Home Contents Insurance
It is all too easy to arrange your home and contents insurance and then forget about it. Make sure that you're up to date with the cost of replacing your belongings. For example you've probably got contents insurance for your belongings but are you aware just how easy it is to fall behind in calculating the value of them?
You Keep Adding To your Contents so add to your home contents insurance policy!
What do you imagine the average contents of a family home are worth - $55,000 or $70,000? In fact this figure, for a typical home, is estimated to be over $90,000! Apart from your “moveable items” of carpets, furniture, curtains, it's probable that electrical goods purchased over the last few years explain the sudden rise.
It's not unusual to have three or four mobile phones, a couple of computers, possibly also a laptop. Then there are the TV's. Apart form the large family wide screen digital HD ready, singing and dancing set, there's probably a another one in the kitchen and two or three others in the bedrooms, not to mention DVD and video recorders. Probably the children have iPods, gameboys and whatever else is “in” at present. Don't forget your CD collection – valued at $15 each and DVD's. Books, paintings and your stamp collection have to be counted too.
Apart from the risk of damage, all the above items are very appealing to the thief, being easy to handle and finding a ready market. Don't forget the garden, the mowers and garden machinery, contents of the shed and garage, garden furniture and even your plant tubs. The value of plants can add up too.
Why Being Underinsured Is Bad News
Should you need to make a claim, it's important that you're not under insured because if the insurance company has an excuse to judge that you don't have adequate insurance, the claim will not be fully paid up!
This means that if you have home contents insurance for, say, $40,000 and your insurance company considers there would be a value of $60,000 to replace them, then there would be a shortfall of $20,000. Many insurers will then say your maximum payout will be de-rated by the percentage you are under insured by. So you put in a $40000 claim and they will only pay out $20000 saying you were underinsured by 50%.
Read the small print very carefully. Insurers handle things in different ways. For example some will pay out up to the amount for which you're covered. It's left up to you to fund the difference.
Whilst you're thinking of re-assessment, maybe it's time to check the current figures on your buildings insurance. As well as the house, garage and outbuildings, you may have fixed items such as lighting, hot tubs and permanent garden features. These are covered by your buildings insurance, not your contents. Your insurer will normally work out a quotation based on the number of bedrooms, etc., and your postcode. The insurable figure will be the cost demolition and clearing of the site and re-building your home on the present site, of course.
There are a large number of insurance companies handling both home contents insurance and building insurance and, as always, it pays to shop around. Look at some of the links on this page for example!
The main alternative to capital and interest mortgage is an interest only mortgage, where the capital is not repaid throughout the term. This type of mortgage is common in the UK, especially when associated with a regular investment plan. With this arrangement regular contributions are made to a separate investment plan designed to build up a lump sum to repay the mortgage at maturity. This type of arrangement is called an investment-backed mortgage or is often related to the type of plan used: endowment mortgage if an endowment policy is used, similarly a Personal Equity Plan (PEP) mortgage, Individual Savings Account (ISA) mortgage or pension mortgage. Historically, investment-backed mortgages offered various tax advantages over repayment mortgages, although this is no longer the case in the UK. Investment-backed mortgages are seen as higher risk as they are dependent on the investment making sufficient return to clear the debt.
It is not uncommon for interest only mortgages to be arranged without a repayment vehicle, with the borrower gambling that the property market will rise sufficiently for the loan to be repaid by trading down at retirement (or for other less well thought-out reasons.)
There are many types of mortgage loans. The two basic types of amortized loans are the fixed rate mortgage (FRM) and adjustable rate mortgage (ARM).
Federal student loans in the United States are authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act as amended.
The first type are loans made directly to the student. These loans are available to college and university students and are used to supplement personal and family resources, scholarships, grants and work-study. They may be subsidized by the U.S. Government, or may be unsubsidized depending on the student's financial need.
Both subsidized and unsubsidized loans are guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Education either directly or through guarantee agencies. Nearly all students are eligible to receive them (regardless of credit score or other financial issues). Both types offer a grace period of 6 months, which means that no payments are due until 6 months after graduation, or 3 months after the borrower becomes a less-than-full-time student without graduating. Both types have a fairly modest annual limit regardless of the student's actual cost of education. The present limit in January 2006 is $2,800 per year for freshman undergraduate students and increases each year to $5,500 per year for junior and senior undergraduate students.
The Best Finance Advice
The best financial advice is purely and simply "make money!". I know this is easier said than done and it may be that you have tried one or more of the online 'get rich quick' schemes that promise you untold internet riches if you only follow simple steps A B C
Well I have news for you - the world simply is not like that. If it were then there would be a millionaire on every street corner and you would need to be a billionaire to own a car. So maybe thats just as well.
Money Magazine Statistics
'In 2005 the internet created 15200 new dollar millionaires' states Money Magazine. 'The average new internet millionaire is aged between 35 and 50, and is worth between $1.5M and $2.2M within 18 months of beginning their internet career.'
So if that many can do it then why cant I? You are thinking.Maybe - Just maybe you can.
Well lets take a typical such entrepeneur who I will call by his nickname on his favourite BBS (Bulletin Board System) 'Action Jack'. He agreed to an online interview (he does not currently promote or make revenue from any products on this site so he is almost unbiased!)
Q: Whats the secret, how do you make money online?
Jack says, 'There is no real secret to creating wealth on the Internet, its just a question of application, determination and sheer bloody hard work. Anybody can do it with many of the schemes that are marketed. The problem is not with the schemes themselves which mostly work but with the way that they are sold.'
Q: What is wrong with the schemes on offer today?
'The people marketing the schemes are so desperate for sales that they write these huge long sales letters aimed at persuading you that making money is easy and that you will be an overnight millionaire its not until you have signed up that you find out how much capital it would take to set the scheme up quickly and market it quickly. In fact unless you have a MINIMUM of $10000 to spend on your business oppertunity it is not going to be easy or quick.'
Q: Let me rephrase that first question. How come you succeed at making money online when so many others fail?
'I guess I have what it takes. I came from nothing - spent nothing on my first internet business opportunity either except an awful lot of my time. Let me tell you what happened... I saw a late night TV show on my local channel in the fall of 2003. It was about this guy who, by means not fully explained had made a million on the net. He was a complete Bozo! I mean he didnt even understand some of the questions the interviewer was asking. I thought "If this guy can make a million dollars online then So can I.'
Q: So you built your fortune from nothing?
'Really yes. The Internet is the New Frontier - its gold rush time where the fools get parted from their money and the hard working miners toil away and one day strike it rich. When I started in early 2004 I had just had an an old laptop given to me. I am not ashamed to say it was probably stolen. I was living in a shared apartment and the only job I had was bartending part time. I had (and still have) a lot of dodgy friends in the old neighbourhood. I was on a cheap dial-up connection and I found a guy selling the 'secret of ultimate wealth' and then it clicked. These people were doing the same old information scam that had been going on since newspapers were first printed. You know - where you sell someone a leaflet that says 'just place an advertisement for this leaflet in....'. It was a house built on sand with no real physical product and anybody could start up.'
Q: So is that what you did? Information sales?
'No. I realised there were millions of people doing this and I had to find something different. I also realised that Novelty on the Internet sells. I cant discuss the details of my business too much because then people would copy it and it would not be new any more. I am ok but I have to watch my affiliates backs-they have invested time and money in the programme. Its ok for me to tell them because under the terms when they sign up they agree not to discuss it outside the group. Its a bit like the freemasons...lol.
Q: I understand that. Are you saying that you should start your own business and forget about being an affiliate and selling somebody elses stuff?
'No way man! Not unless you have a dynamite money machine of an idea. Its an uphill struggle. To get it started my moneymaking program used to sell for $9.99 - I almost found I couldnt give it away until I had some good endorsements from my affiliates. Let me tell you now that one of these guys is a Porn Baron and he now makes more money from my business as an affiliate than I do as the owner because he finds it easy to divert traffic onto his sites. The product sells for $124.99 now by the way!'
Q: Spammer! How long did it take you to make your first million?
'You have to understand - I was doing everything myself. I couldnt afford to buy traffic, and now I understand you cant trust traffic sellers. I had to grow my sites through search engines and link exchanges - real old fashioned stuff. It took me almost a year of twelve hour days in a cramped room slaving over this silly little laptop before I made my first $500 a month online! Six months later I was regularly banking $5500 a month my current monthly checks are in the region of $120000. Thats all my money with the affiliates income taken out. The network as a whole takes around $1.2M a month. The Affiliates get 50% of each sale and thats how come I am not the top earner. To answer your question a shade over 2 years.
'Q: Is that network your only online business?
'No - you see the key is that just like the Internet Gold Mine I was talking about these affiliate schemes tend to become "mined out" after a while. My affiliates are reaching people in Germany, France, Thailand, Japan and even the US due to cultural and social barriers that I could never reach. My share of revenue is declining. You need to have multiple streams of income and thats why I want to join in with your plans when you launch.'
Not Easy. Not Quick
'Internet experts agree that it is possible for anybody to make money online and become an Internet Millionaire butthat few people have the pereverance and dedication to see it through. It takes either hard work and time or capital. Those with the capital are often too busy to invest the required time. Be prepared to see zero income for six months, and break even after a year. Internet businesses show exponential growth once a certain traffic/membership goal has been reached but this takes time.'
Do YOU have what it takes? Want to get in on the ground floor of something new? Want to work your butt off for nothing six hours a day seven days a week for six months? Want to become an internet millionaire? Yes? Email me for a full and frank discussion at mattinblack at (@) tiscali dot (.) co (.) uk - sorry I cant just write it but the spambots would come and steal my soul!
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When a purchase is made, the credit card user agrees to pay the card issuer. Originally the user would indicate his/her consent to pay, by signing a receipt with a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid, but many merchants now accept verbal authorizations via telephone and electronic authorization using the Internet.
Electronic verification systems allow merchants (using a strip of magnetized material on the card holding information in a similar manner to magnetic tape or a floppy disk) to verify that the card is valid and the credit card customer has sufficient credit to cover the purchase in a few seconds, allowing the verification to happen at time of purchase. Other variations of verification systems are used by eCommerce merchants to determine if the user's account is valid and able to accept the charge.
Each month, the credit card user is sent a statement indicating the purchases undertaken with the card, and the total amount owed. The cardholder must then pay a minimum proportion of the bill by a due date, and may choose to pay the entire amount owed or more. The credit provider charges interest on the amount owed (typically at a much higher rate than most other forms of debt). Some financial institutions can arrange for automatic payments to be deducted from the user's accounts.
Health Insurance
Did you know that comparatively only a handful of people have actually thought about protecting their financial future with private medical insurance. This beauty behind having a private health insurance is that it enable you to live your life free from unwanted worry if you were to get sick or have an accident that results in unexpected medical bills.
If you're wise you'll get health insurance coverage while you can still qualify for and afford it, which is before you need it. If you wait until you've been injured or sick, in most cases you won't qualify.
Most private medical insurance doesn't cover long-term illnesses, it's designed to cover the financial burden of short-term illnesses and injuries, many people opt choose private medical insurance since it can be a real help for certain emergencies. Some policies however do cover long term illness - it is worthwhile shopping around online. There are plenty of health insurance links here!
An added perk of private medical insurance is that you actually get to choose which hospital you would like to be treated in should you need it, what specialist you would like to consult and what treatment you receive. In most instances, you will also feel like your money's well spent beause you'll have the added perk of having your own private room complete with a television and other comforts of home.
If you are seriously thinking of buying private medical insurance, you'll have to research which one of the vast number of reputable insurance companies actually provides the best overall health coverage. Which one provides the best balance between premium cost and benefits so that if you ever need it, you'll get your money's worth with no surprises. Try following the links off this page!
Insurance is more expensive in Northern Ireland than in other parts of the UK.
Motorists in the UK are required to display a Vehicle excise duty disc in their car when it is kept or driven on public roads. This helps to ensure that most people have adequate insurance on their vehicles because you are required to produce an insurance certificate when you purchase the disc. However it is a known practice for some people to purchase insurance to gain the certificate and then to cancel the insurance and gain a full refund within the statutory 14 day cooling off period.
Personal debt has become an increasingly large problem in recent years. For instance, it is estimated that the average US household has $19,000 in non-mortgage debt. With such large debt loads, many individuals have difficulty making repayments on debts and are in need of help.