Understanding Your Finances Can Give You Power And Choice

What is finance and what do you need to know? Finance can mean different things. It may refer to your personal financial situation. It could refer to your investments or a business's investments. It could refer to a credit or loan purchase.

Financing can be involved in your life in different ways. For example, if you are going to invest in a large purchase such as a house or even a car. Large furniture purchases and credit cards all fall into these categories. Interest rates are the most integral part of financing. Why else would a company want to loan you money or offer you credit? How else would they benefit? They benefit from the interest that you have to pay in on financing your loan. There are different types of financing options available.

The percentage rate is the amount of interest that you pay. The percentage rate is the certain portion of your loan or credit that you pay back in interest. For example, if your loan was for $40,000 and your interest rate was 12.3% then you would pay 12.3% of $40,000 in interest. The interest would be added onto your $40,000 and you would pay it back via your monthly payments.

Fixed rate: A fixed rate means your interest rate will stay the same no matter what. People usually prefer these. If you can get a low fixed rate, it will stay with you even if other average interest rates are going up. Balloon rate: A balloon rate can fluctuate with the times and the stock market but depending on the situation, this can be beneficial to you as well. You will have to decide which you think is best for you.

There are different types of financing options as we mentioned earlier. Probably the most common example of finance in the United States is credit cards. A credit card allows you to make purchases with the card. The bank issuing the card will pay on your behalf and you then pay the bank back, plus the interest. The bank makes money off the interest and you get what you want right away.

The same thing applies to pay-as-you-go or rental furniture companies. There are even rent-to-own housing services now where your monthly rent can go towards buying the house if you want to stay. Financing should be a way to help you achieve something that you're going to be purchasing anyway. Financing can get you in your house quicker than saving up the cash. Become knowledgable and financing can be a tool that will serve you well.

The author has found that most people have little or no knowledge about financial matters. She believes this is not a "bad" thing. It's just that they haven't been taught about money. The "good" new is that financial knowledge is a learnable skill, just like learning to ride a bike. She enjoys sharing and teaching people how to have a harmonious relationship with money and their finances. Kathleen Sutera is passionate about finance and is the webmaster of Finance How

In The News:


Fort Worth Star Telegram

Personal finance apps, ranked by Mobilewalla
Fort Worth Star Telegram
Mint.com Personal Finance (Free)* -- One of the most popular money-management apps. You can create a razor-sharp view of your accounts, track your budgets and better manage your expenses. (Mobilewalla score: 99/100) CheckPlease Lite Tip Calculator ...

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Business Insider

Personal Finance Experts Debate Whether Carrying Plastic Is Worth It
Business Insider
Financing a home or a car. It's getting tougher and tougher to take out a mortgage these days, and like it or not, lenders will be checking your credit report. If you haven't got a card, there won't be a credit history to speak of, and you'll have a ...

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Thursday's Personal Finance Stories
MarketWatch
Investors who take minimal risk can't expect much gain, but those who don't manage risk can expect much worse, Jonathan Burton writes today in his Money Talks column. Read about risk manager Keith McCullough's strategy. Also on MarketWatch today, ...

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New Zealand Herald

Easy to educate yourself about finances
New Zealand Herald
Photo / Thinkstock The dearth of personal financial knowledge in New Zealand is shocking. Readers of this column will know I've taken to reading Trade Me's Community forums whenever I want a litmus test of the financial knowledge of the nation.


The sad state of personal finance education
Chicago Tribune
Yet little attention is paid to educating our citizens in personal financial planning. There never has been a comprehensive attempt to provide even basic education in this area -- but all evidence suggests it is sorely needed.

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Haaretz

PersonalFinance: You can like Facebook, but don't friend stock
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Get answers to financial questions on Wednesdays from our columnists who work in the financial services industry. Christopher A. Hopkins CFA, is a vice president at Barnett & Co. Submit questions to his attention by writing to Business Editor Dave ...
Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan Strike A Blow Against The Wedding ...Forbes
How Will Zuckerberg Spend His Millions?Newsweek

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Wednesday's Personal Finance Stories
MarketWatch
Robert Powell writes in his Your Portfolio column today that if you have ever had an investment plan or worked with a financial adviser, you've probably filled out a risk-tolerance questionnaire. The problem is that most investors really don't ...

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Business Insider

Reasons to open a Roth
Chicago Tribune
On March 27, Jeff Rose, financial planner and GoodFinancialCents.com blogger, hosted an online event, the Roth IRA Movement, which he plans to make an annual celebration. He rallied other personal-finance writers to spread the word about the star ...
5 Tax Rules That WorkForbes

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New finance and economy course programs in Chicago Public Schools
Examiner.com
According to a recent news release from the Council for Economic Education, a new personal finance class may become a standard part of high school curriculum in the near future. Aimed toward students in their senior year, the course will be part of a ...


Spain's Bankia asks for $24B in state aid
Boston.com
MADRID (AP) — Spain's troubled bank, Bankia, asked the Spanish government for €19 billion ($23.8 billion) in financial support on Friday, the day that a leading credit rating agency downgraded it to junk status. Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, the bank's ...

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