Archive for May, 2011

Getting The Best Car Loan Rates Doesn’t Have To Be Difficult

May 27th, 2011

6 Things to know to get the best car loan rates
Just follow some simple rules in order to make sure you don’t get ripped off. Here are 6 things to keep in mind the next time you’re in the market for a car loan in order to ensure you get the best deal possible:

Get the loan somewhere else
First of all, you need to go somewhere other than the dealer if you want the best car loan rates. The dealer is happy to give you the loan right there because they want to get the commission, however they rarely have a bargain rate available. Expect to pay anywhere from 1-3 points extra just for the privilege of getting your car loan at the same place you buy your car. If you go to a bank instead, you can be pre-approved and get the best rate possible.

Bargain
Just like when you go to the dealership and you bargain for the best possible deal you can get on your car purchase, you should also be bargaining for the best possible car loan rate you can lay your hands on. Often, you can save several percentage points on your car loan if you simply ask for a better deal. Don’t be afraid to walk away either. Tell them you have other options and that you are looking for their very best rates.

Shop for a loan over a 2 week period
Every time you apply for a loan, your credit gets dinged a little bit. If you apply too many times, then your credit will go down further and your car loan rates will be much higher. However, if you apply for all the various options over a two week period, it will count as if it were a single inquiry thus saving your credit and allowing you to get the maximum possible deal available.

Check your credit report
Speaking of your credit, it goes without saying that if you want the best possible deal available on your car loan, then you need to ensure that you know what your credit report has to say about you. Be sure to check out the current information and be prepared to challenge inaccuracies in your report if you find them. Of course, that’s good advice regardless of whether you are shopping for a new car or not.

Focus on the whole loan
Too many people get caught up in trying to figure out how much they’ll have to pay each month for their car loan. That’s a big mistake. Ultimately, you could end up spending more money than necessary that way. Instead, focus on the grand total that you’ll have paid out at the end of the loan term so that you know you’re not getting ripped off.

Don’t take conditional financing
Finally, be sure that the loan amount and rates you’ve been offered have been locked in if you want to ensure you’ll get the best car loan rates available. Otherwise, the numbers could change later on and you could end up stuck paying a lot more than you originally expected when the terms get changed.

Tags: Bank loans, Car financing, Car loan, Dealers’ loans
Posted in Advance Cash Loan, Car Loans, Economy, Employment, Finance, Loans, Money, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

Money Lessons for High-School Graduates

May 25th, 2011

The sooner you start learning the easier it will be
Here are five things every high-school graduate should try to remember:

Debt is slavery
“The borrower is slave to the lender,” says the Bible. When you have monthly payments to make, your life choices are greatly reduced. You can end up chained to a job you don’t like, unable to take the low-paying, entry-level job in your dream field or pursue further education to gain the qualifications for the career you really want. Constrained after College a study by researchers from Princeton University and the University of California at Berkeley, found that graduates who borrowed heavily to pay for college were less likely to take public-service jobs than those who didn’t borrow.

College debt takes its toll
Going deeply into debt to pay for a prestigious college degree rarely pays off in the long run. Not only does it saddle you with a large, pressing debt that limits your options upon graduation, you’re not likely to be any more successful either. A recent study by economists Stacy Dale and Alan Krueger found that, once you control for aptitude, career earnings don’t vary based on the college attended: if you’re smart enough to get into a brand-name private university, you’ll do just fine going to a state college. What will determine your success will be your aptitude and your work ethic, not the name on your diploma.

Rich friends may be broke
When I was in high school, I hung out with a girl whose parents lived modestly and drove a beat-up station wagon that you could hear coming from a mile away. Our other friend drove a BMW Z3 and made fun of the junky cars we drove. Four years, a real-estate crisis and a few foreclosures later, the Z3′s gone. My friend’s parents who drove the station wagon sidestepped the crisis; they owned their home outright. The dangers of conspicuous consumption are best learned vicariously, and here are a couple of factoids that might get you thinking. According to Thomas J. Stanley, author of “The Millionaire Next Door,” the most popular car among millionaires is the Toyota Camry, and only 7.3% of millionaires own a bottle of wine that cost more than $100.

Materialism is misery
Lives of thrift and conscientiousness lead to less stress, greater enjoyment of the things we do have and a lighter carbon footprint. But most of our societal associations with wealth are deeply connected with materialism: luxury goods, power and status.
“The more materialistic values are at the center of our lives, the more our quality of life is diminished,” says Knox College psychologist Tim Kasser, author of “The High Price of Materialism.”

TV makes you feel poor
One of the fastest ways to make yourself better with money is to smash your television, or watch it less. A 1997 study by researchers Thomas O’Guinn and L.J. Shrum found that people who watch more TV believe that a higher percentage of Americans have tennis courts, luxury cars, maids and swimming pools.

Tags: Debt, High school graduates, Materialism, Money lessons
Posted in Advance Cash Loan, Cash Advance, Economy, Employment, Finance, Loans, Money, Personal / Internet, Scholarship / Education, Student Loans | No Comments »

Advice to My Son Who Is Looking For a Job

May 24th, 2011

We are allowed to provide advice, right?
Pete graduated last year, went traveling and is back now on the job hunt. I have been giving him odd tips, even though the game has changed since my days:

Don’t listen to old people
Love your parents and mentors but remember that the world as they knew is long gone. Job security, gone. Retirement with a gold watch, adios. High percentage of job placement out of college, that’s a funny joke. No, they don’t know what they are talking about anymore. Worry about your actual reality, not the extinct one of those before you. Don’t be pressured into following a dead-end career path because your parents believe you need to validate your diploma. You’ll only be hurting yourself. Work hard to make your own living instead of begging others to give you one.

Fame and fortune
If you’re on a quest to be famous or a millionaire by 30, allow me to offer you some free advice: you’re a hopeless dreamer who won’t have any shot in the real world unless you get your act together. A business doesn’t need to be “sexy” to make money; the vast majority of successful cash-flow-positive businesses aren’t. Stop living in a fantasy world. No one will care about you unless you make them care. You need only concentrate on two things: putting all of your efforts into creating a business with immediate revenue-generating capabilities and keeping your head deflated with your feet on the ground. Letting this millionaire fantasy get to your head will destroy your decision-making abilities and put you in the poor house faster than you can say, “Do you want fries with that?”

Get focused
Worry about one real business. Not an idea, one business! And not five companies simultaneously, just one! You can’t be a serial entrepreneur until you actually have one successful business to your credit. Instead of spreading yourself thin, put everything you’ve got into one thing and stick to it. Dedicate your full mind, body, and spirit to the cause.

Be unoriginal
Stop right now if you have plans to revolutionize the wheel. You don’t need to. Keep your offering simple and easy for customers to understand. Don’t feel like you have to disrupt an entire industry or reinvent the wheel to be successful. The vast majority of businesses in the world produce products and services that are cheaper, faster, or better than some other guy. Don’t kill yourself trying to change the world or creating the next Twitter. You won’t, nor will you make any income trying. Provide a simple service to a targeted niche and expand over time. Remember: unoriginal works, unoriginal can be profitable.

No one will invest in your idea
No one will give your startup money. You need to create a business that isn’t dependent on big investments or unattainable traction. Starting with nothing is not an automatic disadvantage. Often it will make you stronger, more resilient, and more adaptable to change than well-entrenched competitors. Figure out what you can produce with your own two hands, not with someone else’s imaginary wallet.

Tags: Create a business, Job hunting, Start-ups
Posted in Economy, Employment, Finance, Loans, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

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