Friday, July 30, 2010

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A Look At Personal Bankruptcy & What To Expect

One of the most difficult decisions that you can face is whether or not to file for bankruptcy. For individuals, there are basically two types of personal bankruptcy, which includes Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Designed to give the filer a fresh start in life by wiping out certain debts, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy will rid the filer of credit card and other unsecured debt. A chapter 13 bankruptcy, on the other hand, is a court-approved payment plan in which the filer is required to repay a predetermined percentage of their debt. The determination of which chapter to file will be based on the filer’s disposable income, if any, after paying their necessary monthly bills.

When many people file for bankruptcy, their first thoughts are of their assets and whether or not they may lose their home. In a Chapter 13 repayment plan, the majority of filers are allowed to keep their property in exchange for repaying a portion of their debts. A Chapter 7, however, is designed to be a liquidation process that often results in the sale of non-exempt property. Which property is non-exempt in a bankruptcy proceeding? Each state has it’s own laws pertaining to the amount of property that an individual or married couple can keep without having to worry about it being liquidated.
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3 Ways A Professional Bookkeeper Will Save You $$$

Some small and medium business (SME) owners try to do their own accounts or they may employee a bookkeeper directly. This can be fine if you are lucky enough to recruit a good bookkeeper directly, however unless you have an accounting background and a thorough understanding of the accounting software involved, it can be difficult to know what questions to ask at the interview process.

Even if you find someone who looks good on paper, unless you know what reports to ask for it can take months to pick up if they are performing or not. Over 50% of clients that come to us have had a bad experience trying to employ a bookkeeper directly. Usually within the first week we uncover things such as:  Full Story

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3 Things To Know About Jumbo Mortgage Loans

A jumbo mortgage loan is one whose total amount is over $417,000 – Loans above this threshold are only slightly different than those below, yet those differences can be dramatic to borrowers unfamiliar with such a marketplace. It is also important to note that the ceiling for standard mortgage loans as opposed to Jumbo loans is not set in stone and is therefore subject to change at any time. This amount is decided by the two largest lending organizations in the Untied States, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

One of the most significant differences with a jumbo mortgage loan will be the interest rate – Since lenders consider homes with sale prices above the threshold to be “luxury” residences, they have presented a potential concern regarding successful resale of such homes, as well as an indication that appraisal values in this category do not increase as steadily as those homes below the jumbo cap. For this reason, the lenders imply that they are taking on more risk with such places, therefore higher interest rates are required to offset such liability.  Full Story

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The Cost Of Credit Cards

Although some choose to rush into getting a credit card, they normally do so without being aware of the costs. A lot of credit cards out there come with hidden costs and charges, and you should always be aware of this before you apply. In most cases, these fees and charges won’t get noticed by the user until it is too late.

Credit card holders who aren’t aware of any hidden costs could easily end up paying possibly thousands of dollars at the end of the year – and not even realize it. If you have a reward credit card, your rewards could easily be destroyed by these hidden costs. Although some credit card users may realize it, there are many out there who aren’t aware of these costs at all.  Full Story