Linking Reverse Mortgages and Long-Term Care Insurance

By Terry Stanfield

As individuals age, the question of how to pay for their expenses in the troubling situation where they cannot take care of themselves comes up. Millions of seniors across America are beginning to look at the future and the possibility their children will have to pay the costs of their care, and some are doing something about it. Typically, it will come down to two choices for seniors. They can either go with long-term care insurance policies that will help keep them afloat financially while they are getting long-term care. The other option is they can look into a reverse mortgage to help finance their needs. The options of a reverse mortgage and long-term care insurance are becoming the two main ways seniors are paying for their own long-term care.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is made to individuals 62 years and over in the United States, which is used to release home equity on a property in one large lump sum, or multiple payments. The homeowner is not obligated to repay the loan until they die, the home is sold or they leave into a nursing home.

For a typical mortgage, the owner of the house will pay a monthly payment to the lender, whereas in a reverse mortgage, the home owner makes no payments and all interest is added to the lien on the property. Now, it may seem odd that there are no payments on the reverse mortgage, but the way that the loan is paid off is that if the home owner moves, goes into a nursing home or dies, is from the proceeds in the sale of the house, or in the event the heirs refinance the estate of the homeowner. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the loan, the owner of the house gets the difference. In the case of the heirs, they would receive the difference. If the sale does not pay off the loan, then the bank will absorb the difference.

This option is becoming very popular with some seniors when they have to choose between reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance because they get a lot of the money upfront, which can then be applied to savings. The draw back is that it could severely effect the inheritance that you may want to leave behind. Long-term care insurance is an inexpensive way to insure that your family is taken care of.

Conclusion For many seniors, the possibility of their children paying out of their own pocket to take care of them is simply too much to bear. As a result, seniors will look at the options of reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance to find a way that they can pay their own way through either a loan or a government program. In the case of reverse mortgages, they will be able to get a loan that they will not have to pay back until they die or move, and even then the loan is paid off on the sale of the home. This allows them to get the money up front to help pay for their own long-term care at home. It is of little surprise it has become such a popular trend for seniors looking for a way to pay their own way.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Does Age Affect The Price Of A Long-Term Care Policy?

By Terry Stanfield

As you grow old, some things like dinners out and movies become cheaper due to senior discounts. However, conversely other things become more expensive, and usually those things are insurance. As a result, when you are getting a long-term care policy, your age is going to have a big effect on the price of a long-term care policy.

Look at it from the insurance company's perspective. They have a 30-year-old computer programmer who works from home and rarely travels. As a result, he is considered low-risk and his insurance premium costs are going to be as low as $20 per month. However, for an individual who is 67 and has a heart condition, the costs become much greater because there is an increased risk that the individual will have to collect on the policy soon.

A 30-year-old can pay $20 per month for years and offset the cost of the long-term care expenses for the company very early on. This is not the case for the 67-year-old. The insurance company will need to collect as much money as they can before the individual needs long-term health care so they can offset the costs of his care.

As a result, age has a huge affect on the price of a long-term health care plan. The younger you are, the less you will pay, while the older you are the more you will pay. Hence the reason you should try and get the care you need at an early age so you can benefit from those low costs.

As you get older, you are in a greater risk area of suffering several debilitating health problems. The insurance companies look at this and they determine your eligibility for long-term care insurance programs as a result.

Do not be surprised if you end up paying over $100 more than someone 20 or 30 years younger than you. If you want to save money on your premiums, and not put more financial strain on yourself to make the payments each month, you are going to need to try and get yourself into a long-term care insurance plan early so that you have a low price for long-term care.

Conclusion It is an unfortunate reality of life that the closer you get to needing long-term care, the more you will pay on the price for long-term care insurance. Insurance companies will look at you in terms of risk, and if there is a greater risk they will be paying out sooner than later, they are going to attach higher monthly premium payments as a result. You have less time to pay towards your long-term care insurance policy, and as a result, they need to offset the potential costs of that plan by getting as much money before you need long-term care as they can.

As with anything to do with money and saving, starting earlier is always better than starting later. Long-term insurance plans are no different and early planning on your part, will mean an easier premium payment from the insurance company.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Using Long-Term Care Insurance with Reverse Mortgages

By Terry Stanfield

Many retirees are faced with the possibility of a long-term care event. How will I pay expenses if I cannot take care of myself? I do not want to put the burden of long-term care expenses on my family or children. The good news is that we are not alone, millions of seniors across America are facing the same dilemma and many are making plans now. There are a lot of things we can do but it is coming down to two main options. The first is long-term care insurance and the other is a reverse mortgage. Some are combining both options. These options are important factors in planning for the time when we may need the money the most but will not be able to do much about it.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is made to individuals 62 years and over in the United States, which is used to release home equity on a property in one large lump sum, or multiple payments. The homeowner is not obligated to repay the loan until they die, the home is sold or they leave into a nursing home.

For a typical mortgage, the owner of the house will pay a monthly payment to the lender, whereas in a reverse mortgage, the home owner makes no payments and all interest is added to the lien on the property. Now, it may seem odd that there are no payments on the reverse mortgage, but the way that the loan is paid off is that if the home owner moves, goes into a nursing home or dies, is from the proceeds in the sale of the house, or in the event the heirs refinance the estate of the homeowner. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the loan, the owner of the house gets the difference. In the case of the heirs, they would receive the difference. If the sale does not pay off the loan, then the bank will absorb the difference.

This option is becoming very popular with some seniors when they have to choose between reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance because they get a lot of the money upfront, which can then be applied to savings. The draw back is that it could severely effect the inheritance that you may want to leave behind. Long-term care insurance is an inexpensive way to insure that your family is taken care of.

Conclusion For many seniors, the possibility of their children paying out of their own pocket to take care of them is simply too much to bear. As a result, seniors will look at the options of reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance to find a way that they can pay their own way through either a loan or a government program. In the case of reverse mortgages, they will be able to get a loan that they will not have to pay back until they die or move, and even then the loan is paid off on the sale of the home. This allows them to get the money up front to help pay for their own long-term care at home. It is of little surprise it has become such a popular trend for seniors looking for a way to pay their own way.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Does Age Affect The Price Of A Long-Term Care Policy?

By Terry Stanfield

As you grow old, some things like dinners out and movies become cheaper due to senior discounts. However, conversely other things become more expensive, and usually those things are insurance. As a result, when you are getting a long-term care policy, your age is going to have a big effect on the price of a long-term care policy.

Look at it from the insurance company's perspective. They have a 30-year-old computer programmer who works from home and rarely travels. As a result, he is considered low-risk and his insurance premium costs are going to be as low as $20 per month. However, for an individual who is 67 and has a heart condition, the costs become much greater because there is an increased risk that the individual will have to collect on the policy soon.

A 30-year-old can pay $20 per month for years and offset the cost of the long-term care expenses for the company very early on. This is not the case for the 67-year-old. The insurance company will need to collect as much money as they can before the individual needs long-term health care so they can offset the costs of his care.

As a result, age has a huge affect on the price of a long-term health care plan. The younger you are, the less you will pay, while the older you are the more you will pay. Hence the reason you should try and get the care you need at an early age so you can benefit from those low costs.

As you get older, you are in a greater risk area of suffering several debilitating health problems. The insurance companies look at this and they determine your eligibility for long-term care insurance programs as a result.

Do not be surprised if you end up paying over $100 more than someone 20 or 30 years younger than you. If you want to save money on your premiums, and not put more financial strain on yourself to make the payments each month, you are going to need to try and get yourself into a long-term care insurance plan early so that you have a low price for long-term care.

Conclusion It is an unfortunate reality of life that the closer you get to needing long-term care, the more you will pay on the price for long-term care insurance. Insurance companies will look at you in terms of risk, and if there is a greater risk they will be paying out sooner than later, they are going to attach higher monthly premium payments as a result. You have less time to pay towards your long-term care insurance policy, and as a result, they need to offset the potential costs of that plan by getting as much money before you need long-term care as they can.

As with anything to do with money and saving, starting earlier is always better than starting later. Long-term insurance plans are no different and early planning on your part, will mean an easier premium payment from the insurance company.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Long-Term Care Insurance combined with Reverse Mortgages

By Terry Stanfield

Many retirees are faced with the possibility of a long-term care event. How will I pay expenses if I cannot take care of myself? I do not want to put the burden of long-term care expenses on my family or children. The good news is that we are not alone, millions of seniors across America are facing the same dilemma and many are making plans now. There are a lot of things we can do but it is coming down to two main options. The first is long-term care insurance and the other is a reverse mortgage. Some are combining both options. These options are important factors in planning for the time when we may need the money the most but will not be able to do much about it.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is made to individuals 62 years and over in the United States, which is used to release home equity on a property in one large lump sum, or multiple payments. The homeowner is not obligated to repay the loan until they die, the home is sold or they leave into a nursing home.

For a typical mortgage, the owner of the house will pay a monthly payment to the lender, whereas in a reverse mortgage, the home owner makes no payments and all interest is added to the lien on the property. Now, it may seem odd that there are no payments on the reverse mortgage, but the way that the loan is paid off is that if the home owner moves, goes into a nursing home or dies, is from the proceeds in the sale of the house, or in the event the heirs refinance the estate of the homeowner. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the loan, the owner of the house gets the difference. In the case of the heirs, they would receive the difference. If the sale does not pay off the loan, then the bank will absorb the difference.

This option is becoming very popular with some seniors when they have to choose between reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance because they get a lot of the money upfront, which can then be applied to savings. The draw back is that it could severely effect the inheritance that you may want to leave behind. Long-term care insurance is an inexpensive way to insure that your family is taken care of.

Conclusion For many seniors, the possibility of their children paying out of their own pocket to take care of them is simply too much to bear. As a result, seniors will look at the options of reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance to find a way that they can pay their own way through either a loan or a government program. In the case of reverse mortgages, they will be able to get a loan that they will not have to pay back until they die or move, and even then the loan is paid off on the sale of the home. This allows them to get the money up front to help pay for their own long-term care at home. It is of little surprise it has become such a popular trend for seniors looking for a way to pay their own way.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Does Age Affect The Price Of A Long-Term Care Policy?

By Terry Stanfield

As you grow old, some things like dinners out and movies become cheaper due to senior discounts. However, conversely other things become more expensive, and usually those things are insurance. As a result, when you are getting a long-term care policy, your age is going to have a big effect on the price of a long-term care policy.

Look at it from the insurance company's perspective. They have a 30-year-old computer programmer who works from home and rarely travels. As a result, he is considered low-risk and his insurance premium costs are going to be as low as $20 per month. However, for an individual who is 67 and has a heart condition, the costs become much greater because there is an increased risk that the individual will have to collect on the policy soon.

A 30-year-old can pay $20 per month for years and offset the cost of the long-term care expenses for the company very early on. This is not the case for the 67-year-old. The insurance company will need to collect as much money as they can before the individual needs long-term health care so they can offset the costs of his care.

As a result, age has a huge affect on the price of a long-term health care plan. The younger you are, the less you will pay, while the older you are the more you will pay. Hence the reason you should try and get the care you need at an early age so you can benefit from those low costs.

As you get older, you are in a greater risk area of suffering several debilitating health problems. The insurance companies look at this and they determine your eligibility for long-term care insurance programs as a result.

Do not be surprised if you end up paying over $100 more than someone 20 or 30 years younger than you. If you want to save money on your premiums, and not put more financial strain on yourself to make the payments each month, you are going to need to try and get yourself into a long-term care insurance plan early so that you have a low price for long-term care.

Conclusion It is an unfortunate reality of life that the closer you get to needing long-term care, the more you will pay on the price for long-term care insurance. Insurance companies will look at you in terms of risk, and if there is a greater risk they will be paying out sooner than later, they are going to attach higher monthly premium payments as a result. You have less time to pay towards your long-term care insurance policy, and as a result, they need to offset the potential costs of that plan by getting as much money before you need long-term care as they can.

As with anything to do with money and saving, starting earlier is always better than starting later. Long-term insurance plans are no different and early planning on your part, will mean an easier premium payment from the insurance company.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Does Age Affect The Price Of A Long-Term Care Policy?

By Terry Stanfield

As you grow old, some things like dinners out and movies become cheaper due to senior discounts. However, conversely other things become more expensive, and usually those things are insurance. As a result, when you are getting a long-term care policy, your age is going to have a big effect on the price of a long-term care policy.

Look at it from the insurance company's perspective. They have a 30-year-old computer programmer who works from home and rarely travels. As a result, he is considered low-risk and his insurance premium costs are going to be as low as $20 per month. However, for an individual who is 67 and has a heart condition, the costs become much greater because there is an increased risk that the individual will have to collect on the policy soon.

A 30-year-old can pay $20 per month for years and offset the cost of the long-term care expenses for the company very early on. This is not the case for the 67-year-old. The insurance company will need to collect as much money as they can before the individual needs long-term health care so they can offset the costs of his care.

As a result, age has a huge affect on the price of a long-term health care plan. The younger you are, the less you will pay, while the older you are the more you will pay. Hence the reason you should try and get the care you need at an early age so you can benefit from those low costs.

As you get older, you are in a greater risk area of suffering several debilitating health problems. The insurance companies look at this and they determine your eligibility for long-term care insurance programs as a result.

Do not be surprised if you end up paying over $100 more than someone 20 or 30 years younger than you. If you want to save money on your premiums, and not put more financial strain on yourself to make the payments each month, you are going to need to try and get yourself into a long-term care insurance plan early so that you have a low price for long-term care.

Conclusion It is an unfortunate reality of life that the closer you get to needing long-term care, the more you will pay on the price for long-term care insurance. Insurance companies will look at you in terms of risk, and if there is a greater risk they will be paying out sooner than later, they are going to attach higher monthly premium payments as a result. You have less time to pay towards your long-term care insurance policy, and as a result, they need to offset the potential costs of that plan by getting as much money before you need long-term care as they can.

As with anything to do with money and saving, starting earlier is always better than starting later. Long-term insurance plans are no different and early planning on your part, will mean an easier premium payment from the insurance company.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Check This Out Before Looking Into Long Term Care Insurance

By Terry Klass

A long-term care insurance quote is based upon many factors. You will want know these factors and this article will give you six key points to explain some of those factors. When you receive an ltci quote, it is going to be contingent upon what you want out of the policy regarding benefits levels and where you are in your life age-wise. Using the information in this article will allow you to be a smart consumer.

Looking at long term care insurance quotes, what you want your policy to include and when you receive your policy will cause changes in the quotes you will receive. This article will give you more information about what companies you should look for among other factors.

When you are thinking about long-term care, you need to think about what types of benefits you will want. You can receive in-home service, nursing home care, or community based services to give you an idea.

One factor in the cost of your policy is your age. Getting your policy at a younger age allows the premium to be lower.

You will want to look at different types of companies. Your employer may be able to offer this type of insurance or you may want to look at individual companies.

You can choose different policies with different benefits. Some policies pay a maximum for either a daily, weekly, or monthly amount or others pay up to a certain dollar amount.

You have the option to choose when you are able to start using benefits and this will cause a change in your insurance quote. Daily benefits level is something to think over. If you want higher daily benefits limits, this will cause you to pay more for your ltci.

A long term care insurance quote is something you will want to really understand because it will take more money to take care of yourself when you are older. Putting your thoughts and the information out there to be discussed and thought about will allow you to truly pick the best policy for you.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Linking Reverse Mortgages and Long-Term Care Insurance

By Terry Stanfield

As individuals age, the question of how to pay for their expenses in the troubling situation where they cannot take care of themselves comes up. Millions of seniors across America are beginning to look at the future and the possibility their children will have to pay the costs of their care, and some are doing something about it. Typically, it will come down to two choices for seniors. They can either go with long-term care insurance policies that will help keep them afloat financially while they are getting long-term care. The other option is they can look into a reverse mortgage to help finance their needs. The options of a reverse mortgage and long-term care insurance are becoming the two main ways seniors are paying for their own long-term care.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that is made to individuals 62 years and over in the United States, which is used to release home equity on a property in one large lump sum, or multiple payments. The homeowner is not obligated to repay the loan until they die, the home is sold or they leave into a nursing home.

For a typical mortgage, the owner of the house will pay a monthly payment to the lender, whereas in a reverse mortgage, the home owner makes no payments and all interest is added to the lien on the property. Now, it may seem odd that there are no payments on the reverse mortgage, but the way that the loan is paid off is that if the home owner moves, goes into a nursing home or dies, is from the proceeds in the sale of the house, or in the event the heirs refinance the estate of the homeowner. If the proceeds of the sale exceed the amount of the loan, the owner of the house gets the difference. In the case of the heirs, they would receive the difference. If the sale does not pay off the loan, then the bank will absorb the difference.

This option is becoming very popular with some seniors when they have to choose between reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance because they get a lot of the money upfront, which can then be applied to savings. The draw back is that it could severely effect the inheritance that you may want to leave behind. Long-term care insurance is an inexpensive way to insure that your family is taken care of.

Conclusion For many seniors, the possibility of their children paying out of their own pocket to take care of them is simply too much to bear. As a result, seniors will look at the options of reverse mortgages and long-term care insurance to find a way that they can pay their own way through either a loan or a government program. In the case of reverse mortgages, they will be able to get a loan that they will not have to pay back until they die or move, and even then the loan is paid off on the sale of the home. This allows them to get the money up front to help pay for their own long-term care at home. It is of little surprise it has become such a popular trend for seniors looking for a way to pay their own way.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Check This Out Before Looking Into Long Term Care Insurance

By Terry Klass

A long-term care insurance quote is based upon many factors. You will want know these factors and this article will give you six key points to explain some of those factors. When you receive an ltci quote, it is going to be contingent upon what you want out of the policy regarding benefits levels and where you are in your life age-wise. Using the information in this article will allow you to be a smart consumer.

Looking at long term care insurance quotes, what you want your policy to include and when you receive your policy will cause changes in the quotes you will receive. This article will give you more information about what companies you should look for among other factors.

When you are thinking about long-term care, you need to think about what types of benefits you will want. You can receive in-home service, nursing home care, or community based services to give you an idea.

One factor in the cost of your policy is your age. Getting your policy at a younger age allows the premium to be lower.

You will want to look at different types of companies. Your employer may be able to offer this type of insurance or you may want to look at individual companies.

You can choose different policies with different benefits. Some policies pay a maximum for either a daily, weekly, or monthly amount or others pay up to a certain dollar amount.

You have the option to choose when you are able to start using benefits and this will cause a change in your insurance quote. Daily benefits level is something to think over. If you want higher daily benefits limits, this will cause you to pay more for your ltci.

A long term care insurance quote is something you will want to really understand because it will take more money to take care of yourself when you are older. Putting your thoughts and the information out there to be discussed and thought about will allow you to truly pick the best policy for you.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Reasons For Long Term Health Care Insurance You Should Know

By Terry Stanfield

If you are like most people, you do not want to be a burden to your loved ones as you age. As people are now living longer than ever before, many are living until their children approach retirement age. The last thing any parent wants to do is to burden their own children with their care.

You and your spouse have a 70 percent chance that one of you will need long term care at least once in your lifetime. If you do not have a spouse, you have a 40 percent chance of developing some condition that will require you to have long term care. This can happen at any time in your life - do you really want it to eat away all of your savings?

Some reasons for getting long term care insurance are as follows:

It will pay benefits that your insurance or Medicare will not. After getting out of the hospital, you may end up at a rehabilitation facility for a few months. While your insurance will cover some of these costs, they will not cover all of the costs. What they do not cover you will end up paying out of pocket. This can take away most, if not all, of your savings. When you have long term care insurance, you can rely on this to pick up what your insurance company will not cover.

It will enable you quality care. If you are forced to go into assisted living because of an illness or disability, you will have to pay for any care out of your savings. Medicare will only cover a small portion of the care that you receive. The rest will have to come out of your own pocket. Once your savings are depleted, you will have to apply for public aid. This may require you to be transferred to an assisted care facility that does not offer the quality as those that are privately funded.

It will ease the burden on your children. Your children will not want to see you in a facility where they feel you are not well cared for and may try to take care of you themselves. This will be a burden on them, whether or not they admit it. As parents, we never want to do anything to harm our children, even in our old age. We do not want them burdened with our care. If we have long term care insurance, we do not have to worry about being a burden to our children. We can stay in comfort at a long term care facility that is close to their homes.

Long term care insurance can provide for you whenever you need long term care. You can choose from a variety of different plans and the cost will be determined by your age and general health. Long term care can insure that you get the best care, that you do not burden your children and that you do not have to use all of your hard earned savings paying for long term care.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Credit Card Merchants

By William Blake

There are lots of different credit card merchant services that can let you accept credit cards, bank transfers, debit cards, and so much more. This service will also help industries get paid even quicker and allow consumers to pay for things a lot easier and more secure. There is no need to worry about your privacy and your personal information being shared with anyone.

Making it Easy for Businesses

Credit card merchants offer their services with no obligation and no fee to begin. There is no requirement to sign on with a merchant for a specified length of time. Businesses benefit because they are now able to offer their products or services to consumers who do not have cash and they can receive the money from these transactions quickly.

The Payment Solution

Businesses can rest easy with no worries of bounced checks of bank fees. Using a credit card merchant and accepting credit or debit payments is risk free. Your business increases because consumers are drawn to companies with which they do not have to use cash and can use their credit or debit cards. Also, by having the option of using their credit or debit card they can even make purchases over the phone.

Receive Money Fast

It will only take a few minutes to set this service up. You will be able to bill your customers via email and get paid online. You will be amazed at how fast you will receive your money with this system. You will be connected to a faster, more professional way of financial operation and feel more secure with your business.

Increased Sales

These days many people depend heavily on their credit cards for all their purchases. Having this payment option available will open your business to a huge market of new customers who would look elsewhere if they could not use credit. Also, the wider of range of payment options, including internet bill paying and purchasing will draw customers to your business. Your sales and your business are sure to grow.

On the Right Track

Once you make the decision to avail yourself of the services of a credit card merchant you will see immediate benefits and will be on the right track to a successful business.

About the Author:

Tire of struggling to keep up with your credit card balances? Get some simple methods of how to pay off credit cards faster on the Debtopedia website. Get a free copy of my report "Secrets Of Credit Card Debt" at http://www.debtopedia.com

Compare your credit cards now - things are a changing

By Jason Moore

You may know that credit cards were first dreamt up in a sci-fi novel back in the late 19th century. The novel was called 'Looking Backwards', the author was Edward Bellamy, and the term credit card was used 11 times. Perhaps because of this, the credit card industry has always been fairly inventive. This inventiveness can be seen more clearly now than at any time in recent years. With the credit crunch has come economic change and with change comes more change. It may be worth having a look again at the market to compare your credit card against what is available now - there may be some great offers that you are missing out on.

The reason things are changing is inescapable. The credit crunch is making consumers more worried about their financial situation and how they spend their money. As such you are probably less inclined to change cards, to rack up more debt, and are likely to be using your cards less. This is a problem for the credit card companies that want to you to use your card and make them profit as interest and yet pay off the debt each month so they are left in the black. Credit card companies want the best customers that they can find in this time of crisis, reliable customers, and at the same time get people to repay the money they owe.

There are signs that this may be the case - of course it could just be wishful thinking but you should remain optimistic. One of these is that balance transfer fees are in some instance being dropped. This is strange. Because people are getting worried about their financial situation, especially any debt they may have, banks are saying 'hey look at us, transfer your existing balance for free and pay it off for free'. There are two things going on here 1) people are stopping using and transferring their cards as much and the credit companies are losing out and 2) people want to pay off there cards and therefore find this deal attractive generally. It is odd because when introduced in 2004, transfer fees were designed to stop people from making serial transfers and getting away with the free pay offs.

Another type of card that has appeared is the sliding interest rate card. Once again this is working due to the same stresses, strains and undercurrents as the fee balance transfer cards. You may well want to compare your credit card with this because it is actually quite good. This card works by charging you a lower interest if you make larger repayments each month. Once more it is effectively helping you to pay off you existing balance. Bizarre! But once again this type of card is going to appeal in the present time and therefore, the company hopes, will drum up more business.

Other ways that a new card may help financially could be manifold. You could find that you are being charged interest each month and this means you are not making much of dent in your balance. If this is the case you may want to compare your card against the many 0% balance transfer offers available, so you can help yourself out. You could find that a shopping chain that you regularly use has introduced a credit card that could save you money or earn you points. You could even find that your favourite charity or football team have introduced a card that you might consider.

So things have hit the fan and cards are changing. Credit companies are attracting customers by making it cheaper to make repayments or blatantly encouraging rapid repayment. Hopefully more credit cards of this type will be developed and more and more companies will introduce their own versions. These cards are good as they are excellent for both the consumer and the credit company. Even if you don't fancy a change right now it may be good to compare your credit card in a couple of months. Even though the future looks bleak on one level, who knows what good may come of it?

About the Author:

Jason Moore is an experienced financial author who writes for various popular websites mainly in the financial industry. Learn more here about the UK Card and Compare credit card.

What To Look For In A Long Term Care Insurance Company?

By Terry Stanfield

What do I look for in a good company? You know that you should buy long term care insurance, but where should you look and which company should you consider? A lot of advisers either sell one company's policy, or they only sell a few policies a year, or truthfully, they really don't know. So what do you look for in a good company?

We've all heard that any insurance policy is only as good as the company standing behind it, but what does that mean? It means that the company must meet the standards of an excellent and superior rating. In order to achieve a rating like this a company must meet certain requirements. Look for:

Financially sound companies Committed companies with a large client base Claims paying history Length of time selling LTC insurance History of rate increases

They all sort of blend into one another, but let's look at them in detail:

Financially Sound Companies Check their ratings with the companies that rate the strength of insurance companies. Generally you can get a good flavor of the company's financial strength by looking at their A.M. Best rating. If you want to back up your findings, you can by looking at Standard & Poor, Moody's, Fitch, Duff & Phelps or Weiss Research, A.M. Best usually gives a very good overview of the companies strength and the companies don't have to join the rating service in order to be rated.

Where do I get this? Updates are published monthly, quarterly and annually and can be found in any public library. In addition, you can usually find the ratings on each company's web site. Do this first and then ask your agent.

Committed Companies With A Large Client Base "The theory of large numbers" works here. The larger the client base the better buffer you have against rate increases. As claims come in the companies need to financially spread these over their client base. If larger claims come in than forecasted then the company has to decide whether to absorb this into its projected cost of business or to pass this along to policy holders in the form of a premium rate increase. Companies who have made a commitment to this line of business normally do not raise premiums. A smaller, uncommitted company may be more inclined to do this.

Where do I get this? The company web site should have their policyholder information readily available. Also the agent representing the company should have their marketing materials, approved by the state where you live, that give policyholder information. In addition, you can get more information from the rating agencies, A.M. Best etc.

Claims Paying History Sometimes a good financial rating may not tell the whole story. Some companies with good ratings have been known to deny or delay paying claims in health insurance. If they use that same practice in other areas, then there is a good chance it will do so for long term care insurance claims. Also, it is important to ask how many claims have been paid since they started selling LTC insurance.

Where do I get this? Call your state insurance department for information on the complaints filed about specific companies. If this isn't available then sometimes you need to use your own judgment based on size and reputation of the company. A well-known company is less likely to risk bad publicity for this type of action.

Length Of Time Selling LTC Insurance The Company that you choose should have been selling long term care insurance since the early 1990's. If they haven't then they probably have not been in the business long enough to have experienced enough claims. Without good claims experience then a company can't tell if they have set their premium rates correctly. You do not want a company to find out that they set them wrong to begin with and you are the recipient of a "rate adjustment".

Where do I get this? Once again if you look at the same sources from the above items you will find this information. The state approved company marketing materials will have this information as well as an informed LTC insurance agent. History Of Rate Increases Any company that has ever had a rate increase to its existing clients should not be a company for primary consideration. There are always exceptions to this especially when it comes to health issues and the need for coverage from a company that specializes in these problems.

Where do I get this? You can always contact your state department of insurance and ask them, or ask your agent. However, a sure fire way to do it is to ask your agent for the first page of the long-term care insurance personal worksheet for that particular company. This is a part of their application and will always show their rate increase history.

Finally! Now we know what to look for in a good company. The ideal company will be very large and financially sound. It will have a lot of long term care insurance clients and will have sold these policies since the early 1990's. In addition it will not have any complaints with your state insurance department concerning the payment of claims. And finally, the ideal company will have a good reputation and will not have ever raised rates to their existing clients in any state.

About the Author:

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Low APR credit card and APR

By Ben Harper

There are a few cards on the market offering low APRs and these would appear to be the best credit cards to get but is this necessarily true? Also what is this APR anyway? Every card has one and it is used to compare them but what does it actually mean? If you have any curiosity as to the answer to any of these questions then hopefully this article will shed some light on things. First things first what does APR stand for? Well it stands for annual percentage rate but that doesn't necessarily give us much of a clue so we may need to delve a little deeper.

APR standard for Annual Percentage Rate and is the rate as a percentage that you pay annually. Clever, huh? It is the card's effective annual rate. All of this means that it is the amount that you can expect to pay annually including all of the fees and other charges that are levied against you as a customer. It was brought in, and made a government requirement in the UK, through a paper called the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

In the US and the UK, disclosing the APR is now an industry and governmental requirement. This means that it has to be disclosed to consumers so that they can make an informed choice and know the real cost of having the card. The APR is the effective annual rate of the card. In the UK the need for credit card companies to disclose full details of their credit cards was made a legal requirement under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The way that is calculated in the UK, and across Europe, is different to how it is done in America so the interest rates here look higher than a similar card in the US.

However, it is not just a simple matter of looking at the APR and going, ah that is how much I will need to repay over a year. The APR is an approximation of the amount you will need to pay. If you end up paying off your balance over the year at a higher rate than the average you will pay less money than the APR would suggest. Similarly if you pay less then you are going to end up paying considerablye more. For example, an APR of 16.9% would seem to suggest that on a 1000 borrowing throughout a year you are going to pay off, £1169 at the end of the year. This isn't the case, it could be more or less than this.

This brings us to what exactly is considered a low APR credit card. You have to remember that the credit card industry is extremely fast moving and new cards are introduced all the time. However a typical APR is around 16% or 17%. Of course this goes up and down as the years go by. A card with an APR lower than 10% is good and one approaching 5% is very good. The lowest APR card on the market at the moment, for example, is 6.8% although there are cards with rates of around 8% also available.

Finally low APR credit cards are generally more difficult to come by than their standard APR cousins. People are only accepted for these cards if they have a strong credit history. This is because the interest is what makes the credit card companies money and obviously they want to make as much as they can. If you want a low APR credit card then it may be best to work on your credit rating first to improve your chances of being accepted for one. Also remember that, as mentioned above, it is always worth examining other features of the card as some of the higher APR cards may turn out better for you as an individual.

About the Author:

The financial author Ben Harper regularly posts articles on financial based websites. Read more about the UK Card and Compare credit card here.

3 Forex Systems Everyone Should Know

By Leo J. Fox

Too much information? Analysis paralysis? Worried and confused about Forex Trading? Here we will clarify the 3 fundamental types of Forex Systems.

The Trend Is Your Friend

Trend following is the most common type of trading system. Because the majority of the market follows a clear direction, it means that the majority of the market participants agree on the direction as well.

Following the trend is following the herd. What're the pros for trend following? Your trading accuracy increases because you'll be one with the market, instead of opposing it. You'll make fewer trades following the trend than other strategies.

Of course, you'll still have to know the exact rules of when and how to enter and exit. But here some tips:

Trend Following Entry/Exit Tips:

1. Enter on retracements and not in the middle or top of a swing. Entering on support is a little bit tougher, but it's well worth it.

2. Place a trailing stop loss beneath the most recent lows to really milk out the profits.

That about briefly summarizes trend following, so let's look at the next trading method.

Fading

Fading is disagreeing with the market and selling into strength or buying into weakness. You're basically bottom and top picking - a lot harder than following the trend. Let's discuss some advantages of fading.

A definite pro of bottom and top picking is that when you're right, your reward is huge. Let's say your reward was 9 times the amount you risked so your reward to risk ratio was 9:1. This means that you could've been wrong 8 times but still generate capital. Of course, your system has to be positive, you can't just guess, hope, and pray, unless you want to lose money.

A few price action triggers include a doji and a close below the recent low or above the recent high. Fading is very a different trading style from trend following. Now let's discuss the last forex trading strategy.

Breakout Method

All you have to remember regarding the breakout method is the keyword "breach": you enter whenever the market breaches the highest high or the lowest low. This can be the 52 week high/low or even the 20 day high/low, it's up to you. Next, you'll need to determine how you will exit your trades.

Note that although trend following and breakout trading seem similar, they have a key difference. Trend following just means you follow the trend. Breakout is a specific entry method.

So Now What?

Keep in mind that you can mix and match the above three elements to suite your needs; you could follow the trend but enter on a breakout, or whatever.

About the Author:

But if you're somewhat stuck on what system you should use, explore my Forex and Online Income website. It's compiled most of today's different forex trading systems and strategies. A safe start would be this complete discretionary trading system