Month: June 2020

Are you worried tħat rising interest rates will make your Adjustable-Ŕāte Mortgage payment too much for yoŭr budget to handle? If your budget is already stretched to the limit, the adjustment your lender makes to your interest rate aǹd payment amount could push you oveŕ the edge, especially įf yōu are still in ŷour introductory period. Here are several tips to help yōu fįnd the best mortgage for your situation.

If ŷou aŕe a homeowner in this situation, there are a number of options available to yōu including fixed interest ratě mortgages anđ a variety of adjustable-rate mortgages that could meet your financial objectives. If yōu have a loŵ tolerance for financial risk, locking in your monthly payment amount with a fixed interest rate mortgage could be best for you.

Many homeowners refinance their existing mortgage with an adjustable-rate mortgage. Many adjustable-raţe mortgages come with introductory periods ŵith interest rates that arě significantly lower ţhan ţhe actual interest rate. Depending on the amount of ŷoŭr closing costs you could benefit from refinancing ţo one of these adjustable-rate mortgages, especially if the introductory period lasts for a period of five years.

When choosing an adjustable-rate mortgage it is important to shop for the běst mortgage offer from a variety of lenders. When comparing loan offers you need to compare all aspects of ţhe loans, not just the interest rates. Pay close attention to the index your adjustable ratě mortgage is tied to. Whenever ţhe lender adjusts your mortgage, they will base tħe change on this index plus a markup. Sōme financial indexes have higher volatility ţhan other indexes, the less the index youŕ mortgage is tied to changes, the safer you wiĺl be from economic factors.

You can learn more about youŕ mortgage options, including common mistakes to avoid by registering for a free mortgage guideƅook.

For someone who is looking for information online debt consolidation, there are many conflicting reports. For example, some debt consolidation companies will tell you that using their services will not affect your credit rating for future creditors, although it could happen in reality.

So how do you know which company to trust debt consolidation? How can I make sure that you do not get taken by the consolidation company debt that preys on desperate people who are under a lot of financial stress?

There is only one answer. Search. And one of the easiest ways to do this study is online. But you cannot rely entirely on this. You can also talk with several companies about debt consolidation, and feel how they can help you in your situation.

After speaking with several different debt consolidation companies will soon realize how their services differ, and that one is best for you.

Remember to take the time to choose the company. If a bad decision, you can easily make themselves a lot more effort that can be easily avoided if you had done due diligence. Many people find this the hard way each year.

Often wise to find much information before starting the company with debt consolidation, but, (and if you read this, I think they already do). Some companies try to close to “sell” their services and do not necessarily need it. If you have another option to take, such as cutting a little interest and payment rates on credit cards, it might be a better option for you to take.

In summary, you should take your time to find a consolidation company debt. Your priority is to find a company you can trust, especially. The best way is to contact several different companies and see what each can offer.

Today I read an old (13-year-old) but really interesting article called Wake Up and Smell the Inflation on Forbes.com, on how the reported inflation figures are far below the true inflation numbers – it seems that there are many reasons a government would want to keep the reported numbers below the actual figure.

As stated in the article:

Interest payments on national debt (which is very high in both the U.S. and the U.K.) would go up dramatically if inflation was reported closer to its real level. In other words, there are billions to be saved if you can keep the official inflation figures down. Manipulating the numbers is surprisingly simple.

What this should mean to you, the individual is that inflation is here – and it’s doing nothing but increasing. This is important because it means the purchasing power of the money you’ve earned is steadily dropping. What you can do to try and protect yourself, assuming you have monetary assets sitting, is to try and keep the money in a high-yield online savings account. Most of them earn around 5% or so, which should be just enough to beat inflation. Keeping your money in a regular old bank savings account? You’re probably earning 1 or 2%, not nearly enough to keep your money’s purchasing power current.

Here’s another example: Remember that $50 gift card to the Gap your mom got you for Christmas last year? Well now you can’t buy quite as many clothes are you could in December, because Gap slowly raises its prices to keep pace with its increasing costs due to, you guessed it, inflation. There’s an argument for using your gift cards right away. (Even I’m guilty of not really knowing what to do with them and then stashing them. Apparently you can trade them online for other cards now – I’ll have to look into that!)

The bottom line is, inflation should be a real concern for everyone, regardless of how much money you have or what you’re doing with it. If you’re not investing wisely to keep the purchasing power of your money as strong as possible, the forces of inflation will slowly begin to chip away at your money, and soon. Keep smiling though, because next time you ask for a big raise, just mention that cost of living and inflationary concerns are forcing you to seek a higher than normal raise. Point to this post if you need some backup!

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be a master guitar player to make good money from playing guitar. Many more important factors come into play than your guitar playing skill.

When I was 13, I begged my parents for a guitar for Christmas. They were reluctant to take that path, I assume, because of the expected ensuing noise, but they went ahead anyway and bought me a guitar and amplifier from JC Penney. Two years later, I was playing in bars almost every weekend and making more money in one or two nights than my friends were making all week working the night shift at Burger King.

So at 15 was I a guitar virtuoso? No. I still basically sucked as did the band I was in. I mean, we were horrible, yet sold out every night we played. Literally, it was standing room only even on weeknights, and we played almost every bar in a 25-mile radius. It was 1980 when it began, and this band still packs them in anytime they play even though they still basically suck.

What was the secret? The leader of this band was a genius at giving people what they wanted. He knew what they wanted and found a way to deliver it. People want to be entertained. If you can entertain people, you can make money by playing the guitar. It is that simple.

At the time Oldies was a big thing, and this band happened to fill a local void by dressing the part, acting crazy on stage, and playing the songs that people wanted to hear. At 15 years old, I was signing autographs, fending off advances from older women, and making money playing guitar. My first experiences making money playing guitar came from merely giving the audience what they wanted.

A few years later, the whole Urban Cowboy thing happened and, I happen to get into another band that was jumping on the country bandwagon. By this time, I had spent a lot of time learning how to play guitar, and my playing and vocal skills had come a long way. I had also learned what it took to be a valuable member of a band even though I still wasn’t the best guitar player in the world. Another band followed that one and so on until I finally retired from playing live on New Years’ Eve 2005.

In addition to all the bands I played in, I also did some solo and dual work and never played in a group that wasn’t working. During that time, I learned the keys to making money playing guitar. The first key is filling the void for your audience. Most guitar players think they should go out there and play what they want to play. That doesn’t work if you’re going to make money playing guitar. People want to hear the songs they like, and they want to listen to it like the recording, solo, and all.

The second key is only to play material you do well. If that means only playing simple songs, then only play simple songs. The audience does not know if a song is difficult, only if it sounded right. You do not get extra credit for trying something hard to play. You only lose points for not doing it right. If you know the audience is going to request a particular song and you can’t pull it off, find an alternative song by the same artist you can play instead.

The third key is that you must be willing to travel. You don’t need to go across the country to make money playing guitar, but you will need to get out of your local town. Here’s an interesting fact: most people will pay a band from out of town more money then they will have a local band. There’s some weird belief that a band can’t be good if they’re local. I don’t get it, but I used it to get paid.

Building a fan base is the fourth key and is more important in the beginning than getting more money. Connecting with your audience, talking with them between sets, having good stage banter with the crowd, all of these things lead to more money. You can act as cool as you want, but it doesn’t pay as well as being friendly. And that goes double with the person that hired you.

You need to make them a fan by showing up on time, turning down if they ask you to, and always cleaning up when you’re done. If they like you as a person, they will have a stronger impression of you as a performer and will pay you more. It is easy to raise your price once you build a fan base.

So now you know a little more about how to play guitar and make money doing it. I have done very well financially playing guitar in my life even though most of the local music scene in my town never knew who I even was. It’s because I followed these keys that I got paid good money for playing guitar while the local “celebrity” bands were sometimes paying out of their own pockets to play. Always remember that being the best guitar player in the world does not mean that you will know how to make money doing it.