4 Advantages to Homeowner Loans You Need to Know

Are you looking to take out a loan? Homeowner loans might seem daunting and risky because you’re borrowing generally a large sum of money against the asset (your home). What this means is that if you can’t afford to pay the monthly amount, your home will be reclaimed to make the payments. 

This concept is challenging to deal with and intimidates a lot of people, but it needn’t. Homeowner loans are much more than a way to lose your home, and they can be a very sensible investment, when taken out for the right reasons, so to help you decide, here are 4 benefits to homeowner loans that you really ought to know.

4 – Borrow Huge Sums

When you take out a homeowner loan, the stakes are higher because your house is on the line. As a result of this, however, you are able to borrow a larger amount of money than you’d be able to with an unsecure loan, so whether you’re looking to extend your home or go on that once in a lifetime holiday, money doesn’t have to limit you with a homeowner loan. 

3 – Attractive Interest Rates

Because there’s more at stake, the interest rates on homeowner loans are likely to be significantly lower than with unsecured loans. From a lender’s perspective, this is a less risky investment because they know you have a lot on the line. So if you know that you’re not going to have a problem paying your monthly repayments, a homeowner might be a good idea because you’re not going to have to bother with high interest rates.

2 – Consolidating Debt

Are you struggling to pay your debts off? If you think you might benefit from consolidating your debts into one easy monthly repayment, one of the best options available to you is a homeowner loan. Using a secure loan, you could pay off a large number of debts – all with their own individual interest rates, and transfer the debt into a single payment with a low interest rate. This makes debt-management less stressful, and could be well worth the effort of setting up the loan and transferring your existing debt.

1 – Afford Something Special

You have worked hard to get into a position where you own your own home, so by taking out a homeowner loan, you don’t have to limit yourself to investing the money into consolidating debt. Spend the money on something you’ve been trying to save up for. Do you want to help your children through university? What about renewing your wedding vows? Maybe you just want to take time out in your timeshare? Whatever it is you want to do, you can use a secure loan for it.

All you need to do to find out more about secure homeowner loans is speak to the experts at a place like 1st Stop Home loans, with a little bit of guidance, you could find the perfect loan for you.

How Much Can I Give to Charity?

Giving to charity is not limited to just your funds. While charities do rely on your money to help them succeed and help them do what they've set out to do, they need more than just your money to work effectively. Charities also need your time.

When deciding how much you should contribute to your favorite charitable cause, there are some considerations you have to examine. There is no standard amount of money or time you should spend on your favorite charity; each case is unique.

How much is appropriate?

If you're an avid churchgoer, you know you're supposed to give 10 percent to charity. However, most Americans don't give anywhere near 10 percent of their income to charity. Most Americans give far less, in fact.

The average amount of charitable donations over the course of one year in the average household is 3.2 percent. While it might not seem like much, many families give what they can afford to and they do it happily. It's not always a greed issue.

Consider what you can afford

Before you pledge 10 percent of your income to charity, consider what you make versus your expenses. The sad reality is that most average households cannot afford to donate 10 percent of their income to any charitable foundation, after all's said and done.

However, that doesn't mean you can't afford to give to charity at all. Even if you can afford only a few dollars here and there, every little bit helps -- even when you're on the strictest of budgets.

Give charities your time

Another way in which you can donate to charity is with your time. Charities need volunteers to help run their programs. They need people who are willing to serve, to help, to teach, and to work hard to make sure those in greatest need are getting what they should.

While financial giving is nice, if all you have is time, it's just as valuable to most charitable organizations.

Giving to charity is a highly personal financial decision. If you can afford 10 percent, by all means do it. If you can afford more than that, good for you. However, if all you can afford is a few hours of time every week, it's just as much appreciated by a charity as your money.

Giving comes in many forms. Financial giving is the most talked about, but it's not the only way you can provide a charity with your help.

Top 10 Places in the United States to Invest in Real Estate

Investing in real estate is about timing, smart choices, and location, location, location. Good investors keep an open mind about where to find the best opportunities, often looking for places fare and wide that will allow for them to make a good deal of money. Here are ten top places in the United States for real estate investing that can all net you a profitable return on your investment.

Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta is a fast growing city with a high vacancy rate. There’s Coca-Cola, Time Warner, a large international airport, and colleges abound. The population has grown by 1.6 million in the last ten years. There is a real estate market here with unrealized potential that is easy to get into and that will more than likely generate enormous profits in the coming years.

Baltimore, Maryland

The median list price for a home is up more than 3 percent from last year, a clear sign of stabilization. Investors can look forward to maximized gains on properties in Baltimore, especially as government jobs and private corporations continue to flood into this area.

Columbus, Ohio

This city’s economy was insulated from upheaval through robust government jobs and employment stability at Ohio State. Columbus’ unemployment rate is below the national average. It’s seen an increase in rental averages, which might make it a great place to possibly invest in a rental home that will be able to generate a regular income.

Fort Worth, Texas

The unemployment rate in this city is extremely low when compared to national averages. With that prosperity, home sales are flying through the roof. Homes are going 20 times faster than a year ago, with median listings up as high as 8 percent.

Ithaca, New York

Ithaca is prime for investors looking for rental properties. There are many colleges and schools. Realty Trac’s median rent list has Ithaca among the highest in the nation, with students and young families gobbling up available properties that are in the area.

Kansas City, Missouri

The median price list for homes increased four percent over the last year. Economic recovery is gradually making its way throughout mid-America, promising solid returns for investors willing to take action.

Raleigh, North Carolina

The unemployment rate is low and apartment occupancy is at 95 percent. The median price for homes is up 7.5 percent. Raleigh is a vacation/college town and it is one of the most popular searches on Realtor.com.

San Jose, California

Holds on real estate are gradually offering greater returns to investors. Rapid job growth has also prompted a housing shortage. This means that home prices are going for a premium, with rents also continuing to be on the rise.

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica real estate is an option for the motivated investor. Single family and two-to-four units are available at the low end of the market. There are great long term and rental opportunities available in this diverse and family friendly area.

Tucson, Arizona

Townhouses, condos, single family, Tucson offers many possibilities. Realtor.com put Tucson at the top of its investment markets list. The job market is turning and foreclosures are declining as median list pricing rises.

Even in difficult times there are opportunities for the savvy real estate investor. It’s always going to be about research, striking when the iron’s hot, or holding until it is.

How to Retire After Getting a Late Start on Saving

retirement (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

Ideally, you would have started saving for retirement in your early 20s. In this case, by the time you were 50-years-old you would have had a decent amount put away with roughly 15 years left to add to this amount. Unfortunately, this is not reality for many people globally, but it is not the end of the world. The typical American household in the 55 to 64 age group has only accumulated enough in retirement assets to provide an additional $400 per month on top of social security, according to an article found in the USA Today, so you are definitely not alone.

Getting a late start does not have to mean the end of your retirement goals, as long as you make use of the time that you have left before the big day arrives. Despite what people may have told you, there is no right way to retire. It is a very individual thing, so come up with your own plan and stick to it.

Spend Less

Perhaps the greatest mistake that couples make once their children have finished university and their house is paid off is they start spending more money. This can include lavish vacations, new vehicles and remodeling the house. In fact, the USA Today reports that the average couple increases spending by 51% once the kids move out, which makes it very difficult to save.

Even spending $500 less per month until retirement and putting it into a 401K can give you an extra $600 per month after retirement, depending on your investments. That makes a huge difference when attempting to continue your current lifestyle when you are no longer working. 

Consider Your House an Asset

If you have purchased a house, this is probably your greatest asset. A large family house will bring you in a great deal of value and you can invest this money in your retirement savings. This will also reduce your monthly expenses since you will not have to pay for a large house.

Once the children move out, you do not have much use for a large house anyway, so it makes sense to get out and use the money for your eventual retirement goals. Unless you have made money saving renovations like adding solar panels or digging a well, your monthly bills will cost more than they are worth once you have an empty nest.

Plan to Keep Working

Those who do not have much money put into their retirement savings might want to consider working for a few additional years. Not only does this give you more money to put into your retirement savings, it also means a few less years of draining your retirement fund.

Many people choose to retire when they are feeling burnt out by their job. At this point, it might be a good idea to start a second career. This gives you the chance to work a new job for a few years, which will increase your retirement savings, while giving you the chance to experience something completely different.

When Will Gold Be a Buy?

Gold is a timeless asset that is often considered to be a store of value. We know this because it has held its value through time. For example the cost of a lunch for two at the Savoy has approximately followed the value of a sovereign over the twentieth century. However, that lunch would have included a mighty fine bottle or two of claret in 1980, whereas in 1999, you may have had had to drink tap water. That’s because whilst gold holds its value over the long-term, the intermediate periods can be highly volatile. If you returned to the Savoy with your sovereign again in 2011, the maître d’ would have been far more receptive.

That point about gold’s cyclicality is fundamental. Had you invested in gold at the beginning of the 1970s, gold would have returned 27 times your original stake. However, the price fell up until 1999, which meant you had to endure two decades of pain. Then from 1999, or more specifically 2001, gold rose from $255 to $1,900 up until 2011. So knowing when to focus on gold is powerful, but it’s also vital to understand what is happening elsewhere.

For example, inflation averaged 7% in the USA in the 1970s, when equities only returned 1.5% per annum; a negative return in real terms. Thereafter, from 1980 to 2000, equities returned 14% per annum, whilst gold lost 3.5%. That’s the difference between halving your money in gold or multiplying it 14 times in equities, and that’s not including dividends. More recently, from 2000 to gold’s peak in 2011, equities returned more or less nothing whilst gold multiplied seven fold.

So you can buy gold and hold it forever and that’s not a terrible idea if you want a long-term store of value. But if you want your wealth to work harder, you can make that occasional and gargantuan decision when to focus on gold or equities. Of course, you don’t have to see it in quite such a binary manner. When gold isn’t working a 5% to 10% position won’t cause much harm whilst the remainder of your portfolio is focused on more productive investments. When gold turns, it’s time to reduce equities and increase your position in gold.

Atlas Pulse recognises that gold has had a great run since 2001 and the bull market is over. We downgraded gold in January from ‘strong bull market’ to ‘bull market’, then to ‘neutral’ in February and to ‘bear market’ in April. Each downgrade is an indication that you should consider reducing exposure to gold.

So the bad news is that gold is in a bear market and that has some way to go. However, and given the experiments carried out by our over-confident central bankers, that won’t last forever and we believe the final low for gold is likely to occur sometime in 2014 at a materially lower price than we currently see.

We analyse everything. We look at long-term trends, relationships with other assets, investor behavior, central bank purchases and sales, the price of options, sentiment surveys, time projections, price projections, volatility and seasonality. All of these, in aggregate, help us to build a picture or the risks and rewards that lie ahead.

We cannot say exactly when or at what price gold will be at any given time in the future, because we are not charlatans, but we can make an informed decision about the state of the ground that lies ahead.

When gold makes it’s low, sometime later in 2014, no one will call you and say buy now. The papers will have forgotten about gold altogether and the perma bulls who have been shouting about gold going to the moon will, thankfully, fall silent. The end of this gold bear market will be a rare opportunity to buy gold cheaply. As the market improves, Atlas Pulse will upgrade to neutral and then bull market and so on. Each upgrade will be a good opportunity to buy more gold with confidence.

A subscription to Atlas Pulse is a modest outlay. It provides you with an informed round-up of the gold market. Timely updates are also provided when there is a change to the outlook, so you don’t have to wait until the month end when something important is happening. By reading Atlas Pulse, you will learn more about the asset you own.

Atlas Pulse is the voice of reason in the gold market, and by god, it needs one.

Sign up today and receive a 40% discount, use the code "50plusfinance40"

Latest Trends in the Corporate Sector

The world is changing at a fast pace and so is changing the face of the corporate sector, or at least in the way we know it. In the recent times, professionals have developed a different kind of mind set, than they had few decades ago. With the emergence of more number of professionally managed big and small businesses, the competition has also become tougher. Businesses have incorporated many changes within themselves, to survive and excel in this competition. The current times has seen certain trends affecting the business world today. These trends are basically a result of the changes occurring in the world outside, and the businesses trying to adapt themselves to these changes. This article discusses the latest trends seen by business today.

Growth of women power: The women-owned businesses have increased by about 54% in the last 15 years. When the world was hit by recession in 2008, a more number of men lost their jobs as compared to women. The reason behind this is that women possess the positions based on knowledge and have been capable of adapting themselves. Many women went for getting new degrees to get placed in new industries. This pace needs to be sustained in the new economy for having holistic development.

Growth in number of entrepreneurs: More and more young people, especially MBAs, are going for starting their own business, rather than working for large companies. Entrepreneurship has the potential to create opportunities for employment for the millions of employable resources of our economy.

Blue Ocean Strategies: A large number of companies are using blue ocean strategies to figure out growing needs in the ever changing global market. This occurs in diverse industries like construction, financial services and hydration system manufacturing. This further helps in the branding of the business.

Extinction of the middleman: The role of distributors and middlemen is changing rapidly, irrespective of the industry. The reason behind this is the change in the supply chain and business model of companies. These changes can be attributed to the growing e-commerce and the transformation of the buying process of end-users, in both B2B and B2C companies.

Change of culture: There is a serious need for the change in the culture of professionally managed multi national organizations. This may mean improvement in quality or engagement of employees. Culture change is also needed in K-12 schools. This will impact the overall welfare and nursing development for the hospitalized.

The market of sustainability: The companies creating energy efficient and new methods of carrying out things would fit well to this group. In the recent times, if a roof is old, the momentum has shifted to addition of roofs, instead of roof replacement, as it reduces usage of energy. The sustainability directors need the help of efficient home builders in today’s market.

Outsourcing: Too much of the non core activities were being managed by firms earlier. Today, it has been recognized that the non-core business processes can be outsourced so that firms can focus on their core competencies.

In conclusion, these are the trends affecting business in the current year. The business today has certain positive as well as negative aspects. The business owners have to tactfully deal with the negative aspects, to promote overall economic development. The changing times and advancement in science and technology, has resulted in many changes in the world of business. The business today is ruled by certain trends.