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.
About the Author
The author has discovered that what you do NOT know about your finances can hurt you. She has shared her knowledge and tips about finances with thousands of people and helped them to have a good relationship with money and financial matters
Kathleen Sutera is founder of All About Finance an excellent resource site dedicated to information on finance
Written by: Kathleen Sutera
Adverse debt levels blight UK consumers personal finances
Debt levels are at an all time high in the UK. The younger generation tend to be feeling the pinch the most, but parents are increasingly being required to bail them out, often at great expense to their own limited mortgage or retirement savings. ...read more
Should You Consider Home Refinance, or Not?
Home refinance seems to be the craze these days with interest rates at all time lows. However, you need to do some home refinance research before you will know if it is for you or not. In general, if you bought a home when interest rates were...read more
The Benefits Of Saving For Your Child's School Finance
Defining your savings goals is the first thing to do before you invest, especially when that investment will have an impact on your child’s future.
It is after-all your child’s future that you are investing in--and school finance cannot be...read more
Unique homes hard to finance
Somewhere we had gotten the idea that the perfect home for us
would be a steel frame, metal building. Unique, yes. Hard to
finance, definitely.
Fifteen lenders turned us down when we found an existing metal
home to purchase. Many considered...read more
Take The Mystery Out Of Finances And Simplify Your Life
