5 Ways For Your Business To Have Good Credit

Often, as a commercial lender, I have companies inquire as to how they can make their organization credit worthy.  Many times lenders struggle getting financing approved due to the lack of some key required information.  I would like to take this opportunity to go over some basic information that may help your company secure financing.  Also note, much of the information I request is also very useful information for yourselves and the management of your company.

   1.  Updated Information

The most important step is keep up to date financial information.  Most lending institutions require at least annual financial statements.  This will include the minimum of an Income/Expense Report and a Balance Sheet.  This reporting provides a snap shot of your business year to date and needs to be completed within 90 to 120 days of your company’s yearend.  Completion of the same will also result in reporting to CRA (Canada Revenue Agencies) as required and is typically completed by your accounting firm.

7 Tips to Protect Your Identity and Cards While on Vacation

7 Tips to Protect Your Identity and Cards While on Vacation

The time for people to escape out cool climate for warmer regions is now upon us.  Wherever you go, chances are that their standards for security regarding cards and accounts may not be great as those here at home.  The following are 7 tips that can help you protect your money while travelling abroad.

1. Use credit, not debit.  Credit cards usually have zero liability policies which can protect you if they are copied or stolen.  Debit cards give direct access to your account, which you want to avoid in areas where identity theft is likely.
2. Change PINs before your trip.  As you leave on your trip stop by the credit union and change your PINs on your debit and credit cards.  You can change them back upon returning, which blocks use of any possible stolen/copied cards after the PIN change date.  You can change your PIN in branch or at your credit union’s ATM.

Fraud Prevention Month

March is Fraud Prevention month.

I have written several articles for this blog about fraud over the past few years.  My goal with each article is to help people recognize fraud and to help them warn others about it as well. 

Fraud covers a lot of categories; from identity theft to lying about damage to a home that is for sale, from stealing a credit card to billing someone for work that was never done.

Two of the most famous types of fraud are the Nigerian Prince Letter Scam and the International Lottery Scam.

The Nigerian Prince Letter Scam is quite old and is so-named because the letters originally said they were from a Nigerian Prince who is a prisoner in his country after a violent government turn over.  The Prince has money in another country but cannot access it.  If you would be willing to send money to a contact that will bribe the guards keeping the Prince under house arrest, he could sneak out of the country and then reward you with millions of dollars for the help.  The reality is if you send money they will keep asking for more as long as you are willing to send it.

Extra Payments Pay Off

Taking a mortgage out over 25 years or more helps make the monthly payments more manageable, but by extending out the loan for so long you really increase the amount of interest you pay. 

To help reduce the total interest you pay on a mortgage (or any loan) I would encourage you to make extra payments.  If you get a tax return or a bonus, make sure at least some of it goes to repaying debt.  High interest debt, like credit cards, gets top billing as my first recommendation for extra payments, but reducing mortgages help long term as well.

For example, if you have a $10,000 credit card balance at 19%  annual interest (store cards range from 24% to 28%) and have to make the monthly interest payment and the monthly minimum principal payment of 2% (some are 3%) with a minimum payment of $20, you will pay the credit card off after 13.5 years and will have paid over $7,500 in interest.  If you can make an additional payment of $600 each year in the first 5 years you will knock off over 3 years of payments and save over $2,300 in interest.  It is well worth your time and money to try to pay off credit cards quickly, and not add to the credit card debt as you pay it off.

Avoiding The Debt Trap

I presented a seminar called "Avoiding the Debt Trap" at the Rocky Public Library on Thursday, Feb 3.  I have included some of the highlights and a link to the slide show that I used (500 kb).

Avoiding The Debt Trap

Debt is an obligation to pay for money/services given out, often at an additional cost of interest

When do debt problems start?

• Usually when spending more on wants than needs
• Spending more than is taken home
• Put extras on credit cards and don’t pay them off

Controlling Your Wants

• Write down what you need and their costs - Mortgage, rent, insurance, food, medicine
• Write down what you want and their costs - Cable, phone, movies, meals, vacations
• Look at take home income, figure what fits - Needs come first, wants can be postponed and may even change with time

Common Bad Debt

• Vehicle (truck or car)
• Quad & snowmobile
• RV, motor home
• Vacation
• Sports
• Entertainment (movies, bar, TV)
• All things that while enjoyable, but add no money to savings, no value. They cost money, but there are no monetary returns.

Choices - Avoiding debt or getting out of debt is about choices

• Choosing needs over wants
• Choosing long-term over short-term
• Choosing to control your lifestyle and its costs vs. your lifestyle

For full details from the presentation, please go to the slide show pdf (500 kb).  Any comments or questions, please post them and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  Jerry

6 Tips to Controlling High Interest Debt

If utilized properly, credit can be very useful. You can obtain loans to help you purchase a new car or house, for example, since it is normally hard to find sufficient funds for either in a savings account. However, you should always bear in mind that any money borrowed must be paid back with interest.

If you do not pay close attention to your finances you can quickly run into financial difficulty, perhaps seemingly insurmountable difficulty! Some people wind up borrowing money simply to pay their debts, leading to a debt cycle that spirals out of control.

People find themselves financially strapped and consequently in debt from a number of means:
  * Unemployment, regardless of the reason
  * Unexpected bills
  * Divorce
  * Out of control spending well beyond one's budget
  * Inability to put money aside for savings
  * Inattention to mounting financial obligations
  * Any catastrophic and expensive life event (e.g. severe auto accident)

Below are 6 tips to help make sure you don't get even further into debt if you are already struggling.

Debit and Credit Card Skimming

Protect Your Cash by Protecting Your PIN

Over 84% of Canadian adults have at least 1 debit card and at 74% have at least 1 credit card.  Despite the convenience and popularity of these cards, there is a risk of fraud. It is important to protect your cards, just as you would cash or cheques. Some of the risks associated with debit/credit card fraud are the same as carrying around your account numbers, so protect your card information in your wallet, online and over the phone.

However, there is another threat to card users that is unique - it's called "skimming." Skimming occurs when thieves set up a device that captures the magnetic stripe and keypad information from ATM machines, gas pumps, restaurants, and retail stores. By doing the following, your information will be protected and you will reduce the risk of having your information stolen.

Are we teaching students enough about debt?

Students are leaving university with more debt than ever, often crossing the $40,000 mark, and then they go out into the world and accumulate even more debt buy buying rent-to-own furniture and borrowing for vehicles. 

The real scare comes from credit cards.  They are freely offered with little explanation of how to use them and how they affect your credit score.  And those habits that people form in their teens and 20's usually carry on throughout their life.

This may seem a little alarmist, and it is.  But I really want everyone to understand that excessive spending and debt accumulation can cause problems for not only you, but your whole household for decades after you bought that TV or went on that vacation.

Check out this article at Canada.com to find out more details about Canadian debt loads.

Take care of your debt.  Life will be so much easier.  Jerry

Debt Is Way Too Easy?

"Don't Pay for 14 months!!  No Money Down!"

My kids can practically quote some of the TV commercials that have pitch men shouting slogans about how cheap everything is and that you should get it now.  Especially the vehicle and furniture retailers.  Those ads are on all the time.  I have to turn down the volume just so I can think. Maybe that's a part of their advertising gimmick, making only their sales slogan stick in your head and erase all the other ads.  Who knows?  I think it might work on my kids.  To them, getting the item is far more important than thinking of how you might pay for it.  They would be quite happy to borrow money for every little thing that comes up on TV.

Debt itself is not a bad thing.  In fact it can help us purchase things that just cost too much to realistically have saved for before we buy: ie. a house, vehicle, or education.  So for those things most of us have to borrow money, and it's worth it to have a mortgage so we can have a house..  But there are things where borrowing money doesn't really make a lot of sense.

For instance, if you pay for a computer on credit card and make low monthly payments on your card, you will probably have to replace the computer before you have even paid it off.  That's probably not a good thing to borrow for and pay back over 7 years.

The smart people at Wealth Web Gurus have a very good article about "Good Debt vs. Bad Debt."  It describes how debt can help you and when it isn't good for you.

The Financial Post has an article about how easy it is to get into debt.  The author, Gary Marr, thinks it is a little too easy to get into debt.  "Debt Becomes Us."

Using debt wisely can help everyone over the course of their life.  Use it unwisely and you'll end up with a whole lot of letters and phone calls, maybe even some guy named Vinnie knocking on your door at midnight, asking for the keys to the car.  Nobody wants that.

My own advice about debt is:  If you have to borrow for it, the value of the item should last longer than the loan.
Jerry