Sunday, February 17, 2008

The announcement of your liabilities

The liability is simply the bills you have to pay. Whether it's a credit card bill or payment of a mortgage loan, a liability is a sum of money that you have finished repay (with interest). If you do not follow your debts, you may think that you have more money than you really do.

You should list the commitments according to how long you have to pay. Balances of credit cards tend to be short-term obligations, while mortgages are long-term.

Remember to include student loans and auto loans. Never avoid the inclusion of a responsibility because you are embarrassed to see how much you really need. Be honest with yourself do to help you improve your financial health. The most recent balance to see where you stand with your creditors.

Check how you pay interest for the implementation of this debt. This information is an important reminder of how debt can be a wealth zapper. The debt credit card can have an annual interest rate of 18 percent or more, and to add insult to injury, it's not even tax deductible. Use a credit card to make even a small purchase price if you maintain a balance. In less than a year, a sweater in 50 $ 18 $ 59 per cent of the costs when you add the interest you pay potential.

If you compare your debts and your belongings, you can find opportunities to reduce the amount of interest you pay. Say, for example, you pay 15 percent on a balance of a credit card of $ 4000, but also an active staff of $ 5000 in a bank savings account earning 2 percent in interest. In that case, you may want to consider taking $ 4000 on the savings account to pay off the balance on your credit card. In doing so, saves you $ 520 and $ 4000 in the bank earning only $ 80 (2 percent of $ 4,000), while you were paying $ 600 balance on the credit card (15 percent of $ 4,000). If you are unable to repay the debt at high interest, at least to seek ways to minimize the cost of carrying the debt.

Means most obvious include:
  • Replacement of high interest card with a low interest rate card. Many companies offer incentives to consumers, including registration cards with favourable rates that can be used to repay high-interest cards.
  • Replacing the unsecured debt of secured debt. Credit cards and personal loans are unsecured (you do not set up any collateral or other assets to secure the debt), as a result, they have higher interest rates because this type of debt is considered as risky for the creditor. Sources of secured debt (such as home equity line accounts and brokerage accounts) give you a way to replace your high-interest debt with lowerinterest debt. You get lower interest rates for secured debt because it is less risky for the creditor's debt is backed by collateral (your home or stocks).
The year 2004 was the eighth consecutive year that personal bankruptcies exceeded one million in the United States. Bankruptcies were also at record levels. Make a diligent effort to control and reduce your debt or debt may become too heavy. If you do not, you may have to sell your stocks just to stay liquid. Remember, Murphy's law states that you sell your shares at the worst time! Do not go there.

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