Joy Olivia Miller

Archive for October, 2011

You might not know it, but you can save quite a bit of money when you refinance auto loans. And there are numerous ways you can refinance the auto loan. As long as you follow through the entire process you can be sure to save on your monthly car payments. What would you say to a savings of $60 a month on your current car payment? That’s $720 a year and $3600 over the course of a normal 5 year loan. Now we’re talking about a large amount of cash!

So where do you refinance auto loans?

1) Your local bank.
Local banks can be a good place to refinance a car loan, especially when you already have a solid relationship with the bank. Check them out first, but don’t just take the first offer you get. Take some time and do your own research into other possible refinancing options as well to get the best deal.

2) Your local credit union.
Credit unions often offer outstanding refinancing rates, especially for those with high credit scores. Just be aware that many credit unions won’t work with those that have had past credit problems or issues with their credit rating.

3) Your local car dealer.
Car dealers can work with you to refinance auto loans, however many times they will just try to sell you a new car. This completely defeats the purpose of trying to refinance your car loan in the first place and will often lead to even higher car payments. If you choose to refinance through a car dealer make sure you don’t get sucked into buying a new car.

4) *BEST* Online solutions.
Using an online lender can be your best option to refinance auto loans. You’ll find that the application and approval process can both be easier than offline loan companies. Plus, the online auto lenders will go through a network of companies to get the best rates for your car loan. Another positive is that the online lenders will only need to pull your credit report once to compare rates meaning you’ll have less activity on your credit report and less chance of being penalized because of too many inquiries.

Once you get out there and compare auto loan refinancing options you’ll see that in many cases online refinancing is the way to go. It allows you to quickly and easily compare rates from a bunch of lenders and will almost always get you the best terms and save you the most money.

Many neighborhoods and property associations hire professional financial management services for many reasons. The main reason as to why this type of service is needed is to keep associations very organized, and to ensure budgets are kept up to date along with billing homeowners or anyone else needing to be billed. The uses of a financial management service are really endless, and many people do not realize how much work goes into running an association that handles many homeowners.

Organizing many different budgets for an association board is one of the main uses of this type of service. There are annual budgets, improvement budgets, and even budgets in place that keep in mind many years to come for the association. Up keeping something like a neighborhood can be very costly, so ensuring you are billing the proper amount is paramount in making sure everything is up kept and running smoothly. Another use of this service is that all bills are paid that the board approves of, which ensures that everything is according to procedure.

Billing homeowners and other members of an association needs to be highly organized and regulated to ensure all amounts are paid. People paying this money also want to see that their money is being put to good use and actually up keeping where they live, which is another use for a financial management service. After all of this money is paid and used, financial reports are needed to be presented to the board that runs the association, so that they can see everything is running correctly.

If some homeowners are not paying their annual or monthly association fees then this has to be documented. If it is not properly documented, then it is hard to enforce that these homeowners are paying on time, and paying in full. There is a lot of financials needs to an association, and it can easily get uncoordinated and unorganized without a professional service running everything.

Outside of typing up invoices, and keeping track of what has been paid and what hasn’t, professional financial management can cut costs where it is needed, and use this extra money to improve on things inside the neighborhood or community. Budgets can even be made for improvements. The uses of the professionals are not only needed for an organized board that runs the association, but also desired for so that people save money in the long run, and to make sure everything is going how it should.

So here’s a simple question for you as a fantasy decision-maker in charge of a state’s finances. Let’s say you go to court against Big Tobacco and come out with a big win. Because the court finally agreed to accept the medical evidence, Big Tobacco was ordered to pay money into a massive settlement fund. Every year, this pays out a big chunk of change to your state. What do you want to spend it on? It could be education except you really want to fire all the bad teachers first. Then you can use the extra money to pay higher salaries to attract better people into teaching and raise education standards. Ah, but that’s going to provoke a fight with the unions, so we’d better look for something less controversial. What about health? This would be ideal politics. The tobacco industry has made so many ill, it’s only right its money should be used to improve health care for all. Except how is that going to be done? Even a big lump of change gets lost in the total cost of running health care in a state. . .

Pennsylvania decided to use part of the money to fund adultBasic. This was an outreach plan for adults who would otherwise fall through the cracks. Their income is too great to qualify for Medicaid, but they can’t afford the premium rates for a private plan. The way it worked was simplicity itself. The state funded its own health plan. The actual cost per person was $600 per month, but the state only charged each person $36. The total cost of this plan in 2010 was $166 million. To give you an idea of the popularity of the plan, the state was subsidizing some 40,000 people with half-million people on the waiting list. Remember, there are some 50 million people without any form of insurance across the country. It should not surprise you there were so many people who felt they met the entry requirements for adultBasic in one state.

However, in February, the Pennsylvanian government announced it was looking at a big deficit, so Governor Tom Corbett looked around for cuts. Presumably feeling the 40,000 enrolled in the plan were freeloaders, he ordered the plan shut down immediately. Big Tobacco’s money now flows directly into the state’s coffers and is mixed in with general revenue. Curiously, the state has now discovered it will have a surplus of more than $750 million in the current year. It’s remarkable how quickly the fortunes of a state can turn around. One of the immediate consequences has been a 30% increase in the number of people walking into ERs around the state. This adds significantly to the cost of running the health care services. Ironically, this additional cost alone may be more than the state was spending on adultBasic.

The Democrats have been frustrated at their failure to get adultBasic reinstated. It was one of the few state-funded health insurance plans for the low-income group. Yet a Republican governor will always get political traction out of cutting such a high-profile example of “big government”. Adult Americans should pay for cover out of their own pockets and not look to the state to provide cheap health insurance (even with money from the tobacco industry).

Taking out the right policy when you are buying auto insurance is vital, as otherwise you could end up wasting a lot of money by taking out the wrong level of cover that does not offer the protection that you need. Many people who take out auto insurance simply go for the first plan they come across but this can end up being a costly mistake that fails to benefit them in the long term, even if the initial policy is the cheapest they have come across.

The reason why you should always check the cost of the plans that you are considering before you make your auto insurance purchase is so that you know exactly what you are signing up to in terms of the level of cover that you are getting, the benefits that you will receive, and what you can and cannot claim for under your insurance plan.

Checking different insurance plans these days is far easier than it used to be in the past, which means that you won’t have to go out of your way in order to make sure that you are choosing the right policy. Remember, when you sign up to a particular insurance plan you may end up tied into it unless you are prepared to pay out money to get out of it early. It therefore pays to take the time to check any auto insurance plan you are considering taking out before you rush into signing up for the cover.

The Internet makes it easy to check any insurance plan that you are considering signing up to, as you will be able to see for yourself what the cover does and doesn’t include. This will enable you to quickly determine whether the plan it suited to your needs before you make any commitment, which reduces the risk of ending up with the wrong plan for your needs.

Make sure when you are looking at the various auto insurance plans that you do not simply focus on the cost of the cover, as although price is important it is not the only thing that should help you to make your decision. You also need to look at the level of cover that you get and work out whether it is adequate for your needs so that you are certain that any cover that you take out is going to be suited to your requirements.

By checking auto insurance plans before you make any commitment you will have the peace of mind that your cover is suited to your requirements and offers the level of protection that you need.

Every important decision we make in life is preceded by a time of thoughtful consideration, and for the wise, a great deal of study and comparison of the options that are involved. A debt consolidation loan is one of those important issues, an important option to consider when attempting tackling overwhelming debt. Looking at the pros and cons will help you decide if a debt consolidation plan is right for you.

The Nuts & Bolts of Consolidation

Debt consolidation is when a number of short-term unsecured loans (credit cards, personal loans, etc.) are rolled into one, long-term, secured loan. One monthly payment is paid to the consolidation company or credit counseling agency, who in turn will make the individual payments to the individual creditors. A debt consolidation plan eliminates the need to make separate payments to each of your creditors. It is generally a bad idea to accept a consolidation plan as a way of extending credit; however, for those who are willing to budget prudently, they can be an excellent way to address debt issues.

The Pros of Consolidation

Peace of Mind – Perhaps the most unappreciated benefit of a consolidation plan is the stress relief that comes when what was considered out-of-control becomes manageable and a positive end is in sight. Simpler Debt Management – Manage a single, predictable loan payment instead of multiple ones will simplify monthly payments. Lowered Interest Rates & Minimum Payments – Creditors may lower the interest rate or the minimum monthly payment on the debt you owe, while working with a debt consolidation plan, effectively saving you money just for choosing to consolidate your credit accounts. A drop of a few percentage points can free up funds that can be applied to a savings or retirement account. Reduction in Monthly Payments – Debt consolidation will normally reduce totally monthly expenses. In addition, with repayments spread out over a longer period of time, monthly payments are typically significantly lower. No more Late & Overdraft Fees – Many people who are struggling to management their finances know the frustration of being charged for late payments and going over-the-limit. With a debt consolidation plan, these are no longer a problem. Accounts Closed – When a creditor agrees to a consolidation plan, they will require the account be closed to further charging until the balance is paid off. Although you may see this as a negative, any actions that prevent the addition of more debt will help you learn to rely more upon your income and less on credit.

The Cons of Consolidation

Risks of a Secure Loan – While personal and credit card loans are unsecured, deconsolidation is typically a secured loan that requires collateral, typically your home. This puts your home at risk, if you fail to keep up repayments. Accounts Frozen – When a creditor agrees to a consolidation plan, they will require the account be closed to further charging, until the balance is paid off. Difficulty in Securing New Credit – Even though it goes against your efforts of getting out of debt, there are times when a new credit account may be necessary, like for an emergency. Higher Total Interest – With a longer term loan, the total interest paid over the life of the debt will be higher.

The advantage of having only one monthly payment, especially for those who have had problems juggling multiple payments, cannot be overstated for the advantages. The impact on your credit report will be positive in the long run, but may have a negative impact right after a debt consolidation plan is accepted. Contact one of our agencies to determine if they have a plan that meets your needs.

This year has shown many people who live inland just what it’s like when a hurricane or tropical storm comes their way. Up to now, it’s mostly been the folk living on the coasts that have had the joy of watching a hurricane dismantle their towns and cities. Now the folk who live up in the hills of Vermont are learning to live with the consequences. These range from the simple jobs of repairing roads and those picturesque wooden bridges, to the grisly tasks of trying to find the dead bodies that have been washed out of cemeteries. Following Katrina, there was considerable hysteria, and not only among people living on the coasts who were finally forced to confront the reality of angry nature. There was also panic in the boardrooms of the insurers. Although there had been regular hurricanes and storms, these companies had managed to remain profitable. But if claims on the scale seen in Mississippi were to become more common, they could all be wiped out. The result was seen in two very distinct changes. The first was to fight a higher percentage of claims. Indeed, many have criticized the ethics shown by some insurers who pay claims adjusters bonuses for avoiding payment of claims or agreeing very low settlements.

The second set of changes has been seen in the policies where many terms have been completely rewritten to exclude or limit the claims that can be made. The first obvious signs have been in the definition of the deductible. The majority of insurers used to rely on a fixed amount. This has changed over to requiring policyholders to pay a percentage of the home’s insured value as the deductible. The percentages range from 1 to 5%. So, if you have a home with a low value, you could find yourself required to pay a higher percentage. High-value home owners might “only” have to pay 1 or 2% for every claim. Obviously, insurers have not agreed standard terms so, as you drive down a street, every home might have a different deductible depending on which insurer writes their policy.

Did you know eighteen states allow the insurers to change the deductible depending on the definition of the weather event? This leads to a higher deductible for hurricanes than for other storms. So the big question is how to define a hurricane. Sadly, there’s no agreement. Some insurers wait until a storm is named by the National Hurricane Center, others have different guidelines depending on the amount of rain that falls and/or the strength of the wind. In the same neighborhood, this can lead to different deductibles and different approaches to deciding whether to accept the claims. To deal with this problem, some of the Insurance Commissioners have introduced new regulations. In Connecticut, no insurer will be allowed to impose a higher deductible if the winds consistently exceed 74 mph over a set period of time. In states where similar rules have been introduced, the insurers retaliated by requiring policyholders to pay out-of-pocket expenses. As home insurance companies find their profits under pressure, they turn to other means to recover their profit. It’s a vicious circle and unless Insurance Commissioners step in more forcefully, home insurance policies will become unaffordable when hurricanes are in the wind.