Juicy Words

Debt Good and Bad - Explaining How Some Debt can be Good

How can debt be good? We’re told to avoid it at all costs. That debt is bad. And believe me, I know that too much bad debt can restrict your choices and options. But on to good debt, what does that mean? It is often related to borrowing for investing.

Debt is defined as an obligation or a position of owing. You owe something to someone. It is the why that makes it good or bad. Let me show you.

If you borrow money, i.e. put it on your credit card, to buy a meal or go to a play, that money is gone. If you pay the debt off before any interest is due, fine. But if you pay interest on something that has no lasting value, that is bad debt.

Now, if you borrow money for investing or to create something which in itself creates more value or money, it is a good debt. For example, if borrow money to loan out for 10% and because of your credit history can borrow it for 5%, it may be a good decision to create this debt for yourself. Of course, no real situation is this simple, but I think you get the idea.

Good debt is especially important in business and areas like real estate investing. Whenever you finance an endeavor like a business, you need to generate positive cash flow as quickly as possible. Business and investing always have inherent risks, and entrepreneurs are always calculating and taking risks. Nothing is a sure thing. But risk and debt are a common part of business.

Good debt means that you are most likely to make more money because of the reason you borrowed the money than the cost of borrowing the money.

Stephanie Mundle is the managing editor of http://www.MoneyMasteryForum.com an informational forum site for the average investor. Take a look. Information on forex, debt, money management, investing and business.

Come check out the forum at http://www.MoneyMasteryForum.com/forum.html
country.html

How To Choose A Credit Card

Your credit score may just be a little number, but it packs a big punch. A poor credit score can keep you from getting a mortgage or a car loan. In addition, your credit score may haunt you for a long time if it suddenly drops. Of course, if you have a good credit score it opens a lot of doors for you. This is just one reason why it is important to think about which credit card you apply for before you do.

Every time you apply for a credit card, the company has to check your credit score. This is a bad thing. Numerous inquiries from credit card companies look bad on your credit report because it looks as though you are scrambling to open lines of credit, which can be a sign that you are struggling financially. Of course, this may not be the case. However, credit scoring companies all look at it the same way.

You can avoid scarring your credit score with credit card applications by choosing your card wisely. Choose a card that matches your lifestyle and works for you instead of against you. If you plan to pay off your balance each month, you might want a charge card instead of a credit card. American Express offers a number of charge cards with flexible spending programs that are perfect for people who plan to pay off their balance each month. They also offer some flexibility so that if you have an emergency you can use the card and pay off large charges over time. In addition most of their cards offer you reward points for using the card. On the downside, American Express charges an annual membership fee for having the card.

If you do not plan to use the card often, but plan to make large purchases on the card, which you will pay off over time you should get a revolving credit card, which allows you to carry a large balance over time. Of course there cards require you to pay interest on everything you buy. Interest expenses can get very high.

Other kinds of cards include:

1) A check guarantee card, issued by your bank, that you can use to ensure that your cheque will be honoured up to a certain limit.

2) A debit card, issued by your bank, where whatever you spend is immediately deducted from your bank account

Do you need a credit card?

a) A credit card means you don’t need to carry huge amounts of cash around and risk losing it.

b) A credit card means you can buy items over the internet.

c) A credit card means you can make purchases abroad without having to worry about local currency.

d) A credit card gives the opportunity to spread the cost of a large payment over several months.

e) A credit card is useful in an emergency. For example, an unexpected repair to your house or car.

What You Need To Consider:

1) APR (Annual Percentage Rate)
This is the rate of interest that you will pay on any outstanding balance.

2) Special Introductory Rates
You may be offered a low or 0% rate of interest for a limited time (Up to 6 months) when you sign up for a new card. A higher rate of interest may be charged for cash withdrawals.

3) Balance Transfer Rate
Card issuers may offer you a lower rate of interest if your swap your balance from another credit card to theirs.

4) Interest Free period
Remember to check when interest payments will begin. Will you pay interest from the day of the purchase? Or will you have a number of days interest free before you begin to pay? There is usually no interest free period for cash withdrawals.

5) Cashback and Rewards
Some cards over points or rewards for every pound spent on the credit card. Make sure that these are appropriate for you. For example, there&’s no use collecting airmiles if you never fly.

6) Minimum Repayment
Remember to check what the minimum monthly repayment will be. If you borrow £1000 on your credit card the monthly minimum repayment will probably be in the region of £25. But if you only pay this amount each month it will take a long time to pay off the balance and cost a lot in total when you include the interest payments.

7) Annual Fees
This is the fee that the issuer will charge you every year for using their credit card. Not all credit cards have an annual fee, so remember to consider this when you are choosing which one is right for you.

Late Payments
There will be an extra charge, as well as the interest owed, if your payment is late. This charge may even be more than the amount you owe so be very careful to check what the charge is, and to ensure that all your payments are made on time. A good way of doing this is to set up a direct debit from your current account.

9) Exceeding Your Limit
You may also be charged a fee if you exceed your credit limit.

Choosing the right credit card is a complex decision, but it can be made easier by using the free online credit card finders at http://www.creditcardbuzz.com.

Stephen Kelly is a financial advisor and the founder of Credit Card Buzz (http://www.creditcardbuzz.com). A free site with credit card reviews, ratings, analysis and online applications.

How Credit Card Choices Affect Your Credit Rating

Who doesn’t love a free gift? A person with great credit can many credit card offers in the post! This is because credit card providers use the concept of risk measurement to determine who should receive a credit card. And if your credit rating is good, you seem to be a good risk to the credit card providers.

Many of their offers are very attractive. For example, they may offer you such incredible deals as no annual fees, low interest rates, high limits, and even additional cards for family, or they may give you plenty of extra rewards and limited time offers just for signing up.

While it’s nice to get offers like this in the mail, you probably want to be careful that you shouldn’t jump on each one that comes your way. This can be very dangerous! This is because each card you have increases how much potential debt you have available to use (even if you’re not using it) and that increases the amount of risk you may be in the eyes of the lending institutions.

It’s a dark spiral, really. Your credit is good so you’re thought of as a good risk. Because you’re a good risk you get lots of cards. But because you get lots of cards you’re thought of as a bad risk! Even if you don’t use all of the available credit limit on your cards, the availability is there and that’s what lending institutions look at.

So how do you fix that? First, don’t sign up for every card that comes your way. Thoughtfully select just a few cards that might be good and throw away the other offers. Select a handful of cards that offer low interest rates, a healthy limit (but not too high), and some points or rewards on regular purchases.

And, if you find that your debts have gotten out of hand from excess credit cards, you may want to consider pulling it all together through a debt consolidation loan. A debt consolidation loan gives you the benefit of getting a fixed monthly payment (rather than an unknown variable payment) and a lower interest rate and usually over a longer period of time to repay.

So credit cards aren’t necessarily a bad thing. We need them in this day and age. But what you need to do is approach them thoughtfully, selecting the best and discarding the rest. And if things have gotten out of your control, consolidate your debt to get control of it again.

Mark Lambie is the founder of Loan Source, a website for UK residents seeking secured loans. Visit our website today for a free Home Owner Loan quote and find out how much we can save you.