When It Comes To Credit Cards - More Choice Doesn't Have To Mean More Confusion

When It Comes To Credit Cards - More Choice Doesn't Have To Mean More Confusion
By Andrew Regan

When it comes to choosing a credit card, your options are numerous. But all too often, an abundant set of choices can cause confusion. Should you choose a low introductory rate or a low standard APR? Is it worth considering a loyalty, reward or point-based credit card? And what are your choices if you've experienced bad credit ratings in the past? Amidst countless facts and figures, there is a way to make sense of all the credit card offers on the market: use a credit card comparison tool and you'll have all your choices conveniently set in front of you.

Credit card comparison tools are commonly found on consumer comparison sites - sites specifically designed to help consumers sort through an abundant set of various market offers. But instead of merely listing all the offers on one comprehensive site, comparison tools help consumers locate offers that cater to their specific needs. For example, if you're new to the credit card market, different offers will apply to you than if your credit is fairly established. Similarly, if you've experienced credit problems - such as arrears, CCJs, defaults or bankruptcy - in the past, you'll be more suited to certain types of credit cards which will help you stay on track with payments. A consumer comparison site will ask you to enter initial credit card requirements, and will then produce matching offers for you to browse through. So no matter what your circumstances are, you're sure to find an offer which suits you.

With the right comparative tool, you can choose a credit card based on the features which are most important to you. For example, you can pick whether you'd rather find credit cards with a low introductory rate or a low standard APR. Similarly, you can restrict your search to credit cards offering a loyalty bonus or cash back reward, or those which are affiliated with charity programmes. You can even apply for your credit card of choice online - making the search and application process even easier.

If you're looking for a quick and simple way to make sense of all the credit card offers on the market, why not utilise a consumer comparison site? You'll be able to enter your initial requirements - regarding anything from rates to rewards - into a search facility, then view the available offers side by side. Whether you need to find a new credit card or transfer a credit card balance, a simple search with a comparative service can help you track the best deals and rates from providers all across the UK.

Andrew Regan is an online, freelance journalist.

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Benefits Of A Debt Consolidation Loan

There are many benefits in choosing a Debt Consolidation Loan, some of which are listed below:

May be able to reduce your monthly payments.

Can take off some of the pressure you may be under from your existing creditors.

You will have only one creditor to deal with.

Lower monthly repayments than unsecured loans

Ability to borrow more money over a longer period of time.

If you find that you are unable to meet your monthly repayments to your creditors, one option is to apply for a debt consolidation loan. The principle behind these is fairly simple - you borrow a large lump sum to repay your creditors and are then left with one creditor and one monthly repayment. This monthly repayment may be lower than the sum you are currently paying, however, you will continue making the repayments for a much longer period.

If your objective is to reduce interest rates and lower your monthly payments, avoid bankruptcy, consolidate your bills and have one monthly payment, or simply get out of debt the fastest way possible, then a debt consolidation loan could provide the answer.

Debt consolidation loans can give you a fresh start, allowing you to consolidate all of your loans into one - giving you one easy to manage payment, and in most cases, at a lower rate of interest.

With a Debt Consolidation Loan you can borrow from £5,000 to £75,000 and up to 125% of your property value in some cases.

A Debt Consolidation Loan is a low cost loan secured on your home. It frees up the spare capital (or equity) in your home to repay your store card and other debts.

There are also disadvantages to a debt consolidation loan such as:

Can pay more over a longer period.

May incur additional costs for setting up the loan.

If secured, your property may be at risk.

You will be left with only one creditor - this can make it difficult to negotiate should you have further problems in repaying your loan.

If the loans you are consolidating have all the interest added at the start you may in effect be paying interest twice. The interest charged for the first loan and the interest charged for the consolidation.

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The Georgia Student Finance Authority

The Georgia Student Finance Authority (GSFA) is a full service lender that provides "One Stop Shopping" for educational loan needs for high school graduates who are planning to attend college. At the Georgia Student Finance Authority we pride ourselves for the streamlined application and origination processes, as well as providing customer service oriented loan servicing. This means that you get your money when you need it. Then, once you begin to repay your loan, the loan servicing representatives will make sure the process is hassle-free.

Everything you need to know about receiving educational loan assistance to go to college is right here, at your fingertips. Educational loans are one resource available to help you fund your college education. Be sure to explore service cancelable loans, scholarships and grant possibilities, as well as seeking an educational loan. The Stafford Loan is available to students who are eligible to borrow under the FFEL Program. The Georgia Student Finance Authority provides a streamlined process for applying for these educational loans. Then, once you enter repayment, the Georgia Student Finance Authority, with a committment to customer service, will assist you regarding your repayment options.

The Authority offers a variety of repayment options. They are:  Standard  Graduated  Income Sensitive We will work with you to determine which option is best for you. Please remember the following points when making a repayment option selection:  The longer the repayment period, the more interest you will pay on your loan(s). You are encouraged to make the largest payments you can afford to keep the total cost of the loan(s) down;  You can repay the entire loan or make larger payments at any time without penalty;  The minimum monthly payment for any FFELP repayment plan is the amount of interest that accrues monthly;  You must select a repayment plan within 45 days of receiving your repayment options packet. If you do not select a plan, your loans will remain on standard repayment.

Standard Repayment:
Every borrower who enters repayment is initially set up on this repayment option. In order to be converted to graduated or income sensitive repayment, you must contact Loan Servicing at (770) 414-3000 or 1-800-776-6878 and request a repayment options selection packet. Standard repayment is encouraged because you pay the least interest with this option. This plan allows for up to ten years to repay the loan(s), with substantially equal payments. The standard, minimum monthly payment is $50. If you do not select another repayment plan option within 45 days of receiving your initial repayment schedule, your loan(s) will remain on standard repayment. Fixed Interest Rate: If your loan(s) carry a fixed interest rate, you will pay the same monthly payment amount during the repayment period. The final payment may be slightly more or less than your regular payment, depending on your repayment history.

Variable Interest Rate: If your loan(s) carry a variable interest rate, you will pay the same monthly payment amount during the repayment period. The changing interest rate will affect the amount of each payment that is applied to the principal balance on your account. You may be granted an extension of up to three years to repay due to the effect of the variable rate on your account. GSFA Servicing also has the option of changing your payment amount with each interest rate change.

Graduated Repayment: Under this plan, you will pay increasingly larger payments during the repayment period. No one payment can be three times larger than the smallest payment. The smallest payment cannot be less than the monthly accrued interest. Otherwise, there is no minimum payment, and the repayment period cannot exceed ten years.

Income-Sensitive Repayment: Under this plan, your monthly payment will be based on your expected monthly gross income and will be re-examined annually. The smallest payment cannot be less than accrued interest, and the repayment term is ten years. If your income sensitive payments are less than the standard principal and interest payments, you may receive extensions of the repayment term for up to five additional years. If you wish to receive the extension, you must provide GSFA Servicing with documentation of your most recent monthly gross income. Income-sensitive repayment may significantly increase or decrease the total financing cost of the loan(s), depending on your principal loan balance and income.

GEORGIA TUITION EQUALIZATION GRANT OBJECTIVE:

1. To promote the private segment of higher education in Georgia by providing non-repayable grant aid to Georgia residents who attend eligible independent colleges and universities in Georgia.

2. To provide non-repayable grant aid to residents of Georgia who live near the State borders to attend certain four-year public colleges out-of-state, so that a four-year public college is equally available to all Georgians.

FUNDING: State Appropriations

ELIGIBILITY:

1. Enrolled as a full-time (12 hours) student at an eligible private college or university in Georgia; OR be a junior or senior enrolled full-time in an eligible four-year public college outside of Georgia, that is within 50 miles of the student's home residence and there is no four-year public college located in Georgia within 50 miles of the student's home residence;

2. Be an undergraduate student in program of study leading to a college degree;

3. Maintaining satisfactory academic progress;

4. Legal resident of Georgia and U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident Alien;

5. No defaulted student loan or refund due on a state grant or scholarship;

6. Meet Selective Service requirements;

7. Be in compliance with the Georgia Drug-Free Postsecondary Education Act.

APPLICATION PROCEDURES:

1. Complete Georgia Student Grant Application.

2. Complete an affidavit to verify mileage (out of state only).

3. Deadline - date is set by the school.

AWARD: $1,000 per academic year

AMOUNT AWARDED FY 98: $24,935,887

NUMBER AWARDED FY 98: 29,486

To view even more programs offered by the Georgia State Student Finance Commission, you can visit them and apply online at http://www.gsfc.org/

Student Loan Review

Student loans are an unfortunate fact of life for an increasing number of American students. It is not the aim of this page to scare you about student loans but rather, to give you some information so that you can make the choice that is best for you in regards to getting a student loan. Knowledge is power, and the more you know about what you are getting into when you sign those loan papers, the better you will be in the long run.

A survey by the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) confirmed that student loans continue to be the largest source of student aid, with approximately $29 billion for the 1995-96 federal fiscal year provided to students to meet their postsecondary educational costs. Private lenders financed over 68 percent of the total, or an estimated $19.8 billion, under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP - formerly Guaranteed Student Loans), according to the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs (NCHELP) survey.

The most popular form of financial aid for students is Student Loans. While there are a variety of loan programs available, the largest programs are the Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans and the Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans.

Subsidized Federal Stafford loans are Big Business and Big Profit for a huge number of banks and finance corporations in America. While you are attending school, the Federal Government (read: The Taxpayers) pays the interest charges that accumulate on your loan.

If you have a subsidized loan, you do not pay this accumulated interest back. If your loan is unsubsidized, the accumulated interest must be paid during the term of the loan, or it can be "deferred" until you begin making payments.

For both subsidized and unsubsidized loans, most students do not make any payments on the principle OR the interest until six months after they graduate, leave school, or drop to less than half-time. If you attend school for four years and do not begin repayment until six months after you graduate, assuming you received a maximum loan every year, this can be as much as $5,200 that the Government has paid to the bank to cover your interest charges. With a subsidized loan, this is also a SAVINGS of $5,200 of the total interest charge that you would pay.

The average college undergraduate leaves school $10,000 in debt, an increase of 15 percent from last year, says the nation's largest student loan guarantee agency. The Indianapolis-based USA Group attributes the increase to higher college costs, expanded loan eligibility and the growing amount of student aid offered through loans rather than grants. Education Daily - August 14, 1996 by Rebecca S. Weiner

Unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans are also big business, except that YOU are responsible for the interest payments while you are in school. This can greatly increase the overall cost of your loan. While payment on the principle can be deferred until six months after you leave school, you are required to make payments on the interest (usually quarterly) while you are in school. In some cases, you may be permitted to defer all interest payments until you begin making payments on the loan.

Banks may encourage you to take advantage of deferring principle payments, as this increases the overall amount of interest (read: profit) that they make over the lifetime of the loan. Remember... interest will accumulate on the deferred interest! Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans also have a higher maximum amount that you may borrow... and ultimately pay back.

...$50.3 billion in total aid from federal, state and institutional sources was available to students in 1995-96, an increase of $3.3 billion over 1994-95. The study notes that most of that increase was in the form of loans rather than grants and that most of the increased borrowing was unsubsidized. Grants now represent 42 percent and loans 57 percent of total federal, state and institutional aid, compared with 10 years ago... College Board study, "Trends in Student Aid: 1986 to 1996

REMEMBER: YOU HAVE TO PAY BACK THE LOAN EVEN IF YOU DO NOT GRADUATE. This seems like a simple enough concept, yet in 1996 the Federal Government lost $2.7 BILLION to student loan defaults. The Government is not "guaranteeing" your ability to finish school. It's just guaranteeing that you will pay back the loan.

Debt Consolidation – Options For Reducing Your Debt

Studies show that Americans are now saving less than ever before. Along with that, Americans are carrying a heavier debt load than ever. It’s easy for a home loan, a car loan and a few credit card bills to get out of hand, and many people are struggling with more debt than they can easily pay. To make matters worse, new bankruptcy legislation will make it harder than ever to file bankruptcy for those who simply cannot pay their bills.

There are a number of solutions available that allow most people to reduce their interest rate on their debt, reduce their total monthly payment, or both:

- Ask for a lower rate on your credit card. If you have been making payments regularly, and you haven’t had a history of late payment, you may be able to lower your interest rate on your credit cards simply by calling your credit card company and asking them! It doesn’t always work, but the market for credit cards is pretty competitive these days, and many lenders would rather lower your interest rate than lose you as a customer. It’s worth asking.


- Get a new credit card. If your lender isn’t willing to lower your rate, shop around for a credit card with a better interest rate. There is no reason to be paying 20% or more in credit card interest if you don’t have to. The interest on credit cards is not tax deductible, but if you can get a credit card with a lower interest rate and you move balances from other cards to that one, you can save quite a bit.


- Take out a traditional bank loan with collateral. You can probably obtain a simple installment loan from your bank by putting up cash or investments as collateral for the loan. Like credit cards, the interest isn’t tax deductible, but the interest rate may be better than credit cards, and if you consolidate several payments into one with a bank loan, you will lower your monthly payment.


- Take out a home equity loan or home equity line of credit. If you have equity in your home, you can borrow up to 80% of your equity in either a lump sum or a revolving line of credit. Interest rates are still quite low on home loans, so this one could be a good way to consolidate your debt. As a bonus, the interest is tax deductible. A minor downside is the fact that these loans usually have application fees and/or closing costs.


Most people can utilize one of the ideas above to help them reduce their debt. If none of these options work for you, you should consider speaking to a credit counselor, who can outline other options that may work for you. Many credit-counseling agencies are non-profit, so it may be worth your while to talk to a credit counselor if nothing else will work.


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