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Shopping for the Best Car Insurance
eujay
Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:03 pm
Post subject: Shopping for the Best Car InsuranceHi All, A few questions abput auto insurance? My oldest daughter, (now 20), has had a few accidents. One of them was a real setup. She rear ended an off duty undercover cop who waited a year before claiming he had "neck pain". Cutting a long story short he knew how to work the system to his advantage and my daughters Auto Imsurance went up as a result of the claim. Sooooo. At the time the whole family was with Geico and I shopped around and found esurance to be cheaper. I called Geico and asked them to be noce and not charge so much. Now the daughter was with Geico because her Mom was with them for years and Grandma was with Geico all her life too. I did a quick calculation and figured that Geico sttod to gain roughly $30000 in business over my daughters driving career. So will they please drop the price? I was surprised that they didn't drop the price so my daughter left Geico for Esurance and Geico have lost a lifetime of business. Question? Has anyone ever been succesful in haggling insurance rates down on the basis of projected lost business? OK. Several months later the same daughters car was stolen and recovered. She paid the $1000 deductible and esurance paid $2000 to fix damage to the steering column. Now I'm expecting the renewal rate to be increased once again due to the second claim. Question? I'm thinking about offering to pay esurance $2000 and see if they will maybe not increase the rates again. Has anyone ever tried this?
Author: nixuzer
Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 6:45 am
Post subject: Shopping for the Best Car Insuranceeujay wrote: Question? Has anyone ever been succesful in haggling insurance rates down on the basis of projected lost business? Question? I'm thinking about offering to pay esurance $2000 and see if they will maybe not increase the rates again. Has anyone ever tried this? Question 1: Have tried and it doesn't seem to do any difference however we have a pretty good rate so our haggle hasn't been enough to cause us to leave since our company has done pretty well by us. Question 2: Can't speak to this. One thing I can say is that we've been pretty fortunate with our insurance company but we also do everything we can through our insurance company: Home Insurance, Car Insurance, Life (if it's reasonable). Plus we have an unusual rate code because my father-in-law has been with them for 40 or so years. We have used them since we got married and I moved my car over to their company which was 14 years ago. We've had a car stolen which was never recovered about 10 years ago (that was a $14,000 hit to the insurance company) without our rates going up, this has also included two small claims for windshield replacements (0 deductable at the time). Out prices aren't the lowest of some carriers but it's pretty close so we've continued to stay with them. Honestly the $30,000 you quote seems like a low amount; we've spent close to that in the 14 years we've been with them so I'd say that amount would probably be higher for you.
Author: consumercity
Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 4:02 pm
Post subject: Shopping for the Best Car Insurance As an insurance agent I would like to offer the following information: Unfortunately, insurance rates can not be haggled. Insurance companies have to file their rates with the states where they sell insurance. They are frequently audited by the state. Let's say there is a girl your daughter's age who drives the same car as your daughter and lives in the same neighborhood. The other girl has the same driving record, claims history, credit characteristics and coverage amounts. If Geico charged the other girl for incidents on her record and didn't charge your daughter, they would be breaking the law. It isn't that Geico doesn't want to lower your rate to keep your business, it's that they can't. The best way to get the best rate is to shop independent agencies (representing multiple companies) and the internet.
Do You Have to Have Good Credit to get 0% Financing?
Author: CoffeeCrisp
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:06 pm
Post subject: 0% Financing OffersDo you have to have the credit history of God and all the Saints to qualify for those or can the average Joe qualify?Im talking about the ones from Chevy,Ford and Dodge.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2004 12:04 pm
Post subject: 0% Financing Offers If you are referring to the zero financing and other deals they offer, then yes - you would have to have prime credit for that. I would recommend pricing the car you want, then trying to apply with a local bank or credit union for the loan - then go back to the dealership money in hand for the car. That is what I hear to be the best way to pick up loan, and not have your credit shopped to death by the dealership. May help to pull your credit report, and scores direct from the 3 bureaus, then take that to the bank and ask them if it is good enough for a loan, that way if they know it is not, they can tell you and save having to pull the credit report themselve. I have never bought a new car myself, always used here... one time financed a small ford escort I found for $7k, but that is the most I have ever looked to put into a car myself.
Author: dani24
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:01 pm
Post subject: 0% Financing Offers Last year my boyfriend bought a new Ford Explorer. He did get the 0% financing. His credit scores all fell in the 750-775 range. His credit history pretty much consisted of one credit card that he almost always paid off in full every month. I also bought a new car, a month before he did. I also had credit scores between 750-780. The manufacturer I bought from did not offer 0%, and the low APR they offered would have cost me more in the long run than taking the cash rebates (make sure you look into that with any new car you buy, because a low APR does not always mean you'll save more money). However, I shopped around online before buying my car for a good auto loan rate. I got a really good rate through ELoan (5%), and brought it with me to the dealership. The dealership offered to see if they could beat it, and they did, by .25%. The terms were otherwise identical (no prepayment penalty, same length, no closing fees, etc.) It's best to have a loan secured beforehand, and if they can beat it, then go for it. Also, check out www.carbuyingtips.com and read the whole thing front to back. I read through that entire site before I bought my car and ending up getting an almost unheard of deal on my car. I also negotiated the deal on my boyfriend's car for him, and got an incredible deal that had the finance guy at the dealership in awe. In particular, be sure to educate yourself about "holdback" and negotiate to get the dealer to cut you a portion of it. Another place to check out is www.carsdirect.com. In general, don't pay any more for a car than what you'd pay on that site. Use that as your high cost, and then negotiate for something lower than that.
Author: brokerkris
Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:11 pm
Post subject: 0% Financing Offers I got 1.9% interest from GMAC with a 607 EQ (340 Auto Enhanced) score. Not bad for the low FICO.
Author: nixuzer
Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 7:20 pm
Post subject: 0% Financing Offers dani24 wrote: The dealership offered to see if they could beat it, and they did, by .25%. The terms were otherwise identical (no prepayment penalty, same length, no closing fees, etc.) It's best to have a loan secured beforehand, and if they can beat it, then go for it. Having worked in the automotive sales industry before I can tell you that dealerships can get kickbacks from finance companies by funding your load through them at the time of purchase. So even if they match the rate tell them some like, "Well if you drop some $$ of the price of the car I'll go with you." Or work the situation in some other way, car dealerships make a tremendous amount of money in many ways so don't feel guilty in any way knocking them down in $$. The internet has only caused them to have to work more to make a profit, it has put them out of business in any way.
Tips on refinancing an auto
Author: CoffeeCrisp
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 2:04 pm
Post subject: Tips on refinancing an autoWe currently owe 16,000 on our van at 7.95%. We can refinance the remaining 16,000 balance at 11.29 percent bringing our payments down from 420.00 to 350.00. The rate is higher but now my payments would be less... Stupid thing to do? Heres the history: We went BK 3 years ago. Got loan for van at 9% orginally but refinanced to 7.5% which brought our payment from 450.00 to 420.00. This offer I have now is the only offer we got thru Lending tree. Our fico scores are in the 650 range.
Author: CreditCardGuru
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 7:58 pm
Post subject: Tips on refinancing an autoSounds kind of weird, usually payments go UP when interest goes up.....I personally don't like Lending Tree as they kind of screwed me on an auto loan. I would go to banks you know that are more likely to be "leniant" for refinancing! As they say the bank down the street might give you a loan, whie the bank two blocks down might not!
Author: Polonius
Posted: Tue May 10, 2005 11:03 pm
Post subject: Tips on refinancing an autoIt's going to take you more than 5 years to pay off that van, and you'll be paying an additional $5,000 plus in interest. It makes no sense at all to pay a higher interest rate and stretch a van payment an additional 5 years, especially since you've apparently owned it a few years already, right? Rule of thumb is to finance any car over no more than 4 years total. Suck it up and pay the $70 extra to keep your low interest rate. Or just sell the van and buy something you can afford.
Author: CoffeeCrisp
Post subject: Tips on refinancing an auto Yeah, the van is an 03 bought in 03. We can afford it but I was just looking for a smaller payment because I am a tightwad..lol.I was only looking at the short term. Thanks!
Author:damnage
Post subject: Tips on refinancing an auto Polonius is right on the mark here. I did some quick calculations. You appear to have approximately 40 remaining on the loan. If you take the higher interest rate and then stretch the term to 60 months (adding 20 more months) you arrive at your payment. You also end up paying about $2700 more in interest. If you're a tightwad then keep more of your money in the long run by not paying that extra interest. Also, vehicles are always depreciating due to age and mileage. Should you ever need to sell it you will get more of your money back by stickign with the terms you have now. Be a real tighwad and stick with the loan terms you have now.
How to Build Better Credit
Author: DHK
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2005 12:48 pm
Post subject: How to Build Better CreditHey guys, I've been working on some ideas lately for people like me who really don't want more credit cards, but need ideas on how to build credit. I've found a way to build credit WITHOUT a credit check AND you can build up your savings account balances as well. And if you do it right - you can MAKE money - instead of paying interest, you'll be EARNING interest. This idea involves the use of secured loans. Basically, you need to start with some money. Think of it like getting a secured credit card - but without the high rate of interest or annual fees. Step 1: Set up a CD account to borrow against. DCU offers CD's as low as $500. As of February 25th, 2005, their CD rate for a 12 month term CD is 2.32%. Step 2: Take out a loan against the CD. This doesn't involve a credit check AND the loan activity IS REPORTED! The interest rate you pay is 2.5% above the CD rate. Key question: Can I EARN MORE than 2.5% on this money? Step 3: Put the borrowed money in a high-yielding savings account. I suggest INGDirect. As of February 25, 2005 their interest rate on their no-minimum balance, no fee savings account is 2.6%. That's .1% over what you are PAYING! Step 4: Use THIS money to repay your secured loan. I personally suggest paying it down 50% for the first payment, then equal payments for another 5 months (6 months total repayment period). To summarize: Your CD still earns money: 2.32%. You borrow the money for an additional 2.5% on top of the CD rate. You invest the borrowed funds in an ING Direct savings account at 2.6% and MAKE money! Why did I choose DCU for this program? 2 reasons: 1) the borrowing rate is only 2.5% over the CD rate. (Patelco actually does it for 2.25%) 2) this is more powerful - You can always add to the CD balance at any time as long as you contribute $100 or more and your CD term is 12 months or less. This allows you to save more aggressively. This also means that it's easier to re-borrow the money at higher balances. Keep in mind that you are only using the borrowed money to repay back this loan. If your ongoing cashflow still has room for additional savings, you can still contribute to your CD every month for $100+. This allows you to grow your emergency funds and other savings needs. I plan to do this plan for loans of $1k, $2.5k, $5k, all up to about $15k and to only keep a loan for 6 months at a time. Note: Interest rates can change at any time.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 10:18 am
Post subject: Ways to Rebuild Credit I have heard of this, my past employer was telling me that CD accounts could be used to establish secured installment loans, and that in this situation a person should be approved without credit check since money is going right back in to investment. I just didn't have a clear outline of how that would work with my lack of knowledge on the investment side. This is great that you where able to do that. _________________ Best Regards, Pammila Phillis Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com 501-663-0314 PH
Author: Ira
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:30 am
Post subject: Ways to Rebuild Credit Let me get this straight. You invest at 2.32% and borrow at 2.5%. That means you're immediately losing .18%. Now you invest the money at 2.6%, thus gaining back .1% for a net LOSS of .08%. Sorry I must be missing something here. I would much rather use the 0% balance transfer intro rate method which I have been doing for several years. Do a 0% balance transfer, invest the money at ING, or Emigrant which now pays a full 3%, pay the monthly minimum until the intro rate expires, draw out the principal and pay it back just before the intro rate expires. I made almost $900.00 doing this last year.
Author: DHK
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:44 am
Post subject: Ways to Rebuild Credit IRA - 2 things: 1) This is mainly to help people rebuild credit - who CAN'T QUALIFY for 0% BT deals. 2) Keep in mind that the CD is still earning interest as well. CD rate = 2.32 earnings Interest rate on loan = 2.32 + 2.5% pay. The 2.32% cancels itself out. You pay it, but you earn it as well. The only part you worry about is the 2.5% above the CD rate. Does that make sense? Think of it as a NET cost/profit after all is said and done.
Author: Christyk
Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2005 3:02 pm
Post subject: Ways to Rebuild Credit Ira wrote: I would much rather use the 0% balance transfer intro rate method which I have been doing for several years. Do a 0% balance transfer, invest the money at ING, or Emigrant which now pays a full 3%, pay the monthly minimum until the intro rate expires, draw out the principal and pay it back just before the intro rate expires. I made almost $900.00 doing this last year. Hi, Ira. How do you use a balance transfer to get cash to put in ING? Aren't balance transfers done by paying off current credit cards and loans (not paid directly to you)? Thanks for the suggestion. If I get this one point straight, it sounds like a game I would play.
Who is Responsible for Parents Debt?
Author: karenb
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:58 am
Post subject: Responsibility of debt
incurred prior to the death of a parent My in-laws have a lifetime of poor financial decisions. They are now in their mid and upper 60's and in poor health. They have no retirement income other than social security (and they are both presently working part-time). My father has a small life insurance policy (which he's borrowed against) and I doubt there's even enough there to bury him properly. At this time, their debt includes: 1) Credit cards (I'm guessing somewhere between $5000 - $10,000 2) Home mortgage (they just bought a new house with low down payment, so hardly any equity is paid off) 3) Car payments (for another 3 years) 4) Appliance store payments (for refridgerator) 5) Furniture store payments (of course, furniture for new house) Of course, if one of them dies, the other is going to be in huge financial difficulty, I would presume. Also, to pay off all this debt, they both need to continue working part-time. We keep urging them to rein in their spending and get things under control, but to no avail. My question is, if they both die, what debt are we, the children, responsible for? (presumably the court would appoint my husband to handle the estate as there is no other family) Do debts automatically get cancelled when one dies? (They live in Florida by the way). I found one website that said that credit card debts get cancelled, but another one said that a living spouse would be responsible. So what about the kids in the event of the death of both parents? We are engaged in humanitarian work overseas, and although we're completely debt free, our small salary would certainly not enable us to take care of their debt.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:18 am
Post subject: Responsibility of debt
incurred prior to the death of a parent Right now, if any creditors went after them, they could garnish non-social security funds individually. Now if any of the accounts are joint, they could go after the funds of the other spouse. But it had to be entered into together, joint responsibility. If neither of them were working, then all income would be exempt, they would be safe from paying, but their credit would be harmed by the derogitory reporting. Upon their death, the estate would be responsible for the debt, any assets might be taken to cover the debt. Who ever is the power of attorney would be responsible for over seeing this, but not personally responsible. What it may come down to is that there are no assets, to cover the debt, the creditors may have to just write off the debt take a profit loss. Only thing I can see wrong is that there would be no inheritance for the children from the estate, it would first be garnished for debts owed. _________________ Best Regards, Pammila Phillis Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com 501-663-0314 PH
Author: Karenb
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 7:22 pm
Post subject: Responsibility of debt
incurred prior to the death of a parent Right now, they're managing to pay (at least the interest amounts) on their accumulated debt. (And all this debt has been accrued in just the past 8 years -- they declared bankruptcy back then, and have just started over with all their bad habits). My first concern is what happens if one of them dies and the other isn't able to handle all the payments. Or if one or both of them gets to the point where they can't continue to work. My second concern is whether we'd be responsible for paying these debts if both of them die, but it appears that we won't be. An inheritence isn't really important to us. The last thing we need is more "things" and we have enough money to live comfortably in our present third world location.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:27 pm
Post subject: Responsibility of debt
incurred prior to the death of a parent If one of your parents becomes ill, disabled (unable to work), or passes away, then your other parent would only be responsible for the debt that was joint amoung them. And then they can only go after the money earned from employment, they could not take the SSI income it is exempt. Worse case they are going to repo the car, and foreclose on the house, the single parent, or both if just ill - would have to make other living arrangements and secure another car. If that happened, and the debt was too much to deal with, I would suggest that the one or both of your parents, either discontinue working and live only off of SSI or file bankruptcy to discharge the debt. After 10 years chapter 7 can be filed again if needed.. and after 6 years chapter 13 can be filed. After so many years, the statute of limitations on collecting a debt expires, and if a creditor tries to sue after that point, then your surviving parent, or both of them would need to appear in court to inform the judge that the debt is time barred and it would be thrown out. If they are sued before the expiration of the statute of limitations, then nothing they can do about it, a new statute of limitations would be set by the judgment, if they are working at that time only a percentage could be garnished, still the SSI is exempt. They have a safty net with the SSI, they can fall back on, just that they might not like the stress of the situation, creditors trying to pressure them into covering outstanding debt. _________________ Best Regards, Pammila Phillis Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com 501-663-0314 PH
Author: Mrpuddles
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2005 5:44 pm
Post subject: Responsibility of debt
incurred prior to the death of a parent Just a heads up - many creditors will try to convince the children of the deceased that they *are* responsible for the debt of the parents.
Paying Down Student Loan Debt
Author: LisaMarisa
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 4:31 pm
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtI currently owe about $63K in student loan debt. I am locked in a 8.25% which too high . I have a good FICO score of 688 at last check a year ago but it should be the 700s by now. My question is I am I going to be refinancing mortgage in March. Is it a good idea to roll my student loan debt into my mortgage? Or is it possible to refinance with another student loan consoldation company (someone other than SallieMae-that's who I am currently with) to get a better interest rate? Any help you can give me is greatly appreciated.
Author: Consumercity
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 5:54 pm
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtAre your loans already consolidated? If not, getting them consolidated would most likely get a lower interest rate. I would check to see what the lowest rate is and compare it to the interest rate on the mortgage. But beware of emails and websites of companies you've never heard of (they could be phishing scams). You could check with the BBB to see how long they've been in business. If your loans are already consolidated, you can't re-consolidate. I would see if the mortgage lender would pay the loan and add it to your principal at a lower interest rate.
Author: Andri
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 6:39 pm
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan Debt If you have already consolidated your student loans, I think the only reason you could "re-consolidate" would be if you had additional student loans that are not already in your current consolidated loan, such as graduate loans or a spouses loans. Even then, when I consolidated my loans and my husbands, our rates ended up being the weighted average of the rates on our old loans, so if your rate is already locked in (fixed), consolidation may not provide you with any lower interest. The monthly savings advertised by SL consolidators is almost always the result of spreading the loan out over 15-25 years from the standard 10. If you have had a perfect payment history on your student loans, don't forget to check Sallie Mae's incentives for paying on time. Last I checked they offered .25% off for autopay, and on DH loans they offered 1% off after 4 years of perfect payments. The deal used ot be 2% off, so if you have had your loans for a while, you might qualify for that. Even if you don't find anything it might pay to give them a call to see if you qualify for any incentives or if there is anyway you can lower your rate but keep the loan with them. Since your rate is so high (actually at the highest rate allowed), they might be willing to work with you rather than lose the loan. If Sallie Mae won't work with you it might be in your best interest to refinance the debt using a mortgage or other laon, but don't forget that keeping the loans as student loans have some benefits that you will lose if you combine them with other debt or refinance outside of the student loan system. Only you can determine if the benefits are of enough value to outweigh higher interest. The main benefits I can remember right now are: -- available deferrments for hardship, certain voluneer service (PeaceCorp, etc) and other situations that are generally much more generous and easier to get then deferrments by other creditors -- ability to deduct interest paid on SL from taxable income even if you don't itemize ("above the line deduction") - You can itemize mortgage interest, but this is only useful if you have enough itemized deductions to exceed the standard deduction -- Student loans are forgiven if you die or are permanently disabled, so they are one less thing to worry about should anything happen to you, especially if you are disabled.
Author: LisaMarisa
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:15 am
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtConsumercity & Andri, Thank you so much for the great advice. I have already consolidated my student loans back in 1999, hence the super high interest rate. I knew that once I consolidated my student loans with SallieMae that I could not re-consolidate again with the SallieMae. But I apparently I can never re-consolidate my student loans ever again. I am locked in forever. I have been paying faithfully and never late for the past 4 years. However, I am not making a dent in the principle at all. I do not have any credit card debt. The only debt I have is my mortgage and my student loan. My student loan debt irks me because I cannot decrease my balance at all. It is as if I am throwing a pebble in the ocean trying to fill it up. I am going to look at the numbers. But thus far deducting the interest paid for the student loans every tax time has not seemed worth while because all of my payments have been going towards the interest which keeps acrueing and the balance keeps growing. This interest rate is killing me. I would increase my student loan payments to go towards the principle but my budget just will not allow it. As far as some the benefits of student loan debt, I did come across this yesterday. According, to consumer guru Clark Howard and his website www.clarkhoward.com "Erase your student loan debt - December 21, 2004 There is a special student loan forgiveness program out there for people who want to become teachers. There are a few requirements and hoops to jump through, but the Taxpayer Protection Act will make some future teachers very happy if the President signs it into law. Congress has already passed the bill. Under the program, a teacher can erase up to $17,500 in student loan debt. Applicants have to teach specific courses, including math, science or special education. Applicants also have to be “highly qualified” and teach in less desirable school districts in order to be eligible. Many teachers may already meet all of those criteria and not even know it. The traditional amount of forgiveness was $5,000. Now it’s $17,000. So, that is a huge improvement. Learn about it here: ed.gov. The idea of wiping out student debt is not a fantasy anymore!" This may be something worth looking into. Although, I am not a teacher. Therefore, I would have to go back to school to become certified which means more student loans which means more student loan debt. It's a catch-22. Ugh, it is a vicious cycle. Although, $17,00.00 is better than nothing at all. It is comforting and yet little disturbing to know that when I die or if I become disabled that my student loans will be forgiven. That's a huge plus! I hope I never become disabled-- God forbid but if I did that would be huge benefit Thank you for all your great advice. Have a great day!!
Author: Andri
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 10:51 am
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtLisaMarisa, I know how you feel about not paying much towards principle. If you really aren't paying anything at all towards principle then something is really wrong. Your consolidation payments should be set up to eliminate you debt in a given amount of time....with 63K it is probably set for a 30 year repayment. This would mean that in the first few years your won't be putting much at all towards principle, but at least some and that will increase. For instance on the first year of my 72K 30-year mortgage, I put a total of $650 towards principle, which is depressing...... Here is the link to sallie Mae's Consolidation benefits, at the bottom is a link to the FAQ, which includes info on benefits. Unfortunately the site only includes info on rate incentives for loans issued since 7/1/02, but I know they had incentives before that, so it might just be that they don't keep the older rate plans posted. If you consolidated in late 1999, you may have just become eligible recently if the waiting period was 4 years. If you are not eligible for any rate incentives, and you do go back to school for any reason, I would recommend taking our any additional student loans from any lender *except* sallie mae. Not that I have anything against Sallie Mae, but DH I found out the hard way that if all your SL are with only one company many (if not all) other SL consolidators won't consolidate for you, meaning you can only stay with the company you were with. **I am hoping to remember this advice for anyone who is taking our SL*** Sallie Mae's programs are prettry comparable to others, but we consolidated my loans with a company that offers a 2% reduction after 2 years (it only 1% if you don't live in AZ or FL), but we couldn't get them to consolidate DH and they didn't offer spousal consolidation. http://www.salliemae.com/manage/borrower_benefit.html
Author: Andri
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:53 pm
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtI forgot one of the other important benefits of keeping your loans as SL. If you return to school (at least half time i think), whether or not you take out additional loans, while you are in school any subsidized loans you have will again have the interest subsidized by the government -- meaning while your previous loans will continue to accrue interest, the gov't will cover the interest on the subsidized loans. Also, all of your SL loans go into deferrment while you are in school, so you aren't "required" to make payments, however you can choose to do so - and might want to if possible, since interest is accruing on unsubsidized loans. So if you are seriously thinking about returning to school, this would be another potential reason to not refinance the SL, especially if you have a high % of subsidized loans. Even without subsidized loans, the automatice defferment might make the difference between being able to afford to go back to school or not.
Author: LisaMarisa
Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:27 pm
Post subject: What to do with Student Loan DebtAndri, Thanks for the adivce and the SallieMae link. I registered and I was able to get detailed look at all of my account information. Since SallieMae doesn't send out any type of statements only coupon booklettes. And the detailed information I saw was absolutely horrifying !! And reconfirmed the fact that all of my payments for the past 4 years have done absolutely nothing and my balance has continued to swell over the years to the current 63K payoff amount. Their choice of repayment plans left something to be desired spread out over the next 25years: Plan Type Estimated MPA Total Repayment (monthly payment amt.) Income Sensitive $88.92 $159,090.36 MAX-2 $431.64 $150,512.70 Extended Repayment - 2 years interest only * $431.64 $150,512.70 MAX-4 $431.64 $154,116.77 Extended Repayment - 4 years interest only * $431.64 $154,116.77 Extended Repayment - Level * $495.01 $148,370.02 Maybe it's just me but this seems CRAZY payout over $150K over the next 25 years. Additionally, my budget will not allow a monthly payment on $400. I have been looking into the options of Home Equity Loan (HEL) and Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC), or Cash Out option to tackle this debt. If continue to stick with SallieMae I will have paid waaayyy too much in interest. I am fairly financial novice. Do you know thing about these types of loans? I have checked bankrate.com and smartmoney.com and they seem like viable and smart financial options.
Mortgage Payment Bi-Weekly
Author: Cyberlayde
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 12:49 pm
Post subject: Bi-weekly Mortgage Years ago, when you had a bi-weekly mortgage, you paid every other week and it got credited to your account immediately. Hence, the big savings in knocking off years. I thought this was still the case but it's not. I refinanced my house last year and was recently approved for a bi-weekly mortgage. I signed up right away, because I was told how many years I can save off my orginal mortgage paid off date. However, when my first payment was deducted from my checking account, it did not appear as posted to my mortgage. I waited a couple of days and still not posted. I called my mortgage company and found out something I was never told! The company that takes out my payments sits on it and it only gets sent to my mortgage company when they have a full months payment! So, I was being charged $8.00 per month for the priviledge of letting this third party gain interest on my money each month! I immediately opted out of this plan and went back to the orginal. At least I can send in extra payments each month and have it immediately posted and knock off years without this crap. Is anyone else aware of this scam?
Author: Ira
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2004 3:22 am
Post subject: Bi-weekly Mortgage Bottom line is never pay somebody to do what you can just as easily do yourself. I was once recruited by a company offering bi-weekly mortgages, but declined as soon as I saw that the homeowner didn't need me since they could send in as many payments as they want and accomplish the same thing.
Author: Hesiden
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 12:36 pm
Post subject: Bi-weekly Mortgage Most of the benifit if bi-weekly is you end up paying 13 times a year instead of 12 times. 56 weeks per year 56/2=13. IMHO, the easy way to do this is to send an extra 100 or so with each monthly payment. There are plenty of calculator on-line to see how many years faster you can pay off your mortgage and how much intrest you'll save.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2005 5:00 pm
Post subject: Bi-weekly Mortgage Yea when we first got our mortgage the company was sending solicitation all the time for this, and there is absolutely no way that I am willing myself to let any company have access to with drawing out of my checking account that is just an accident waiting to happen if they try to take funds when they are not there... easy way to default your mortgage. Just rather control the situation myself and pay when I know the money is in the bank. I was not making more payments myself, I was just adding extra $50 here $50 there ... every payment I put extra money marked just for principle balance. _________________ Best Regards, Pammila Phillis Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com 501-663-0314 PH
Author: Homedreams
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:17 pm
Post subject: Bi-weekly Mortgage Somebody got their clever hat on and decided they could make some money on this idea. You did the right thing by opting out of the program. Everyone has the right answer on this one, just make sure to write a separate check with Principal Payment in the memo, and include the notation on your remittance. This way, you will have documented proof of the exact dates and payment amounts. I have heard about a few horror stories where these extra funds have been placed in escrow accounts, "because there was no indication of where to apply the extra payment." Another thing they never tell you is, for a thirty year loan (reduced to 22 or 23 years), you would pay around $2,000 for this "convenience." Good question.
Tips on how to improves your finances
Board Monitor
Board Monitor/ Administrator
Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:10 am
Post subject: Tips on how to improves your financesGreat article on SmartMoney.com entitled "Five Easy Ways to Improve Your 2005 Finances": http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=20050104 I am proud to say that http://www.cardratings.com is featured in the article. _________________ Best Regards, Curtis Arnold Board Monitor http://www. cardratings.com (501) 663-0314
How to Lower Your Cell Phone Bill
Author: Ira
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 8:25 am
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillWhile it may not seem to be related to credit in the traditional sense, our telephone service is actually a form of credit. Therefore I thought that this little "heads up" might be of interest: Quote: [April 21, 2004] Missing Discounts, Hidden Revenues to the Phone Companies, Quintuple Taxation Are Just a Few of the Dirty, Little, Secrets of Phone Bills. New York — The national customer alliance Teletruth announced today the results of a two-year investigation of phone bills, entitled “Phone Bill Independence”. “Verizon’s phone bills get an failing grade,” says Tom Allibone, Director of Phone Bill Audits at Teletruth, and President of LTC Consulting. “They are still a convoluted, unreadable collection of mislabeled charges, hidden phone company revenues, mistakes in tax calculations, quintuple taxation and missing discounts. The average customer can’t make heads or tails of these charges and cannot tell whether their monthly bill is incorrectly inflated or represents what is actually owed the phone company. While Teletruth’s report focuses on local phone bills from two Verizon states, New York and New Jersey, the problems identified with itemized charges on these bills are common to ALL phone bills across the nation. Why is Teletruth sounding the alarm now? “This report comes at a time when many states are fighting or contemplating large phone-rate increases, debating whether or not to impose traditional phone taxes and surcharges on new, innovative services such as Internet-based calling services, “VOIP”, or debating the costs to competitors (TELRIC) for using the phone networks,” said Bruce Kushnick, Chairman of Teletruth and Executive Director of New Networks Institute. “The FCC is also preparing to propose raising the monthly FCC Line Charge from $6.50 to $9.00 on residential bills. Teletruth is requesting the FCC and other regulators defer all such increases and any new surcharges on any new services, until all costs are examined closely and justified.” Teletruth also agrees with NASUCA, the consumer advocate’s association, who recently found similar problems with long distance and wireless bills as well. Highlights from the Report • 59 "Truth-in-Billing" (TIB) violations on a sample of 110 bills, including missing information, charges that do not add up correctly, mislabeling, etc. (TIB is a set of guidelines created by the FCC to ensure that phone bills are readable.) Example? The word "surcharge(s)" on the NY bill lacks any description of how the charges are applied. • Because of deregulation, NO regulator examines the entire phone bill for revenues or profits. Multiple jurisdictions have been allowed to add charges. • The total of taxes and surcharges on the NY City bill are 112% higher than the cost of basic local 'Dial tone' service. • Some of the taxes and surcharges represent revenues that are collected for the telephone company, even though they are misleadingly designated as itemized charges such as the “FCC Line Charge”, which does not fund the FCC as most customers assume from the name. • Since 1999 the FCC Line Charge has increased from $3.50 to $6.50 without any proof that such an increase is necessary. In fact, based on estimates of what an efficient company’s “line charges” should cost customers, the current FCC Line Charge should be reduced by almost 85%, not increased to $9.00. • Quintuple taxes applied — The FCC Line Charge has Federal, state and local, Universal Service Fund charges, and 'surcharges' applied, adding 27% in NY, 18% in NJ and most of the US is somewhere in-between. • The Spanish American War Tax (Federal Excise Tax) was applied to phone bills in 1898 to fund the war and was never removed. • The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a multiple-fund creation that is "out of control", with various claims of fraud, lack of oversight, and lack of competitive bidding. • The Universal Service “High-Cost” funds are being given to Very Profitable rural and urban telcos regulated under “Price Caps”, that no longer examines profits. • Packages — An estimated 15-25% of the population are on the wrong package which cost them more money. Most households do NOT benefit from a package. • The taxes and surcharges on Verizon packages adds 36% to the total advertised price. (The price doesn't include the FCC Line Charge, for example.) • Calling Features — The cost of Call Waiting is less than a penny yet the companies charge retail of $4.00 — $5.30 a month. • "Idiot Items" populate phone bills, which are services that cost $0.00. Example — Many NY bills have a Touchtone line-item, which was removed in the mid-1990's. • Verizon New Jersey still charges for Touchtone! — Try buying a rotary telephone. • Cross-subsidization? The 'Consumer Education" Inserts have turned into what appears to be free advertising for Verizon's other products, from DSL to wireless. • Competitive ISPs are paying "broadband taxes" that Verizon and the other Bell companies and cable companies do not charge their own customers. • Misleading statements to the press and public. Verizon NY and NJ in 2003 claimed that they hadn't raised rates for 11 to 20 years, but they never include various items in this analysis, such as the FCC Line Charge. They redefined and “devalued” the term "Basic Service" for their own use. Class Action Suit Settlement for Small Businesses in New Jersey Our survey found multiple mistakes on customer phone bills. Teletruth has helped to initiate two class action suits based on the survey results. On March 30th, 2004, the first case against Verizon was settled. Our survey found that 40% of the small businesses under 5 lines in New Jersey were missing their discounts. Our second case found that at least 10% of small businesses were paying for non-existent 'special circuits', such as an alarm circuit. Teletruth’s solution: Congress and the FCC should do an “End-Result Test”. No regulator has ever examined all of the charges on the phone bill collectively, and as Teletruth demonstrates, many of the various charges, including taxes and surcharges, are not only revenue to the phone company, but the total is “unfair and unreasonable”. Teletruth will also be filing complaints in New York and New Jersey, as well as with the FCC and Congress over the excessive Truth-in-Billing violations, which makes the phone bills even more unreadable, and excessive hidden profits from current services. A novel about phone bill charges and regulation? “The Dirty, Little, Secret Lives of Phone Bills” is a unique way of getting the mundane, very technical story into readable form for the average customer. The story: Valerie Simpson, an investigative reporter, is assigned the task of answering: “Why are there all these little charges on the phone bill?” Dirty Little Secrets covers how to read your local phone bill, how to file a complaint, and the good and bad about bundled packages. It also examines the regulations surrounding phone bills, the skunk-works and astroturf groups that control the telecom and broadband agenda, and numerous uninvestigated scandals that have cost customers hundreds of dollars in excess phone charges. “Phonebill Independence” is published by Teletruth, 2004. Price $50.00, 131 pages, available as an ‘e-book’, 8/12by 11 format, PDF format. “The Dirty, Little, Secret Lives of Phone Bills” is a published by Teletruth, 2004 Price $20.00, 167 pages, available as an ‘e-book’, 8/12by 11 format, PDF format. Teletruth is an independent customer alliance and a member of the FCC Consumer Advisory Committee. All funds from the sale of these items are used to continue the work of Teletruth. For more information contact Teletruth at 212-777-5418 or by email at phonebills@teletruth.org
Author: NightStar
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:05 pm
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillThat is depressing, currenly have service wireless with Verizon - and up to a few months ago - they flat out stopped sending billing details on my account. Just about ready to go rounds - everytime something is changed, it is justification to extend you contract 2 years! Plus if you want out early it is $175 just to cancel. I hate telephone companies.
NightStar
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 10:31 am
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone Bill Well finally did it, called them today to hash it out on the billing. Found out a few things... 1 they added nights and weekends back $15 per month... made the lady look back in my record and find were I originally told them not to provide this service! Scored a $90 refund! Also found Text Messaging added for $2.99 - canceled this service, so they made a bit of money off of me there. Also canceled $39.95 fee for extended text messaging storage! 2 MG like what the heck does a person need that much room on a telephone for. Finally told them to turn my billing statements back on!!! I forgot at this point - to ask for the back details I am missing... hum likely should call back for this. Now my $156 bill is back down to $84 per month!!! This is the 2nd time they have done this to me, increasing and adding services. The last time, was when I had been paying extra $5 per month for long distance block on regular house line - well someone accidently turned it off. And one child made $300 in long distance call! Yup - they ended up eating that charge once I was able to prove me case! Definitely watch them telephone companies!
Author: Verne
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:36 pm
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillYou have to watch Congress too. Every once in a while, when they can't find any other way to pay for something they add it to the phone bill. Remember the "library fund"? I think it was 50 cents. That's like adding a tax for NASA's Mar's expedition to the water bill. Let's have some TRUTH in taxation. Not sure the library fund fee is still on the bill though. I know that Congress was talking about getting rid of it awhile back. Now that I do all my bill paying online I haven't looked close at my phone bill in months.
Author: nativechild48
Posted: Sat May 01, 2004 6:31 pm
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillI have heard about Verizon, also have to be wary of sprint. If you have the Lockline Insurance or have had the Lockline Insurance on your cellular phone, there is a class action lawsuit against them. It should appear in the Sunday Parade news. If it does not I will dig up some info on this and post it.
Author: Ira
Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 12:15 am
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillNightstar, congrats on taking Verizon to task. One positive thing I will say about phone companies is that once errors are pointed out they are quick to correct them and to backdate the correction to the point of origin. As a matter of fact there is a thriving cottage industry out there which offers to go over business telephone bills to find errors that the average person cannot spot. It has to do with something called USOC codes. I still do this from time to time. It's amazing that I can find thousands of dollars of unauthorized charges that a business has blithly paid year after year because they didn't know any better. I split the recovery with the client. Since it's found money they're only too happy to comply. On your land line bill make sure you don't have items like "wire maintenance." which is a scam. They say they'll maintain your inside wiring, but wiring virtually never goes bad. Just another "gotcha" that's pulled on unsuspecting consumers.
Author: NightStar
Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 8:49 am
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillYea, it is a mess keeping up with all the taxes added to the bill, just like lambs to the slaughter, can't understand most of it. I can see where it can turn into a tramatic experience - a few years ago, we ordered 2 phones from Sprint. As soon as we got them, we realized that the nearest tower to us, was not close enough, my phone was not able to call out, and the husbands phone, would only be good part of the time, where he works. So we called back and canceled the account, and they were suppose to mail us out a free shipping lable to return the phones. When I got to UPS Center, they informed me that the lable shipping was all wrong, the way they had it, I would have to pay to ship. So I tried calling them back, no luck without a phone number account activated you can no longer access customer service. It took me days trying to hack their phone system, finally got a person, and the first thing she did was transferred me - back to the automated system and I never got in again! So we made a trip to the cities, to a Sprint store, but lady said she could not take the phones back, because they did not sell them to us, she even tried getting in, 2 hours waiting and we gave up and left. So a year later some guy called us to remind me that our CONTRACT was going to be expiring!!! I told him we did not have service. I told him we had the phones still, and he said NO WE DID NOT - that they showed them having been returned. I just said ok, tell it like you want it, and that was the last I have ever heard from Sprint. We still do have the phones. We got rid of our landline, and husband never allowed me to purchase maintenance, he had said the same thing you said that it was a scam!
Author: Meto
Posted: Wed May 05, 2004 3:38 pm
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillTalk about phone company dirty tricks. Mine added $75.00 to my bill for 5 returned checks. Only problem is there weren't and checks returned to them.
Author: Andri
Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2004 4:36 pm
Post subject: How to Lower Your Cell Phone BillSprint turned off our service 3 DAYS after we activated our phones because we "hadn't paid our bill"......the catch is they hadn't even mailed the bill yet...it had only been THREE DAYS!!!! Seems we had a $200 limit (but they didn't think to tell us this), but we signed up for a family plan with $120 per month plan, two $35 activation fees and taxes....and there you are $200+ ... and whoever set up the account didn't seem to figure out that this might be a problem. Couldn't call customer service on the sprint phones to get it worked out (or complain) without first making a payment, but was able to call on our still active verizon phones and give them a few choice words. We had already decided to cancel becuase of poor reception in our house and no home phone, se we took back to store and cancelled, then a month later got a bill for calcellation fees, then called ot complain and got everything worked out finally. Went back to verizon and probably won't ever switch again.
Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit Check
Author: Consumercity
Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:15 pm
Post subject: Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit CheckI've been in the insurance business for over 10 years. Today a guy called for a quote and said he wanted to switch companies because the one he's with now is charging a renewal fee of over $200!! I've heard of installment fees, late fees, application fees and cancellation fees but I've never heard of companies charging fees to renew policies. Have any of you heard of this and has it happened to you?
Author: NightStar
Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:19 pm
Post subject: Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit CheckThat was obviously an adverse action due to something contained in his credit report. That is really messed up with they are charging them kind of fees. He should get a copy of his credit report, to see why they did this to him,
Author: Consumercity
Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 6:50 pm
Post subject: Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit CheckIf the "renewal fee" was charged because of his credit, then his insurance company broke the law. Whenever an adverse decision is based on credit, the insurance company is required to tell the insured and give contact info for the CRA that reported the information. I will advise the insured to question his insurance company about the bogus "renewal" fee and find out for sure why it was imposed. I've never heard credit related premium increases being referred to as a "fee" by any insurance company. If it is credit related, then calling it a "renewal fee" is fraudulent.
NightStar
Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2004 7:24 pm
Post subject: Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit CheckI bet you anything that it is resulting from a credit check, and the insurance company failed to disclose to him the fact they checked his credit. Or if they didn't, he may yet receive a letter in the mail. But if he contacts Choice Point, I am betting he will find a recent inquiry on his credit report. Insurance companies are allowed to pull at re-newal, just not when a claim is filed. I can think of no other justification for all of a sudden in the middle of his service with them, to automatically add a re-newal fee... unless it was originally provided for in his contract. But I had not heard of such a thing. To me it just sounds like a credit check was done.
Author: Consumercity
Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 1:12 pm
Post subject: Car Insurance Fees Based on A Credit Check NightStar, I agree. The rate increase has to be the result of a credit check. I think it is really messed up that they told him it was a "renewal fee". They broke the law, so I advised the insured to file a complaint with the Ohio Dept. of Insurance
Savings Accounts for Grandchildren
Author: Lynn
Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2004 11:24 pm
Post subject: CD for Grandchild I want to start some kind of savings plan for my 6 year old grandchild. Would a CD be a good option? I've also thought about the Stock Market. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Lynn
NightStar
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 9:40 am
Post subject: Savings Funds for Grandchildren This is not my area of specialty, but I found these links sometime back that may be of use to you. Quote: Certificates of Deposit: Tips for Savers http://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/certificate/index.html Quote: Making Sense of Savings* http://www.obre.state.il.us/CONSUMER/Tips/SAVINGS.HTM Quote: ABCs of Figuring Interest* http://www.obre.state.il.us/CONSUMER/Tips/ABC-INT.HTM
Board Monitor
Board Monitor/ Administrator
Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:17 am
Post subject: Savings Funds for Grandchildren Lynn, All depends on your risk tolerance. Whatever you choose, putting the funds in a 529 account would be a great option. By the way, I need a grandmother like you! _________________ Best Regards, Curtis Arnold Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com (501) 663-0314
Introductory Deferred Payment Plan
Author: Consumercity
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:00 pm
Post subject: No payment, No Interest (Is There a Catch?)Has anyone tried one of those "no payments, no interest until 2007" type offers? Has anyone been burned by one of these offers and if so, how? The reason I ask is that "same as cash" offers are really deferred interest plans. I was wondering if the "no interest, no payment" offers work the same way.
Board Monitor
Board Monitor/ Administrator
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:39 pm
Post subject: No payment, No Interest (Is There a Catch?) consumercity, Some do. Depends on the offer. Some charge retroactive interest from the purchase date if the balance isn't PAID IN FULL by the end of the intro. period. So, even if you're a few dollars short of paying off the balance, you'll get hit with huge finance charges. Ouch!!! This was a good article about this subject recently in Consumer Reports Money Advisor and I'm proud to say that CardRatings.com was featured. :0) _________________ Best Regards, Curtis Arnold Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com (501) 663-0314
Author: NightStar
Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 7:40 pm
Post subject: No payment, No Interest (Is There a Catch?) That sounds like them Lowe's credit cards, make a purchase and don't have to pay for 6 months, but if you don't pay off before then, you have interest charged on the whole balance, and not just the remaining balance. I have also seen American General do the same thing on their loans... if you don't pay within 12 months, they are going to hit you with 21% interest on the original balance... close to loan sharks. Least the Lowe's is better at their standard 18% - not bad deal for some as long as you pay before time is up.
Banking on the Internet
Author: Eugene
Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:24 pm
Post subject: Internet banking I mail my checks to an Internet-based bank half-a-country away (at least a day or two for postage), and if earlier it took 4-5 business day to see the deposit, now it takes 2
Author: Eugene
Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 11:37 pm
Post subject: Internet-based bank That was me, Curtis. I've had my primary checking account with an Internet bank since 1999, and I never looked back. I still have another checking at a bank with a local branch, but I use that one only for cash deposits and redeeming goverment savings bonds (transactions that cannot be done by mail conveniently). Online banks' interest is generally significantly higher, they often compensate for the other bank's ATM fees, often provide postage-free deposit envelopes. My bank does all three.
Save Money on Eating Out
Author: Saver Guest
Posted: Fri May 30, 2003 5:12 pm
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book Anyone have any comments about the Entertainment Book? I love mine. They are on sale now for only $10!
Author: Saver
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 1:28 pm
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book I forgot to metion that this price is only available online as far as I know. The coupons expire in Nov. I think...
Author: Guest
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2003 3:36 pm
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book what is the web site address to order?
Author: Steve
Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 12:58 pm
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book You can also buy them from varius charities for $20. It is well worth it. We may by two next year!
Author: Guest
Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 8:48 pm
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book All I see is $10.00 off not $10.00 price. What's the site?
Author: Tracysbeans
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:38 am
Post subject: Entertainment Coupon Book This is the website address: http://www.entertainmentbook.com/ Actually I ended up getting the book for JUST $4.99 plus $5.00 shipping since I enrolled to receive the Entertainment books in the future. So I paid a total of $9.99 for this years 2004 book for my area. Then with the future books I get FREE shipping on those! Just though I would let anyone know. With my daughter off from school now I'm sure we can get our moneys worth from the Entertainment book this summer.
Types of Savings Bonds
Author: Guest
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2003 4:21 pm
Post subject: Series I Savings Bond Anyone know anything about these?
Author: sisflomi
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 12:48 pm
Post subject: Series I savings bonds Read up on them here http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/mar/martdibond.htm http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/savseree.htm
Author: michigangirl530
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:46 pm
Post subject: Series I savings bonds i get them twice a month im not sure on the interest but its 4. something and the interest is for 30 yrs. u use to be able to cash in after 6 months and get interest but now u have to wait for a year.
Author: Reply Guest
Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 4:14 pm
Post subject: Series I savings bonds Not good investments
Author: stevejk
Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 2:38 pm
Post subject: Series I savings bondsReply wrote: Not good investments I agree, Guest. Why loan money to the guvmint when they'll just blow it on welfare queens who just on their butts and watch Jerry Springer and Oprah all day? What's the ROI on that? However, Series I Savings Bonds are my long term cash savings, guaranteed (albeit by the govmint) to not lose value due to inflation. Will it outperform the S&P 500 in the long term, i.e. by the time I retire? No. Does it give me a cushion for my emergency fund to let me sleep at night while Mr. Market has an apoplectic fit on Wall Street? Yes. Will it outperform money market account rates? Will it outperform 5-year CDs? Maybe, but my rate of return at the moment on savings bonds is higher than the better MMA rates. On a related topic. I find it amazing that there are $9 to $10.9 Billion in savings bonds that have stopped earning interest. This is good for the gov't as they save $400 Million in interest payments. This is also bad for the gov't because that's a lot of income that people have not paid income tax on yet, since tax is not due until the bond is redeemed. That's why they've gone to the electronic savings bonds. When they mature, they are automatically redeemed and you are sent a 1099-INT.
Changing your Investment Strategies
Author: SVT Cobra
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:41 pm
Post subject: Economical InvestingI hear alot of talk about investors changing their investment strategies. To my understanding, there are more and more investors investing in collector cars, trucks, etc. The claim is that they hold and raise in value more consistantly than stocks, etc. What is your take on this? Also a few wealthy investors are also saying, that in the stocks trend, to buy into "economical" business's. For exp: Dollar General, etc. They say when the overall economy is poor, the stocks will rise in the business's that are tailored to meet lower income familys, and those pinching pennies.
Board Monitor
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:28 am
Post subject: Economical InvestingI know that Fred's stock (similar to Dollar General) has done incredibly well over the past couple of years. Wal-Mart, though, hasn't done much at all. Dollar stores make a lot of money. _________________ Best Regards, Curtis Arnold Board Monitor http:// www.cardratings.com (501) 663-0314
Shopping on Amazon For CD's
Author: Verne
Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2004 9:24 am
Post subject: Save on CD's at AmazonI just wanted to share my latest venture in money-saving. I was recently shopping at amazon for CD's and noticed a "club price" button. Membership is free, shipping is free for orders over $25.00, and prices are at least 20%-50% off. The only catch is an obligation to buy 2 CD's over a year. They have a wide selection so I didn't see a problem. Anyway I bought 2 CD's at $9.99, well below the $18.99 regular price. Found another for $7.99 to bring the order over $25.00 and get the free shipping. S&H is prohibitively expensive otherwise. Normally I don't like these sorts of clubs but I couldn't resist with the discounts, free shipping, and ease of ordering through amazon.
Credit Life Insurance or Term?
Author: loot
Posted: Wed Dec 24, 2003 4:35 pm
Post subject: Credit life Should one purchase it?
Author: Guest
Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:58 am
Post subject: Credit Life Insurance ~~~~~(1*} It runs 2 to four times that of a level term life policy for the same dollar amount. ~~~~~(2*} You pay monthly interest on the higher priced credit life because the premium for the full term is added to the loan from the start. A 15 year loan would mean the entire 15 yr. premium added to your loan and charged the same interest rates as the loan. Now ain't that sweet you pay the insurer 15 years in advance and you get to pay em 15 years of interest for doing it. Compare that with level term life. No advance payment required. no need to take out a loan to finance the premium. No interest on premium. ~~~~~(3*) Credit life beats you out of the unearned premium. 2*The best way is to add a level term rider to your current life insurance policy in the amount of the loan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Remember FOLKS this inside scoop on credit life didn't come from your friendly banker or insurer. ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- ><- <> ><- <>- ><- <> ~~~ ><- <>- How many of you folks out there in consumer land have had your banker or insurer show you this little tid bit.??
Rebate Service Online
nwhatnot: Guest
Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2003 4:24 pm
Post subject: Online Rebate Services Has anyone registered their cards for additional rebates through RebateNetwork.com (consumer1st) or other added rebate services? Does the card issuer take into consideration that they may already be giving you a rebate?
Author: Guest
Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2003 3:53 pm
Post subject:Online Rebate Services Can speak of this particular service, but I would think that if the rebate service is indepedent of the card issuer, that this would not count against you.
Author:dww53
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 4:31 pm
Post subject: YES, Our Refunds Our Paid In ADDITION To Any Other Benefits! The first ever Consumer FIRST refund was paid to a cardholder in Indiana. The refund was for $2.50. A second transaction, a week later has given this same cardholder another refund of $2.88. So far, this one Consumer FIRST registered cardholder has received refunds totalling $5.88! New Consumer Advocate Dayton Macatee of Dallas,TX made a purchase at a local Pep Boys location and earned a whopping $84.31 refund on a purchase of a little more than $2,000. This is the largest single refund paid to date. The power of the Consumer FIRST business system is appearing all across America. The excitement is starting to build!
Author:nativechild48
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2003 1:06 am
Post subject:Online Rebate Services Consumer First: anyone who would consider doing this is going to lose. If you want rewards or cashback get a credit card with these features. Don't give out any personal info and credit card numbers to anyone. How much did these consumer pay to get these so-called rewards? Sounds more and more like a scam
Can Anyone Get a Home Equity Loan
Author: usmsci
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Post subject: Can Anyone Get a Home Equity LoanI bought my home in April for around $110,000. its a nice 3bed and 2 bath, brand new, never been lived in, roughly 1,450 sq.ft. anyway April of 2006 i will have had it a year and want to take out a home equity loan on the house. the first question is, is this too soon or is a year ok? will the house need to be appraised again? how much would i expect on average to get? if i was approved for 20,000 does that just get added on to the existing balance on the house/mortgage and they just write me a check for 20k? my interest rate is 5.5% as a Fixed 30-yr mortgage. could i suffer a higher interest rate if i get a equity loan or not? i want to pay off my car(which i am paying 15.99%) and do some home improvements inside and outside the house. a 5.5% instead of 15.99% on a car is going to save me lots of interest money. i figured it out and it would cost about 20,000 for everything that i wanted..of course i am flexible. This includes putting $1,000 or so in a ROTH IRA to get that ball moving and possibly putting money in a few other places. my credit wasnt the greatest when i got my car loan and i am paying for it but now my credit is better.. FICO score is 656 and i was approved on the house with a score of 626-650 or so using all 3 reporting agencies. i calculate that i will be close to 700 by April rolls around as i have some negative information coming off my credit report at the end of the year. i might think of some more to say but thanks in advance for all your advice..
Author: Polonius
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Post subject: Home Equity Loan Questions The HEL or HELOC is completely separate from your mortgage--it will have its own terms and interest rate. There's no "too early" notion about applying for equity loans--everything depends on the equity of your home today and of course your own income and debt to income ratio. Each lender makes its own decisions on what you would qualify for. I'd suggest getting offers through LendingTree.com--they're free and will give you an idea of what you can get. I live in what one magazine called the second most overpriced housing area in the country! Prices go up over 15% per year here. That's bound to come to an end, hopefully not soon. Of course, leveraging your housing equity to the maximum can land you in trouble if prices fall. You know that.
Author: usmsci
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 3:44 pm
Post subject: Home Equity Loan Questions How do these terms and rates compare to regular mortgage rates? Are they comparable??
Author: Polonius
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 4:16 pm
Post subject: Home Equity Loan Questions According to www.bankrate.com/brm/static/rate-roundup.asp Thirty-year fixed rate mortgages--Rate: 5.88 percent (30-year fixed) Average Points: 0.36 .............................................................. Home equity products Rates: 6.76 percent (line of credit); 7.18 percent (loan) But there are special deals all over the place--these are just averages; you could do better or worse. My own Citibank HELOC is at prime less .25%, so 6.5% now--and it had no closing fees of any kind (no points, no appraisal fees--nothing). And I only have to pay the interest for the first 10 years--no principal payment required until the 11th year.
Author: BestMortgageInfo
Posted: Tue Sep 27, 2005 8:09 pm
Post subject: Home Equity Loan Questions Yes, an appraisal will have to be done for the new loan. In some cases lenders will pay for them, and have a 3 year prepayment penalty to recoup the costs if you pay off the loan early. Be careful of HELOCs. Your initial lender may report it as a mortgage type loan, and the lender that buys the loan may report it as a credit line. A credit line, where you have over 50% Utilization, can really hurt your credit score. HELOANS are fixed rate 2nds. The initial rate may be higher, but it won't go any higher. Or lower. Stability and no surprises are sometimes worth a few $ per month. Lastly. I do mortgages, and I do my best to talk people out of paying for a car over 30 years. Some of them don't last that long. With your scores, try to refinance. One on line Auto refinance company is Patelco. You can probably cut your rate in half or better.
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