All through life you hear, that education is important. Advanced technology is making education more important. To excel in a career, you must pursue as much education as possible. If you desire to be a certified public accountant, you must take accounting and financial courses. In addition, you must pass a test to show you are qualified to be a CPA. If you want to be a plumber, you must spend time as an apprentice. As the apprentice puts time in on the job and hours of studying, he progresses in his trade and takes various examinations to become a journeyman plumber. No matter what field you enter, education is important and will help you progress in your chosen field.If you are working as a CPA, plumber, or in any field you have displayed three attributes. The first is intelligence, which is the ability to learn. Knowledge is the information you acquire. Wisdom is putting that knowledge into action.How much time are you putting into your spiritual education? Are you studying God’s word to learn and grow closer to Him? Are you living the way He wants you to live?In Deuteronomy 6:6-9, God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to keep His commands in front of them at all times. God’s commands should dwell at the center of every thought, word, and deed you have. God wanted the Israelites to talk about His laws and pass them on to their children. What they passed on was more than information. They were passing on an education that was life-oriented. The Israelites used the circumstances in daily living to teach about God. They wanted their children to look for God in every area of life.Your life takes on new meaning when you educate yourself about God and incorporate His teachings into your life. You begin to live the way He wants you to live. At work, you become better stewards of your job. You have a new employer. You are following in the footsteps of Jesus and glorifying God. Throughout the day, you may be the only bible people will see or hear.When a situation crops up at work and you are not sure how to handle it, you seek the advice of someone who does. Do you refer to the bible and educate yourself to find out how God wants you to handle situations. Your trust and faith will mature the more you know and obey God’s commands.At times with the education and the experience, you have, you may hold back on a project. Where is your focus? Is it on your weakness? God looks at your problems differently. If your weakness is involved in what God wants you to do then He will provide the education and resources needed to get the job done. Evidence of this is found in Exodus 4:12 God said to Moses, “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”It’s easy to forget that we don’t know everything. Only God knows everything. Remembering this fact is an education in itself. When you are in alignment with God, you can receive His power and use it to carry out His purpose. Living God’s way opens the door for the Holy Spirit to shine through you. You do not have to live on your own strength. Use God’s power to obey, trust, and live out His commands. That is the greatest education you can achieve in life.
The Importance of Intellectual Property Management
Your business relies on intellectual property far more than you think. Every business has a reason – usually to make profit from a product or service they sell. More often than not, it is a type of valuable knowledge. Of course, your business and the way you service your customers is also precious knowledge. Have you ever thought of how much you would stand to lose, if your closest competitor were to find out this valuable knowledge, not just how you manufacture your products, but how you run your business, how you service customers or even your client lists? All these things give you an advantage in the industry, and is vital to your success.
Today, many companies rely on their knowledge-based assets and thus brings intellectual property management into great importance. A “weightless economy” is perhaps a good term to describe and economy that relies on knowledge, rather than tangible assets. Take for example, tech giant Google, who allots 40% of their engineer’s time to develop their own project and many great products have come from this. Such companies recognize that innovation is good for them. And in such companies, identifying the assets that spring from this, knowing its value and how to best commercialize and profit from it is (i.e. intellectual property management) is a necessary part of doing business. Creating something new, whether it is an invention, an artistic work, a design etc., and protecting it is more than just filing the necessary papers. It is important to have a better understanding of the created IP, how much it is worth and how to protect it is important.
There is another function of intellectual property management. Many companies don’t realize that there not many “new” inventions anymore. Not to say that there can’t be any new ideas anymore, but simply that it’s hard to create a product without relying on other previously created work. For example, if you were trying to create a new product, but needed a certain process, you may find that someone else has patented this process. So, aside from letting the company know what has been done before (and can’t be protected with a patent), the intellectual property management team should be able to tell you how to legally obtain a license for other works, to help you in your own business processes.
Intellectual property management in itself is valuable for any company, both for strategic and financial reasons. It is important not to under estimate its value to your company, and thus it should be practiced correctly and thoroughly.
The Value of an Energy Efficient Home
With soaring energy costs in the country the question is being asked more and more if an energy efficient home should be given special consideration when being appraised? The answer is yes. As energy costs continue to raise, the value of a home that is more efficient then the standard home should receive higher valuation and that is just where the industry is beginning to turn. An energy efficient home rating program was developed by a US government based organization dedicated to helping consumers save money and protect the environment by using and educating consumers about energy efficient products and practices. An energy efficient home rating system is able to test the overall efficiency of a home and rank it based on how well it falls within the energy guidelines. With testing and government based certificates, homeowners can now have documentation of their home energy savings. If a homeowner has a higher energy efficiency then the average home, then not only are they saving money on their energy bill, but increasing money in their pockets monthly and thus giving their home a higher value.
Energy savings begins at a much lower level though then complete home renovations. Savings can start with your everyday home appliances such as your microwave, light bulbs, DVD players and more. Did you know that even a small change such as switching from an incandescent light bulb to a longer lasting compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) can save you over $60 in an 8-year period based on replacement and operating costs? Incandescent bulbs use 4 times as much energy as CFL’s And that is just based on one light bulb. When a home is filled with products that meet government energy saving standards, not only can the savings accumulate but appraisers are now beginning to add value to home’s based on the home’s overall energy savings.
According to Kathy Price-Robinson in the United States there are currently around half a million homes that have had an energy efficient home rating conducted. The U.S. Department of Energy by the year 2010 would like at least two million homes to be rated. “That is a small step in comparison to the over 128 million homes in the United States today that are not rated; however, it is surely a step in the right direction.” The energy efficient home rating program was created not with the resolve just to rate homes for overall efficiency but to make consumers more aware of the waste of energy in homes that drive up energy bills.
Auto Loans for a New Car – Prepare Yourself for a Buying New Car
Every American dreams of the amazing invention called car. The car dream is passed over from one generation to another. Everyone wants to get behind the wheels of a brand new car. Truly, buying a new car is the perfect dream.
When you set out to own a new automobile, auto loans become a necessity. This is because most new cars cost a pretty penny. Also, most of us don’t have ready cash to incur such an expense. If you are looking for a new auto loan, this comprehensive article can solve your problem.
Best Time to buy a Car
Most experts will suggest that it’s best to buy a car in the last quarter of the year. But, when you need a car, you need a car. You cannot wait till the year-end shopping season to buy what you need. The best time to buy a car is when you want it.
Why Auto Loans for New Cars are LESS EXPENSIVE now?
There are many lenders and auto financing companies who offer year-round great rates on new car loans. This is because of the constant cut-throat competition in the auto financing market. You can easily get approved for a low rate auto loan if you follow the following tips.
How to prepare for buying a New Car with Auto Loans?
Financial – WISE
Every great decision begins with planning. When you even decide the color of your new car in advance, why not plan your budget. A wise car buyer never discounts the importance of planning. Calculate your income and expenses. Once you know the amount that you can spend on monthly payments, you will see things in a better light. It will help you to decide on the loan amount and the car as well.
Credit Score
Getting a good score was important in school, it’s important even today. Understand that a better credit score will ensure better rates. If you have bad credit history, try to improve it before applying for a new car loan. Also, don’t forget to check your credit report because it may contain errors.
Down Payment to avoid Dangerously High Rates
Down payment is the wonderful life-saving drug in the world of auto financing. Paying 10% of total car loan cost as down payment can work wonders for you. Don’t worry if you don’t have money to make down payment. Use your old car as a trade-in. But, make sure that the car doesn’t have any lien because it will make matters worse.
When you buy a new car, car manufacturers offer cash rebates. You can use that money as down payment so that you don’t have to lighten your wallet. E.g. If you buy a new 2013 Ford Fiesta in Seattle, the company offers $1500 in cash-back scheme. If you buy a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the same city, you will get $1000 as cash rebate.
Can you find a Co-signer?
Finding someone with a good credit score can be ideal for any auto loan. As the new car loan amount is more than the amount of financing a used car, lenders want to ensure safety. They feel more secure when they have a co-signer in picture.
Choosing the Lender
Understand your situation before filling the new auto loan application form. It will help you in choosing the best auto loan program. If you are a first time buyer, many lenders as well as car manufacturers can offer you an auto loan under first time car buyer program. If you are college student, there are many college discount programs available.
A bad credit borrower must ensure that he applies at a sub-prime lender only. Go for a lender that offers auto loans to low-income car buyers if income is a problem for you.
When you apply for auto financing for a new car, you have many options for getting car financing:
1. New Car Dealerships who offer financing
2. Online Auto Financing Companies
3. Auto Lenders
4. Banks
5. Car Manufacturers’ Financing Companies
Consider every option so that you choose the perfect auto loan program with lowest interest rates and flexible loan terms. Trust only those lenders who are reputed. Also, ensure the safety of the websites before filling the online auto loan application forms.
Improve Your Poor Credit Score and Secure Yourself a Loan
So you are thinking of getting some extra money to make some urgent home repairs, the porch door needs replacing, along with a new hot water system. Unfortunately you do not have the money in the bank, but neither do you have a secure porch door or any constant hot water.
Have you considered personal loans? A lot of people take out personal loans for this type of repair. Car repairs and even holidays are used by people with their newly acquired finances. Most people have heard that a poor credit score is not a good thing (However even those that have a poor financial history can still get loans). But how do you make a good rating?
One of thing major pieces of advice from experts, before you apply for finance it is best to get a credit report completed from a reputable source. This will give you an idea of the chance of getting your application approved. In the United States of America there are three levels of credit rating, basically the higher it is the better it is.
An excellent rating is above 760, a good rating would be between 700 and 759 and a poor rating would be between 640 to 699. if you are at the top end, 760 and above then there is no point in making your rating any better. However with other ratings it is worth trying to improve as it will help your chances of succeeding in the application.
There does seem to be a bit of a chicken and egg situation sometimes, you need finance but have a poor score,but to improve you need a lender to give you a chance. Well, luckily there are things that you and your family if you have one, can do to improve your rating.
Having a poor rating does not mean you have to be stuck with it, starting to pay the bills on time instead of late or not at all will start to get you on the right path. Some lenders will still give applicants loans even with a low score, but the total given will be lower than usually and the percentage rate will be considerably higher. So you will pay more over the period of the finance.
Families can help too. If a member of your family has a good rating then some credit card companies can add you to that family members credit card as an authorized user, this will help with any poor credit score. Also having a family member with a good rating co-sign the loan could help you get what you need.
Finding the correct lender for your score is a good way to make sure that you are getting what you deserve, if you have a high score you deserve some of the best deals on the market. Instead of going to your bank or card company you can go online and search for a matching company. Companies like this are a good place go to make sure you achieve the best deal.
What are a matching company and what do they do? You enter your details on their online program and your information will be fed to several of their approved lenders, in turn the lenders will then return to the matching company with a list of loans that they are able to offer.
Once the offers come back it is then up to the applicant to choose one and complete all the necessary paperwork. A check will then be received within a matter of days and your new boiler and door fitted soon after.
Payment Options for Shopping All the Way
Everyone is busy. Busy in shopping online and in the malls. Popular online portals are breaking and making new sale records! All thanks to the convenience and the availability of easy payment options and funds!
Here are few of the factors that are making online businesses a success
Credit Cards: A credit card is plastic money. It is one of the easiest form in which a person gets a personal loan.
All online portals as well as retailers in malls accept credit cards issued by various banks.
Online payment becomes very simple and safe, thanks to the one time passwords generated for such transactions.
A PIN is sufficient for shopping using a credit card at any retail store.
Personal loans for shopping: When we apply for a personal loan, we don’t have to provide the financier with the details of what we want the loan for.
Thus these days’ personal loans are being used to finance shopping.
They can also be used as wedding loans, vacation loans and educational loans.
Payment Processing: As far as payment processing is concerned, the following factors matter to both the consumer and the online retailer.
Uncomplicated manoeuvring on website: It is important for the payment process to be step-by-step and easy to understand. Most websites work on this section very carefully and thus the online shopping experience is satisfactory.
Processing Costs: Processing costs matter to the retailers. More the processing fees they have to pay to providers of payment gateways like Visa, the lesser are their margins. So to have an effective business the processing costs need to be low.
Number of payment options: Multiple payment options should be available for the customer to make payment. This makes the shopping a convenient proposition.
Time taken to process transactions: Processing time not only tests your patience but sometimes also the strength of your internet connection!
Cash on Delivery: This is also known as “collection on delivery.” This is a very popular mode of making payments for shopping in the developing world.
It enhances impulse purchases.
A credit card is not an essential possession for the buyer.
The buyer can check the quality of the product and then pay
So this festive season, do not hesitate to shop and to gift! The availability of funds for shopping is not difficult anymore. Also the convenience of online shopping has brought various retailers to our doorstep. So let us shop all the way!
An easy way of shopping is using a credit card. It forms an integral part of most people’s financial planning. When used in the right manner, it helps reduce financial liability and optimizes financial resources.
Are Online Personal Loans Good For People With Bad Credit?
While the rise of online lending in itself makes it more convenient for people to apply for finance, is this development a good thing for those who are already struggling? There are companies out there who charge expensive annual percentage rates (APRs), leaving many people in more trouble than when they first started.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Over the last few years, online lending has earned itself a bad reputation. The internet leaves many people vulnerable to fraud, so you should always exercise caution when inputting your financial details. The best way to make sure your information remains safe is to find a secure, reliable lending platform.
There is an unfair irony attached to lending today. Those with bad credit are often led to believe they have no financial options if they have made mistakes in the past, often making their situations seem more desperate than they actually are. This can result in people making bad decisions and can lead to borrowing through unstable sources.
Meanwhile, any lenders that do accept you with bad credit will charge extortionate interest rates because of your history, making it more difficult for you to meet your monthly repayment obligations – thus worsening your situation. This is a trap that many people fall into, and it gives online installment lenders a bad name.
However, this doesn’t need to be the case. If you can find yourself a reliable lending platform, you will be connected to a secure network of trustworthy lenders who can offer sensible solutions to your borrowing needs. Many of these lenders will assess your application, even if your credit file isn’t perfect or your income is lower than average.
Instead of (or in some cases, as well as) running credit checks, these lenders will take other factors into consideration, including your income and employment circumstances, and how long you have lived at your current address. They may even ask for references they can contact who will vouch for your character personally.
Even those who receive benefits as a form of income will be able to apply, giving everyone a fair and carefully considered chance of borrowing money. In these cases, applicants won’t be accepted for higher loans than they can afford to pay back, and interest rates will be low, meaning there is a better chance of managing repayments.
If you have poor credit and need to borrow money, consider a personal installment loan, but make sure the APR is advertised between 5.99% and 35.99%. There should also be a number of options in terms of flexible repayment, offering you the chance to pay the money back anywhere between six months and six years, depending on what you can afford to pay per month.
Small, carefully considered personal loans could actually help you build a financial profile making you eligible for better future borrowing. As long as the lender is responsible, and offers reasonable interest rates, online lending platforms can actually give people with more opportunities than many other lenders in terms of improving their situation.
With this in mind, personal loans can be beneficial to those hoping to improve their credit score, but only if some caution is exercised by both parties, and you only apply to borrow an amount you can afford to pay back.
Five Reasons for Refusal of a Personal Loan
Don’t you wish personal finance were a mandatory course in college? Unfortunately, too many of us learn by mistake. When you need a personal loan and are rejected, you might be baffled as to what went wrong- and how to fix it. Here are some clues.
NO CREDIT
No credit is a situation where you have never used credit and therefore have no credit history for the bank to review. They have no way of making an educated decision on whether or not you will pay back a personal loan based on your credit history. No credit is worse than bad credit. Qualifying for and making regular payments on these types of introductory forms of credit can overcome a “no credit” score:
· Student Loans
· Secured credit card (includes a down payment amount)
· Being added to a parent’s or spouses good credit: card, car loan, etc.
LOW CREDIT
Low credit takes on several forms. If you’re using more than 30% of your allowable debt, it can negatively impact your score. Too many inquiries from shopping around for loans will also hit you hard. Lapses in payment, defaults, or bankruptcies are giant red flags and can take a long time to rebuild from.
Other things that lenders may look at are whether or not you have sizeable assets should you default on the loan. They also check to see if your debts are diversified or if you are only carrying one type of debt.
INCOME
Proof of income is generally required when applying for a personal loan. If you are unemployed or underemployed, it can work against you in the loan approval process. Lenders may also require a work history to see how long you have been with your current employer, and to determine if you typically have job stability. Frequent job loss or change will tell a creditor that your payments may not be reliable.
PURPOSE OF THE LOAN
Believe it or not, your application can be rejected due to your proposed purpose for the loan. Financial institutions have the right to set up the parameters surrounding their disbursements and can accept or reject your application based on what you want to use the money for.
BLACKLISTING
If you’ve defaulted on debt before, your name may be put on a list of whom not to loan to,’ also known as a “Blacklist.” This will follow you around for a long time and is difficult to erase. If you do resolve the debt issues, get documents to prove the resolution.
How Can A Personal Loan Improve Your Credit Score?
When it comes to a personal loan, you have to first learn to use it responsibly. Because if you miss a repayment, your credit score will be impacted adversely. And remember, that a credit score is an indicator of how well you manage your personal finances. Also, it plays a defining role when you apply for any kind of loan – secured and unsecured. It is suggested to apply for a loan slightly larger than what is needed so that you will be assured to have enough money to pay all bills necessary and still have some money left over to ensure that your bank account stays current.
A credit score can be defined as a number which reflects the financial situation of a person. If the person is well-off when it comes to financial matters, then he or she is said to have a high credit score. On the other hand, if a person is the exact opposite of this, then they possess a low credit score. There are a lot of factors that are considered by financial institutions for the purpose of evaluating a person’s credit score – usually, the credit scores of people vary from 300 to about 850.
A personal loan is a type of loan that is given by digital lenders, banks and credit unions to aid you in your plans, be it starting a small business, or making a big purchase. Personal loans tend to have an interest rate(s) lower than the credit cards; however, they can also be put to use for combining several credit card debts together into one monthly lower-cost payment.
Now, your credit score is built by keeping in mind various parameters from your credit reports. These reports serve the purpose of trailing your history of utilization of the credit across the duration of seven years. These credit reports are comprised of information, including how much credit you have utilized to date, the type of credit in your possession, the age of one’s credit accounts, whether one has put in for bankruptcy or liens filed against them, actions of debt collections taken against them, one’s total open lines of credit as well as recent inquiries for hard credit.
Like any other type of credit, personal loans are very capable of affecting your credit score. This can be done through the process of applying and withdrawing a personal loan. If you are curious as to how personal loans can end up affecting your credit, then read on to find out more about the context. There are many ways in which your credit can be affected by personal loans and some of them are listed below:
The ratio of your debt-to-income and loan
Debt-to-income ratio is considered to be the measure of your amount of income that you spend on the debt repayments. In the case of lenders, the amount of income that you receive is said to be one of the major factors proving that you are able to repay your loan.
Some of the lenders have come up with their own debt-to-income ratio so that their proprietary credit scores may make use of it in the form of a credit consideration. Do not fall into the kind of mindset that possessing a high amount of a loan would hurt your credit. The most damage it can do is raise the ratio of your debt-to-income so that you won’t be able to apply for loans anymore without it getting rejected or denied.
Paying loans on time will make credit scores soar
The moment your loan is approved, you have to make sure that you settle the payments of each month on time and in full. Delay in repayment may significantly impact the state of your credit score. However, on the other hand, if you make the payments on time every month, then your credit score will soar high, leading to an overall good score. This will not only make your name to the preferred borrower’s list, but it will prove to be beneficial for you in the long run.
Since your payment history is comprised of almost 35% of your credit score, paying loans on time is essential in cases like these so that your credit score can maintain a positive status.
Variety is built into your credit type
There are about five factors that are responsible for determining your credit score. These are composed of the payment history, the length of the credit history, the utilization ratio of the credit, the credit mix and new inquiries of the credit in accordance with FICO®.
The credit mix only accounts for about 35% of your total credit score, whereas when it comes to a personal loan you can have a varying mix of the credit types. This mix of all types of credit is viewed at a high level of approval by the creditors and lenders.
Origination fee charged by loans
Most of the lenders end up charging you an origination fee. This fee cannot be avoided at any cost and is instantly taken off from the amount of the loan payment. The amount of origination fees depends upon the amount of the loan you are about to borrow. Late payments can lead to an overdraft of fees and late expenses. Therefore, make sure that you pay complete repayment for each month before the deadline.
Avoiding penalties when it comes to payments
Some of the credit lenders tend to charge an additional fee if you end up paying your part of the loan earlier than the agreed date. This is because they are looking for moderate amounts of interest on your loan. Now, seeing that you have paid off your part of the loan before time, they will miss out on that interest that they could have possibly made if you had not cleared the debt soon enough before the deadline.