Why Learn to Invest?

So they say you need to learn how to invest first. Is it really worth all the trouble of going through all that reading, studying, and learning just to invest invest, when you can just as easily pay someone else do it all for you? Actually, sometimes it is not a better choice. Maybe they could make more money for you then you could yourself, but that is always the case.

Yes, in some cases professional earn you more money. The most common cases are such as when you have absolutely no idea what you’re doing, when you have bad advice, we have no time to invest correctly, or if you’re just not knowledgeable enough to be effective investor. In most of these cases, you’d be better off hiring someone else to invest for you.

Do any of these cases match you? Whether you are in a completely different situation over you just don’t know how to invest, there is a way to make even more money than what a professional can get you some of the time at least. Have do you do this? You simply learn how to invest entirely on your own. It is not as hard as you may think it is.

You may be thinking that the professional can earn a higher return than you. If you’re talking about stocks or pretty much any investment for that matter it’s impossible for one person to know what to choose over another. A professional might know more than you, but that doesn’t mean that they will make a higher return. It’s a game of chance in the end, and with knowledge on your part you can do sometimes just as well.

Do you really want to make more money investing without having to pay professionals to do for you? All you really have to do is take the class, read some books, and/or basically study all you can until you are able to invest on your own.

Now that you know why you should invest, or better yet why you should learn to invest your money on your own, don’t waste anymore time. Start studying and start investing as soon as possible so they can make the highest return on your money.

Understanding Real Estate Terminology

Purchasing a home can be a complicated and confusing process, especially for first-time buyers. Throughout the process, first-time home buyers will encounter a variety of unfamiliar real state terms. There are several key terms associates with purchasing real estate that are helpful to learn.

For example, many buyers confuse the terms broker and salesperson. A broker is a properly licensed individual, or corporation, who serves as a special agent in the purchase and sale of real estate, a salesperson is an individual employed or associated by written agreement by the broker as an independent contractor. The salesperson facilitates the purchase or sale of real estate.

Once you decide to purchase, a salesperson will prepare a sales contract to present to the seller along with your earnest money deposit. The sales contract is the document through which the seller agrees to give possession and title of property to the buyer upon full payment of the purchase price and performance of agreed-upon conditions. The earnest money is a buyer’s partial payment, as a show of good faith, to make the contract binding. Often, the earnest money is held in an escrow account. Escrow is the process by which money is held by a disinterested party until the terms of the escrow instructions are fulfilled.

After the buyer and seller have signed the contract, the buyer must obtain a mortgage note by presenting the contract to a mortgage lender. The note is the buyer’s promise to pay the purchase price of the real estate in addition to a stated interest rate over a specified period of time. A mortgage lender places a lien on the property, or mortgage, and this secures the mortgage note.

The buyer pays interest money to the lender exchange for the use of money borrowed. Interest is usually referred to as APR or annual percentage rate. Interest is paid on the principle, the capital sum the buyer owes. Interest payments may be disguised in the form of points. Points are an up-front cost which may be paid by either the buyer or seller or both in conventional loans.

In general, there are two types of conventional loans that a buyer can obtain. A fixed rate loan has the same rate of interest for the life of the loan, usually 14 to 30 years. An adjustable rate loan or adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) provides a discounted initial rate, which changes after a set period of time. The rate can’t exceed the interest rate cap or ceiling allowed on such loans for any one adjustment period. Some ARMs have a lifetime cap on interest. The buyer makes the loan and interest payments to the lender through amortization, the systematic payment and retirement of debt over a set period of time.

Once the contract has been signed and a mortgage note obtained, the buyer and seller must legally close the real estate transaction. The closing is a meeting where the buyer, seller and their attorneys review, sign and exchange the final documents. At the closing, the buyer receives the appraisal report, an estimate of the property’s value with the appraiser’s signature, certification and sporting documents. The buyer also receives the title and the deed. The title shows evidence of the buyer’s ownership of the property while the deed legally transfers the title from the seller to the buyer. The final document the buyer receives at closing is a title insurance policy, insurance against the loss of the title if it’s found to be imperfect.

Buyers should plan on a least four to twelve weeks for a typical real estate transaction. The process is difficult and at times, intimidating. A general understanding of real estate terminology and chronology of the transaction, however, will help any real estate novice to confidently buy his or her first home.

Getting a good unsecured loan

Are you thinking about getting an unsecured loan? Because if you are, you should take in some information before going ahead with this. Getting the best unsecured loan takes a little planning and it begins with this article.

Start with looking into your credit report. Lots of people have faults on their credit reports and they aren’t even aware of it. And if these mistakes lower your credit score, it will cost you a pile of money. Be sure to review your credit report cautiously.

Before you approach a lender for an unsecured loan, be sure all the errors are removed from your credit report. Don’t apply with a lender without trying your best to take off the errors in your credit report. Even though it’s a bother, go over your credit report anyway.

To get the lowest interest rates, comparing is key. By comparing loan offers through the internet, you make this job a lot more easier. Always strive to make an apples to apples comparison. Check to see if the loans are for the same amount and have about the same terms attached.

There are many lenders willing to give you an unsecured loan. You have to watch out for the wrong lenders, because there are some out there. With the Internet, you can do some inquiries on a lender to see if he’s one of the right companies. Or, if you have friends that have experience with unsecured loans, ask them who they employed and if they were positive about the process.

Insurance Law: Duty of Disclosure

Insurance policies are first and foremost, contracts just like any other. However, one salient distinguishing feature of an insurance contract as against other contracts is that insurance contracts are contracts uberrimae fidei. What this means is that the parties are under a duty to exercise the utmost good faith to make a full disclosure of all material facts known to them which may concern the insurance contract. In other types of contracts, parties are not placed with any legal obligation to make voluntary disclosures of information on the contract and it is basically caveat emptor. But not so with insurance contracts.

Why are contracts of insurance or insurance policies subject to this duty of disclosure? Lord Mansfield in the celebrated case of Carter v Boehm [1766] 3 Burr. 1905 held that “Insurance is a contract upon speculation. The special facts, upon which the contingent chance is to be computed, lie most commonly in the knowledge of the insured only: the under-writer trusts to his representation, and proceeds upon confidence that he does not keep back any circumstance in his knowledge, to mislead the under-writer into a belief that the circumstance does not exist; and to induce him to estimate the risqué, as if it did not exist. The keeping back such circumstance is a fraud, and therefore the policy is void. Although the suppression should happen through mistake, without any fraudulent intention; yet still the underwriter is deceived, and the policy is void; because the risqué run is really different from the risqué understood and intended to be run, at the time of the agreement. Good faith forbids either party by concealing what he privately knows, to draw the other into a bargain, from his ignorance of that fact, and his believing the contrary.”

Therefore, the law makes an assumption that a person who enters into such a contract is possessed of facts which may influence the decision of a prudent insurance company in computing the risk to be undertaken. Without full disclosure, the insurer is unable to make a correct assessment of the risk he is about to insure and it is based on this inequality of knowledge that the Courts have developed the duty of disclosure. In many jurisdictions, the duty of disclosure has been given such importance that the legislature has passed laws to that effect.

Generally, the duty of good faith requiring a policy holder to disclose material facts is applicable at the time the insurance policy is concluded. The policy holder has a duty to disclose information having material bearing on the risk to be insured when he fills up the proposal form. It does not mean that he has to disclose all knowledge that he possesses. It requires disclosure of material facts only.

What are material facts which require disclosure to the insurer? How are material facts determined? Though there are conflicting views on this, it is widely accepted that an insured’s duty of disclosure is limited to information considered to be material by a reasonable insurance company as opposed to information considered to be material by a prudent insurance company.

What happens when the insurance company subsequently finds out that you have failed to disclose such material facts? In such an instance, the insurance policy becomes voidable at the option of the insurance company. What this means is that the insurance company is entitled to waive its rights and continue with the insurance policy as if disclosure was made or to treat the insurance policy as void from inception. The privilege lies at the hands of the insurance company to choose whether to continue with the insurance policy or to rescind the insurance policy.

It is therefore of utmost importance that a person who wished to take out an insurance policy faithfully discloses all material facts within his knowledge to the insurance company when applying for insurance coverage.

Insurance Law: Insurable Interest

It is not an exaggeration to state that insurance plays a crucial role in commerce as well as the day to day life of the common folk. Insurance coverage has been such a necessity that permeates into every sector of economy, which sometimes we just take for granted. Insurance provides the safety net to people so that they can go about their businesses or life with the comfort of knowing that in the event something bad might befall upon their businesses or persons, they can look towards their insurance company for indemnity.

Nevertheless, despite its importance, an insurance policy will only be useful if it is enforceable. It is, after all, a contract just like any other and would be dependent on the ingredients which make up the contract before it could be deemed enforceable. There are many factors which determine whether an insurance policy is enforceable but one of the most fundamental of all would be the requirement that the person who took out the insurance policy has a certain interest in the risk to be insured.

This interest which the person who took out the insurance policy must possess is what is known as an insurable interest. In essence, this is brought about by the workings of law which distinguished contracts of insurance from contracts of wager. Contracts of wager are contrasted from contracts of insurance because in contracts of wager, the parties to the wager do not have any real consideration for the making of such a contract other than the sum or stake he will win or lose. In contracts of insurance, the policy holder is required to have something much more in the risk being insured.

Insurable interest may be legal or equitable. A moral certainty of loss arising from the destruction of the insured property is insufficient to give rise to an insurable interest in the property. Therefore, the person taking out the insurance must show that he has either a legal interest in the property or an equitable interest in the property.

Legal interest in a property would be a much easier interest to prove. This may be the ownership of the motorcar that you are insuring. Your registration card for the motorcar which shows that you are the legal and registered owner would be proof that you have a legal interest in the property to be insured. Likewise, a house which is registered in your name would give you an insurable interest in the form of legal interest when you prove such interest through production of the land title.

Equitable interest being an insurable interest in an insurance policy can best be demonstrated in immovable properties such as a house. In a sale and purchase transaction for a house, the vendor is the legal owner of the property and thus has the legal interest which is insurable whilst the purchaser is the equitable owner of the property and thus has an equitable interest which is insurable when he places a deposit for the house. Another scenario would be for properties held on trust. Here, the trustees are the legal owners and thus have legal interests which are insurable whilst the beneficiaries to the trust are equitable owners with equitable interests capable of being insured.

In the absence of an insurable interest capable of being insured, the insurance policy issued may be declared null and void as if it had never existed. In most cases and by reason of insurance contracts being contracts of good faith, the insurance company is not put to enquiry on the insurable interest which a person who proposes the insurance has. The onus lies upon the person who wishes to take out an insurance to ensure that he has an insurable interest in the subject to be insured. Otherwise, he risks losing everything.

Insurance Law in Brief

Many people’s lives touch upon an insurance policy in one way or another. Sometimes, you do not realize that insurance policies are currently covering the place where you work, live or even the vehicle or journey you are traveling.

For instance, the car you are traveling on is likely to be insured by a motor insurance policy. In most countries, motor insurance is compulsory. Then, you may have purchased a personal accident policy to cover yourself against death or personal injuries arising out of an accident. Assuming you were traveling on that car pursuant to your employer’s instructions, your employer may have also purchased a group employee’s insurance policy to cover their employees who were injured whilst working. The list goes on and you get the picture.

What exactly is an insurance and why is law involved? Well, insurance is essentially a contract. In a nutshell, t is a contract between the insurance company and the policy holder wherein in consideration of the payment of an agreed premium by the policy holder, the insurance company promises to do indemnify the policy holder and / or any insured person/s named in the insurance policy against the insured perils. Therefore, you are essentially looking at a legally binding promise between the insurer and the policy holder with all the terms reduced into writing in the form of the insurance policy.

The salient features of an insurance policy would be firstly, the parties to the insurance policy namely, the insurance company and the policy holder. The policy holder may or may not be the insured person. For instance, the policy holder could be the employer (and he pays for the insurance premium) but the insured person is the employee. The beneficiary under the insurance policy could be either the policy holder, the insured person or another person altogether depending on the parties’ agreement.

Next, there must be consideration moving from one party to another. Here, there must be payment of an agreed premium before the insurance company is obliged to fulfil its promises under the insurance policy. That is why in almost all insurance policies, you will find that it starts with a preamble which declares that “In consideration of the payment of premium by the Policy Holder, the Company hereby will do … this and that”.

Just like any other contracts, the insurance policy, which is a contract or agreement, contains terms and conditions governing the rights and obligations of the parties to the insurance policy. Any dispute arising out of the insurance policy shall have to be evaluated against the terms and conditions to ascertain how the issues arising should be resolved. These terms and conditions may not usually be amended unless agreed by the parties to the insurance policy.

Apart from the above, there must also be an insurable interest i.e. there must be something which the insurance company can insure against. This can be in the form of legal interest or beneficial interest belonging to the policy holder. Unless there is legal interest or beneficial interest belonging to the policy holder, there is no insurable interest and any insurance policy issued would be rendered void.

Another important feature of insurance policies would be the duty of disclosure. Contracts of insurance are called contracts uberrimae fidei i.e. they are contracts of good faith wherein parties enter with a duty to exercise the utmost good faith and to make full disclosure of all material facts within their knowledge to the other party. Hence, most insurance policies would require that the prospective policy holder complete a proposal form and sign off with a declaration that he has disclosed all material facts known to him which may influence the insurance company’s decision whether to accept the risk or not.

Finding the Best Life Insurance Rates

Recent studies on life insurance show that more than 50 percent of the total population of the country has life insurance policies.  You can probably credit this to the increasing number of insurance companies who are willing to bend their rules just to give people the kind of coverage they want.

Often, people are actually looking for affordable or cheap life insurance rates.

However, when it comes to insurance, we know that cheap insurance does not covers well. Of course, we don’t need expensive ones so the challenge is to find one insurance rates that will suit our budget and our current financial status.

Getting Affordable Life Insurance Rates

Not all people can afford expensive life insurance coverage but many people want to have some type of life insurance to protect their family for any unfortunate eventuality.  So, many people are in the lookout for affordable or cheap life insurance rates.

Basically, however, if you want the best life insurance rates, you need to be perfectly healthy.  You shouldn’t be at any risk of developing a terminal illness and you shouldn’t have any existing illness.  People who can claim perfect health can also claim preferred life insurance rates.  “I’m healthy, but I may have some minor health problems.  Can I qualify for preferred rate?”

Unfortunately, no matter how much you would like to get the preferred rate, you cannot do so unless you are completely and perfectly healthy – without the slightest form of health problem.

Getting Cheap Life Insurance Rates

How to get cheap life insurance rates for your policy? It is a better idea to obtain as many life insurance quotes before you apply for a policy, because the premiums can vary according to the provider. For this, shop around in banks or other financial organizations to get the most competitively priced life insurance policy. The easiest way is to hunt online where you get instant free quotes. However, quotes are just a guide as they can change at any time.

Another thing to keep in mind while applying for life insurance is to be honest while filling out your application form. Also have a detailed check on the terms and conditions offered by different insurers. Consider the insurer’s financial stability and strength as well as the conversion options and restrictions for a policy before a deal. Some insurers offer cheap life insurance rates, but will be having some fraudulent things inside the premiums. So be careful while selecting a life insurance policy with cheap rates.

Getting Life Insurance Rates from Online Companies

There are many reasons why you should consider getting your quotes for life insurance rates online.  First and foremost, getting quotes for rates online is quicker and easier than locating all local insurance companies.  With just one click of a mouse button and you’d have access to numerous insurance rates.

Another reason why you should consider getting your quotes for life insurance rates online is the rates themselves.  You’d find the cheapest insurance rates online.  This is because online insurance companies incur lower overhead cost than your local insurance companies.  Advertising and marketing expenses online are also cheaper than offline advertising.

There are many online websites that offer reviews of online companies.  You’d find comparative reviews of the various life insurance rates online.  So, you’d most likely find the best rate online than you could offline.  All you just need to do is to look.

Advantages of Whole Life Insurance

Most of us would like to have our financial status secured, but as we all know, we have to undergo several things before attaining that goal. If we are already able to achieve that certain level, then we can be sure that we already have the means to provide for our family with the things that they really need.

Some of the things under consideration are the basic needs of the family, college education and even just maintaining for the everyday lifestyle of the family. These things are very important aspects to consider at this point in time.

That is why more would want to avail of a whole life insurance. What is a whole life insurance, anyway? When we talk about this particular insurance policy, you are sure that you will be given security all throughout your whole lifetime, unlike when you consider getting a term insurance which only functions for a limited amount of time. Probably one of the best things that a whole life insurance policy may brag about is the fact that it builds cash value, in which the aspects mentioned in term insurance policies falter upon. One claims the cash value gotten from a whole life insurance in the form of a return. As long as you withdraw or borrow a considerate amount of your cash value, you may consider the amount as tax-deferred. These are just some of the advantages of whole life insurance compared to the other types out in the market.

There are also different types of whole life insurance, just like the other forms out in the market. Whole life insurance may be classified as a traditional, single premium and interest sensitive. Traditional whole life policies guarantee to give you the lowest possible rate of return made on the portion of the cash value that you have acquired.

IN the case of an interest sensitive policy, a valuable rate is provided into your cash value, much similar to a rate mortgage which is open for some further adjustments. Most people tend to avail of a whole life insurance because it has a wide range of choices, and you may choose just about anything which fits your qualifications.

There are several advantages of whole life insurance. The money which an individual has paid for his premium goes towards the cash value he has obtained. Right when the total of the premium money has been collected, it could soon pay off the price you have been giving for the premium after several years. Another marked advantage of whole life insurance would have to be the absence of a medical exam in a whole life insurance. All you need to do is to avail of some forms, have it evaluated and approved, and presto-you have what you need.

Remember to choose the best insurance companies out in the market before wanting to have a whole life insurance. It would be better if you are sure that you would be getting your money’s worth.

What is Whole Life Insurance?

Most people would rather discuss the term life insurance with the agents simply because it is more affordable compared with the whole life insurance. However, what many of these individuals fail to see is the fact that the whole life insurance is meant to cover the medical and hospitalization bills, among others, throughout one’s life span. This is only possible of course when the monthly premiums are done and settled with.

The policy does not expire unlike the other type. More so, the whole life insurance quotes are often sought by those who earn a good deal of income since these policies are indeed costly. To make things even more vivid, the whole life insurance is a kind of policy that stays permanent as long as you as the holder stays alive and as long as you desire to continuously pay for its premium. What makes the whole life insurance quotes somehow pricey is the idea that a payout will occur in the event of your death.

Also known as the permanent insurance, a whole life insurance ensures you of a cash value as long as you live. Basically, its premiums are higher and more expensive as influenced by the rest of the additional fees and charges therein the policy. The whole life insurance policy is actually designed for you to take advantage of. The beneficiaries that you state in the policy will enjoy the cash payout when you die but as long as you live, you continually enjoy the cash benefits associated with the premium as it covers your hospital bills, medicine expenses, and even borrow some amount from it to be able to pay for your existing debts.

Among the appealing reasons that can prompt you to secure a whole life insurance quote are as follows–if there are elderly people, a spouse, or dependent children under your care, if you fear that a term life insurance may expire by the time that you will be less capable of paying for it, if you intend to secure your family’s future with the establishment of an estate, and if your loved ones would certainly need the cash benefit out of the policy to settle the estate taxes and other payable.

Whole life insurance quotes are very much available online. The application forms which the life insurance companies provide the would-be clients are accessible as you log on to their websites. The request for whole life insurance quotes is definitely free of charge. That makes it easier and more convenient to shop around for the whole life insurance quotes. Comparing them is also a must for you and this is the best way of acquiring nothing but the best offers.

As further advised by the experts, the whole life insurance quotes are nonetheless best to apply for if you love somebody more than you love your own life. After all, the whole life insurance policy does two important things. First is to protect your family against future financial worries. Second is to enable you to save something for the future.

Term Life Insurance

One of the most popular types of insurance nowadays is the term life insurance. Most of us are not really aware of the policies that a term life insurance brings upon those who avail it.

What is term life insurance, anyway? If you are a person who would want to sign up for a plan which is deemed to be low-cost and efficient at the same time, then a term life insurance will probably work for you. A lot of television and print advertisements make it a point to reiterate the good points of a term life insurance for those who want to seek financial security for a limited amount of time. For most of us who would like to provide a low-cost way of providing financial security for your family, then a term life insurance is just for you.

A term life insurance gives you the biggest instant death benefit by only using the minimum amount. If you compare a term life insurance to other insurance life policies which are very conventional, this one is relatively cheaper. A larger coverage of purchase can be obtained by this plan because of the availability of its reasonable rates, compared to those made by a permanent life insurance. If you want to pay for the insurance, the policy will give you a specific period of time, usually ranging from aobut five to thirty years, so it would not be too hard on your part. Judging from those aspects, this is just a temporary insurance made for a definite period of time. It does not also accumulate cash value, compared to whole life or even universal insurance.

In short: Term Life Insurance provides the biggest benefits upon death but the trade off is that there is generally no return value for this insurance.

Now upon the things stated beforehand, it is probably easier to figure out what is term life insurance. All you need to do is to point out what are the types of term life insurance you exactly need. First, there is the decreasing term. In this type of term life insurance, the premiums stay level until the term of the policy is being carried out. In this case, the decreasing term is availed by people who are expecting their insurance needs to be reduced over time. In some cases, people avail of this term when paying for a mortgage or business loan.

In the case of an annually renewable term, the premium that you have has the tendency to increase every year. This type of term life insurance is purchased by individuals who belong to the younger age gap looking for a cheap insurance policy when they are young, but the premiums now become expensive as they grow old.

These are just some of the things which will enlighten on your perpetual question-what is term life insurance? Remember that this type carries a considerable difference than the other types of life insurance out in the market. It is very important to remember that one should make sure of the company in which he applies the policy in so as he would get his money’s worth.