Tag: finance

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Are You Looking For A Financial Planner?

A financial planner is an individual who manages the money of a family, a group or a business. They will provide you with the knowledge that you need about which are the right investments, how to manage them and what you need to do to be set for retirement, college, or to purchase your first home. A financial planner is quite necessary in this day and age. If you do not have one, you may not really know what to look for in those that you can choose from.

Here are some helpful suggestions on things to consider about the financial planner for your needs:

• You need quality. Simply, you are putting your money into someone else’s hands and you need to find a professional who will do his or her best at managing it. They need to be able to provide you with a plan that shows how they can help you. They need to have experience and show you what they have done in the past for others.

• You need to be able to communicate with them on many levels. At first, you’ll need them to be able to understand your needs and desires and they need to provide you with a plan that you can follow. They also need to be available if you have questions or problems come up. You can tell if the financial planner is committed to this just in your first meeting with them.

• You also need to agree on the same principles. If you feel that the financial planner is simply trying to make money, you are less likely to trust them. Make sure that you take the time to find those financial planners who are on the same page as you.

When you do all of these things, your experience in choosing a financial planner will lead to a good choice.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

2006 Economy: How to Avoid Overextending Yourself

The U.S. is the world’s largest economy and is moving into its fifth year of expansion. The biggest risk is the housing market which is expected to slow this year and potentially drag the economy down with it. Many people are betting that the housing market will avoid a major crash but instead will plateau leaving prices stagnant. The resulting rise in interest rates could put a lot of families under financial stress.

A housing market that is not growing quickly turns into a buyer’s market. People will have a number of houses to choose from which will block any increasing value for current home owners. To most home owners this will not be a problem because they have conventional fixed-rate mortgages and only need to wait until the market improves. People who have unconventional 5-year arms and interest only loans may be seriously hurt; especially if interest rates rise.

“I think one of the principal risks is whether or not home prices decline and the impact that that will have in terms of influencing the savings rate and personal consumption growth as we have already seen in the U.K. and Australia” said David Rosenberg a U.S. economist at Merrill Lynch (Wolk, 2005).

A bigger problem is people’s personal savings rates. Because debt is so easy today and most families are at a maximum borrowing limit many people who will see a jump in their interest payments may begin to default. This default raises the interest rate even further due to increased risks associated with lending money. In the end many people will not have money to spend or save which could have serious consequences for the economy as a whole.

The best measure to avoid such pit falls is to put a larger sum down on your house during purchase which gives you a cushion to work with incase you need to sell your house quickly. The second measure is to avoid all credit card balances, home equity loans and charge cards. Finally, only engage in fixed-rate mortgages.