Financial Advice Blog

Credit card offers a number of benefits. They give us easy access to credit in emergencies. They make it easy to pay for the things we need and want. And when used responsibly, they can build up our credit. But they can also be very expensive, especially when we have to pay penalties.

Credit card companies issue penalties in various forms. These include:

* Late fees – When we’re late paying our phone bills or electric bills, the company often tacks a late fee onto our next bill. The same holds true for credit card companies. The difference is that the fees from credit card companies are usually much, much higher. It’s not unusual for them to charge late fees of up to $39.

* Overlimit fees – Most credit card providers will not allow debtors to charge purchases in excess of their credit limits. But if your card is maxed out, interest charges could push your balance over the limit. For each month your balance transfer is over the limit, the creditor can impose an overlimit fee.

* Penalty interest – Most credit card contracts include a provision that allows the company to raise your interest rate if you are late with your payment. In most cases, interest will not be raised until you’re late twice in a 6- to 12-month period. But the default rates are often two to three times your normal interest rate.

* Universal default – A growing number of credit card companies are raising interest rates for customers who are late with payments not only to them, but to other creditors. This is called a universal default rate. Even if you pay your credit card bill on time every month, a misstep on another debt could result in a rate hike.

* NSF fees – If you make a payment and it doesn’t clear your bank, your credit card company can add a non-sufficient funds fee to your bill. This is in addition to late payment and overlimit fees that may result from the denied payment.

* Annual fees – An annual fee isn’t technically a penalty, but it is something to watch out for when you apply for a card. Some creditors charge annual fees of $50, $75 or $100 or more. There are plenty of cards out there without annual fees, so in most cases it’s best to just pass the ones that do charge them by.

Knowing the Penalties for Your Credit Cards

Credit card issuers are required to disclose all penalties and fees that are or could be charged on credit applications. They may also send a copy of this information to new cardholders. And this information should also be provided on each credit card statement. You will have to read the fine print, but creditors are required by law to provide this information.

If you incur a penalty, you may be able to get it reversed. If it’s the first time you’ve been late with a payment or a bank error has occurred, a call to the credit card company may resolve the issue. But if you habitually make late payments or exceed your credit limit, the creditor is unlikely to be helpful.

Penalties can cost you a great deal of money. Whether they’re one-time fees or interest rate increases, they can eventually add hundreds or thousands of dollars to your balance transfer for 6 months. Paying attention to these fees and making a conscious effort to avoid them will enable you to pay off your balance much sooner and allow you to keep more of your hard-earned money.

Reverse Mortgage calculators can seem complicated for first-time users but this guide will help you get the figures you need.

Step 1 Choose the right source.
The best mortgage refinance calculators are those provided by unbiased websites. If you see a link to any mortgage company in the website then there’s a good possibility that the free online mortgage refinance calculator you’re using is rigged to give results favorable to the company.

For more accurate results, you should also consider purchasing software that allows you to install your own mortgage refinance calculator in your computer.

Step 2 Choose the right type.
There’s a lot of reverse mortgage information available in the Internet so do make sure you’re using the right one. Mortgage refinance calculators may also be known as second mortgage calculators. Some are also specially designed to work with fixed rate mortgages while others are designed to compute rates for variable rate mortgages.

Step 3 Get your data ready.
For quick results, make sure you’ve got all your data ready. Have a list of quotes from different mortgage providers. Be sure that you also know every pertinent figure regarding your existing mortgage as well as the various fees you might be charged with for taking out a second mortgage.

Step 4 Input figures.
Now that you’ve got everything you need on hand, it’s time to input your figures.

Savings from Refinancing
There are usually two major categories used in mortgage refinance calculators. The first category requires you to input the necessary figures to compute how much you can save from refinancing.

Current Monthly Payment
How much are you paying every month for your existing loan? Make sure you input the total figure and not just the interest or the amount of money you pay to deduct from the remaining loan balance.
Balance Left on Mortgage
If your creditor can’t provide the exact figure then don’t worry because this is fairly easy to compute. First, determine how many months you’ve been paying your loan dues. Now, deduct the amount of interest expense from your total monthly loan payment. Multiply the difference with the number of months you’ve been paying. Lastly, deduct the product from the amount of money you originally borrowed and the result will be the remaining loan balance.

Interest Rate
Mortgage refinance calculators will also require you to input the interest rates for your current and possibly second mortgage.

Loan Terms
Also for comparison, a mortgage refinance calculator will require you to indicate the number of years you’re allowed to pay off your second mortgage as well as the number of years left on your existing mortgage.

How Much It Costs
This is the second category of figures used in mortgage refinance calculators and most of the figures used here could be provided by your future creditor.

Application Fees and Costs
Some mortgage companies charge borrowers with application fees, but this may be waived if you’re eligible for a pre-approved loan. Other fees that may or may not be waived include document preparation, inspection, title search and insurance, credit check, local and miscellaneous fees.

Attorney Fees 
Costs for second mortgage may require you to pay for the fees of your attorney as well as that of the mortgage company.

Step 5 Calculate
Upon keying in the necessary data, click Calculate or Enter in your mortgage refinance calculator and you’ll find out how much your new monthly payment is, how much you’re saving and how many months you can recoup your expenditures. 

Payday Loan or Fast / Easy loans are a quick and easy way to get cash when needed, especially in an emergency. For example if you need to pay to have your car repaired or have bills that need payment immediately using a payday loan can be an effective way to get the funds you need. These loans are called ‘Payday loans’ as generally they are short term loans offered to individuals that have a job, but need a rapid loan before their payday arrives. The loan is usually expected to be paid back in full when the individual receives their salary, although there is usually a 30 day period to make the payment.

Now payday loans are available online. This is good news for people who need some financial assistance and would like to get it from the comfort of their own home. Everyone has unexpected bills at some time in their lives. Emergencies happen and you have to find a way to deal with them. The loans are easy to apply for and a decision can be made the same day. There are two types of payday loans online; loans where you fax in your paperwork and ones that do not require faxing. Loans that do not require faxing are simple because you fill out the application and email in copies of your most recent paystubs.

The decision about payday loans online can be made the same day, sometimes in just minutes. You can get your money in as little as 24 hours and pay it back when you get your next paycheck. This is very unlike a bank loan where you can wait weeks for a decision. The other major difference between payday loans and bank loans is that payday loans often do not require a credit check. This is excellent for people with less than perfect credit. There is no need to worry; almost anyone can get the funds they need to get out of the sticky financial situation they are in.

A cash advance is a service provided by most credit card and charge card issuers. The service allows cardholders to withdraw cash, either through an ATM or over the counter at a bank or other financial agency, up to a certain limit. For a credit card, this will be the credit limit (or some percentage of it).

Long-term care insurance quotes was developed specifically to cover costs of any long-term care services. These include those not covered by any traditional health insurance plan or Medicare. Included services can be received in your home, such as assistance with Activities of Daily Living as well as any care received in any facility or community setting.

The most popular options summaries and choices are:

* Your own selected daily benefit amount (i.e.$100/day), being the maximum daily amount for care paid for by the policy. With the variety of policies, this could range from $50/day to as much as $500/day.  More policies are starting to specify benefits in terms of a monthly amount to allow for flexibility as to when you will require more care, such as when family members aren’t available to assist you.

* You are often able to choose if you want the policy to pay the same amount for care in all settings, or less for care where it is less expensive, such as in a home setting. This could be changed to 50-75 percent of what you would normally pay in a nursing home setting.

* You have the opportunity to choose the type of coverage you prefer – comprehensive or facility care only. Comprehensive policies cover a wider range of settings in which you can receive care and services, such as at home and in various types of facilities.

* Many policies offer you additional optional benefits allowing for a more customized coverage. One of the most important is Inflation Protection. This will help protect you from any rising cost of health care over time. Be sure to talk to your insurance representative about this option before completing your application process.

Many policies may also pay for services or devices to support people living at home:

* In-home monitoring systems
* Grab bars, ramps and other home modification
* Assisted transportation to and from medical appointments
* Training courses for friends or relatives in order to provide personal care safely

What is not covered by long-term care insurance?

As with all insurance, long-term care policies have exclusions. These often follow particular state regulations on which exclusions are allowed. Long-term care policies typically exclude the following (even if you meet all the other requirements of the policy):

* Any care or services provided by family member is not covered. The only exception to this is if the family member is an employee of the facility or organization providing a particular service, and receives pay for services in the form of normal compensation such as a pay check.

* All care and/or service provided outside the USA, unless your policy has an international care clause allowing the patient to seek treatment outside the USA.

* Any care or services resulting from attempted suicide (no matter what the mental capacity) or intentionally self-inflicted injury.

* All services or care provided for treatment of alcoholism or drug addiction (except in cases of addiction to prescription medication when administered according to your physician’s advice).

* All treatments provided in any government facility (unless by law).

* Any services available under any governmental program such as Medicare (except Medicaid), workers' compensation, employer's liability or occupational disease law.

There are some policies providing coverage for everyday household needs such as housekeeping, laundry, managing medication, meals and other items required for daily activities. However, these are only available if you receive funds for Activities of Daily Living.

As a final note, long-term care policies will not pay for anything related solely to comfort or convenience. Some examples of these would be a television in your room, or visits to the hair salon (normally located in the nursing home).

By paying close attention to what your needs and desires really are, and comparing them to your present insurance policy, you may find it necessary to make some changes or additions to what you are covered for, and what you aren’t. This will make sure there are no unexpected surprises or disappointments later on.