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Eyeing a New Set of Wheels? Avoid These 3 Common Car Loan Mistakes People Often Make

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Over 6.3-million cars sold in the United States in 2017. CNN Money says, “A record 107 million Americans have auto loan debt, according to data released this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That’s about 43% of the entire adult population in the US.”

Borrowing money to buy cars—new or pre-owned—is part of the American lifestyle. That doesn’t mean buyers and borrowers are making good lending deals. Too many make too many mistakes when seeking a loan to finance their car.

Avoid these 3 common car loan mistakes:

Forgetting your budget

You must approach the car dealer with a firm budget in mind. Buyers can be swayed by car color, trim, and finish. But, you must have a budget in mind. That budget has little to do with the sticker price on the car. It has everything to do with what you can afford.

You must budget the monthly payment along with your mortgage payment or apartment rent. You must include monthly payments for utilities, food, entertainment, and other debts. So, you don’t want to see extras and add-ons run up your monthly car payment. Our loan calculator will help you budget better.

Buying blind

There is no excuse for not shopping around. You don’t want to be drawn to the dealer’s advertised deals in the Sunday paper when the Internet lets you explore the products on sale at every dealer within miles of your residence.

Other websites, including Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds, offer extensive reviews on the performance of make and model of every car on the market. They also give you the estimated cost of a purchase and/or trade-in. In any case, you do not want to approach a car salesperson without a detailed choice in mind.

Ignoring pre-approval

It’s one mistake to tell the dealer what you are willing to pay each month. It’s another if you can secure loan approval ahead of time. The auto loan interest rate at your favorite bank or credit union are likely to be well below what the dealer offers.

Securing pre-approval for the amount and monthly payment you can budget lets you shop more widely. And, it gives you more control over the purchase. Because car shopping can be emotional and impulsive behavior, separating the lending arrangement from the purchase option gives you more leverage to make an intelligent deal.

Eyeing a new set of wheels?

The Los Angeles Times reports the downside, “New cars depreciate by about 20% as soon as you drive them off the lot and lose roughly half their value in the first three years. The vast majority continue losing value until they’re sold for scrap. Only a handful of classic cars ever appreciate.”

Having said that, most people will still finance their cars with loans. It’s helpful to realize you are really financing a loss when you do your budgeting. That should not discourage your borrowing, but it can shape your deal for the better.

Tips on Keeping on top of your Finances

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When you are starting up a business, it is essential that you keep on top of your finances.  It is of course integral in ensuring that your business stays afloat.  Of course, it’s likely that you will have all kinds of advice from financial services professionals – but it’s important that you don’t feel surprised or confused by your end of year finances.  We’ve put together some tips to help out.

Don’t Forget HMRC

Income can fluctuate when you are in business.  Irrespective of whether your business has had a fantastic month or not – you should make it standard practice to put away 20% for HMRC.  To make sure you do this, setting up a separate bank account for this purpose may be a good idea.  It means when you are hit with a tax bill, you don’t need to worry. This will ensure that you always have the necessary cash on hand even for things that you’d rather not pay!

Choose the Correct Banking Solution

Choosing the correct banking solution is essential for small businesses.  It should be as convenient as possible, so it takes you as little time as possible to complete.  You need to be able to view your financial situation with ease – as well as be able to complete and accept payments quickly.  As well as this, you might want to integrate it with you accounting software for even more convenience or add trusted users to keep on top of things. You can click here for some great business banking solutions. 

Get Good Accounting Software

Having good accounting software is essential in making sure you are on top of your company finances.  There are some great free ones that you can take advantage of.  You can use the likes of Xero to do this.  Here you can generate invoices, review your incomings and outgoings at a glance, you can easily identify if someone is taking too long to pay their bills – and you can even pull profit and loss reports.  There is even a Xero app that’s available on your phone that will allow you to access this data at your convenience.

Hire the Professionals

It’s always a good idea to seek advice from professionals when dealing with company finances.  Choosing the right book-keeper or accountant can be important in terms of getting things right from the get go.  Book-keepers can make sure that the day to day operations such as getting invoices ready and receipts etc.  Accountants can make sure that you are being as effective as possible in terms of tax savings and strategic financial planning when it comes to long-term goals. 

If you are having trouble when it comes to keeping on top of your small business finances – then hopefully some of these tips will be able to help keep you on track. 

Whole Life Insurance vs. Term Life Insurance

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Determining whether to purchase a life insurance policy can be complicated, and the issue becomes even more confusing as you consider personal factors (such as family make-up and budget) and the different types of life insurance (whole life and term life.) As you assess your needs, you may wonder whether you need the coverage, which type is best for your situation, and how much insurance to get. Before starting, it’s important to understand the differences between and the pros and cons of both whole and term life insurance.

Whole Life Insurance

A whole life insurance policy provides protection for the rest of your life, as long as you’re still paying the premiums. If the policy is still effective when you die, your beneficiaries will receive a sum. This type of insurance is often chosen as an investment of the cash value. These plans usually consist of a death benefit, premium, cash value, and dividends. Most people consider buying whole life insurance when they want to provide money for funeral expenses, leave an inheritance, or save their family from estate taxes.

The Pros

  •          Coverage lasts until the age of 100 instead of 80 which is when term insurance expires.
  •          Your heirs won’t have to pay estate taxes or will have a reduced amount of taxes.
  •          Your loved ones can receive a tax-free payout at your death.
  •          As long as you pay premiums, their amount is fixed, and the death benefit is guaranteed.
  •          The policies build cash value and may be counted as an investment after other options have been maxed out.

The Cons

  •          The primary purpose of whole life insurance is not as an investment, so your returns are sure to be conservative.
  •          This type of life insurance tends to be most expensive.
  •          You may end up paying for coverage you never really need.
  •          The money in your policy doesn’t really belong to you; if you borrow from the policy, the withdrawal is treated like any other loan.

Term Life Insurance

The purpose of term life insurance is to give your family or beneficiaries a temporary financial resource if you pass away. This type of coverage offers a death benefit but doesn’t carry any cash value. The policies usually span a set amount of time, such as three or thirty years. The premium is affected by the age and health of the policyholder.

The Pros

  •          Term life insurance is very affordable, sometimes no more than a dollar or two a day.
  •          The coverage is easy to understand and rarely include an exam plan.
  •          This type of insurance can be converted to a whole life or universal life plan.
  •          Many add-ons are available for customized plans.

The Cons

  •          These Columbus life insurance policies will expire when their terms are up. The annual renewable term is much more expensive, and the cost continues to increase at that point.
  •          There’s no savings or investment option with this type of policy.

How to Choose

The best way to determine which type of Columbus life insurance is best for you and your loved ones is to talk over the options with an agent. Some customers begin with coverage they can afford and adapt their policies to meet changing needs. Which type of insurance coverage sounds best for your situation?

3 Tips For Analysing Cryptocurrencies

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If you’ve been thinking about investing in cryptocurrencies, there are a few things you should know. While some are common sense, others are less so. Here, we discuss a couple of tips to help you out with the proper analysis of cryptocurrencies.

  1. What problem will your investing solve?

Before you invest your hard-earned cash, ask yourself what problem your investment will solve.

Take bitcoin as an example. It was the very first project that brought a real use case for blockchain technology. It was presented to the world as a cryptocurrency with extremely small fees, almost instantaneous transaction times, a degree of anonymity and a decentralised ledger.

Click here to find out how to buy Bitcoin in Australia.

  1. Transparency

One incredibly important factor to take into consideration if you are wanting to invest in cryptocurrencies is the team behind the crypto. Here are a few important questions to think about:

  • Does the team have previous experience in the industry that the project may be tackling? While previous experience isn’t a necessity, it certainly helps if the team has knowledge and expertise in the industry. Take the Enjin team as an example. They’ve been in the gaming industry for quite some time and do have the relevant understanding and skills to launch a cryptocurrency within the online gaming space.
  • Does the team engage with the community and provide regular updates? Do they seem to be running to time in terms of delivering their roadmap? A good example of this is districtox – they communicate effectively and when necessary.
  • If the team is anonymous and the project doesn’t require them to be, what are they hiding? For instance, it’s perfectly understandable if they are at work developing a privacy coin, but less so if they’re developing a cryptocurrency for, say, esports.

Fortunately, we live in a digital era where you can spend some time online looking for all the information you need in terms of who is behind a cryptocurrency project.

  1. Partnerships and Investors

One particularly positive thing when you are considering what to invest in, is to analyse the project partnerships and investor. While it’s a fairly self-explanatory reason, having the backing of reputable and renowned entities does give the project even greater legitimacy. Here are a few examples of projects with top-notch partnerships and investors:

  • VeChain partners with DNV GL, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Kuehne+Nagel
  • Request Network is backed by Y Combinator
  • Stellar (XLM) partners with IBM
  • IOTA received hefty investment from Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH

Final Word

These are just 3 ways to conduct proper analysis of cryptocurrencies you are thinking about investing in. It is important to know what you are going to be spending your money on. Just jumping on the latest and most popular coin may well bring short-term gains, but if you want serious long-term investments, you do need to carry out a proper analysis.

Can Betting On Horse Racing Be Profitable?

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Horse racing is a hugely unpredictable sport and gambling isn’t necessarily renowned for increasing bank balances. However, with sensible staking and a healthy working knowledge of the sport, it can be possible to make a small profit and have plenty of fun along the way.

Source: The Racing Post via Twitter

There are a number of different strategies and techniques used by professional gamblers but making a long-term profit is far from easy. There are always going to be ups and downs but it’s important to take your time, follow patterns and race results and not jump in feet first.

The first rule is to only bet money that you can afford to lose. Betting is great if you have budgeted for the month and still have a surplus £20 but if things are tight, it is advised to simply take a watching break. Just because you aren’t able to have a wager, it doesn’t mean you can’t check the result and make a note of things such as the winning trainer and jockey.

Sensible staking is absolutely imperative. It is generally advised that you should never place more than 5% of your starting bank on any one bet. For example, if you’re starting with £5o, your first bet should be in the region of £2.50. Naturally, if you make a profit, this will gradually increase. This will help ensure longevity and won’t have you scrambling around for further funds.

Source: OTI Racing via Twitter

One misconception amongst gamblers is that there is an obligation to bet on every single race. There are often upwards of thirty races per day in the UK and very few people have enough time on their hands to meticulously study every single card. If you don’t feel confident about a horse’s chances, it is generally advised to abstain and wait for the next race to come along. Races such as Novice Stakes on all-weather tracks are often incredibly difficult to call and should probably be avoided.

Races such as the Grand National are a terrific spectacle but they can also be hugely unpredictable. By following the sport throughout the season, you are more likely to pick up clues and it is often possible to find the early-value in the ante-post markets. Shantou Flyer was priced at 100/1 prior to the Cheltenham Festival but following a solid run in the Ultima Handicap, the Sue Smith-trained runner has been cut to 25/1 according to Oddschecker. It is possible to place a bet months in advance and can often ensure a bigger payout than those who only got involved on the day of the race.

Profiting from horse racing takes tremendous dedication and hours of hard-work It isn’t easy to leaf through pages-upon-pages of previous form, but this will pay dividends in the long-run. If you aren’t willing to put in the effort, you are likely to fall short. Those who stake sensibly, select their races carefully and aren’t afraid to take a watching brief are likely to find it a hugely enjoyable and potentially money-making experience.

Three Critical Investing Tips For Millennials

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As it stands, the millennial demographic is larger than any other generation. Having said that, do they plan and save better for retirement than the other generations? Maybe, maybe not.

As millennials move into the critical earning years of their lives, it’s essential for them to save as much for retirement as possible. While it may be challenging to sock away a significant portion of your paycheck, investing wisely in the market could prove to be very beneficial in the long run.

But how?

Jason A. Sugarman suggests following the following three tips to investing in the right kinds of stocks.

Avoid Trends

Steering clear of fads will yield positive results. Just because you love snapchat, doesn’t mean you should throw all of your money into Snap Inc. We see way too often company’s stock diminishing after an IPO.

In order to avoid this pitfall, consider whether or not a company truly has potential for growth based on personnel and product advancement.

Let the Market Grow With Time

Sometimes, the best advice is to just “do nothing”. In this sense, investing in a mutual or index fund can yield some nice returns in the long-run. This may be a great option for millennials who really don’t have the time to monitor stocks and analyze the market.

It’s amazing how often an index fund will outperform a hand-picked hedge fund (not to mention the high fees that come with actively managed funds).

By removing the guesswork out of investing, indexing is a great way to go. You can also consider a target-dated fund, which rebalances your account automatically with age.

Early is Better than Later, More is Better than Less

As an investor, the biggest benefit that you can have on your side is time. When you’re young, you have leniency to take risks and suffer losses through the turbulence of the market. In regards to your retirement, risk really doesn’t matter that much due to the amount of time that you have on your side.

As history shows us, the stock market (over time) moves in a positive direction. We’re never going to have a 35 year recession. Unless we have some catastrophic event that ruins capitalism, you’re guaranteed to earn money in the long-run.

Investing in the stock market when you’re young is much akin to going shopping and buying something on sale. You’d purchase an item on sale even though you may not wear it until later, right? Millennials should look at stocks in the same light.

Recap 

Sure, investing can be very tricky. Having said that, if you follow these three tips, you’ll be sure to have some nice earnings later in life. Get started today!

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