Best Finance Personal

Interest is defined as ‘A fee charged by a lender to a borrower, for the use of borrowed money, usually expressed as an annual percentage of the principal amount.’

Interest is determined by a Repo rate that’s set by the Reserve Bank of South Africa – this rate is the interest rate at which the Reserve Bank lends other banks money. When there is an increase or a decrease in interest rates, it is the result of the Reserve Bank adjusting this Repo rate. Banks and other financial institutions generally add to this rate when lending money to you – to make a profit. Basically – interest is a charge levied on the transaction of borrowing money.

How is interest created?

Most interest comes from people who make large purchases, such as buying homes cars, or paying for education. Generally they take out a loan, such as a home loan or student loan to do this. Interest is also generated on short term financing, or on smaller purchases – such as loans, or purchase on HP from retailers, or on credit cards. Continue reading ‘What is Interest, And How Does it Affect Your Borrowing?’ »

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) is a section of the US Consumer Credit Protection Act. The intent of the law is to stop debt harassment. It was added to the Consumer Credit Protection Act in 1978. The FDCPA limits how collection agents conduct business and defines consumers’ rights in dealing with bill collectors. It also assigns penalties and remedies for when they violate these rights.

First, the FDCPA limits the ways that bill collectors can contact people. It is illegal to call before 8 am or after 9 pm. It is also illegal to call places of employment after being told that the employer doesn’t allow it.

Collection agents must begin their contact with a consumer in a particular way. They must identify themselves as bill collectors and say that they will use any information they obtain in collecting the debt. They must also inform consumers that they have the right to dispute the debt. Continue reading ‘The FDCPA Slaps Restrictions on Bill Collectors’ »

Many people are not sure what is meant by Emergency fund so I wanted to explain what that is. An Emergency Fund can save you from many different life changing events and everyone should have one.

An Emergency fund is money that you have set aside for only emergencies. You don’t use it for anything other than serious emergencies and if you ever use it or even a portion of it, you repay everything you take from it as soon as possible.

The size of the fund depends on your family and the expenses your family has. No family has the same fund as no family has the same expenses or needs. When I was talking with a family about credit and building an emergency fund I would sit down with them and explain how this works. You setup an Emergency Fund to help you pay for unexpected emergencies. Those emergencies can include the loss of a job by either a one or two income family. Continue reading ‘Building an Emergency Fund’ »

Even before deciding to file bankruptcy, which might tarnish your reputation, spend your precious time, and money, and put you into a stressful situation, why not consider avoiding bankruptcy? Find out how you can trim down expenses, boost earnings, bargain rates and put up for sale assets to eventually keep you away from falling into debts or help you pay off your debts.

The ultimate question to ask yourself is whether or not you can avoid personal bankruptcy and how you could manage to do that. There are two alternatives to bankruptcy: Avoiding bankruptcy on your own and avoiding bankruptcy with an external support. Continue reading ‘Can You Avoid Personal Bankruptcy?’ »

When it comes to love and affections, it’s common to hear the popular saying “age is nothing but a number”. So, a man of 50 years could be seen marrying a woman of 20 years and it won’t be a problem. But when it comes to online loans, the same slogan won’t apply. Age is extremely important!

Online loans won’t be given to you if you haven’t attained a certain age. The age is 18 years, except it’s a special college or school loan. If it’s a payday or similar type of online loan, then you must have attained 18 years of age before the loan can be approved. That’s why you are always required to fill in your age when applying for online types of loans.

Age is important because the online lenders want to be sure that you have reached the matured age to make the lending decision. People who are younger are usually moved by emotional and “unwise” spending decisions, so might not be liable even if they default. Continue reading ‘Age of Applying For Online Loans – Yes, Age Does Matter’ »