Transferring balances Between Credit CardsWritten by Johann Erickson
Understanding transferring balances from one credit card to another can be very confusing and may not help your situation at all. You can transfer your credit card balance from card you now have to another credit card that offers a low introductory rate. But, before you do this you should learn more about entire picture.
Some companies offer an introductory rate which can save you some money by transferring your debt from one credit card to another. But, you should learn how long rate will last and what rate will be after introductory rate expires. You may learn that you will in fact be paying more interest than you are now paying. Remember introductory rate is to get your business and it may not last very long. Then you could be in trouble with real interest rate that will begin when this special rate expires.
You should also find out what interest rate applies to. Will it apply to your transferred balances only? What about new purchase? If it only applies to transferred amount, then any new purchases you will be charged a different interest rate. This can also increase your debt instead of decreasing.
Some credit card companies also charge an annual fee above their interest rate fee. You should find out if there is an annual fee, how much it is and when it will be charged. Late fees and over limit fees can be another way that you can be charged more money on a given month. They may even charge a balance transfer fee. All of these are things to consider before you decide on transferring balances from one credit card to another.
Some transfer fees can be as high as 4 percent of balance that you are transferring, while a few credit card companies will cap this amount at around $50 or less, but some do not cap it all.
Transferring balance can be a good idea if you read and understand all terms and agreements of new credit card. You can find good deals out there that will help lower your monthly payments because interest rate is so low, but if they have other fees you may not be any better off than you are not. You could be paying out more than you expected if you do not read all fine print before transferring those funds.
| | WebmasterWritten by Michael Weisbrot
Hard Times In Surety The surety bond market is currently a very conservative market. Contract and commercial bond departments throughout nation have tightened up their underwriting practices due to enormous loses throughout industry. Many sureties have had to close their doors, other have had their ratings drop to a level where they can not write same business they could in years past. Obviously this leaves bonding companies that are still operating with a very conservative outlook when it comes to their underwriting guidelines. One thing that many do not understand is while current surety bond market is tough, it is considered a more traditional underwriting approach. Contractors are being angered by decreases in their bond lines, or in worst cases are now being deemed "not bondable". Business owners seeking commercial bonding such as license bonds to run their business are not only finding it harder to obtain an approval, but are also seeing rates much higher than years past. Why such a drastic difference? A couple years back industry saw softest bond market ever, which caused a backlash to what is now today's hard market. The surety bond market is cyclical, a member of Surety Bond Forums commented on cycle stating:
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