Finding Your Way Home
Using a credit card to buy lunch or a cup of coffee may not feel like a loan, but it can be if you use it as revolving credit.
Revolving credit is a credit line to borrow against and repay repeatedly. The amount of credit you can use each month is your credit line, or credit limit, and can be used as little or as much as you want up to that amount.
If you pay off the balance when you get your credit card bill at the end of each statement period, you don’t have to pay interest. Revolving credi...
When you buy or sell a home, you will work with several professionals throughout the process. Your real estate agent, home inspector, and lender can all play a significant role in the transaction. Real estate attorneys can also play a pivotal part, but you may be unsure of what exactly they do. Use this guide to learn more about the role of a real estate attorney.
What does a real estate attorney do?
Real estate attorneys are licensed to practice law and specialize in either commercial or resid...
Owing more on a car loan than the car is worth—called being “upside down” on a loan—can make buying a new vehicle difficult.
The negative equity can mean getting less for your old car at trade-in, or coming up with the extra money to pay off the old debt. Cars depreciate quickly, so the urge to switch to a new car after a few years can leave you with an older car that’s worth less than the loan.
There are still ways to buy a car when you have an upside-down loan; however, they’re not too appeal...
A certificate of deposit (CD) is a product that gives an investor a fixed interest rate for anywhere from three months to five years. The longer the term, the higher the rate. CDs generally have higher interest rates than savings accounts, but money must be kept in a CD until its maturity date. If it’s withdrawn before then, a penalty applies. CDs are FDIC-insured, which makes them safer than investing in the stock market. In order to maximize returns while maintaining liquidity, investors often...
The average American spends close to $2,400 per year on unnecessary purchases, and most people regret them after the fact. Clothes are typically the top impulse buy, followed by food and drinks, laptop computers and other big-ticket tech items, shoes and small-ticket tech like chargers or headphones.
On average, a person spends $202 per month on unnecessary purchases, which could easily be cut in half if they stopped making non-essential purchases. .
To drop unnecessary spending, deleting some...
If you’re buried in credit card debt, there’s a reasonable solution that your credit card company may allow you to use, but only if you ask about it.
A hardship plan, also known as a credit card payment plan, can help dig you out of debt and ultimately improve your credit score. A hardship plan can also save you money in interest payments and reduce your monthly credit card bill.
Don’t be scared if you think a hardship plan is the same thing as the debt management plans you see on TV commercial...
Credit can be a scary subject to approach, whether or not you want to jump into it isn’t an option in most cases; credit determines a lot, but it can also be a great financial tool when used properly. When your credit score is good, your rates, loans, and other financial endeavors will be good, too.
The first step to managing a credit score is to understand how it is calculated. Read this guide to help you on your way to achieving financial freedom.
Why does credit score matter?
Most p...
