How Good a Deal Is Your Bank's Mortgage Insurance Plan?Written by Ivon T. Hughes
When you go to bank to get a mortgage, you'll inevitably be asked to take out mortgage insurance. The idea behind mortgage insurance is simply that if something happens to you or your spouse then your loan will be paid off which is good news for your family and bank. Most financial institutions act like they are doing you a favor by offering you mortgage insurance through their own group plan, but are they?The truth is that you could probably get a much better deal and at least an equal amount of protection by shopping around for your own insurance policy. Essentially, mortgage insurance is no different than term-life insurance. With both, your policy only lasts for a specified period of time and pays its benefits if something happens to you or your spouse. The real difference comes down to how much control you'll have over your policy and how much you'll pay for it. If you choose to use mortgage insurance offered by bank, you will not be able to customize a policy to fit your needs and you'll be lumped together with other borrowers under a group plan. Because of this, you will only have limited control over your policy. For example, through a third party provider, you would be able to choose your own beneficiary, decide how to spend proceeds if necessary, and cancel policy at any time. You would not have these options with a lending institution. Additionally, bank maintains right to not renew your policy and to cancel policy when you sell house. If you find your own insurance provider, you can make those decisions yourself.
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How To Avoid Credit Card AbuseWritten by Copyright: John Vink
Credit cards were a wonderful invention, that have evolved over time. Let's not start this article by spending much time describing history of credit cards, but rather to just provide a summary of what credit cards are about. "Credit cards are an easy to use financial vehicle which allows for purchases to be made (shopping), essentially on a promise to pay at a later date". This promise to pay at a later date, may however incur additional costs or expenses, through interest charges. Credit cards are convenient, as you don't have to carry large sums of cash in order to make purchases. Credit cards have more security than cash, as anyone can use your cash, but using your credit card is more restrictive to authorized users (although credit card theft, identity theft, and unauthorized use of credit cards are becoming more prevalent than they have been in years past). Credit card convenience extends to making purchases in stores, through mail, over phone, and even through Internet. Credit cards can not only be a convenient way to make purchases, select cards can also provide some great rewards, bonuses and points to user Rewards credit cards offer rewards, bonuses and benefits in way of discounts, special offers, limited sweepstakes opportunities, bonus points that can be exchanged for services or products, and free merchandise. These rewards and benefits can accumulate to credit card user, just by making purchases using their credit card (of course through using right credit card that offers reward/bonus/benefit). Credit cards, stemming from their convenience, can also be a financial trap if not used wisely. The same “easy to use financial vehicle which allows for purchases to be made (shopping), essentially on a promise to pay at a later date”, has a couple of potential shortcomings. These shortcomings if not attended to, can lead to financial difficulty, and even contribute to potential financial ruin (bankruptcy). The first shortcoming regarding using credit cards comes from convenience or ease at which purchases can be made. With credit cards, you can make purchases on credit, without actually having money to pay for goods or services. If purchases are made without money to pay for them, this can lead credit card user to overextend their ability to pay off credit card debt. Some people refer to this scenario as credit card abuse, where credit card user adds a lot of debt to their credit card, without ability to pay back debt in a reasonable time. The longer debt is outstanding and more difficult it is to pay back debt, more it can potentially affect one’s credit rating in a negative way as well as potentially make acquiring future credit more difficult. Check your credit report, to see what state your credit is in.
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