredit.com
Credit Counseling and Debt Consolidation - CareOneCredit.com
Newlyweds: Beware the Debt Trap - Credit Card Debt Management & News ...
U.S. Treasury - Office of Domestic Finance
| Free Programs for Debt Management Debt Management When Starting a Business
Starting a new business is a heady time. There are all of those dreams and plans just sitting there waiting to be realized. You KNOW your plan will work and you have the utmost confidence in yourself and your abilities to make your plan work. Ambition, energy, and enthusiasm are not the problems -- but money might be.
Within your business model, you need to have a debt management plan in place before you begin. Starting a business...any business...takes money, and don't let anybody ever tell you any different. Think about it. Your expenses for living are going to keep on adding up every day and every month even if your income isnt keeping up with the demand.
And that isn't all. When you make your business plan, you need a financial plan to go with it. You are going to have living expenses, but you will also have business expenses. Getting any business off the ground takes a financial investment of some kind.
Maybe you are thinking about starting a business from your own home and you believe that since you won't have to be paying for renting a building, paying extra utility bills, etc., you won't have any business expenses. You couldn't be more wrong.
You are going to have to buy various software, and you are going to have to subscribe to specific services. If you are working at home for
yourself, you are going to be responsible for paying self-employment tax every quarter. You will likely have to advertise your new business. The world probably isn't waiting with bated breath for you to come on the business scene. Everything that you bring in is not going to be profit.
A business plan needs to include a financial and debt management plan. Don't leap before you look. |
Related Topics: Free Programs for Debt Management,
Comparing Debt Managements Services, The Right Answer for Debt Management
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