April 2007
You are currently browsing the articles from General Finance written in the month of April 2007.
Health care costs have gotten outrageously expensive, so you can argue the minimum you get when you visit a hospital for medical reasons is the truth. Not revealing everything can be considered not telling the truth. There has been a real tipping point in America where people are considering realistic for the first time that universal healthcare is an option for America.
Smartmoney has an interisting article and what hospitals will not tell you. We all want all the information we can get when at a hospital, but that is not always the case.
Click here to read this article on Smartmoney.com.
Written by Nagel on April 20th, 2007 with no comments.
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Bricks and mortar banks, and online banks sometimes too, seem to try to find ways of charging you fees any way they can (see credit card fees). One major reason I strayed from the traditional banks to go to a strictly online bank was these ridiculous fees they charge you and nickel-and-dime you to death. That was several years ag and many banks have changed to be more customer friendly, but there still are some banks fees that will drive you nuts. Smartmoney provides some insight to these bank fees you need to be aware of.
Click for the article on Smartmoney.
Written by Nagel on April 19th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Banking.
What are the warning signs that your credit-card debt is something to worry about. Your debt-to-income ratio, not including mortgage, should not be over 20%. Therefore, you should not commit over 1/5 of your net monthly income to paying off credit cards and other nonmortgage debt. Here are some signs:
· Using credit cards to pay for things when you know you cannot afford them.
· Worrying that loved ones will discover how deep in debt you really are.
· Only being able to make the minimum payments on your debt.
· Maxing out several or all of your credit cards.
· Charging items with the intention of paying them off at the end of the month, but then not paying off that debt.
· Using credit cards for everyday purchases like groceries because you have to.
Written by Nagel on April 18th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Credit Cards.
A couple weeks ago Altria (MO) spun off Kraft (KFT). I owned so MO at that time so I was entitled to 17 shares of the newly solo Kraft. I held the stock for those next two weeks and watched it rise a few percent and then Friday I put in a limit order to sell my 17 shares. It was executed and now I am free to use that cash for my next purchase.
More and more data comes out saying that we are due for a larger hit to the stock market than the February 27 one. The rest of the economy is supposed to take a hit as well. Moreover, polls show that this is the mood in America as well. This does not bode well for stock investors because no matter perceived or real, the market is more apt to take a hit if people think it will.
Therefore, I might keep this money on the sidelines for a while to see what happens, but I doubt I will because I am still bullish.
Written by Nagel on April 17th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Investing and Stock Market.
Gap insurance is appropriately named, as it is car insurance that covers the gap between what you owe on your car with what your car insurance company states it is worth. You might ask why you would ever need this type of car insurance, but it has its value.
As we all know that after you buy that shiny new car and drive it off the car dealership lot it depreciates dramatically. Say you bought the car for $20,000 and financed this vehicle over five years for 7.5% and put $0 as a down payment. Guess what, you automatically owe a lot more money on the car than what it is worth, maybe as high as 20-30%, even if you have full insurance coverage. Yikes!
If you have leased a new vehicle gap insurance is often part of the lease deal, but never assume that–get it in writing. It is sometimes covered in your current car insurance policy, but if not dealerships do offer the service–not that that would be recommended way to go because the dealership will charge a higher rate. Go to your current car insurance comapany and see if you are already covered. If not, see if they offer gap insurance (some do not offer it).
Gap insurance is not available for used vehicles, but it is something you need to do research on before you buy a new vehicle because it can cost you a bundle if the worst does happen.
Written by Nagel on April 16th, 2007 with no comments.
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A tribute credit card s designed for those who simply require the basic functions of a credit card, but would like to have their account reported to the credit bureaus, typically because they want to build up a good credit score. By building your credit score you can release yourself from high APRs, and that is the goal because you want to get better APRs on all credit purchases.
The tribute card offers high interest rates, and all of the variable interest rates have minimum caps. No matter how low the prime rate drops, the interest rates on the account will not go below the stated minimum caps. In addition, the APRs for all transactions are tied to the highest Prime Rate during a 90-day period. Because of this setup the APRs may never reach the lowest possible interest rates.
Often there is an annual fee applied to your tribute credit card. Moreover, there is also an account opening fee and monthly maintenance fee of $6.50. These fees definitely hurt as does the high APR, but that is the price to pay in order to restore your poor credit. This card reports to the credit bureaus, which may be worth the additional fees and that can be your saving grace.
Therefore, those who can afford to pay in full each month (to avoid high finance charges), do not mind paying the various fees associated with the card, and have a limited credit history will benefit most from the Tribute Credit Card.
Written by Nagel on April 15th, 2007 with 3 comments.
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I was really impressed reading about the beta version of Paypal Virtual Debit Card. With this you can use PayPal Virtual Debit Card when making any online purchases as long as they accept Mastercard. It generates a virtual card number each time you make a transaction online so you won’t be using your personal debit or credit card number–so no one can then steal those numbers! It also protects your sensitive financial information every time you shop online. Paypal’s Virtual Debit Card pre-populates your information in shipping in billing forms at checkout. More features:
- Protects you from fake eBay and PayPal websites
- Offers zero liability on unauthorized purchases made from your account
- It’s free
When making an online purchase a notifier appears asking if you’d like to pay with PayPal Virtual Debit Card. You can click on the notifier to use PayPal Virtual Debit Card or there are other icons you can click to access their service. Each time you make a purchase on a website, a new number is generated, so their is no unique account number that is attached to you and your financial information. To start, you just link it up to your bank account.
Once this is out of beta this will be huge for Paypal and Mastercard, becausethere is growing concern about ID theft and online secure payment and this will go a long way to alieving many fears.
Written by Nagel on April 14th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Banking and Credit Cards.
A personal finance forum is a great way to get some important personal finance information. Forums of all kinds are very popular, and personal finance forums allow you to ask basic to difficult questions while reading others’ questions and answers regarding personal finance.
MSN and Kiplinger Forums are my personal favorites and provide some excellent comments on personal finance. If you have a questions and post it, soon after you will have cogent, intelligent answers that provide you with actionable intelligence. MSN, obviously, has many boards that have nothing to do personal finance, but the personal finance message board provides some excellent insight. Kiplinger’s message board stems from its magazine, and online magazine. Kiplinger’s is all about personal finance so you can run the gamut of potential topics you want to discuss on their personal finance message board.
There are many other personal finance forums out there, and just like anything else you need to try some out to find which online community works best for you.
Written by Nagel on April 13th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Household.
Netbank online is an excellent online only bank. I have had an account there for several years, with few probelms. Netbank payment systems work well are comparable to any online bill payment systems available and you can go to www netbank com to start up an account. Years back Netbank online was one of the few legitimate banks that were online only. Friends and family were wary and sceptical that online banking could work. I first tried it because they offer interest for checking accounts when no other banks at the time did. It was never like I ever really needed or liked to visit the bank. There is rarely these personal relationships between customer and banker. Also, there is rarely a need to walk into a bank to transact business.
I closed my Netbank online account even though it has been a wonderful service. Everbank.com came up with a better offer and now I have fully jumped over to them.
www netbank com
www everbank com
Written by Nagel on April 12th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Banking.
Loss leaders is an item sold at or near cost for the store, that they put out to lure you in.They want you to do the rest of your grocery shopping while you’re there. So you need to be disciplined and not be sucked into the loss leader trap.
Milk is a popular loss leader item and that is why you find it in the back of the store. The grocery store wants you to walk as far as possible to come in for the loss leader item and then buy some more groceries while you are there. Many of the items my wife and I buy when we are at the supermarket are loss leaders. We will stock up on as much of it as the store will allow and then buy the necessary grocery items to get us through the week. Coupons, loss leaders and the like save my wife a lot of money on groceries.
Read the ads carefully, to make sure there are no requirements attached to the loss leader.
Written by Nagel on April 11th, 2007 with no comments.
Read more articles on Budgeting.