How To Claim CHILD TAX CREDIT The Right Way And Add An Extra $2,000 To Your Refund
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that it costs nearly $15,000.00 a year for a middle-class family to raise a child born in 2002 to age 17 (without adjustment for inflation). In recognition of this cots, you can claim a tax credit each year until your child reaches the ago of 17. The credit is currently up to $1,000.00 per child. This credit is in addition to the dependency exemption for the child.
You may claim a tax credit of up to $1,000.00 in 2004 for each child under the age of 17. If the credit you are entitled to claim is more than your tax liability, you may be entitled to a refund under certain conditions.
Generally, the credit is refundable to the extent of 10 percent of earned income over $10,750.00 in 2004.
Conditions:
To claim the credit, you must meet two conditions.
1. You must have a qualifying child. 2. Your income must be below a set amount.
QUALIFYING CHILD.
You can claim the credit only for a "Qualifying Child." This is a child who is under age 17 at the end of the year and whom you claim as a dependent.
Debt Consolidation - Just Lump It All Together!
In a world where people use credit as much as they drink water, it is no surprise that so many people need debt consolidation loans. Debt consolidation loans sound like a good way of getting your debt cleaned up, but are they? If you need help getting out of debt, consider all your options before choosing. You will be surprised to learn what is available to help you.
Whether you need to consolidate medical bills or maybe just credit card debt consolidation, finding the right option is easy when you know how. First you need to find out what types of loans you qualify for. If you own a home and have some equity in it, you may be able to cash that out into a home equity loan. This is a good option if you have a good relationship with your current lender and have enough equity to cover the loan amount.
The Three Largest Factors In Your Interest Rate
There are three major factors that affect how much you pay for a loan. Understanding these factors can save you time, money and frustration.
1. The Federal Reserve Discount Interest Rate.
Banks and other lending institutions borrow money from the Federal Reserve Banks. The discount rate is the interest rate a Federal Reserve Bank charges eligible financial institutions to borrow funds on a short-term basis. This rate is set by the boards of directors of the Federal Reserve Banks. The discount rate has a direct effect on the "Prime Interest Rate", which is the interest rate on short-term loans that banks charge their commercial customers with high credit ratings. You can get live information on the current Prime Rate at www.FedPrimeRate.info.
Of the three major factors that affect your interest rate, this is the one you have the least amount of control over.
2. Your FICO Score and Credit Report.
There are companies that gather and sell information about information on where you work and live, how you pay your bills, and whether you’ve been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. They are called Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs). The most common type of CRA is the credit bureau. Potential lenders will get your credit report from the credit bureau.
Bankruptcy, Is It A Way Out
Negotiations with creditors have failed. Repossession is imminent and foreclosure proceedings have begun. Your income is simply not sufficient to pay your bills, no matter how low the payments are. It may be time to consider bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy law evolved as a reaction to the abuses surrounding debtors prison. Before the nineteenth century a prison system existed for those who didn’t pay their bills. If a merchant filed a claim, the debtor was incarcerated until his debts were paid. (Women were not found in debtor’s prison, not because of chivalry but because they did riot have the ability to borrow). The lender was legally responsible for the expenses of the prison stay, including food, but seldom paid. After all, a debtor would have to sue in order to enforce this law, and it was rather difficult to sue when in prison. As a result, many borrowers languished in prison for years, surviving on what their family could bring to them or, in many cases, simply starving to death. Although some lenders would doubtless not object to the renewal of debtor’s prison, fortunately we live in more enlightened times. Bankruptcy was created to provide a second chance (or third, or fourth) to those hopelessly in debt It provides a mechanism to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. As times have changed, though, so has the bankruptcy code. Not all debts can be wiped out. The proceedings can be easily disqualified in the event of improper procedures. There are many things a debtor should know before resorting to bankruptcy.
Non-conforming Home Loans vs Conforming Loans
The simple definition of a “non-conforming home loan” is: You have a job and can make the payments. Your credit is used only to determine your interest rate and the loan amount to value of the home ratio. This ratio is referred to as your “LTV” or “Loan To Value”. There are many lenders who will lend to borrowers who are in foreclosure or who are currently in a bankruptcy.
Borrowers who are in these situations often have the worst possible credit. Lenders protect themselves by keeping the LTV low, about 65% to 70% of the appraised price of the property. By doing this, the lender is very well protected. If the borrower goes into foreclosure again with the new lender, the LTV is low enough that the lender can take the property back, sell it at a discount for a quick sale, and still pay off the debt.
The lender rarely cares if there are other mortgages against the property, as long as the lender is in the first position. You see, when a lender takes a property back from a borrower the first lien position gets the proceeds of the sale first, then the second, then the third, etc. Rates for these types of loans are usually 1% to 6% higher that conforming rates.
Financial Fitness - Are You Exercising the Right Muscles to become Financially Fit?
Are your financial muscles well toned and healthy or flabby and weak? Do you want to change your relationship with money so you can have control over your financial future or do you want to continue to complain that you don’t have enough? Exercise these 10 muscles to achieve Financial Fitness.
1. Know your current situation
Putting your head in the sand will only give you an ache in the neck, not control over your finances. Make sure you know exactly how much your total income and expenditure is each month and have a clear picture of what you are spending your money on.
2. Have clear financial goals
How much will you need for next year’s vacation? When will you need to buy a new car? How much will it cost to give your children the best education? Write down your short, medium and long term goals and work out how much each will cost, how long you have to save for it and how much you will have to put aside each month in order to get what you want.
3. Maximise your current situation
If You?re Looking For Low Cost Car Finance, Loan Companies Offer Some Great Deals
These days having a reliable and safe vehicle to drive is more important than ever. With public transport packed to the hilt and often unreliable, many people have learned to rely on their vehicles to get to college or work, pick up the kids, do the shopping and even to perform their jobs. That’s why things can get really tough when you find yourself with an unsafe or unreliable car.
When it comes to affordable car finance loan companies in the UK offer some great deals to suit all budgets and needs.
Whatever type of car and price you are looking at, a loan company should be able to help you by providing low cost finance. Of course, the amount that you will be eligible to borrow for your car will depend upon your income and employment status amongst other things.
If you really want to keep costs down when buying a new car, try and go for a basic model ? however nice the thought of driving the latest sports model might be, the insurance costs along can end up being financially crippling.
The Dreaded Direct Question
(Please have a glass of water within reach before reading this article.)
Your personal financial planning is the topic of discussion here today, but not quite yet. First I would like to bring your attention to the issue of bragging.
The other day I was carrying on about how well our website was doing on the various search engines. If you typed in financial planning Victoria, or financial planner Victoria, or CFP BC, our site ranked very well on the major search engines. But I was not bragging about this to a dummy. Unfortunately not. Because this person, who shall remain nameless, asked me a very simple question:
"Is it working?"
"Huh?" I thought, feeling like I was suddenly part of a butterfly collection.
"Is it working? Are you getting new clients this way?"
The room was beginning the spin.
"Can I have some wa -wa?" I asked woozily as I crumbled to the floor.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the process of doing things, like optimizing websites for search engines, we lose sight of what standard of measurement we should be using to determine how we’re doing. In my case, I was using how well our website ranked for various search terms, instead of whether we were actually gaining any business from the web. Duh!
How To Save Money On Credit Cards
Some credit cards offer a cash advance option. But how good a deal is this?
Not very. In fact, it can be downright expensive.
Why?
Because every time you use your credit card to withdraw case, more fees kick in:
- Cash advances can carry an upfront fee of 2 percent to 4 percent of the amount advanced.
- The advances have a higher interest rate than regular card charges.
- Interest charges begin to mount as soon as the money comes out of the ATM.
- Many issuers also require you to pay down the balances for purchases before you pay down the higher-interest cash advance balance.
Here’s an example of how these fees kick in:
Assume you bought a television for $500 on your card and then took out $50 in cash. Even though you pay the $50 back the next day, you still lose your interest-free period because the credit provider deems you pay the cash back last.
As a result you will still owe the $50, but you will now only owe $450 on the $500 worth of purchases.
Home Mortgage Refinancing ? What?s in Your Contract?
Are you one of the millions of Americans who will be refinancing their home mortgage loan this year? When you sign your contract and the other papers for your refinance, will you know what your signing?
Your Contract: This one is simple, but I would guess very few people do it. READ THE ENTIRE CONTRACT. It seems that usually the home mortgage refinancing contract is written with the preparer pointing out the obvious terms, i.e. sales price, earnest deposit, closing date, inspections, etc., but all of the language in the contract is binding; not just the part that your read and/or understand. Read it and if you don’t understand it, seek legal counsel. This is the agreement for every part of the transaction. How taxes will be prorated, who pays for what, when do you agree to close the transaction and when will you be allowed to take possession of the property are all in your home mortgage refinancing contract.
If your purchase is new construction there are often many specific clauses to your sale. Remember the builder probably sells many more houses than you buy and knows what language to include in his contract to protect and benefit him. Make sure this language is something you are willing to abide by.
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