Archive for November, 2009

“Does the future look as black as they paint it?” This is a question that you should ask yourself when you read troublesome economic predictions. On most days, the prevalent opinion in newspapers is a mixture of distrust and hesitation. Is there a way to make solid decisions about where to place your savings and minimize financial risk?

In investments

, like in most things in life, it all boils down to using the right methodology. How can we determine what is true? What facts are relevant? Which predictions make sense? Can we figure out the future by applying principles extracted from experience?

“If you intend to climb a high mountain, always choose the smoothest path,” wrote Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu in the year 520 BC. In times of economic adversity, investing becomes the equivalent of climbing the Swiss Alps bare-handed in the middle of the winter.

After suffering the negative results of wrong financial decisions, many individuals are reluctant to place any money in the stock market. Are those fears justified? Making mistakes is inevitable in any human endeavour. A wise man must be willing to accept occasional errors and use them as stepping-stones for building a better future for himself. Why should we not view the stock market in the same way?

The main lesson to be drawn from past financial mistakes is that, when it comes to investing, methodology is everything. More careful research can help us make better decisions in the future. A more disciplined approach can minimize losses. Taking appropriate measures to reduce risk should prevent us from making the same faults twice.

The following principles of risk reduction have endured the best and worst of times. Use them to your advantage to build a prosperous financial future. From time to time, your decisions will not be correct, but if you adopt a prudent strategy, you can keep your losses under control at the same time that you let your profits grow.

The Axis Bank home loan is one of the best and most consumer friendly in the market since it has provided countless people with the option of dealing with their financial responsibilities in the most manageable and viable way. This works through the establishment of a time frame for the payment terms that would be effective for the consumer. This would need the consideration of the person’s financial background, particularly his monthly income. By modeling the payment requirements to the terms that would be viable for the borrower, less stress can be gained in the long term relationship of the lender and the borrower.59

The longer the time frame given, the smaller would be the required payments for the loan. This is a better deal since research have shown that banks demanding higher payments at shorter time frame resulted in high incidence of unfulfilled debts and payment requirements. This is what happened in most banks during the recession where in people where forced out of their homes.

They are the victims of a flawed home loaning system. Luckily, the Axis Bank home loans have solved this by granting second mortgages that would allow the collateral form of payment. This would easily give people a second chance with regards to their condition.

The Axis Bank home loan should be employed as a model of loaning for many banks since this would easily give them the capability to deal with people coming from different social classes with different financial capabilities. The current recession has exposed the flaws in the loaning mechanism of the country.

Budgeting is about sacrificing, right? Wrong. Budgeting is about enjoying the results of a well planned financial strategy. If you think of budgeting as the ultimate cut-the-expenses experience, you’ll never make it. Depriving yourself completely of indulgences is not something that will provide financial gain; at the contrary, it may very likely lead you to abandon your budget completely just out of frustration for lack of rewards.3

Budgeting will also tell you when applying for a loan may be feasible and even advisable. For example, for those with bad credit, applying for a small car title loan may be a perfect method to strengthen or rebuild your credit, if you include the amount of the monthly payment on your budget.

You need to be committed yet flexible when budgeting; the whole idea of budgeting is not about bringing upon yourself severe punishment, but to bring harmony and balance to your finances. Now, here are some practical tips on how to create a realistic budget.

First of all, you will need to know the trend of your expenses and income for at least two or three months. This will enable you to collect the data needed to create your budget. Always start this process at the beginning of the month. Once you gathered sufficient data, jot down your list of recurring expenses and their corresponding amounts.

For each category, average the expenses over the period of time you spent gathering the data. For example: groceries. How much did you spend in December for groceries? How much did you spend in January? Sum the totals of the two months and divide by two. This will provide you the average grocery expense per month. If you kept track of your expenses for three months, sum the totals of the three months and divide by three and so on. The longer the period of time you used to collect the data, the more accurate your average expenses will be.

There is no question that one of the priorities of people who just got employed in their first job is to have a place they can call home. This often leads to either saving up for the initial deposit required to procure a loan, or trying to find a lender who would be willing to loan the amount to purchase that new dream home.

Those who have just been employed usually have a problem procuring loans. The reason is the banks and lenders see them as too much of a risk to lend to. In the first place, they have no proof of savings, as they are just starting to earn. They also have no proof of job stability, not having stayed in their job for long. Banks and lenders often require at least six months to a year of employment before they allow a person to get a home loan.

There are however a few lenders who can provide those on their first job with a loan on the first month, third month, sixth month, and in some cases even on their first day on the job. The amount of the loan can usually amount to up to 95% of the value of the property. Those who are granted these home loans are able to get to own and live in their house earlier, without taking time to save for a deposit. They are able to enjoy the comfort of their own home much earlier than usual.

However, the truth of the matter is that lenders are more conservative and would like to approve loans that are a low risk to them. Which is why those on their first jobs and are still on probation may have more difficulty than usual procuring a loan for themselves.