June 13, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Financial Terms,
Personal Finance
A balance sheet is basically a financial statement listing the nature and amount of a company’s assets, liabilities and equity at any given time. Every type of business requires the preparation off a balance sheet; therefore it is important to know the most important terms referred to in a balance sheet.
Assets and liabilities refer to the items that belong to the company and those that are likely to incur the company expenses. There are also non-current assets which are those assets bought with the intention of remaining in use over a long period of time. Capital is usually the company shares; either preference or ordinary, while reserves are profits made by the business but have not been shared among shareholders.
Other common terms are income and expenses where income is any money coming into the company, while expenses are the total amount that the company spends in their daily routine of operations.
June 08, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Financial News,
Interest Rates
Federal rates are the rates charged when one bank loans another are mostly short term. Thus the federal funds are the amounts lend out other depository institutions or banks.
Federal rates influence the interest rates by—
Whenever any change occurs on the federal funds, the most infected are the short term interest rates including home equity and adjustable rates which results in
fluctuation in the inflation rates. The inflation causes an increase in the long term interest rates.
Interest rates are mostly influenced by demand and supply. When the supply is short of the demand the interest rates rises. Each bank is required to keep a reserve amount with the central bank (federal rates/funds). These help in curbing the demand and supply of money
An increase or decrease in interbank lending and borrowing capacity is affected by the rates. When the inter bank rates increase the interest rates for the loans increase and vise versa.
June 03, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Finance,
Mortgage
Commercial mortgages are considered as the best way to finance the acquisition of land and buildings for business purposes as they provide easy finance and are secured on commercial property.
Commercial mortgages comes in two categories, the owner occupier commercial mortgage( purchase for personal use) and the Commercial investment mortgage( purchase for rental) These loans are different from others for they involve huge sums of money and you must state the preference before availing a loan and the time for repaying the loan should be made clear.
This type of loans are risky for lenders as they pose a risk to them and qualifying for this kind of mortgage is difficult and borrowers need to furnish numerous documents to get this kind of loans. On successfully fulfilling certain criteria, a borrower qualifies for full financing and purchase of commercial real estate or any property of his or her choice
May 30, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Credit Cards,
Interest Rates
Do you often wonder why credit card service providers have not decreased their rates, yet there is an ongoing financial crunch? This issue is even more mind boggling considering that the official Reserve Bank’s cash rates have fallen to the lowest point of 3% in fifty years. Mortgage interest rates have also decreased significantly and yet credit card rates have not changed even one bit.
The situation is not likely to get any better in the near future. The argument passed by many economists as to why rates on credit cards have remained steadily high is that high credit cost coupled with the financial crisis monster are keeping credit card rates up. Some people even argue that the low mortgages are being subsidized using credit card rates.
Credit card users are therefore being advised to be careful how they use their credit cards and pay their credit card bills on time.
May 29, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Loans & Credit
The right credit report for a credit repair should actually be very detailed and informative. The details contained can be used to portray a true reflection of the credit history of person or the institution. The details contained in the credit report should be retrieved from the current credit history. A proper and strict analysis need to lead the way before any opinions, assumptions or conclusions are drawn about the subject person or institution.
The starting point is to take the step of tracking the trend of the events that are related to the credit sources. This should be most carefully done, with close observation on every step taken during the entire period of time. All the peak seasons and the off peak season should be strictly highlighted without errors or omissions. There are some vital events that should be taken note of with full details noted, such events are; bankruptcy, past debt disasters, debt letting and repossession.
May 28, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Credit Cards,
Finance
Student credit card with instant approval are those applied for online and a notification is received immediately confirming whether your application has been accepted or not and this is done via mail this is accompanied with good credit. There are many occasions and circumstances that require that one has to determine whether or not he is approved for the card.
This card usually works in the same way as any other credit card but it might have some restrictions just like some non student credit cards. When applying for the instant approval student credit card online, the following information is vital during your application.
- The age should not be below 18 years
- You should have a valid social security number
- Be a college or graduate student
- After filling in the above details, there will be other personal information that will be needed which should never be exaggerated.
May 27, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Personal Finance
The concept of money management has become a popular skill that every individual aspires to perfect to cope with tough financial times. Teenagers are not left out when we talk about money management since this skill is better learnt at this early stage of life.
Although money is a vital tool in human life, it can be very dangerous, especially to the teens, if not used properly. Teenagers are very adventurous, and with money which they do not know how to handle, can ruin their lives. They therefore need proper skills, since just like the adults; they need to have the money. The following practices will help the teenagers in managing their money:
• Make a budget, stick to it and avoid impulse spending.
• Keep a good track of all your purchases, with dates, amount spent and items bought.
• Avoid using credit cards as much as you can
• Use ATMs and other cash machines carefully.
May 26, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Finance,
Loans & Credit
A credit report is a document that usually shows an individuals information from several sources on how he or she borrows and repays his debts. This information is mainly required when an individual wants to borrow a loan or when he or she has delayed in making the payments as they agreed before with the lender.
Credit report contains an individual’s phone number. The phone number includes even the ones that are not listed. It contains both current and previous addresses. It also contains the date, month and year of birth. Employment information and social security number are also revealed on a credit report. It also shows records on bankruptcies and civil judgments among others.
The information in your credit card is private and confidential therefore you must enquire who has requested for your credit card, and you must ensure that such inquires are revealed on your credit card.
May 25, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Finance,
Loans & Credit
Personal credit scores is usually a significant part for your future planning such as purchasing a car, applying for finance to buy land or obtaining credit when needed. It is important to avoid having judgment on your credit report as this will not allow you attain those important goals. One is eligible to receive more credit at minimal rate of interest when you have higher scores.
Judgments can be kept off by avoiding all negative credit off your reports which entails account twisted above to gatherings and charge offs and judgment against you. The effect of having judgment against you is that it will remain on you for almost seven years and it does not matter whether you settle the debt in full time as it will still be on your credit report though it will indicate that the judgment is satisfied.
This usually occurs when a creditor you are in debt with sues you for having failed to settle their debts.
You should keep records of discrepancies within your credit as this will assist you know the unsettled debts. Look at the statute shortcoming concerning judgment you get on your credit reports.
May 24, 2009 // Posted by: Insider // Category:
Interest Rates,
Investments,
Risk & Return
Return on investment may simply be defined as the percentage of profit or loss in an investment. It is a commonly used kind of performance measure that evaluates the efficiency of a particular investment. You should understand that what you make depends on how long you invest and easy it is for you to withdraw it when you need it.
The return on some investments is easy to know. For example if you invest in savings accounts or in Guaranteed Investment Certificates, you will be able to calculate how much you are going to make out of the investment. However it is not so easy to tell with some other investments. These investments include stocks, where market prices are not predictable.
It is important to understand that it is not always possible to get good returns from your investments. Sometimes there may be some unavoidable circumstance that may negatively affect your investment.