Business and Finance

Archive for October, 2010

It’s the same old song and dance; the guy that was selling insurance last week is offering debt settlement this week and the woman who was selling real estate is now offering loan modification. Those on the front lines of erecting these offices so that another Industry can flourish; kudos to you, as those in the know, know it’s not easy.

Recently and most noticeably has been the explosive growth and opening of debt settlement affiliate net branch offices. And interestingly, these same salespeople are filling these offices, and they’re making $75,000 – $200,000 in commission income, as they bailout the people with overextended credit card debt and other unsecured debt.

If you too, are looking to offer debt settlement to your clients, and you should, as there is real money in it, it makes sense to learn how the Industry works, as knowledge is king. See what’s out there and what works for you. See which company is consistent and thorough, easy to communicate with and is truly interested in your offices’ growth.

For many of you who have come into the Industry from the mortgage industry or loan modification industry, it’s the same as having multiple lenders to source your loans to. Don’t be naive and fall in love with only one debt Settlement Company, as you’ll unknowingly find that you’re missing a lot that’s going on around you in the Industry as a whole, never mind a better payout or better track record of Client retention.

Client retention in this Industry is paramount; far more important than your office payout because if a Client doesn’t finish the program, you’re not getting paid anyway. Remember, when the Client stops paying, you stop getting paid. Client retention is so important that soon, many of the offices with over inflated upfront fees and less than a 70% Client Retention rate will be viewed by T.A.S.C. as purely marketing companies with no overall concern for the Client. And for those in the know, it’s becoming an attorney only industry.

T.A.S.C. The Association of Settlement Companies is the Industry’s only association governing debt settlement companies. If the Company you’re working with is not overseen by T.A.S.C., you’re probably not with a “real” debt settlement company, but rather a derivation of a marketing company.

And with State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo recently stating that “Companies in the debt settlement industry often prey upon consumers who find themselves unable to keep up with credit card payments during these difficult economic times,” it’s important to understand what Companies are performing morally and ethically and are in it for the long haul. Again, client retention should be key in your decision making of what Company you choose to go with.

First and foremost, any Company that is willing to offer your debt settlement office aggressive upfront commissions is likely to be out of business or put out of business shortly.

Let’s take a closer look at what’s happening. Customers agreeing to settle their debt for 55% of the total amount owed, who have agreed to pay back (say for example) $500 per month for the next 36 months, are noticing that their first 4 months payments totaling $2,000 are being disbursed as follows – $1,750 is going to Your fees and only $250 is actually going to settling the clients debt.

Secondly, this unexpected nationwide probe, just as more and more Debt Settlement Affiliates are sprouting open, it looks like just as many will be shut down. So, be sure you know that the Company you’re sending business to, is first looking out for your customer or someone else will.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo clearly feels that some debt settlement companies are bastardizing the Industry. Subpoenas were recently issued to American Debt Foundation Inc, American Financial Service, Consumer Debt Solutions, Credit Answers LLC, Debt Remedy Solutions LLC, Debt Settlement America, Debt Settlement USA, Debtmerica Relief, DMB Financial LLC, Freedom Debt Relief, New Era Debt Solutions, New Horizons Debt Relief Inc, Preferred Financial Services Inc, U.S. Financial Management Inc and the Allegro Law Firm.

With the right office training and the right marketing plan, a debt settlement net branch office can close 2 to 3 deals, per agent, per day. Your office training should be ongoing and easy to duplicate. There should always be room for growth and expansion, but the message should be clear and consistent.

Remember; don’t sacrifice client retention for your Office payout, as you’ll find yourself disappointed in the long run.

Compare (below) Your Training, Payout and Overall Relationship with Your Settlement Company.

You must clear those higher interest rate debts at the earliest or soon you may be in a crisis. And while you are looking for a loan to pay off the debts make sure that the loan comes at low rate of interest so that it does not become another burden. Secured debt consolidation loan is one such product that ensures clearing of debts at low rate.

Secured debt consolidation loan is a popular option for paying off the debts. Through secured debt consolidation loan, you can immediately pay off all debts especially of higher interest rate. It is called debt consolidation because even after paying off the debts they are in fact consolidated under secured debt consolidation loan, though at reduced amount. Mostly, while opting for a debt consolidation loan, the main aim is availing a lower interest rate so that the loan is easier to repay after the debts are paid. This purpose is fully served, as secured debt consolidation loan is provided at lower interest rate. But how low it will be, depends on your credit history, repaying capacity and equity in collateral. Secured debt consolidation loan is also availed for getting rid of many creditors and allows for paying monthly installments to the one new lender.

Lower interest rate on secured debt consolidation loan is made possible because the borrower has to offer his valuable property like home as security of the loan to the lender. Under secured debt consolidation loan, usually an amount ranging from

Insurance companies primarily thrive on selling annuities. There are four probable arrangements one can choose from while selecting an annuity plan. An annuity maybe an immediate or deferred payout and could be a fixed or variable investment type. Common annuity choices are ones with an immediate payout and fixed investments or an annuity with deferred payout and variable annuities.

An annuity with instant payment begins payouts to the depositor instantaneously, whereas the delayed payout means that the investor will receive payments at a later date. An annuity in a fixed investment type offers a guaranteed return on savings. These include government bonds and other low-risk securities. A variable investment type offers payments on performance of funds in which money is invested.

When an insurance company sells a fixed annuity, a depositor provides a sum of money in exchange of a promise to receive a fixed monthly sum for a definite period of time or for the entire lifespan. This means for all intents and purposes, one is exchanging a total into a continuing source of income. The growth in sale of fixed annuity is based on the guarantee of a predetermined payment that does not vary, even in case of inflation.

Trades of variable annuity flourish as underlying investments grow tax-deferred. This means that any gain, appreciation or interest, received from an annuity is not taxed until cash is withdrawn. Another important selling point is that when one stops working, one may decide to have the annuity pay a steady income. Variable annuities are exceptionally beneficial and profitable for companies that trade them.

In most cases, businesses selling annuities may have something suitable and lucrative for the investor. One must be attentive to the fact that variable annuity investments in stocks or bonds have no programmed rate of return. At times they may provide a superior rate of return as compared to a fixed annuity for retirement savings. While paying for annuity, an average investor must keep in mind that an annuity contract is usually complicated and difficult to read and understand.

There are just a small amount of major credit card companies and they are Visa, MasterCard, Discovery and American Express. There are large amounts of lending institutions that will issue credit cards and almost all of these companies offer the consumer the secured credit card. The major lending institutions are normally banks that are major banks with a large amount of depositors. That is why it is important that these banks make sure that when they issue credit that they will not only get all their money back but make a profit from the loan.

The bank lending institutions know that it is loans that help them to grow and prosper. It is important that they make a loan to someone who will make a great effort to pay back because soon the bank would go broke. The economy has changed the ability for most banks to make loans. That is why the secured credit card has become the number one credit card today.

The card provides a guarantee not only to banks but to other lending institutions like credit unions and private concerns. A consumer must make a deposit into the savings account of whatever lending institution they are getting their loan from to secure the loan. This is a loan so it does mean that you must pay them back with interest and perhaps a membership fee. You need to check and make sure that you are not paying back the bulk of your loan in order to be able to have some of the loan to spend. A great thing about this type of loan is the fact you can build your credit score so that someday you will be able to get an unsecured loan.

One of the most popular gift card questions online is whether one can link prepaid gift cards like the Visa gift card to a PayPal account. The short answer is Yes and No.

Now, the long answer: Yes, it is possible to link a prepaid gift card like the Visa or American Express gift card to a PayPal account but for this to happen, you need to pray and hope that PayPal does not require you to go through their Expanded Use verification process. To better understand why, you first need to be familiar with the process for linking a credit card to a PayPal account. When you link your credit card to a PayPal account, PayPal will attempt to confirm your address with your credit card company. If the credit card company is not able to confirm your address, then you may be asked by PayPal to complete their Expanded Use enrollment process in order to activate your credit card.

Expanded Use verification means PayPal will charge your credit card a small about. Next to the charge will be a unique, randomly generated 4-digit Expanded Use code. If you have online access to your credit card activity, the charge and code will appear on your card activity in approximately 2-4 business days. If you do not have online access, you must wait until you receive your statement in the mail to get the 4-digit code. If you are adding a debit card to your PayPal account, your 4-digit Expanded Use code will be printed on your bank statement next to the charge.

Once you get the 4-digit code, you have to return to your PayPal account to enter the code per instructions from PayPal. Once completed, and PayPal confirms that you entered the correct code, you will now be able to use the card for PayPal transactions. The Expanded Use verification process is designed to protect you against fraud by verifying that the person attempting to use the credit card actually owns the card. PayPal will later credit the amount charged to your card to your PayPal account.

Now, here lies the problem with using prepaid or bank issued gift cards. If PayPal is unable to verify your address with the gift card issuer, then you may be asked to go through the Expanded Use process. Since most prepaid gift cards do not issue monthly statements or provide online access to gift card transactions, it will be impossible to complete the Expanded Use process. Also, it is not a good idea to call the credit card or gift card issuer to get the 4-digit Expanded Use code. If PayPal receives a complaint from your card issuer that you called them to get the 4-digit code, PayPal will close your account permanently.

So, the first step to attempting to use a prepaid gift card on PayPal is to make sure the name and address (billing address) on your PayPal account matches the name and address on file with the gift card issuer. If you just purchased your prepaid gift card, call the card issuer and add your name and address to the card. If your information (name and address) has changed since you registered your card, call the card issuer or go online and update your information before you use the card on PayPal.

Once this is done, you just have to hope that PayPal is able to successfully verify your address with the gift card issuer. If they are able to verify your address, then you are all set. If they cannot verify your address with the card issuer, then you probably will not be able to use that gift card on PayPal.

The savings bonds issued by the federal government are probably the safest investments ever. After all, you will earn interest and recoup your principal investment no matter the state of the economy. Any US citizen with a social security number and Puerto Rican residents can invest in these bonds.

Definition

But first, a definition is in order. As previously said, savings bonds are debt securities issued by the US Department of the Treasury with the purpose of funding the federal government’s borrowing needs. Savings bonds come in several types:

* Series EE bonds will increase in value as long as the interest accrues on them for 30 years. When these securities become due and demandable, you will be paid the accrued interest plus the original investment.

* Series HH bonds are bought at their face value ranging from $500 to $10,000 in denominations with no limit on the amount of purchase. However, these securities do not increase in value and are limited to just 20 years.

* Series I bonds are also purchased at face value. It can increase in value depending on the inflation rate for the next 30 years. The limit on purchase is set at $5,000 per calendar year.

Benefits

Of course, the primary benefit of savings bonds is that these securities are truly secure in every sense of the word, finance-wise. Your original investment along with interest accrued will be paid, recession or no recession.

Another benefit is that the interest accrued on these bonds need not be reported to the Internal Revenue Service for taxation purposes until such time that these are cashed by the holder. However, take note that when you use the savings bonds for your education as well as the education of your spouse and child, you have to report it to the federal government.

Overall, savings bonds are great investments especially when you want to diversify your portfolio.

Calculate Worth

At some point, you will want to know the value of your savings bond especially when you want to cash it in. You have two choices in the matter – the manual way and the automated method.

If you choose to go the route of the manual method – because you are a math pro in that way – you start by jotting down the face value of the these bonds and the interest rate affixed to them. Then, you will determine the specific period of time when you want to redeem the bonds.

Now, multiply the interest rate with the face value with the time for encashment as the only consideration to arrive at the accrued interest. Add the accrued interest to the face value of the bonds and deduct the penalties and voila! You have the value of your stocks.

If you choose the automated method – because you are lazy but very precise that way – you can always access any of the numerous of the online savings bond calculators. Better yet, log on to the Savings Bonds Calculator of the Treasury Department to secure the accurate amount you will be receiving. No hassles, no pen and paper, and no mistakes.