Saturday, April 10, 2010

Some saving strategies

Life looks very difficult without savings. Its importance has grown manifold in this era of rising prices and uncertainties. You will need it the most when you are left with no job or business, health uncertainties and even after retirement.A good saving makes the future more secured.

Pay off high cost debt
Paying off high interest rate debt faster and sooner will help you to save more interest which would have been otherwise taken by some lender. Generally interest keeps on accumulating to grow into a large sum thereby forcing you to file bankruptcy. Paying high interest rate funds first will help you to narrow down your expenses and small loans on the other hand can be tackled gradually.

Retirement program
Participating in work related retirement program such as 401(k) helps in increasing the disposable income. With a dollar for dollar match program one could receive greater than 100% return on their investment.



Automatic fund transfer from checking to savings account
One should go ahead and take the advantages of such technology which is now available with banks. A portion of fixed monthly income automatically transfer into savings account there by leaving behind less money to spare and at the same time increases your savings.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Factors in your interest rate

How much you pay for a loan depends on many factors. Understanding such factors helps in saving time and money. Generally bank charges on the amount, period for such a loan and your credit history.

I have mentioned some important factors that accounts for interest rate calculation.


Credit score

Credit reporting agencies collect all information and transaction from your account. They know how many times you have applied for loans, your repayment dates, how you have paid your bills and whether you have filed for bankruptcy. Such agencies pass on such information to bangs and other lenders on basis of which interest rate for your loan is calculated.
A good credit score /credit report helps to borrow funds at a cheaper rate.

Federal Reserve discount rate

This is the interest rate which the federal bank charges from the commercial banks for borrowing funds. This interest rate directly affects the rate at which commercial bank floats the loan in the market. When federal discount rate is high, commercial banks are bound to charge high interest rate from their customers. One cannot do much about it.




Competition from other lenders

Financial institution and banks are there to make profits and are largely governed by the competitive forces among them. If they charge too little they have the chances of getting out of the business on account of low profits. Again, if they charge on higher side, customers may switch to other lending organization.
But you should know, allowing too many potential lenders to run your credit report may hamper your credit scores.
So as a customer you should always seek for selected options and avail the funds from the best and cheapest source


So to avail loans in the best rate you can do two things, look out for more options and try and keep a good credit score by prompt payments of bills etc…