Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Planning Financial Independence


Currently world’s majority population is busy working out their financial independence. As spelled, financial independence isn’t that easy to achieve. It takes a lot of courage to handle your debits and credits, manage your incomes and expenses. The credit rating does hamper your growth to financial freedom. If you possess a bad credit rate you ought to get it cleared as soon as possible by timely repaying the loans. If you can count upon exceeding expenditure bills, you should cut them off immediately. But is it all as simple as it seems. Check out what I came across through some internet blogs and finance articles, some tips to help you gradually work out for financial freedom:  
#1 The Most Important Financial Asset – YOU

It is your skill, knowledge, experience, and personality that matters a lot as an important financial asset. Based on these features, your career becomes your next very important financial asset. And all these qualities and features all because of your existence, thus being the most valued object among your personal assets.
To utilize and save the asset, it is important for you to take care of how you wish to work out for financial freedom. You need to focus upon your will power, sharpen your skills and fight for desires in order to aim to achieve your goals.
 As per the Basic accounting principles, you are your very own principle financial asset. Work smartly and invest carefully to ensure future financial security for self and family, thus enduring long-term goals with the practice of short-term goals.

#2 Define Goals and Set the Targets
Your ultimate aim in life should be financial freedom. To reach this destined target you need step up the various stepping stones of life. The life may play with your illusions but it is necessary that you identify the threats and analyse the distance you wish to travel. Mark your goal destinations and work to grab them faster.
People those are known to be successful had set their goals right, visualizing their future life and marking each step of their journey in life.
Pen down your goals, set a roadmap to achieve them with simple steps. Your goals are your personal insights for financial freedom; it is not necessary you explain them in detail and make a complex roadmap to it. List down your priorities and needs, re-arrange them as long-term and short-term goals and get down to work.  

#3 Quick Steps – Follow the Short-term Goals
Short-term goals are made to be fulfilled in less time. Thus keep a sharp focus on fulfilling such goals, keep striking those that are already fulfilled and you can see your-self growing. Break your long-term goals in to steps and mark them as your new short-term goals.
People tend to fail their plans, when they begin focusing more on the long-term goals and start losing upon the short-term plans. Make sure, your focus remains intact and you get up every time you feel low.  Goals are meant to be achieved with sincerity and honesty.
Spend cautiously and save for the retirement.

#4 Ensure that you spend less than what you earn
The key to financial independence is to have a positive cash flow where your income comes from passive income sources. Even the richest men in the world would not continue to be rich if they forget to save and spend cautiously.
The rich have smartly set up their sources of passive income and are then enjoying the cash intake. Though it sounds pretty easy, minting coins through passive income isn’t that simple.
Take control of your finances, set up a record of every inflow and outflow.

#5 Understand finances
Being a financially literate person is about knowing how the finances work and how to care for money. Understand the terms, the debts, the tax, the inflow, returns, etc. and be serious when you work with them. Handling finances are not fun but applying them to your daily expenses will help you understand where you are losing.

#6 Borrow to invest, not to finance expensive stuff
Remember borrowing should be purely dependent on the investments rather than daily expenditures. Getting personal loans is easy, but your expenses should be well planned and chalked out.
 Many people may get habituated to the use of credit cards to enhance their personal lifestyle that they cannot afford. This will get them timely happiness followed by a burden of debts and repayments bills. At such consequences you should sit back and wait rather than falling in the trap to borrow money. Money is a matter of fact that comes with patience and fortune. You don’t have to fall prey to unwanted expenses. Thrifty expenses can save the decline of the credit score.

Moral: Financial independence is about smart understanding. Though it is not easy, but it is achievable only when you understand your priorities and focus on your steps to achieve your goal.

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

Difference between Personal Loan and Personal Line of credit

Personal Loan is often confused with the Personal lines of credit.

Lines of credit are often extended by banks, financial institutions and other licensed consumer lenders to creditworthy customers to address liquidity problems; such a line of credit is often called a personal line of credit. While a Personal Loan is an amount of money that one borrows from a financial institution like bank, or from the peers or from a
non-public lending company for personal use.

Personal loans can be utilized to fulfill certain personal needs. Buying a home, a vehicle, home repairs, education purpose, medical expenses etc. count under the personal loans.

Such loans can again be borrowed at secured and unsecured conditions. Secured loans are those where the lender asks for collateral that he might claim in case you fail to repay the lent amount. The unsecured loans do not ask for collaterals, but the rate of interest in such case is comparatively higher as the risk of non-payment is higher enough.




Monday, 29 August 2011

p2p lending sites


The concept of lending to peers isn't new. Family and friends have always lent each other some bucks without the involvement of a financial institution.
Bypassing the bank
All peer-to-peer sites have one important feature: They remove the role of a traditional bank in the lending process. Cutting out the bank reduces overhead, for one, which translates to better rates for borrowers and lenders,
All p2p lending sites have some sense of community. Instead of a bank deciding who will get funded, individual lenders make the call, paying attention not only to their expected returns but also the reasons borrowers are asking for funding.
Interested in borrowing some cash using a peer-to-peer site? The first step is picking which Web site is the best fit. "You need to understand the model you're utilizing in peer-to-peer lending. They all have nuances and differences,"  There's also a Facebook component, which allows users of the social networking tool to lend to their friends or find borrowers who belong to the same groups or networks.

Friday, 29 July 2011

Bypassing the bank to get higher returns

Peer to Peer Lending (P2P Lending) is a new way to lend and borrow money online with others.
Think “I got a loan, online” (for borrowers) and “I just became a banker” (for lenders) – and…. you begin to see.
Where do these models eventually lead? Towards an online “digital financial network” – managed by you and me.

•    Borrowers receive bank-competitive interest rates and lenders can yield bank-like returns on invested funds.
•    Thousands of individuals lend as little as $25 per borrower. You don’t have to “know” anyone to receive a loan.
•    Privacy, security, and legal compliance are built in. More than $500 million in P2P personal loans issued to date.
•    P2P Loans are a new portfolio asset class. Diversify by investing into large pools of FICO pre-qualified borrowers.
•    P2P allows Social Lending: You may opt to transact with friends and family to foster a generational wealth effect.