Archive for the ‘Money’ Category

• Figuring Out Your Mortgage Payments

  Wednesday, May 18th, 2011

  You have picked out your dream home — or at least the best home you can find in your preferred neighborhood and price range. Your mortgage was pre-approved, but you still need to submit the details of the specific home in order to obtain the final approval and find out how much your monthly payments will be. You can also figure the payment out for yourself, by using an online Mortgage Payment Calculator .

  These calculators can be found on real estate and financial sites across the web. A good calculator is going to allow you enter multiple factors, so that you get a more accurate picture of your monthly payments. Calculators that just consider loan amount, length, and mortgage rate are going to be less accurate.

  The big three are important. The interest rate is applied to the loan amount and calculated over the term of the loan, usually ten, fifteen or thirty years but it can also be other lengths. This calculation will give you a ballpark idea of your monthly payment. However, the more factors that a calculator uses, the more accurate the estimate of your monthly payment will be. After all, lenders use these same types of calculators when drawing up your mortgage. Look for calculators that take into account variables like annual insurance and PMI as well as the home value and annual property taxes . Then you will have a much more reliable estimate of your monthly mortgage payments.

• Simplifying Universal Life Insurance

  Monday, November 29th, 2010

  To many people the insurance industry seems like a complicated and mysterious entity that only exists to scam people away from more suitable investments. This is a fallacy. While there are some scam artists in any financial industry, they are greatly outnumbered by legitimate agencies and agents who want to help consumers find the best life insurance policy to protect their family’s long-term interests.

  Some types of insurance are difficult to understand right away. They require a little bit of research and study. However, even something as seemingly complicated as universal life insurance will make sense with a little bit of effort.

  Unlike term life insurance which lasts for a specific number of years at a guaranteed payout, the length of a universal life insurance policy is tied to the age of the policy holder. The other major difference is that the policy value is based on how much money the holder pays into it. The value of the policy is calculated by subtracting the cost of the policy from the fees and costs associated with it. This difference is applied to the policy value and interest is accrued based on an agreed upon interest rate index .

  Most policies do come with guaranteed limits and levels. This means that even if interest rates and costs work against the policy holder, they are guaranteed a certain payout. Likewise there are term guarantees that the policy costs won’t increase for a set time and that premium will not go up before a certain date.