Loans, Insurance & credit card information

Consumers complain, and rightfully so, about credit card interest rates that average 19% per year and go up from there. Those rates are certainly higher than those charged by banks, were personal loans can often be had at half of that rate, provided that your credit is good. On the other hand, credit card interest rates are bargains when compared to those charged by payday loan companies, where interest rates can often exceed 400% per year. Consumers usually take out such loans, which require repayment in two weeks’ time, only when they have no other lending options available to them, such as when their credit card balances are full. Four hundred percent per year sounds completely insane, until you consider that there is a form of lending that is potentially even more expensive – the car title loan.

Car title loans work much like payday loans and have similar terms. Payday loans are short-term loans, usually two weeks in duration. The borrower pays a “fee”, which amounts to interest, that can average between $15 and $30 per $100 borrowed. If the loan is repaid in two weeks, the loan is retired. If the loan is not repaid, the borrower can usually renew it for another two weeks by paying the fee a second time. This is known as “rolling over” the loan. These loans have no collateral required; proof of a bank account and steady employment is usually enough to secure the loan.

Car title loans differ from payday loans in that the loan is secured by the title to the borrower’s car. The duration of the loan is typically 30 days rather than two weeks, but the loans often work the same way. At the end of the loan period, the borrower can either repay or “roll over” the loan for another month. The difference, and it is a big one, is that failure to repay a car title loan allows the lender to repossess the borrower’s car! At that time, the lender may sell the car and keep they money that they are owed. Most states require the lender to return any extra funds, but some states actually permit the lender to keep all of the money.

One would think that by requiring collateral in the form of a car title, the lenders could offer loans at a more affordable rate than those offered by payday lenders. They probably can, but in practice, the interest rates are very similar, which makes a car title loan a very risky way to borrow money. Most people need their car to get to their job; if your car is gone, so is your opportunity to repay the loan or to buy another car.

Lawmakers in various states have been trying to crack down on the growing car title loan industry, but they often meet with resistance from industry lobbyists and Republican legislators who think that the “free market” should decide how lending businesses work. Unfortunately, the “free market” is not available to most car title borrowers, who only go to such lenders after they have exhausted all other borrowing avenues, such as banks, credit cards, and even payday loans.

The bottom line is this – No matter what the interest may be, putting up the title to your only means of transportation as collateral for a $500 loan is a bad idea.

Recent studies indicate that two out of every three college seniors will have to payoff a student loans debt of approximately $22,000, and that debt is increasing every year.

The cost of college has been rising at about twice the inflationary rate and because of the state of the economy it’s getting more and more challenging for students to get the financial help they need to help take care of their educational needs. Because the number of available grants and scholarships have declined many students are now using credit cards to finance their education. That’s a very scary situation with credit card interest rates being as high as they are.

In order to alleviate potential problems, many students are now doing whatever they can while they’re still in school to pay off their student loans debt. This way the financial burden will not be as great once they graduate.

Here are seven ways to lower your student loan debt. Some are for those still in school and others for those of you who have already graduated:

1. Go to your campus employment office and see if there is a work-study program. Although work-study jobs often pay minimum wage, the money you save can really add up over the course of your college education.

2. Get an internship during summer vacation. If you can save even half the money you earn you can substantially reduce your student loan debt once you graduate.

3. Go to your campus financial aid office and find out if your school offers financial aid programs for its students.

4. Apply for as many scholarships as you can. The more you apply for the better your odds. If 10% of the scholarships you apply for accept you and you apply for 100 scholarships you will get 10 scholarships. Even though it’s a lot of work now it can save you many thousands of dollars and help you to sleep more easily in the future.

5. Apply for grants such as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program (FSEOG), the Federal Pell Grant, and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP).

6. Perform volunteer work in exchange for reducing your student loan debt. You can consider joining the Peace Corps or Americorps. As an alternative you can teach or provide medical or legal services in a number of low-income areas.

7. Start investigating student loan consolidation. After graduation, if you consolidate student loans, you will be able to combine all of your loans into one loan that can offer you a lower interest rate as well as extend the amount of time you have to repay your loans.

Student loan consolidation can potentially knock literally hundreds of dollars per month off your loan payments.