Cover Yourself with Term Life Insurance

Should I have a term Life Insurance? This question is becoming very common in the United States of America these days. Human life is subject to risks of death and disability due to natural and accidental causes. When human life is lost or a person is disabled permanently or temporarily, there is a loss of income to the household. The family is put to hardship. An individual can protect himself or herself against such contingencies through life insurance. Every family has its own needs and prerequisites that are to be met prior to the purchase of the policy. Among the many policies that exist, the term life insurance is the most preferred by many and is quite in demand nowadays.

People hear lot of things related to life insurance but somehow they have very little knowledge about it. Let us understand what exactly is Term Life Insurance? I believe that life insurance is a means of protection, not a means of making someone rich. It is an insurance policy that offers death protection for the insured person's whole lifetime. The most common instances where one can benefit from a term life insurance are to tackle a situation in the work sphere or to buy a home.

Owning a property is just a milestone that every couple always dreams of. Having a dream house of your own makes life complete but an accident or untimely death may ruin all your plans. With proper planning and extra care in the choice of policy you can handle all the difficulties that come your way efficiently.

What does this term life insurance actually do? Term life insurance helps in reducing the financial stress that your loved ones would feel after you were gone. With the prices of every commodity reaching the sky you sure have to worry about the future. It takes both the partners to contribute for the well being of the family, and hence you see that both the couples are working. Every home owner is always worried about his home installment and a student is concerned about the education loans. These installments need to be paid no matter what circumstances your family is facing.

My opinion is that universal life, for most people, amounts to paying for insurance you don’t need so that you have the option to limit your investment choices. At one point or the other you may need to be covered by insurance as purchasing yourself one will ensure that sense of security of your loved ones even if you were gone. Determine your needs and discuss it with your family and decide if term life insurance is the right choice for you. For first time users it is difficult to grasp the concept. Hence get prior knowledge from an insurance agent and do what is in the best interest of your family.

You can be a Good Real Estate Investor

When it comes to real estate investing, everyone has some aspirations and goals. To be a good real estate investor one has to follow some guidelines and regulations. Real estate is a great investment that gives good returns, but it will be beneficial to only those who are wise and well planned. To begin with compare the property rents and values. The best way to find a property's market value is finding out the sale prices of properties nearby which are the same for area rents. Always keep in mind that a low price can be justified with a reasonable home rent. Those renters who can pay high rents can afford to buy instead, hence reasonably priced rents are considered to be a need.

Lets take an example, If you are going to buy investment property you need to first present an offer to the seller of that house. This can be done verbally when an agreement is reached and it is recorded into writing. You should know that what you record is called a Purchase and Sale agreement; which is one of the most important documents in our careers as investors.

Purchase and sale agreement that you will need to understand front and back is the one that Real Estate Agents use. It will be great if you can get a copy of a purchase and sale agreement from an agent you know. I will advice that you should read them and understand them. Most of the Realtor contracts do not favor the buyer or the seller. Most of the contract language is about protecting the Realtors. However, each state is different and you need to examine the Realtor contracts for your state.

Trouble might arise when you haven't practiced writing up offers and you do not understand your own contract. But not to worry. What you can do is you practice at home by the time comes you should not have any problems drawing up the contract on the spot in front of the Seller. Trust me it's a good way for you to sign up for my blog announcement list. Download the Purchase and Sale agreement and study it properly, infact learn it, and then practice drawing up offers with it.

You should learn all these things like What are the operating expenses? Vacancy costs? What are loan payments and taxes? How does the cash flow statement look like? These are some of the key issues which must be addressed before you make a solid investment.

For the best option on real estate in the San Jose area please contact Tom Merigan of San Jose Real Estate properties.

Gain Instant Finance with Online Payday Loans

It is very hectic to arrange funds to deal with emergency, which generally arises in the middle of the month. In such situation you look out for external sources of finance. It is vital to arrange funds quickly so that you would not trap yourself in a possible debt situation. Online Payday Loans are meant to offer quick monetary relief, so that you can take care of the impending emergency in a convenient manner. These are small short term loans made available for a period of 14 days or 2 weeks maximum. The amount you can obtain under these loans is usually in the range of £100-£1500 which has to be repaid when your next pay cheque arrives. You can further extend the repayment term by paying an extra fee to the concerned lenders. Online payday loans are designed for the people who need finance in a short span of time, to meet several unexpected expenses. With these loans you can access an amount ranging up to £1500, which can be repaid from your next pay cheque. These loans come with massive benefits like no credit check, no faxing of documents, less paperwork and quick approval which makes them highly admirable by the borrowers. The loan amount will be sanctioned by the lender as per your credit report and income capability. The basic advantage of availing the loans is its quick and fast approval. Online mode of the loans makes the loans fast and in fact the amount will be in your account in less than 24 hours. By clicking a few buttons you can access the loans. These loans are also open to the bad credit borrowers as lenders do not check the credit histories, while sanctioning the amount. in fact By repaying the borrowed amount within the stipulated time period, they have a chance to increase their FICO score.

However you need to qualify simple terms and conditions for the approval of the loan, which include:

• Minimum age of 18 years
• Proof of a regular income
• Active checking bank account

If you can prove it, no one can stop you from getting online payday loans to fulfill all your needs. In order to apply for these loans you need to fill in one application form including your personal details. This application procedure takes very less time. This is a stiff competition among the lenders and to attract the potential borrowers, they readily agree to approve these loans with nominal rates. Lenders also do not charge any fee for processing the loan amount and thus making it an cost effective option. Besides on comparing the quotes of various lenders, you too can select a better and suitable loan deal.

Check out this free video related to online payday loans:



These loans can be used to meet various unexpected expenses like credit card bills, grocery bills, car repair expenses, medical expenses and other utility bills. With the involvement of negligible formalities, these loans are quickly approved by the lender. The required amount is transferred in your bank account in a short span of time.

Is your Bank really in a Hot Water?

The current financial turmoil has left banking customers wondering: 'How safe is my bank?' When most people retire, one of the first things they think of is protecting the income they have worked all their life for. After all, you want to protect every last dollar you have earned right? No bank can any longer claim to be fully secure, and RBS is perhaps in the weakest position. According to City analysts RBS has the second biggest "funding gap" - the amount of money the bank needs to raise in the wholesale markets over the next few months – of all UK banks after HBOS. The gap is £161 billion and, considering the wholesale money markets are effectively closed, this makes RBS's position precarious.

Have you ever asked yourself what happens to your hard earned income when it is placed in a CD? Not too long after your income is place into your CD, the bank loans that money to another source. That's right, it is loaned out! They will make 60 to 70 percent off of your deposit while you're promised 4 to 5 percent on your assets. Last year RBS was worth more than McDonald's, but its share price has fallen from almost £6 to around £1 in the last 18 months. The shares lost one third of their value on Tuesday alone.

The only one of the big banks which has deposits worth more than its loans. No funding gap and absolutely rock solid. It is the world's largest bank and if you had to bet on your money being safe in one place, it would be with HSBC. As other banks watch their share price tumble HSBC goes from strength to strength. Despite the bank's exposure to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, its shares appear to be on track to escape unscathed from the financial crisis.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp or FDIC only guarantees that 100,000 of your income is FDIC insured. However, certain retirement accounts are eligible to be insured up to 250,000. Now here is the million dollar question many of you want to know. What happens if the Bank FAILS? Contrary to what most people may think, Banks, at times, DO FAIL. Bank failures are rare but they still happen. According to the FDIC, there were 28 bank failures since October 2000!! Check out the link.

Well what happens to your money once a bank fails? I will be more than happy to tell you so let me explain. The account owners which are within the FDIC guidelines normally are able to retrieve their money rather quickly. Well, what about those retirees with over 100,000 or those IRAs over 250,000? Those with assets not covered by the FDIC will become creditors to the receivership of the failed bank. "The FDIC will then sell off the failed bank's assets and pay those account holders who were over the FDIC income limit, from the proceeds of that money. This process CAN TAKE YEARS. YES! It can actually take years to get all of your hard earned dollars back. Some of us dont have years or time on our side to retrieve all of our hard earned retirement income.

Barclays had to deny that it had requested extra capital from the government, a rumour that caused its share price to be hit hard. It has a relatively large funding gap but is a big bank that really should not run into any trouble. Its shares have been hammered in recent months but held up relatively well in the chaos of Tuesday, which is a sign that the market is relatively optimistic about its future as an independent entity.

If you need to find another place to park some or all of your money, you can compare interest rates online at Bankrate. Also, each week BauerFinancial publishes a free list of money market and CD rates offered by banks and thrifts that get at least 3 1/2 stars. Eisenberg discovered that Bankrate gave Citibank three stars -- not awful but not great either. Basic FDIC insurance tops out at $100,000 per customer, but it is possible to insure many times that amount at a single institution by setting up joint accounts and trusts.

Are we in a Recession?

To the average American, it might seem ludicrous to suggest that the United States is not in a recession right now. But economists' fuzzy definition of the term makes it hard to say when a recession actually starts until we're well into one. You might hear, for example, that recession occurs when gross domestic product (GDP) growth is negative for two or more consecutive quarters. But that's not an adequate measure, most economists agree. Right now there is a lot of talk about a recession. The financial buzzword that is out there this month is “Recession” and for good reason. t has become increasingly vital that as American citizens, we begin to understand how we can properly safeguard ourselves against the risk of a potential downturn in the economy. Obviously there are no real guarantees in life, but there are numerous healthy and advantageous steps that can be taken in order to mitigate your losses during any financial turbulence that should occur in the near future.

In the current context, the market right now is falling because of a perception, apparently a very accurate perception, that the banking and finance system is at great risk for losing money. One factor that is a better predictor of recession is the real estate market. Houses are being built, jobs are created and production in construction-related industries goes up; when real estate stagnates, those jobs and the related production are lost. Refinancing on homes also frees up money that homeowners can spend on other things, but when homes drop in value, there's no money to spend. Here are some steps that you can take to recession proof your life.

• Clean your finances Up
• Keep focusing on making a financial plan
• Make yourself invaluable in your profession
• Figure out a way to earn real money
• Think ahead and plan accordingly

The last recession the country faced was nearly a decade ago when the "dot-com" bubble burst, taking under countless companies and sending many to the unemployment line. But that downturn was mild compared to the recession the economy is likely heading into, which will probably be more comparable to the U.S. recession of the late 1980s.

The best advice is that think about the future and work on learning from the past. Think ahead and plan accordingly and you should have no difficulty overcoming the recession with the shirt still on your back. A recession does not automatically mean that your finances have to go south, but the more prepared you are, the better off you will find yourself when the waves die down and things go back to normal, so keep that in mind when recession proofing your life.

Check Out our President's view on recession:



There is no way for you to completely and fully protect yourself from a dip in the growth of the economy, but there are plenty of ways to ensure your survival during this period with as little turbulence as possible. There are of course some financial safeguards in place since the Great Depression, such as depositor insurance, and these have kept subsequent economic crises from reaching the same severe proportions, though that doesn't keep any recession from being downright dismal.

Everything You Must Know about Travel Insurance

Whether you're taking a weekend break in any part of the world or a two-week holiday in the sun, you can relax knowing that Travel Insurance is there to look after you. Because Travel Insurance can cover you for all the holidays you take each year for just one low price, lots of people find an annual policy great value.Travel Insurance can be a great investment when you are traveling, but you do need to take some time to find the right policy without going overboard. The complexity of these policies is one thing, but not having them and facing a costly problem is quite another. Always remember that before you invest in any travel insurance, take some time to consider the options you have and how much insurance you need.

Check out how it works:

Each policy of a travel Insurance has a specific plan or cover in place, which may mean you need to take on several policies to get the full cover you need. On the other hand, this is beneficial because it can help you get only the type of coverage you want and need rather than having too much. Be careful when selecting travel insurance. You need to get the type of coverage right for your specific trip. In order to select the right type and amount of travel insurance, take some time to consider the options available to you. There are various levels and also various kinds of policies available to you.

Choose a policy that covers you where you are going. For example, if you are going overseas, the policy must provide protection in that country. Tailor the type of policy you selected based on the needs in that area, too. It is also important to consider travel insurance that will help pay you back when a trip is not longer possible. For example, you have booked and prepaid expenses at your accommodations, for fare and for tours. What Do Policies Cover? Every individual travel insurance policy will cover various different circumstances, so you should always read the small print.

There are several kinds of insurance available to you, which include:

* Travel insurance for medical and dental needs
* Personal liability insurance
* Rental car excess cover
* Delay cover (if you are facing a delay and need to rent a room, this policy may help cover the cost)
* Legal costs
* Cancellation cover
* Baggage cover
* Loss of income
* Domestic pet cover
* Hijacking cover
* Total permanent disability cover
* Accidental death cover

Domestic services With travel insurance, you do need to be careful and not over buy. Having medical cover is a must for many people, and cancellation insurance can be beneficial whenever there is a reason to believe your trip may be canceled. Travel Insurance is designed to cover you for unexpected emergencies that occur in the course of an adventurous holiday. It doesn’t cover you for certain things like if you deliberately try to put your life in danger or any medical condition that exists before you travel.

Protect Your Home with Home Insurance

What is Home Insurance?

Home owners insurance is a must for anyone with their own a home, whether fully paid for or not. Home insurance protects you and your family against life’s little mishaps and without it, your asset may literally be sunk. There is no doubt about the fact that millions of people staying in US have heard about home insurance. However still many don’t invest in the many benefits that you receive with homeowners insurance, or spend the time looking at different policies to see what they are all about. Everyone wants to live in their own home peacefully without the intrusion of the outside world. Most people consider their home the one place they actually consider safe. When you are investing in home insurance policy you are protecting against damages caused by fire, wind storms, hail, vandalism, and explosions. Your homeowner’s insurance policy will cover the costs for you and your family. A homeowner’s insurance company will offer you coverage based on the age of the owner, location of the home, value that the home is worth, and the credit rating of the owner.

What does Home insurance cover?

Home owners insurance generally provides two types of coverage namely casualty coverage and liability coverage. Casualty coverage covers your home and its contents from certain natural or man made disasters like flood, fire, tornado etc. while liability coverage covers you in the case where someone is injured on your property. Both are essential is you don’t want unexpected financial burdens.

How is Home insurance calculated?

Home owners insurance is generally calculated at the replacement costs of your home and not at the sale price of your asset. You may find that what you can sell your home for far outweighs what it would cost to rebuild it should it suffer some sudden sad fate. But make sure that the replacement cost named in the policy is in fact correct. Get advice from brokers to find out what other properties are insured for with regards to replacement costs.

To get Cheaper Home insurance You should do the following:

• Cut the risk, cut the cost
• Its advisable to know what type of home insurance you need
• Look at separate buildings & contents insurance
• Shop around for home insurance
• Ask for a bargain

You can get a competitive home insurance quote online for free these days, so take advantage of it. Check out this video to get cheapest home owner's insurance:

Have a Credit Counseling done

What is Credit Counseling?

For consumers having trouble paying their debts or simply making ends meet, a credit counseling service can provide information, guidance, and solutions. Credit counseling is often equated with debt consolidation, though they are not necessarily the same thing. There are hundreds of organizations that provide credit counseling. Most of them are reputable services committed to helping consumers resolve their money troubles. However, some charge excessive fees, give questionable advice, and fail to perform the services they promise.

How it is done?

There are basically three ways that the credit counseling term is used. First, it can be the same thing as debt consolidation. Many companies use “credit counseling” as a nicer way to refer to debt. A second way that credit counseling can be a “good” term is to actually mean counseling. Many credit reduction companies and private financial institutions offer credit counseling as a type of financial planning. Counseling can help figure out how much debt is owed and how to control debt in the future. In this sense, credit counseling should be apart of every debt reduction strategy. Finally, credit counseling can be a negative thing. The credit counseling industry is so profitable that dozens of new companies spring up each month. Many of them are operated by hucksters out to make a buck at your expense. Newsweek recently ran a story about the numerous complaints the FTC has received from consumers taken for a ride by credit counseling services.

How to Choose a Credit Counseling Agency?

To make sure you get quality services from a credit counseling agency, choose wisely. Start by getting referrals from friends and family. Also, check the listings at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies (AICCCA). From www.tips.net you can get some good information on the credit counseling agencies. Check this out:



Credit counseling agency services include:

• money management education
• budget counseling
• debt counseling
• housing counseling (HUD-certified agencies), and
• referrals.

Increase Your Credit Score!

To improve your credit score it is important that you remove any inaccuracies on your credit report, make your payments on time and lower your outstanding debt balances. There are many other ways that you are able to increase your credit score. Making all of your monthly bill payments on time is the best way. Another good way is by keeping the balance of total available revolving debt limited to approx. 30% of your total credit limit.

To increase your credit score you can also limit the number of credit inquiries that you have against you by limiting the amount of new credit applications you complete for example stop applying for the credit cards that offer a free gift giveaway when you apply. Don't close old accounts because the length of your credit history plays an important role in credit scoring. A long established credit history is much better than a short patchy credit history.

Then make sure you avoid taking on consumer installment credit accounts. These are the type of accounts offered by retail furniture, appliance, etc. type stores. Many of them offer "90 days same as cash" or "no interest for one year" to sound attractive. But they are not just worth. Moreover, having these type of accounts will have a negative effect on your credit score. Never, let past due accounts get turned over to collection. It will impact your credit score negatively when the collection reports on your credit report.

Take out a secured credit card is just another good way to increase your Credit Score. By doing this, the credit card will show the creditors that you have more available credit to you. Always remember that the longer the card is open, the better that it reflects on your credit as well. Also, since it is already secured with your money, you will not be able to get yourself into any sort of spending trouble or bad habits.

30, 60, and 90 day late payments hurt your score more than anything else. A 30 day late payment occurs as soon as the payment is late, not 30 days after it is late. As we know the creditors will not always report late payments immediately, if you make the payment soon after the due date. However, you can't depend on this. The best thing you can do is make all of your payments early, just to be sure they are paid on time.

To determine how to most effectively increase your FICO credit score, certain mortgage companies may utilize computer software which can simulate what certain changes to your credit report, for example paying down balances or closing certain accounts, may have one your credit score.

Always be in touch with a mortgage broker, they can actually help you to improve your credit. It is also important to pay your bills on time and decrease your credit balances. You can increase your credit score by disputing errors found in your report. You will need to dispute errors with each of the three credit bureaus separately. If you can provide proof of errors in your credit report while applying for a mortgage ask your loan officer to do a rapid re score. This can help raise your score in as little as 3 days.

Lastly I would advice you that improve your credit score by reviewing your credit report with a mortgage professional, and follow their instructions. Check out this excellent video before you log out !

Role of a Mortgage Broker

Let us first understand who is a Mortgage Broker exactly?

A mortgage broker is a well-trained professional representing those who seek home mortgages and provides them an ideal solution. Hence, he will give the clients the best mortgage solution. He is basically a financial matchmaker between the borrower and the lender. He is thorough with the entire mortgage processes. As per the real survey, Mortgage brokers are very knowledgeable professionals who find the best interest rate for the borrowers to suit their needs by taking quotes from various lenders and picking the right one for their clients. Federal laws, state laws and licensing boards, regulate all most all the mortgage brokers. The mortgage brokers charge a nominal fee for the services he renders to the customers. Borrower saves a lot of money due to the advice got from the mortgage broker. Mortgage brokers have access to lot of mortgage services and products at wholesale prices and they in turn market these services and products to their customers.

Let us now understand need for using a commercial mortgage broker:

With the help of a mortgage broker, the customer has all chances of getting loan options for an unbelievable amount. By engaging a mortgage broker, the customer gets his value for money spent on him. They provide the customers with excellent financing options according to their needs and objectives. When working along with a mortgage broker, the borrower’s loan application has the possibility of being submitted to various lenders, this in turn increases the chances of the loan getting funded and also gives the mortgage broker the power to bargain in getting the best deal.
Locating a mortgage lender is not an easy task. By engaging a mortgage broker, this process is simplified as he has contacts with many lenders offering various financial options to the home loan seekers.

Let me explain Advantages of hiring a mortgage broker:

The biggest advantage is that the mortgage brokers have extensive knowledge about the mortgage market. They can find the borrower the best financial solution from the available options. They reduce the time spent on searching for options by the borrower. They also can negotiate well with the lender and get the best possible interest rate to the borrower.

As we know every coin has its two sides so there are certain disadvantages too for hiring a mortgage broker. The unscrupulous brokers might be there who show bias towards the lenders and make the borrower pay higher fees and commissions instead of providing an appropriate product or service to him. It can also happen that some brokers may be void of training and knowledge about the mortgage industry but may make the customers believe that they are good knowledgeable people. Not all the brokers may have good contacts with the lenders is just the most disadvantageous thing. Some mortgage brokers might also charge heavy fees to their customers.

Understanding Your Auto Insurance

Human life is subject to risks of death and disability due to natural and accidental causes. I must say that there are few details that you must know about your auto insurance policy before you go & get yourself the cheapest online insurance. Am I required to have auto insurance? This question is very common in the United States and you should a have car insurance if you operate a motor vehicle.

Auto Insurance is obligatory in most states in US, however, the enforcement necessities differ from one state to another. So it's very important to initially familiarize yourself with the car insurance regulations in your state.

If you are some one who is getting a car cover for the first time, I would say that, its best to first familiarize yourself with the associated terms & concepts related to Car Insurance such as split limits, liability coverage, uninsured coverage, & other related terms. Knowledge about a range of insurance covers & related factors will assist you in purchasing the cheapest online insurance.

Liability Coverage

Liability Insurance an expression that will frequently show up when you hunt for your Auto Insurance Policy. Remember, liability cover will take care of claims against the policy holder & anyone else who is driving the insured car, provided that individual is not living at the similar address as the policy holders. Those who are living at the similar address require to be added specially on to the policy cover. Under the liability coverage, the covered party is provided with a fixed dollar sum of coverage for damages. You can opt for combined single edge coverage or for divided limits coverage. Under the combined single boundary policy, property damage liability coverage & bodily injury coverage are enclosed under single policy. The split limits plan will split liability coverage into property & bodily injury.

Uninsured Policy

Uninsured coverage will insure you in the event when the party at fault doesn't have insurance. Your insurance corporation will become the insurance corporation of the party at mistake. Thus it is helpful in every aspect of an accident. When you will seek the automobile insurance in the cheaper line, you will find various policies, limits, & concepts. If you don't have knowledge on the subject of these policies, limits & concepts, you will be confused & have one difficult moment while deciding which insurance is exact for you. Consequently, it helps to know the various limits a little and policies that are related to the insurance of car.

Secured Homeowner Loans

In a recent report from The Halifax Building Society, it was found that almost (58%) of homeowners have invested in home improvements in the past 12 months. Most popular home improvement was interior decoration but new kitchens and new bathrooms also proved to be very popular. Rather than pay cash from savings, many choose to use the equity they had built up in the property as security for a homeowner’s loan.

Although home improvements are a common reason for borrowing money, homeowner Loans can be used for many purposes including business start-up, university fees or that dream holiday for example. Homeowner loans are secured and offer lower interest rates, larger sums of money and longer repayment terms.

Generally speaking anyone who has sufficient equity, even if their credit rating is not perfect, will be approved for a secured homeowner loan.

What is a Secured Loan?

A secured loan is a loan secured against your property. This security lowers the risk factor for the lender making loans less expensive and more readily available.

What is Equity?

Equity is simply the current value of your property less the outstanding mortgage. So, if your property is valued at 300,000 and you have an outstanding mortgage of 100,000 the equity would be 200,000. Any outstanding loans secured against your property will also be subtracted from the total equity value. Property prices are dynamic so you may discover that you have greater or lesser equity available to you depending on the strength of the property market.

Is a Secured Loan for Me?

If you are planning on applying for a loan and the amount you are looking to borrow is between 7,000 and 75,000 or more a secured loan will benefit you by offering low cost payments for larger amounts of money.

Always be Sensible and Think your Loan Through

When you apply for any loan secured or unsecured commonsense always applies. With a secured Loan you could lose your assets if you fail to keep up with payments. However, Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) can protect your assets and offers a solid safety net in event that you are unable to make loan payments due to ill health, injury or unemployment.

Lender Selection

Applying for a loan is something we all do wither it is a mortgage to purchase a new property, finance on a car or a bank loan to upgrade your kitchen. It is important that you work with an FSA regulated lender who is reputable, check the small print to understand the conditions that apply and if you are unclear on anything ask the lender to explain further.