Monday, July 5, 2010

Home Equity Loans

Home equity loans allow a homeowner to borrow money by putting up their home as collateral. People who need to borrow a relatively large amount of money or who don’t have good credit often find the home equity loan to be a good option.

A home equity loan is a type of second mortgage, not to be confused with a home equity line of credit.

Lenders may be more likely to lend money because they view a home equity loan as fairly safe. You can’t your house with you or hide it if you can’t pay back your loan, so the lender has a good chance of collecting the collateral. With your home up for grabs you are much more likely to make your payments.

Advantages of Home Equity Loans

Home equity loans can be attractive to borrowers for these reasons:
• They typically have a lower interest rate (or APR)
• They can be easier to qualify for if you have bad credit
• Payments on a home equity loan may be tax deductible
• Borrowers can get relatively large loans

Common Home Equity Loan Uses

Because homes tend to have a lot of value to borrow against, borrowers use home equity loans for some of life’s larger expenses. Some examples:

• To remodeling or renovating the house
• To pay for a family member’s college education
• To finance the purchase of a second home
• To consolidate high-interest debts

Some dangers of using a Home Equity Loan

Before using a home equity loan for any purpose, you should be aware of the dangers of these types of loans. The main thing is that you can lose your home if you fail to make the payments that are scheduled and required by the loan.
Another common pitfall of home equity loans is that unscrupulous people have found many ways to cheat unwary homeowners out of their most valuable asset. Make sure you know who you’re doing business with. If something doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t. Like a high-pressure sales pitch or an inability to put things in writing. Then take a step back and make sure the deal is legitimate by calling your local BBB.

How to Find the Best Home Equity Loans

Finding the best home equity rates can save you thousands of dollars, at least. In order to get the best loan, it is recommended that you:

• Shop around. Try many different sources (banks, brokers, and credit unions)
• Manage your credit score and make sure your credit reports are accurate
• Challenge any inaccurate information to have it removed
• Ask your friends and family who they recommend
• Compare your offers to those found on websites and advertisements
• Negotiate with whomever you choose for your best terms

Additional Home Equity Loan Tips

To make the deal work out in your best interest, make sure that it is the best deal in the first place. Is a home equity loan a better fit for your needs than a simple credit card account or personal loan? If you’re not sure, figure it out. Or seek out professional advice. No sense putting home at risk.
You should plan out your budget ahead of time. Make sure that taking the loan will not overburden you and make sure you are able to make the monthly payments.
Review and consider insurance to cover the payments if something happens. You may or may not need insurance. If you’re going to include it in your program, try to pay the premiums monthly – not up front.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Trading Forex With Discipline

Most traders under estimate the need for discipline in Forex trading and yet without it you will never win even if you have a system that can make money - some explanation will make how important it is, clearer to you.

What actually is Forex trading discipline?

It's the ability to enter a trade according to the rules of your trading system.

Why is it so Important?

Most traders believe the nonsense they read from gurus selling sure fire trading systems that they will not face periods of losses but even the best traders have many losses and you will too.This doesn't mean you won't win, you can - but you must keep enter your trades that your trading system signals you to enter.

In Forex trading you need to take your losses and keep them small if you are going to win long term, it's as simple as that. No one likes taking losses but if you don't learn to take them and keep them small you will never win.

Why is it so Hard to Achieve?

When your emotions kick in, you are inclined to not listen to your trading signals, or let your losses run longer than they should or simply stop trading your system rules. The emotions that we experience are usually fear, greed and revenge. The fear that is experienced is fear of loss. Greed kicks in when we have a winner and want more and more from one trade, only to have that winner turn into a loss. Revenge is taking a loss and being angry and then entering a trade without checking the systems rules. We find ourselves in another loss. We all want to win and taking losses is hard the emotions of greed, fear and revenge then start to over rule our logical judgment.

Anyone who says trading discipline is easy, has never traded its difficult! Even for experienced traders – but if you have discipline you can win and make a lot of money.

How do you Achieve Discipline then?

It's based upon knowing what you are doing and having confidence in whatever trading system you are using. Most traders try and follow other trader’s systems and their confidence soon goes because they don't know what there doing.

They don't get the proper Forex education and they are unlikely to have confidence in something they don't understand.

You need to do your homework and know how and why your Forex trading strategy will lead you to success. Only by having this confidence in your Forex trading system, will you stay on course and win.

A Combination of Method and Mindset

Forex trading is a combination of a simple logical robust methods, which you have the confidence to execute with discipline and both need to come together for you to succeed.Anyone can learn currency trading, it's a specifically learned skill but 95% of traders lose and while some lose because they have bad methods, most will have poor discipline. Good trading systems are a dime a dozen but, without discipline most are useless.

Forex trading success is more about mindset than method. Anyone can learn a method but fewer traders can execute a method with discipline.

So if you want to win at Forex trading- never underestimate the importance of Forex trading discipline, its vital to your success! So make sure you have the confidence in what you are doing by getting the right education which will give you the mindset to be disciplined.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Treating Mesothelioma

Once the stage of the Mesothelioma has been determined as well as an assessment of any other underlying medical conditions the patient may have and the patient's overall body and organ health, the doctor will explore the various treatment options. The treatments and methods used for treating Mesothelioma can be divided into two types: those that are known as “traditional” Mesothelioma treatments and “new” Mesothelioma treatments. Traditional Mesothelioma treatments include: surgery (pleurectomy/decortication or P/D, extrapleural pneumonectomy, pleurodesis, peritonectomy), chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs, which are usually injected into the veins), and radiation therapy or radiotherapy.

New Mesothelioma treatments include gene therapy, photodynamic therapy or PDT, immunotherapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy or IMRT, and the development of new chemotherapy agents. In addition to these new (or radical) Mesothelioma treatments, there are several other radical treatments available including angiogenesis therapies, antineoplaston therapy, Mesothelioma clinical trials, interferon and interleukin therapy, and radiofrequency ablation. A wide variety of alternative Mesothelioma treatments also exist such as herbal products, special diets, homeopathic medicine, acupuncture, therapeutic massage, high dose vitamin C, laetrile (amygdalin, extracted from fruit pits), and Eastern medicines, that can complement other treatment options.

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy involves the use of high-energy radiation rays to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells, but it only affect the cancer cells in the treated are. There are two types of radiotherapy including external radiation and internal radiation therapy. External radiation is generated through a machine and internal radiation therapy is delivered directly to the source of the cancer by placing radioactive materials into the body through small tubes. In many cases a trimodal approach is employed, which means several treatments are combined for the best outcomes, for a better chance at long-term survival, and/or a better quality of life. However, long term survival is rare.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Types of Student Loans

Federal loans are your best bet because they are often subsidized by the government this means that interest will not accrue while you are still in school. They can be locked once you do graduate, at lower interest rates and they offer much more flexibility in terms of repaying the loan.

Loans for Students:

Stafford loan: There are two types of Stafford Loans. These loans are financed through a private lender. They can usually be found at a bank or credit union ("FFELP loans"), and those financed directly through the U.S. government ("Direct loans").


Stafford loans are given either “subsidized” by which the government will pay the interest while you're in school or “unsubsidized” where you are responsible for interest payments while in school, though you should be able to defer these until graduation. To receive subsidized loans, students must be able demonstrate financial need. Generally, the breakdown according to FinAid.org is: "About 2/3 of subsidized Stafford loans are awarded to students with family AGI of under $50,000, 1/4 to students with family AGI of $50,000 to $100,000, and a little less than 10% to students with family AGI over $100,000." Any student is eligible for unsubsidized Stafford loans. ("AGI" stands for "Adjusted Gross Income" and is your family's annual gross income minus any exemptions allowed by the government when filing your federal income tax return.)


How much can you borrow with a Stafford loan: Stafford Loans allow dependent undergraduates to borrow up to $3,500 their freshman year, $4,500 their sophomore year and $5,500 for subsequent years. Graduate students can borrow $20,500 per year, although only $8,500 of that is subsidized. You are responsible for the interest generated on the remaining $12,000. There are also lifetime limits of $23,000 for an undergraduate education and a $65,500 combined limit for undergraduate and graduate.


Perkins loan: This loan is one of the most highly recommended loans because you lock in a 5% interest rate and schools pay the interest while you're in school. The repayment term is up to 10 years. Undergraduate students can receive up to $4,000 per year and graduate students can get up to $6,000. The cumulative limits are $20,000 for undergraduate loans and $40,000 for undergraduate and graduate loans combined. Students receive Perkins loans based on financial need, and the loans will come directly from their schools.

Loans for Parents:


PLUS loan: The Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS, allows parents to borrow from the federal government to pay for their children's educations. Graduate students are also now allowed to take out PLUS loans for their continuing education. So if you are a parent, you need to refer to the PLUS loan as the "Parent PLUS" as opposed to the “Grad PLUS.”Use FinAid.org's comparison chart to see the differences between Stafford and PLUS loans and what you will owe on both over time.


PLUS Loans have a fixed interest rate of 8.5%. They are unsubsidized, meaning you are responsible to make interest payments. PLUS loans also charge fees of 4%, deducted from each disbursement check.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mesothelioma Victims

Mesothelioma is not a disease that can be detected easily as it rarely gives out symptoms at its early stage in the body. Even with the symptoms, diagnosing the disease is difficult as these symptoms are very common with other diseases too.

Within this backdrop, patients' medical histories can help diagnose the disease. Therefore, physicians inquire about a patient's medical history if they suspect mesothelioma might be the case. Then the X-ray is performed and if necessary CT scan or MRI is also performed.

With these scans, the amount of fluid if it is present can be seen and this fluid is then aspirated with the help of a syringe. While a pleural tap is used to extract pleural fluid, the fluid in pericardial cavities is taken out by pericardiocentesis. Paracentesis is performed to take out fluid in abdomen.

If these fluids give out evidences of having mesothelioma, physicians do further tests on patients to prove the conditions clearly. At this stage, mostly a biopsy is done and tissues are sent to the pathologist for microscopic tests. Depending on the locations of the cancer, the methods used for biopsies can be different from each other. As an example, for cancer in the chest, thoracoscopy is performed to get tissues, in which, the physician make small incision on the chest wall and insert a thoracoscope between the ribs. In this way, the doctor can examine the inside of the chest cavities and extract tissue samples for microscopic testing.

On the other hand, to get tissue samples from a mesothelioma patient in the abdominal cavities, a laparoscopy is done. During this procedure a very small cut is made on the abdominal areas large enough to insert an instrument into the abdomen. Sometimes the procedure is not sufficient to take out enough tissues for the microscopic test and if this is the case, another major surgery has to be performed.

Student Loan Consolidation: Why to Consolidate ?

Both federal student loan consolidation and private student loan consolidation offer the benefit of a significantly lower monthly payment and simplified finances. If you want to consolidate student loans, begin with your federal Stafford, Parent PLUS, Perkins, and all Federal FFELP and Federal Direct Loans that were taken out for your education. Private student loan consolidation is a separate program that allows you to refinance all non-federal, education related debt.
Even if you can make the monthly payments from your original school loans, you may still want to consider consolidating to lower your payments and free up money for bills with higher interest rates. These include credit cards and personal loans, neither of which have tax-deductible interest.

Mortgage Refinancing

In recent years, millions of homeowners have taken advantage of low rates and refinanced their mortgages. This article describes the advantages and possible pitfalls associated with a "refi."

Before You Start:

Remember that refinancing to reduce debt can be a smart move, but refinancing in order to borrow more for consumer purchases (car, vacation, etc.) could set you back significantly.
Read the fine print on your current mortgage to learn whether you'll be assessed penalties or fees for "getting out" of that loan early.
Make sure you know whether you have a fixed or variable interest rate and what the terms are.
Home Refinancing Basics

In recent years, Americans seeking to take advantage of low interest rates have lined up to refinance their mortgages. In fact, refinancing hit an all-time high in 2003, and remained high in both 2004 and 2005, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

But while it's true that refinancing has the potential to help you reduce the costs associated with borrowing money to own a home, it is not necessarily a strategy that makes sense for every individual in every situation. So before you make a commitment to refinance your mortgage, it's important to do your homework and determine whether such a move is the right one for you.

To Refinance or Not

The old and arbitrary rule of thumb said that a refi only makes sense if you can lower your interest rate by at least two percentage points for example, from 9 percent to 7 percent. But what really matters is how long it will take you to break even and whether you plan to stay in your home that long. In other words, make sure you understand - and are comfortable with - the amount of time it will take for your overall savings to compensate for the cost of the refinancing.

Consider this: If you had a $200,000 30-year mortgage with an 8 percent interest rate, your monthly payment would be $1,468. If you refinanced at 6 percent, your new monthly payment would be $1,199, a savings of $269 per month. Assuming that your new closing costs amounted to $2,000, it would take eight months to break even. ($269 x 8 = $2,152). If you planned to stay in your home for at least eight more months, then a refi would be appropriate under these conditions. If you planned to sell the house before then, you might not want to bother refinancing. (See below for additional examples.)

Remember: All Mortgages Are Not Created Equal

Don't make the mistake of choosing a mortgage based only on its stated annual percentage rate (APR), because there are a variety of other important variables to consider, such as:

The term of the mortgage - This describes the amount of time it will take you to pay off the loan's principal and interest. Although short-term mortgages typically offer lower interest rates than long-term mortgages, they usually involve higher monthly payments. On the other hand, they can result in significantly reduced interest costs over time.

The variability of the interest rate - There are two basic types of mortgages: those with "fixed" (i.e., unchanging) interest rates and those with variable rates, which can change after a predetermined amount of time has passed, such as one year or five years. While an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) usually offers a lower introductory rate than a fixed-rate mortgage with a comparable term, the ARM's rate could jump in the future if interest rates rise. If you plan to stay in your home for a long time, it may make sense to opt for the predictability and security of a fixed rate, whereas an ARM might make sense if you plan to sell before its rate is allowed to go up. Also keep in mind that interest rates hovered near historical lows in recent years and are more likely to increase than decrease over time.

Points - Points (also known as "origination fees" or "discount fees") are fees that you pay to a lender or broker when you close the deal. While a "no-cost" or "zero points" mortgage does not carry this up-front cost, it could prove to be more expensive if the lender charges a higher interest rate instead. So you'll need to determine whether the savings from a lower rate justify the added costs of paying points. (One point is equal to one percent of the loan's value.)

Stick With What You Know?

Finally, keep in mind that your current lender may make it easier and cheaper to refinance than another lender would. That's because your current lender is likely to have all of your important financial information on hand already, which reduces the time and resources necessary to process your application. But don't let that be your only consideration. To make a well-informed, confident decision you'll need to shop around, crunch the numbers, and ask plenty of questions.

Summary:

The decision to refinance should only be made if the long-term savings outweigh the initial expenses. To calculate your break-even point, divide the cost of the refi by your monthly savings. The resulting figure represents the number of months you will need to stay in the home to make the strategy work.
Don't select a new mortgage based only on its annual percentage rate.
Also evaluate the term of the loan, whether the interest rate is fixed or variable, and the relative merits of paying up-front fees in exchange for a lower rate.
Your current lender already knows you and has your financial information on file, so you may be able to get a better deal that way, instead of going to a new lender.
To get the best possible refinancing deal, you'll need to shop around, crunch some numbers, and ask a lot of questions.
Checklist:

Shop around and conduct a detailed cost assessment (with a financial professional, if necessary) to identify which mortgage offers the greatest financial benefits.
Read the entire contract before signing. Don't let anyone pressure you or rush you to make a hasty decision.
If refinancing results in lower monthly payments, use those savings to pursue other important goals, such as preparing for retirement and college costs.