(153)Like it or Not, Finance Matters, a Lot
Finance. We hear that word thrown around quite a bit and
used in phrases like in the world of high finance or
financing options are available for those who qualify, but
what does it really mean? It doesnt take an E.F. Hutton or
J. Paul Getty to understand that the term finance and
variations like financial, financing, financier, and such
are related to monetary matters.
You may be surprised, however, just how many people have no
real idea what is meant by finance. In fact, its safe to say
that much of America has a better fix on the goings on
inside the Big Brother house than they do on what happens at
the Federal Reserve! This is sad, but true.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
offers four definitions for the word finance.
They are:
1. The science of the management of money and other assets.
2. The management of money, banking, investments, and
credit.
3. Finances Monetary resources; funds, especially those of a
government or corporate body.
4. The supplying of funds or capital.
The third and fourth definitions are not what were dealing
with here as they indicate the funds and capital belonging
to a person, persons, or business entity (My finances are in
total disarray!) and the act of lending money (I couldnt buy
the new SUV because I didnt qualify for the financing.).
The first and second definitions, however, are right on the,
um, money. This is what theyre talking about on CNN
Financial. This is what concerns economists and financial
analysts. This is what should concern you. The world of
finance in the United States revolves around several things.
These include the stock market because the prices at which
stocks trade are a direct result in most cases of how well
the companies are doing, the actions of the Federal Reserve
which sets interest rates and is responsible for the coining
of money, and the value of the American dollar as compared
to other national currencies.
Many people think that, unless they have significant
investments and considerable assets, financial matters like
these do not concern them. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
The unfortunate fact is that, while the wealthy are more
immediately concerned with finance, the common people are
usually the most affected when extreme changes in the
financial world happen. The stock market crash of 1929 is a
prime example of how drastically financial upheavals can
effect everyone in the country.
About The Author
Nathan Dawson writes for http://www.marriedfinances.com and
http://www.successfulmarriageresource.com, great online
sources for marriage and finance information.
Written by: Nathan Dawson
(154)Lions and loans: why finance should always be personal
(155)Loans for self employed - creating finance opportunities for a group long ignored
When self employment was suggested to me as a method of
generating income, I had never thought I was taking the ire of
loan providers. Mention that you are self employed and you can
immediately watch the loan providers tightening the noose on
their funds. Lending loans to the self employed person is
considered a very risky venture. The business of the self
employed persons goes into losses and so does the money lent.
This is what loan provider think of the self employed people.
But, are self employed people so vulnerable. No! Self employed
people comprise of some of the richest people in the UK. Most of
the people who have chosen self employment were the ones who
voluntarily left their high paying jobs to fulfil their calling.
It is true that their income undergoes variations, but this only
shows that a regular loan with fixed repayments is not meant for
them. They need a loan wherein the loan repayments can be
moulded according to their income structure.
Loan for self employed becomes one of the most popular finance
options for the self employed people because it moulds
repayments according to the income of the self employed. How
much is to be paid and when it is to be paid will be decided by
the borrower himself. The feature of flexibility comes in three
forms- underpayment, overpayment, and payment holiday.
Underpayment is a facility wherein borrowers can pay less than
the specified amount on loan for unemployed. Thus, if it has
been decided that the repayments will be £100 and the borrower's
income in that month or quarter is not enough to make the
specified repayment, then he can request the repayment in that
month to be only £50. There is a reduction in the monthly
repayment which connotes that there has been underpayment.
Before allowing borrower to make underpayment, the lender needs
to be assured that borrower has a good paying capacity. The
paying capacity is best revealed through overpayment.
Overpayment means paying more than the specified amount.
Therefore, if the borrower makes a payment of £150 instead of
£100, it will be considered as overpayment. Overpayment is made
when the borrower has made a good profit. While overpayment
makes a provision for the leaner months, it also helps to pay
off the loan for self employed quickly.
Loans for self employed are also known for payment holidays.
Payment holiday is a period when borrower is completely allowed
to skip repayments. This is when borrower is facing difficult
times and would not be able to make repayments altogether. The
payment holiday maybe for a month or a set of months, depending
on the period for which the difficult times last.
Another feature of loans for self employed is that they allow
the borrowers themselves to certify their income. In the absence
of any accounts or not well maintained accounts, self employed
borrowers are refused loans by most loan providers. The self
employed people are normally seen to not disclose their actual
income as this will require them to pay higher tax. However,
when they approach loan providers for loans, they do not want
the income revealed to be considered. This will qualify them for
a lower value of loan. However, the loan providers who know how
the self employed people function, create specific finance
options for them. They allow the self employed people to
themselves certify their income. Self employed loan is also
known as self certified loan because of this feature.
Since the payment in loans for self employed differs from the
regular loans, shall the method of charging interest not differ?
It certainly differs. While interest on a regular loan is
calculated on a periodical basis, on loans for self employed the
interest is calculated daily. This arises from the fact that the
repayable amount on loans for self employed fluctuates very
much. If the method of charging interest used in the regular
loans is used in the loans for self employed as well then
borrowers might have to pay higher rates of interest. Thus, the
method of calculating interest daily is utilised in the loans
for self employed. The APR on loan for self employed varies from
10.9% APR to 27.60% APR with an average APR of 17.5%.
Accordingly, self employed people need not feel that they do not
have sufficient finance opportunities. Proper search can lead
them to loan providers who are ready to mould the features of
their loans in order to serve the self employed people.
Christian Phelps is a Masters in Accounting and Financial
Management from Lancaster University Management School . He has
been working with loan for self employed since his academics got
over. To find Self employed secured loan,unsecured self employed
loan visit http://www.loanforsel femployed.co.uk .
About the author:
Christian Phelps is a Masters in Accounting and Financial
Management from Lancaster University Management School . He has
been working with loan for self employed since his academics got
over. To find Self employed secured loan,unsecured self employed
loan visit http://www.loanforselfemployed.co.uk .
Written by: Christian Phelps