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How Can You Judge The Feasibility of Short Term Financing in Oregon?

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Oregon statistic loansIt’s quite obvious that when your paycheck isn’t sufficient enough to sail you through difficult times (meaning financial emergencies, here) you need to turn to other resources for help. You can either ask your friends for help or apply for a loan to meet your needs. But, here too, lie certain problems. Firstly, its not always necessary that all of you all out there have friends or relatives who are close enough to be consulted during financial emergencies and even if they are, there is no reason to believe that they will also have enough funds to help you with, during stressful times. Secondly, borrowing from a traditional lender has its own problems as well. There are chances of you being turned down if you don’t have the desired credit scores and since traditional lending involves lengthy credit checks, the money thus lent takes a long time to arrange. As a result, short term financing turns out to be one of the most potent sources to turn to when you are cash strapped but still have urgencies to meet. In spite of that, can short term financing be treated as a feasible borrowing option?. Let’s find out.

Aspects Of ExtLoansUSA.com Short Term Loans That Make Them Popular

While the traditional lenders don’t entertain loan requests very easily, payday lenders have made sure that the borrowers find it incredibly easy to apply for and secure payday loans in Oregon. If you apply for these loans and get approved then the money will be credited to your account within 24 hours. The application process is very simple and you don’t even have to fax your documents. The simple eligibility criteria is documented below:

– You have to be at least 18 years of age to qualify
– You should have a regular source of earning in order to prove that you can repay your loan.
– You should have a saving or checking account in your bank

Are They Really Feasible?

Though securing same day loans in NC remains easy, it should be remembered that they come with very high rate of interest with the APR even touching 400 percent. Therefore you should only take them if you’re sure that you can pay them back on time. A rollover may cost you dearly as there are chances of the rate doubling with a single extension. So as a potential borrower you must know that judging the feasibility of short term financing remains a dicey proposition. So read the terms and conditions carefully, shop around a bit to compare the rates of interest offered by different lenders and then settle for the one who is offering duly competitive rates.

It should be specially mentioned here, that its not advisable to pay heed to each and every claim made by the payday loan advertisements. For instance, if you have heard that you can secure military payday loan, you should dismiss those claims as they are prohibited by all the branches of the United States Military Service and also by the general law of the land.…

401

Social Security

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Social Security should not amount to your entire retirement plan. In part one of this article, I put a spotlight on how the SSA calculates your retirement and disability compensation in the event you retired as soon as you were eligible or if you unfortunately became disabled unexpectedly. Based solely on those numbers, survival would prove a challenge, even more so than it already is. To further bring this point home, let me illustrate a real life scenario using subject A and subject B.

Subject A is the career worker, may or may not have a college degree but definitely has a high school diploma. They have worked their entire lives starting early doing odd jobs until they finally landed the perfect job at age 25. They have worked in various positions, mostly with the same company and started earning a modest salary of $60k a year or about $5,000 a month. Since the age of 25, they have invested 4% of their annual salary or about $2,400 a year into their 401(k). Their company has always matched 50% of their contribution up to a total of 6% of their annual salary. The 401(k) has been producing an annual rate of return of 7%.

Subject B on the other hand does not have a college degree nor a high school diploma. They only have a G.E.D. More importantly, over the entire course of their working life they have never invested into their company sponsored 401(k) investment vehicle. Their attitude has always been, why should I put money aside for later when I really need it now? Even worse, they never bothered to save any real amount of money but instead lived most of their life check to check. You know, surviving solely on the income they could bring in every two weeks from whatever job they were working? Things really got bad during periods of unemployment.

So let’s fast forward 35 years. Both persons A and B are now 60 years old but their lives have taken different turns through the years. Subject A is happily married and has enjoyed relatively positive career promotions and a steady increase in pay. Their changes in career positions over time has lead to a more fulfilling and diverse outlook on life. Although they don’t actively workout, they eat relatively healthy and don’t smoke. Neither does their spouse. They own a nice home in a planned community with manicured lawns and two car garages. They own the home outright and are only required to pay the property taxes every year.

Subject B is now divorced and has not had as great of success professionally as subject A. However, they have worked most of their life and even enjoyed the pains and thrills of raising a family but times have changed and they are now single in old age living in a rented two bed room apartment. In addition, severe back problems has forced them out of the workforce and they now receive a monthly disability check for $850 a month. They are heavy smokers and have developed a chronic cough. They are also on government assistance for housing so the government pays their rent in full every month. They don’t have any money saved other than the $250 they’ve managed to set aside in a savings account. Over the years they didn’t invest in many assets so all of their belongings fit into the one apartment. They live in a less than desired neighborhood with few attractions and no sit down restaurants. Because of their financial position, they have little chance of upward mobility. This is the life they will probably live until they die.

So for the sake of comparison, let’s pretend subject A is forced into retirement today. Their company is downsizing due to the economy and rather than take a pay cut and a demotion, subject A chooses to retire and spend time with the grandchildren. Because they invested in a 401(k) since the age of 25, their mutual fund account now has a staggering balance of $536,000 with an expected yearly payout of $47,500. Because the house they bought has appreciated in value, the house is worth $400k more than what they bought it for 25 years ago. That gives them a retirement nest egg of approximately $936,000. This doesn’t include any other investments or cash savings they may have.

As you can see, there is a distinct difference the retirement lifestyles of subject A and B. These are very realistic examples and are not too far off the norm. I haven’t even gone as far as listing possible monthly expenses but imagine living on $850 a month and you still need to pay for food, medication, clothes, grandchildren and other every day life expenses. It is definitely not impossible, but it isn’t the most comfortable situation to be in. I think given the two scenarios, any person with common sense would choose scenario A over scenario B. The only difference in the two scenarios is how each individual chose to approach their retirement planning. Again, I ask you what retirement approach will you take?…

payday loan

The Retirement Reality

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Let’s be honest, who thinks about their retirement daily when they are in their 20s and 30s? I’m not saying we don’t think about it, but how many of us are actively calculating and figuring, budgeting and planning out how we are going to get by financially when we retire? I can honestly say it’s more of a passive thought to me than anything else. Although I’ve invested in various retirement vehicles, I should make a more conscious effort to secure my financial future during retirement and you should to.

Since my 25th birthday is this year, the Social Security Administration recently sent me my first official Social Security Statement in the mail. I had heard rumors about this mysterious document before and I knew it was coming but I had no idea how much I’ve actually paid into the system to date and what I could expect to receive if I were retiring today.

If you’ve never seen one, the statement starts off by telling you what Social Security means to you. The purpose of the statement is to help you plan for your financial future by providing estimates of what your benefits are under current laws. According to Michael Astrue, the SSA Commissioner, “Social Security is the largest source of income for most elderly Americans today, but Social Security was never intended to be your only source of income when you retire.” Your sources of income should include savings, investments, pensions, and retirement accounts.

Beginning in 2020, the government will begin paying more in benefits than they will be collecting in taxes. Without any changes to the current laws, they estimate the system will be exhausted by 2037, the year I turn 52. I still will not have even come close to retiring at that point and all the money I will have paid into the system up until that point will have been lost. That goes for you and me. At best, the government estimates they will only be able to pay about 76 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits. The estimates continue to get lower and lower and with millions of people now out of work, it is definitely a cause for concern.

According to my personal statement, I have not yet reached the required 40 credits for qualifying for Social Security benefits if I retired today so the administration could not give me an estimate of what my benefits would be. However, I have earned enough credits to qualify for disability and enough for my family to receive the survivor benefits. If I became disabled right now, I would only receive monthly payments of approximately $913 a month. In the event of my untimely death, my family may be eligible to receive about $709 a month, far from enough to maintain a lifestyle.

I mentioned a 40 credit requirement earlier to determine my eligibility for receiving social security benefits upon retirement. The administration doesn’t determine your eligibility to receive benefits by how much you have paid into the fund, but how many “credits” you have earned over your working lifetime. So, for example if you paid $50,000 into the fund to date but only have accumulated 20 “credits,” you technically don’t qualify to receive any Social Security benefit. You can earn up to 4 per year and for this year you can earn one credit for each $1,120 of wages of self employment income you earn.

So what does this all mean? It means you should check your own Social Security statement for any inaccuracies and to get an idea of how much you might be entitled to receive during your retirement. If neither of these two appeals to you, check your statement to get a wake up call of what retirement will be like for you and generations to follow. In part two of this article, I will analyze real life examples of two individuals whose situations are very different. One is on their way to adequately preparing for retirement and the other is facing a retirement financed solely by government support. The differences can be startling.…

ATM

Overdraft Coverage? You Choose!

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overdraft protectionCongress recently passed a bill which was full of regulatory changes designed to protect the consumer. One of those changes regarding overdraft fees will have a noticeable immediate impact on consumers who use banks and their services via an ATM or Check Card.

I recently logged onto US Bank’s banking website to do my online banking transactions for the week which is pretty routine. As I looked over my current balance and recent transactions, I noticed a red text alert at the top of the page. The text alert was giving me notice about upcoming changes to the ATM and Check Card overdraft coverage. Once I clicked on the link there were two paragraphs on the new page. The first paragraph was short and simple. The bank wanted a YES or NO answer from me regarding my preference for overdraft protection. The second paragraph was more informative. It read as follows “Federal regulations now require banks to obtain your consent to authorize, pay and charge for ATM and everyday Check Card transactions. These rules will take effect August 15 for existing accounts.”

Immediately following the legal notice, I was prompted to choose my preference by selecting YES if I would like US Bank to cover my ATM and Check Card purchases in the event I have insufficient funds in my account. The other option is selecting NO and they will not authorize the expense and cover the bill. I selected NO. However, after reading the fine print, there are still three areas of account overdraft protection that are still covered as part of US Bank’s standard overdraft coverage. The defining factor is that you now have control over the two ways most people overdraft the most, ATM transactions and everyday Check Card transactions.

In addition to the above change, banks will also be changing their fee structure for overdrafts. For example, US Bank will be reducing their total fee from up to $37.50 to a slightly lower fee of $33. The total overdraft fee will be based on the dollar amount of the overdraft. If you overdraft your account by $20 or less, the fee will be $10 for each overdraft item. For every item greater than $20, the fee will be $33 for each overdraft item. Lastly, there will be a $25 per week fee beginning the 8th calendar day and each additional week the account is in the red.

Although I made these changes with US Bank, I still need to make the same change with each financial institution I bank with. Be aware, change with one account does not cover all of your accounts if you bank with multiple institutions. Please be sure to inquire with your financial institution to find out what exactly is changing and by how much. If you find yourself on the fence when it comes to choosing YES or NO, I would highly recommend choosing NO. By not having that added sense of ‘security,’ you will force yourself to keep a better account of your finances or risk being denied at the register.

Which will you choose?…