Archive for May, 2008
Are you curious if you can afford a new car, especially considering that no one knows how high the price of gas may rise? If you would like to get an idea of the payments that new car will require, you can easily use simple online tools that will give you the basic information before you visit the dealer, so you already know what your financial picture looks like ahead of time.
The Dodge dealer listing cars for sale in San Diego has a nice little tool that allows you to put in the purchase price of the new vehicle you are considering as well as any rebates available. Include the value of your trade-in vehicle and its payoff amount, if applicable. Local sales tax rate also needs to be included in the final calculations. You can play with such factors as your downpayment and the interest rate offered by various financing options in order to get the monthly payment amount for 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 year auto loans.
Tools like this can give you a pretty good idea of the payment to expect, although they don’t include license, emission, and other fees such as this. Knowing how much you can afford for a monthly payment helps you to keep your expectations reasonable before you get your heart set on a particular vehicle, only to find that the payments will stretch your finances. The potential danger is that some consumers may be tempted to go for that vehicle they fell in love with anyway. Considering the gas price increases, we can all expect our overall automobile costs to increase, so it would be prudent to keep auto loan payments lower than we think we can afford, in order to offset likely increases in the price of fuel.
We received a couple of requests regarding probate process after our recent post on receiving an advance on an inheritance. The laws for each state vary, and in many cases it is helpful, or even essential, to retain a probate attorney in order to proceed. If there is any question regarding challenge to a will or request to change the trustee, etc., you will almost certainly require an attorney experienced in these matters.
Always seek a local attorney who will be familiar with local laws and processes. Often, online resources are available to find lists of attorneys within a particular niche who practice within a given geographical area. These resources can be an excellent place to begin. For example, USA-probabte.com lists probate attorneys all over the United States. Select your home state (one reader was from California), and then choose your county. Our reader was from Oakland, and so would select Alameda county. This brings up a list of dozens of attorneys that practice in various specialties of probate law, and will help our reader find an Alameda probate attorney.
A number of things need to be done upon the death of a family member, particularly one with whom you share joint ownership of property. There may be inheritance taxes, creditors to deal with, life insurance, survivor’s benefits, pensions, jointly owned homes or other property which need to have the title changed, and many other complications. When faced with the death of a loved one, you may not be able to see to all of these matters to your own benefit. An experienced attorney will know how to proceed according to your best interests and can help when you may not be emotionally able to face the legal and financial maze of paperwork and matters to be attended to.
For that matter, it is a much better idea to seek advice in planning all the relevant financial aspects and setting everything in order before that time comes, so that the process will be as smooth as possible for those left behind and grieving.
Applications for credit cards will appear on your credit report and can affect your overall credit. For example, if you apply for too many credit cards within a short period of time, it may be assumed that you are in some sort of financial trouble and are trying to buy your way out with credit cards (which is never wise). You may appear to be financially unstable. Also, having too many credit cards, even unused ones, will increase the ratio of potential debt to income, and make you appear less favorable from a credit standpoint.
This is one reason it is important to select credit card offers carefully before applying. Online resources, such as those offering access to a large number of different credit card options, especially if they provide a good summary of the benefits and features of each card, can be useful in your search for a credit card.
The ability to search by different features can save you time as well. For example, if you don’t plan to use your card often, but rather to keep it just for the sake of emergencies, something like travel miles will be an unimportant feature for you. Instead, you should seek a card that offers credit for the lowest possible cost. The most important factor for a rarely-used card is to choose no annual fee credit cards, because you don’t want to pay a fee for the privilege of holding the card, no matter what other benefits it offers, if you aren’t going to be using it enough for those other benefits to come into play. Of secondary consideration on a card that won’t be used often is the interest rate, because if you DO use it, you want to pay as little as possible for the privilege. Other considerations would be features that don’t depend upon usage, such as a built-in roadside assistance. The least important features in a card you don’t intend to use would be benefits based on dollars spent, such as travel miles, or deferred payments for balance transfers if you don’t intend to use your card for that purpose.
However, if you hope to lower your interest payments, you should have a different set of priorities when evaluating balance transfer credit cards. In this scenario, look first for the introductory APR and the term over which you can keep that rate. You will also need to evaluate the rate beyond that period as well, and factor in any annual fees. Several points of caution: if you plan to use this method to decrease monthly payments, do so sparingly. Constantly flitting from one card to another is another way to make yourself appear to be financially unstable on your credit report. Also, be sure you understand any penalties and the payment cycle. Make sure you can make your payments and make them on time (better yet, pay them just a bit early to be sure), because if you are late on a payment, you will likely pay hefty fees as well as lose your introductory APR. Doing so can make it difficult to obtain another card in order to transfer the balances yet again. Essentially … moving balances between cards in order to save interest fees can be worthwhile in the short run, but you should plan to pay off those debts as quickly as possible rather than maintain credit card debt at any interest rate for the best overall financial security.