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smart debt

Debt

The Pros And Cons Of Equity Release Schemes

Equity release schemes are programs that let homeowners access the money tied up with their property. These programs mainly benefit people between the ages of 55-70 who have already paid off their mortgage and own their home.

What is an equity release scheme?

An equity release scheme is basically a loan, which is paid in either one lump sum, or drawn out over a number of years. This loan is paid against the value of your home, which is passed onto lenders after you have passed away, or have been moved into a retirement home.

January 30, 2012

Debt

How We Saved Thousands On Our Mortgage

When my husband and I bought our first home we started off with a 5 year fixed rate mortgage with an amortization of 25 years. Within our first year when we looked at our mortgage statement we were floored when we discovered that we had spent more than $7000 in interest in our first year!!! We could hardly believe that on such a small mortgage the interest would be so high. And we had a pretty good interest rate at that time, too. Our interest rate was 4.99% when most people were stuck paying at least 6%.

November 30, 2011

Debt

What To Do If You Default On A Loan

As time goes on, loan defaulters are increasing in huge numbers. Students are taking out loans and are not able to repay them in time. Some are not able to pay them back due to financial turmoil and some avoid repayment purposely. Whatever the reason, the aftereffects of not paying back a loan are simply perilous. Defaulted loans can shatter one’s financial records and reduce privileges normally enjoyed by a student. Therefore, if you default on a loan, you need to understand your options. You don’t need to panic because fortunately there are several websites that can help you connect to financial experts who can bring you out of dire consequences.

July 25, 2011

Debt

Paid Off Your Debt? Now It Is Time To Save

Many folks work really hard in order to pay off their debt, including credit card debt, car loans, student loans, and their mortgage. This is an excellent idea, although, sometimes once our debt has been paid off, we get careless with our money. We suddenly have all this extra money at our disposal and it can be tempting to splurge.

Instead of blowing money that you no longer need to use to pay off debt, consider saving that money instead. For example, if you were making $350 payments towards your car loan and then you finally paid it off, why not allocate the $350 towards contributing to your retirement savings and other investment accounts to save for your short and long term goals?

February 25, 2011

Debt

Are You Taking On Too Much Debt?

Sometimes it may be hard to know if you are in over your head, but if you can relate to some or all of the statements below, it is likely that you have taken on too much debt.

1. You have no savings at all.

2. You only make the minimum payments on your credit cards.

3. Your bank account is always overdrawn and you often have nonsufficient fund (NSF) fees charged to your account.

February 13, 2011

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