The Benefits Of Payday Loans

And rightly so, because unless they go about it the right way, they can end up paying a massive amount of interest. That is a question that many people ask of themselves. But can you afford to take one?

Payday loans are becoming more popular, and more in demand, as the credit squeeze continues.

period. You should look for a deal that has a limited ?rollover? Not all payday loans are the same, and you can usually get a deal that suits you.

First, don?t opt for the first online advert you see. So, if you feel that you need a payday loan how should you go about it?

Although a payday loan should strictly be repaid next payday, many people find themselves unable to do so and it carries on for another month. That is when the ?rollover? comes into play. The rollover involves another fee payment. You don?t pay interest as such with a payday loan: you pay a ?fee?. For example, with a payday loans of $400 you could pay a $50 fee. That works out at an interest rate of 25% a month, or an APR of 300%. If you miss the payment, then you pay a rollover fee of another $50, so that your APR has suddenly risen to 600%. So a payday loan can be very expensive unless you make sure that you pay it. So, how do you do that?

Simple. Make your payment by direct debit from your bank on payday. Make sure that the direct debit is dated for your payday, or as close as possible to it, and you will always have money in the bank when the payment is due. If you are paid on a certain date each month, make the direct debit for that date.

The definition of a payday loan is that it is paid back on your next payday after taking out the loan. If you know your payday after taking the loan then you can arrange a direct debit to be applied on that date, and the payment will be made before you can access your account. That way there will be no temptation to spend the money before you pay it back.

If payday is a Saturday or Sunday, then you will be paid on the Friday, so arrange the direct debit for the Friday. If you have taken the loan out close to payday, you might have made an arrangement to pay next payday: in that case the same arrangements will apply.

If you ever make an arrangement to make repayments over a number of months, then it will be difficult to arrange a single direct debit date, and that kind of payment is not variable: it is made on the same date each month. Many people I know come to an arrangement with their bank in such situations.

You can open another account with your bank after discussing your problem with them, and arrange the bank to transfer your payment to that account on payday, and then have the direct debit remove that for your payday loan repayment on the 1st of each month. I know this all sounds a bit complicated, but it works for many people, and helps them to keep clear of rollovers that can end up with them owing more than they borrowed.

with a payday loan, arranged the same day, or at least within 24 hours. Well, payday can be ?today? I wish it were payday today??

How often have thought ?I could pay that in a couple days ? It will give you emergency cash when needed, such as an emergency car repair or medical bill, and allow you to pay it back next payday. However, payday loans have many benefits if you are able to make the payment at the right time.

The take it and use it well. So payday loans do have benefits to those that need them, and if you need one then think carefully before taking it, and make sure you get the best deal.

Buckets ? Your Way To Wealth

Self managed superannuation, share trading, derivatives, all topics once spoken by only the financial elite are now common subjects at dinner parties and Friday night drinks. Learning how to manage and build your own investment portfolio is quickly becoming one of the most popular topics on everyone?s lips.

This interest in financial planning has been fueled by a rapidly aging population who have realized that their lifestyles will be substantially compromised if they do not become much more financially literate and responsible.

In addition, the introduction of the Internet, financial seminars and software have all empowered the Arm Chair Investor to manage their own money. However, many of these home based investors have had little or even no formal training in funds management. Now, while it is not a pre-requisite to have a degree in order to profit from various investments, it is imperative that investors understand the basics, have a clearly defined investment strategy, realistic goals and appropriate asset diversification.

Now while we all have clear financial goals ? to make more money ? many do not appreciate the importance of sound asset allocation, or diversification. Many people have made the mistake of putting all their capital into only one investment. Diversification is critical to the success of any long term investment strategy. But, by diversifying, you must balance your investments based on risk and reward. Putting all of your money in the bank may be very secure, however, your overall return will suffer. Conversely, using all of your money to trade in options may produce very high returns, but the risk is very high that you could lose the lot. Therefore you must allocate your assets to suit your personal level of risk tolerance.

Investment Buckets

What are Investment Buckets? Well, at Platinum Pursuits, we like to make investing fun and easy. So when we looked at the topic of Asset Allocation, we likened it to buckets.

In order to protect your money, maximize your investment returns and ensure that you always have sufficient capital to meet your lifestyle, you must properly allocate your funds.

To do this, we think of using buckets. We have two buckets to consider, the Safety Bucket and the Growth Bucket.

Safety Bucket

The safety bucket is like a safety net. This is where we put our safe, secure investments and assets, such as our house, term deposits, insurances, etc. The safety bucket will not produce a good return, but then, that is not its purpose. It is there to ensure that we can always meet our financial commitments and that we never risk our most important assets, such as our house.

Depending on our age, risk tolerance and desired returns, the amount of capital you allocate to your safety bucket will vary, however, you should look to investing between 10%-30% of your capital. If you are nearing retirement, or financial independence, you may choose to increase that proportion, but when still acquiring assets, it?s best to keep the safety bucket as small as possible, whilst still achieving its purpose.

Growth Bucket

The Growth Bucket, by virtue of its name, is obviously where we want to allocate our high return investments. Assets such as investment properties, shares, derivatives, etc. Now, to achieve a high return in your growth bucket, you must be prepared to make a loss. Even the world?s most outstanding investors have lost money many times. However, by properly allocating their funds, they have been able to come back from those losses to continue building their portfolios.

Within the growth bucket, you should consider segmenting the bucket into Short Term Momentum investments, such as short term stock, option and CFD trades, and Long Term Growth investments, such as blue chip shares, covered calls and investment properties.

The point is that you develop your plan and stick to it. Again the choice is yours. Most successful investors adopt a 40-60 rule, in that they allow for 40% of the growth bucket to momentum trades and 60% to long term.