Is it legal to pay off debt with a credit card?

Have you ever found yourself wondering ''How did I get myself into this debt?'', wishing you had that car insurance before the accident?

Unfortunately, we cannot turn back time, but we can offer you solutions for paying off your debt.

Even though it would be great if we could pay off one credit card with another credit card, that is not exactly the case.

Paying off a credit card with another credit card

This is, unfortunately, not possible. Bouncing the debt between two credit cards may be the simplest solution that crosses your mind, but in reality, credit card companies don't allow you to pay off your balance with another credit card.

Luckily, there is another kind of similar option you might be interested in. We are talking about balance transfer and cash advances – two ways of making that debt go away forever!

Balance transfers

This is a very quick way of transferring your debt from one credit card to another with a lower interest rate. Before you do this, calculate!

Debt transfer to a card that offers you more financial benefit can often hide additional fees and expenses, so you might end up with the same paying amount.

Through this process of paying some benefits, be careful – a lot of people don’t know what exactly they are paying for. Exercise your rights and monitor the Packaged Bank Account situation.

Pros for balance transfers

If you are looking for saving your money in the long run, balance transfers are a great tool! Some credit cards have better reward programs and perks, so don't miss it.

Starting with an interest-free period, credit card companies give you 12 to 18 months to convince you to transfer your balance.

Cash advance

If you are looking for the fastest way out, this is the solution that can help you in your intention.

Considering your line of credit, you can take a cash advance out with the help of credit issuers. Be aware of the fact that borrowing amount will add up to your owing amount at the end of every billing cycle!

This is a solution with a higher risk than balance transfers. However, taking that risk may pay off in the end!

Keep in mind expenses and fees – even though this is the fastest way out, it comes with its price.

Pros for cash advance

As said before, the biggest advantage of cash advances is saving time. This can be done very quickly and you could pay off your debt as soon as possible.

Getting the cash advance immediately can decrease your stress and reduce your worries!

So which one is a better solution?

Considering all the pros and cons of these two solutions, there is no right universal answer. Weigh the relevant factors and consider your abilities.

If you want to pay your debt as soon as possible, a cash advance may be your route. On the other hand, a safer and cheaper option is balance transfers, but they take time.

Understanding Forex Trading and Techniques to Earn More

It is such as a journey to obtain success in Forex currency trading since, as a trader, you're for the lane of progress and learning. To say this evidently it's like touring from stage A to B, where in fact the point B indicates to create constant earnings in Forex currency trading.

To be able to make money Forex currency trading over a continual time frame you must have confidence in and start using a simple trading approach like raw value action research, and effectively cope with your emotions, so you usually do not over trade and don't risk an excessive amount of. They are three necessary factors to learning steps to make money investing Forex. It is strongly recommended when starting out in Forex trading to view this currency set closely and move on to know its routines before buying and selling it. Once learned, you would discover it very money-making.The market is among the most dynamic on the planet, and this can be good since it means that you may make a huge benefit from it in the event that you only perform your cards most suitable.

If you are looking for a method to become a profitable FX investor in the market, then you must use the best Forex trading system which can give you a good start. When coming to currency markets, there is no other market in the globe that generates critical data in large amounts as this market does. The data that is generated should be processed and analyzed to get good profits in the market, and with the help of these software products, this process is done efficiently and in an effective manner.

Forex Trading Tips

The first step in this process is to collect all the data that is generated and given input to the system software, and all the Forex trading systems do this automatically. Secondly, this data should be screened based on their significance.

At this point, various software products differ from each other. The significance of a particular data, whether it is important or not is decided by the professional investor who is the source of power behind the development of the product. The nature of the end product depends on the better job they do to make money in the market. So, the better the job done to make money delivers a good end product.

The third step is we have to select the particular product on which we can invest our money positively. The ability of the programmers, experts and software engineers to understand that and develop it into mathematical algorithms reflects their experience and talent to decide the systems which can make money in large amounts and which gives you moderate profits.

This makes us talk about the top two Forex trading systems that are used by hundreds of investors all over the world. Their popularity all over the world is just awesome. It all comes to one conclusion they can give you maximum profits than other products in the market today.

Should college students and teens possess credit cards?

Credit card debt is one of the biggest problems and year after year, there are millions of people who find themselves knee deep in debt. As the interest rates start soaring higher, the payments get missed and this has an overall bad impact on your credit score. While it can be financially traumatic to carry huge loads of credit card debt, credit plays a vital role in our lives. Would you like to purchase a house? If answered yes, unless you have enough money in your bank account, you will require financing it through a lending institution.

Above all, you will need stellar credit rating in order to get the loans that you wish to. How are you supposed to build credit rating if you don’t use credit cards? If you don’t take out online installment loans, you won’t be able to build credit rating. So, let’s read on to know more on young people and debt.

Debt and its impact on the young generation

Once a person turns 18 years of age, they can qualify for their own credit cards and loans and hence they become primary target for the lenders. Since they’re the ultimate vulnerable generation, the lenders are eager to get them into business. This is why most college campuses are filled with credit card vendors and banks which give away freebies so as to attract the younger adults to apply for credit cards. But the young people should be aware of few things before saying ‘yes’ to credit cards.

The biggest problem with applying for their first credit card is that they don’t focus on the terms, interest rates and other features of the card. If they choose the wrong card, they may prepare themselves for failure from the very beginning. There are almost many who aren’t educated about debt and credit cards. All they know is that they have to pay back the money but they understand very less on minimum payments and interest rates. This is when things get out of control.

What makes students apply for credit?

Despite all the negative upshots of credit card debt, there is no doubt about the fact that all students need a credit card. The primary reason behind this is to establish a positive credit history. Being a teenager, you have to build a credit score and hence for that having a credit card is necessary. But that doesn’t mean that you can use your credit cards in any way you want. You have to be sincere about the way you use your cards. Suppose you take out online loans from paydayme.com, wouldn’t you try your best to pay them back on time so as to avoid building debt? Similar is the case with credit cards as non-ability to make payments on time will lead to high interest debt.

Therefore, if you’re a teen, you’ve got to be responsible about your finances, especially about your credit cards. Use them properly so that you don’t incur debt.

How Forex Signal Providers Can Boost Your Success Rate

In case a trader wants to be successful at forex trading all those have little knowledge plus experience with, then they will purchase the tools, assets, forex signal to increase their chances of revenue. One of the majorities of favorite ways of trading is by following “signals.” When you have ever heard the term “Forex Signals” yet wanted to know a lot more about its pros plus cons, and whether it be suited to you or not, this article is for you.

We assume dealer need to now not depend on forex signals. If you rely on the signal, you then can’t examine forex so try and examine yourself. It’s a hard problem to discover a proper foreign currency indicators company on the particular way to paintings regarding most people. In the situation you wish to follow the signal you should be pursued first your technical evaluation while each signal is sufficient then you visit trade.

What is a signal provider service?

A Signal Service provides alerts upon trading opportunities. For instance, the professional trader sits in his desk, trading their account (or his business or hedge fund account). Whenever the trader enters the forex market, he also sends an alert to his subscribers, giving all of them the possibility to trades just like him. Several services also provide a good automated robot. This robotic will execute the exact same trade on the client’s account, so clients do not need actually to move to their computer and execute the signals personally.

Why should I make use of a signal service?

Regardless of whether you a new or experienced trader, you can find signal services out there which will contribute to your profits or set you upon the right track to trading success.

For beginners: trading alone can become confusing and hard. Like any kind of other professions, you do not observe success overnight (despite what some brokers may try to lure a person into believing) So, upon your first steps within this exciting but harmful world, services such as Vladimir’s Forex Signals as well as Mentoring, can take you hand in hand to learn the particular way real professionals business. Plus, you have the chance to copy the investments of the pro into your own account, so a person start trading within the right foot.

The signal support is also suitable for people who do not possess the time to sit all day in the front side of the computer, searching for trades. Being subscribed to some signal service means there is a pro trader sitting down and looking for deals on your behalf. Will save a lot of period and headaches, and of course, the results should be better, as you have a highly experienced professional working for you.

For veteran traders, it’s a genuine possibility to hone your own skills and provide an excellent additional source of lucrative trades to diversify your own “portfolio” of strategies. It is also a possibility to join a residential area of the same minded investors who communicate through various methods. You can use chat and live trading rooms during the trading time and help others in the process of accomplishing more significant results.

Home Loan Tax Benefits That You Should Know

With the constant rise in real estate prices, it’s become almost impossible for an individual or a family to purchase a house without the help of a home loan.While many are apprehensive about taking a loan because of the kind of interest rates that they come with, what most people are unaware of are the tax benefits that you can enjoy on home loans. If you’ve got a mortgage on your house, you can avail of benefits and deductions under 3 separate sections of the Income Tax Act.

Deduction Under Section 80C: 

If you’ve taken out a loan to purchase a home for which the construction is complete, and you have the completion certificate, you can enjoy deductions on the amount you pay towards repaying the principal amount of the loan. This clause is only applicable for individuals or Hindu Undivided Families (HUF). The maximum deduction under this section is Rs. 1.5 lakhs. It’s important to remember that deductions will not be valid on any repayments made before the construction is complete.

Even if you haven’t taken a loan to purchase a house, you can still enjoy deductions on the amount that you have paid towards the stamp duty and registration fee of your new home.

Deduction Under Section 24: 

When you’re repaying a loan, you will pay a certain, fixed amount to the lender every month as your Equated Monthly Installment or EMI. Your EMI amount is calculated based on the loan amount, the rate of interest, and the tenure of the loan. Typically, your EMI is made up of a principal repayment amount, and an interest amount. The interest amount that you pay is exempt from tax under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act. You can claim this deduction at the start of the year in which the house’s construction is completed. This benefit is also available if you’ve utilized the loan to repair or reconstruct an existing property.Additionally, if you’ve rented out your home, you can claim for a deduction for the interest amount paid all through the year.

Deduction Under Section 80EE: 

When you apply for a home loan to finance your first-ever house, you can get additional tax benefits on the interest payment sunder this section. To claim this deduction, you will be required to provide a statement from your lender which clearly indicates the total amount payable, your principal amount, and the amount paid towards your interest. The maximum deduction you can claim under this section is Rs. 50,000.

Now that you know about the various deductions and claims you can enjoy when you take out a property loan, you should easily be able to determine which benefits apply to you and which ones don’t. If you’re still having trouble understanding how to figure out the deductions, you can use an online tax benefit calculator. The calculator will help you understand how much money you can save despite the fact that you have to pay interest on the loan amount.

Over the years, home loans in India have helped numerous families find the home of their dreams. With so many additional tax benefits to home loans, it’s getting easier for young individuals to put aside enough money for a down payment and then secure a loan to help themselves find their own little place in the world. So, it’s time to put all your worries to rest, and fill out that application for a loan. Your dreams are counting on it.

Benefits that come with a Child Insurance Plan – Find them out

A number of responsibilities and joys mark the beginning of a unique journey for a new parent. Parenting remains shrouded by challenges and at times it seems to be an uphill task. Successful parenting is all about nurturing the child and bringing him up to be a responsible and honest individual.

A parent is always concerned about brightening the future of their child. Security is one word that remains associated with your love for the little one. Right through the initial stages of growth, a child needs financial security. That’s one reason why financial planning is so necessary for securing your child’s future. You must identify the financial needs pertaining to your child’s education when the time is right and you actually feel the need to plan things. You’ll even need to allocate a portion of your savings for his college fees, professional courses and boarding charges among other things. It’s truly crucial for you to make your investments on a timely basis. A number of child education plans are now being rolled out by some of the most eminent insurance providers in their attempt to retain policyholders. A child education plan is also a good way of luring investors that keep an eye on the tax exemptions.

Child Education Plans Offer Benefits that Secure the Future of a Child:

Paying off College Expenses with the Maturity Benefit

Parents often want their children to grow up as successful professionals in the field of medicine, law, architecture, and engineering. In order to become a successful professional, it’s necessary for your children to pursue some professional courses in any of these areas. However, it has become increasingly difficult for you to meet all the expensive course fees for a long duration. You may even be compelled to apply for a children’s educational loan that meets the needs of fulfilling your child’s higher studies. The college fees may be inflated but the investment corpus accumulated during the maturity of a child insurance policy can be substantial if you aren’t wasting any opportunity of investing in such plans.

Escaping Deduction of Capital

The return on investments tends to vary with the fluctuating marketing conditions. You must consider adopting some dynamic allocation strategy for funds if you wish to make the most of your vested amount and keep capital erosion at bay. Certain privileges are offered under child plans in the form of Systematic Transfer Plans and Fund Selection benefits. These benefits enable you to make an investment planning according to your expected outcome through the various stages of your life. With an STP, you can even make the most of market fluctuations by transferring all of your fund units automatically.

Choosing Optional Riders

With some plans, the nominee of the insured person is entitled to achieve a waiver for the entire premium that’s to be met during the coverage tenure. Likewise, certain riders are developed to cover the insured if he suffers from a severe injury or ceases to exist during the policy period.

Meeting the School Fees

About 10% of the sum assured is to be paid by the insurance provider as soon as the parent opting for a child plan passes away. Again, till the end of the policy period, 10% worth the sum assured is supposed to be paid out towards the child’s education periodically every year.

Alongside a lucrative maturity benefit, certain comprehensive life coverage benefits are also offered under a child education plan. Compared to a few distinctive investment plans, there are a few unique advantages of investing in child education plans. While applying for a child insurance plan, you must check out if it yields adequate returns for securing the future of your child. Once you narrow down your choices, there’s nothing restricting you from securing your child’s future.

How Fintechs are enabling a larger section of the working-class populace to get easy access to credit

The access to credit has undergone significant transformation in recent times, thanks to the emergence of Fintech lenders in the market today. While traditional lenders such as private and state-run banks also offer online personal loans, it is Fintechs that are making their presence more palpable by offering a larger section of the populace with personal loans through their easy-to-meet eligibility parameters.

Qbera is leading Fintech lender that operates in several of India’s top cities including Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Qbera offers instant personal loans to salaried individuals, subject to them meeting some basic credit eligibility parameters.

Let’s look at some points which substantiate how Fintechs are reaching a larger section of the working-class population and enabling them to get easy access to credit (mostly unsecured personal loans).

Easy eligibility parameters

Fintechs have a much more easy-to-meet eligibility framework in comparison to traditional lenders such as private banks. The eligibility parameters in the credit score and income segments are comparatively easier to meet for Fintechs as against popular private banks. For instance, Fintechs offer loans to individuals with net monthly salaries starting from Rs.20,000, and with credit scores as low as 575. Private Banks on the other hand require applicants to have a minimum income of at least Rs. 30,000 (popular banks require incomes of at least Rs. 40,000 per month to become eligible). As for the credit score, most traditional lenders necessitate individuals to have a minimum CIBIL score of 700.

Quick and paperless application processes

Fintechs have adopted a super-quick, and completely digital application process in recent times, and a prominent reason why they’ve become immensely popular in Tier-1 Indian cities is this. The application process can be initiated online, and completed online too. This includes the submissions of documents as well. Verification of documents is done digitally, thereby speeding up the process to a great extent, infusing greater interest among the working class population due to the quick application process.

By these very impressive ways, Fintechs have allowed a larger section of the populace to get access to instant personal loans.

What Are Bridging Loans And How Do They Work?

What Is A Bridging Loan?

Bridging loans are a financial product designed specifically to ‘bridge’ the gap between the sale of an existing property and the purchase of a new one. Buyers often find that the funds required to purchase a new property are effectively stuck in their old property until an often lengthy sale has gone through. A bridging loan allows purchasers to access the capital they require to proceed with their new purchase before it has been released from their previous property.

Potential users of bridging loans vary, and span both the private and commercial sectors. Bridging loan customers can range from developers wanting to ‘flip’ houses to buyers securing property at auction without having sold their previous home. The common trait is the need to access substantial finance quickly so that a new property can be secured and the purchase does not fall through.

Bridging loans are popular with private buyers who don’t want to lose their dream property, but can’t get immediate access to the capital required for purchase. They are equally popular with non-residential buyers as a source of finance because of the quick capital that they help unlock. For those in business, the ability that bridging loans grant to act fast on promising projects means that they remain popular as an option for short and mid-term finance.

How Do They Work?

A bridging loan can be a useful financial product because they offer an amount of capital to the user taking out the loan for a short to medium timeframe. Like similar short-term financial options interest rates are normally relatively high and additional administration fees may be applied to the loan. Lenders view bridging loans as higher risk than traditional mortgage finance or other longer-term lending, so rates reflect this additional lending risk.

When a buyer finds a property that they wish to purchase using a bridging loan they need to find a provider to offer this product to them. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use a mortgage broker, who will search for products across a range of lenders, often for no fee. The capital will then be provided against a security, normally the existing property that the borrower owns.

It’s important that borrowers consider how they are going to repay their bridging loan. Normally this is a simple process, as the loan can be repaid once the borrower’s previous property has sold, but this process can become lengthy if the property does not sell or the market dips. The borrower may also not achieve the price they hoped for. In most cases however, bridging finance is a relatively common, simple and low risk way to unlock potential properties that would otherwise be unavailable to the purchaser due to circumstances.

In many cases, once the sale of the previous property has been completed the borrower will convert their bridging loan into a more traditional mortgage against the new property. Borrowers should be aware that this ‘conversion’ from bridging finance into a mortgage isn’t always guaranteed, but if successful it can help keep the process simple, and allow buyers to purchase a property that wouldn’t have otherwise been available to them. For this reason, bridging loans are normally only recommended by professionals to buyers who are confident that they will be able to get a mortgage on their property once the process has been completed, because it will be the capital from this mortgage that is used to repay the bridging loan.

Overall, bridging loans and other similar financial products can help buyers move forward when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to. The capital that bridging loans offer means that opportunities and options for purchase become available that wouldn’t otherwise be suitable for the buyer. The important element of bridging loans is their duration and the higher interest rates associated. Bridging loans do come with added risk from market fluctuations and problems with the sale of existing property, so it is important to consider these factors carefully become proceeding. In the right hands though, a bridging loan is a powerful tool that can help a buyer secure a dream property that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to complete on.

Common Invoice Factoring Mistakes You Should Know

Factoring is used by many businesses to increase their capital. A factoring agreement is where the funding source, called the factor, buys the right of the seller (client) to collect on an invoice at a discount.

The factor usually pays most of the value of the invoice upfront and the remaining balance upon actual payment of the buyer. It is not a loan and helps keep the business cash flow steady. Here are some common invoice factoring mistakes to avoid:

1. Not sending an invoice - This one is pretty obvious, but a lot of companies don’t send invoices. Invoices should be sent for both written and verbal contracts. This is a means to remind your customer that they need to pay you and exactly how much they owe. People tend to have a lot of things going on for them and payables can easily happen.

Invoices are part of your records and if you’re not careful with your accounting practices, you could be at risk of being overcharged by the factor. Make sure you plan for how you account for the advance and fees attached to it.

2. Failing to ask for the maximum limit upfront -The factor will usually appraise your business and set a maximum amount that you can advance. You need to find out how much is available to you before you enter into an agreement. It is important that the amount is enough to fund your business so you that you can look for better alternatives if it is not enough.

On this note, you should also ask how much is the upfront percentage that you will receive. As already mentioned, the factor will pay a percentage of the total advance (75% to 85%) and pay the remainder once the buyer pays the invoice.

3. Not exploring all your options - Just as it is with any aspect in your business, you need to do a thorough research on your options for funding. Different businesses have different needs and thus have different financial solutions. Just because a friend’s business is doing well by using one particular facility does not mean it is good for your business to. Explore your options by finding out what’s available out there, weigh the pros and cons of each option and determine whether or not these apply to your business.

Consider your options before committing to a contract with one funder. Speaking of contracts, don’t commit to a long-term receivables finance contract of several years. You need to make sure that you have the ability to refinance or not and a long-term contract will limit this capacity. Make sure that you have an alternative plan and that you can gracefully exit the agreement and switch strategies when you see the need.

4. Not monitoring your factor’s relationship with your customer - Remember that once you enter into a debtor financing contract, your factor will be the one who will handle collections. They will be the ones who will deal with your customers in terms of invoice payments on your behalf. Make sure that the factor has exceptional customer service. They should make sure that your relationship with your customers remains intact and positive.

A good way to check your factor’s responsiveness and customer service practices is to try out their contact points yourself. Send them an email, give them a call and chat with their chat support and see how well they handle questions and attend to concerns.

One other important issue in this matter is that when you turn over your invoices to a funder, you will lose track of your customers’ payment habits. You will not know whether or not your customers are paying promptly. You will also not be able to keep track of your cash collection cycle. These are things you would want to think of when considering invoice factoring as a financial solution.

5. Invoice factoring vs. invoice financing - Make sure that you are entering into an invoice factoring agreement and not one for invoice financing. The difference between the two is that for invoice factoring you are turning over collections of your invoices to the factor as a third party in the sales contract with your customer. Invoice financing is where your invoices are merely used as collateral for a loan from the financing company.

It is also important to note that as a business owner, you should not turn to invoice factoring as a solution for every small setback in your business finances. Note that most invoice factoring finance companies have higher interest rates compared to business cash flow loans. However, it is easier to procure invoice factoring than it is to get a bank loan.

6. Failure to understand all the terms of the contract - Make it a habit to read everything when you are running a business. This is particularly important in contracts because you will be binding yourself to these terms and you will be held liable for any violations or non-conformity. Read the fine print, make sure that there are no hidden fees or conditions that were not made known to you upfront.

Be sure that you know the term requirement or whether you are required to meet monthly minimums. Find out what will be the penalties if the terms are not met. Determine these factors before you enter into an invoice factoring contract.

Business is not a simple, one-sided operation. There are so many factors to consider and this compilation of common invoice factoring mistakes will hopefully help you make sure that your business runs as smoothly as possible.

Whatever your business decisions are in terms of funding, debtor factoring etc, the most important factor to consider is whether or not you do need to bring in a third party into your business relationships. Consider the benefits as well as the risks and continually weigh these extremes because things and circumstances change. What you need now may not be what you need in six months or a year.

Aside from regular self-evaluation of your business practices and standards of procedure, take into consideration your customer. Are they happy with your practices? A good business standard is to make sure that your customers don’t just buy from you once. They should want to keep coming back to you to buy more.

3 Reasons to Invest on Luxury Real Estate

Whenever you think of a luxury home the first thing that comes to mind is all the lavishness, the high-end living, and the comfort you will have the privilege to enjoy; from classy architecture, beautiful and opulent interiors to exquisite finishes and the access to all luxury activities like high-end shopping, dining, and the arts that surrounds it.

But there are other long-term benefits to take into account when investing on a luxury property, for example:

High Demand

Luxury homes are always in demand; therefore, they are seen as the perfect investment opportunity that guarantees multiplied returns in the future. This demand is driven by the rising standard of living and increasing disposable income among successful entrepreneurs, high-flying corporate executives and professionals, and of course, the prosperous cuttings of traditionally well-off families.

Investment Value

Luxury real estate prices are burning and they are always soaring. Regardless of economic circumstances and other market variables, there will always be people who are not happy or satisfied with just any kind of home. As a result, the demand for luxury homes may rise and fall but never goes entirely away.

The Most Exclusive Properties on the Market

A luxury home has to be distinctive and exclusive, in a good and desirable way and this is exactly what the South Florida luxury real estate market has to offer. Here are some properties you may want to check out if you are about to invest on a luxury home:

Apogee

By the hand of award-winning architectural firm Sieger Suarez and The Related Group, this residential masterpiece offers 67 exclusive residences set right on the waterfront in the elite area of South Beach in Miami Beach with prices starting at 8.2 M

Bristol Brickell

The services and amenities offered in the building are at par with 5 star hotel services. This residence is also gated – providing extra security to its residences. You can find units at the low $445,000.

Muse Residences

This property is pure luxury in the heart of Sunny Isles, an undoubtedly ideal place to relax on sunny days facing the sea. Prices go from $4.9 M and higher.

Santa Maria Brickell

La Santa Maria Brickell is an architectural jewel in the sparkling Miami skyline. The residential building rises at a prime waterfront location in Biscayne Bay, and it provides the ultimate luxuries of a high-style lifestyle. Residences startat 1.7 M.

Echo Brickell

Amazing views, stunning marble finishes handpicked by architect Carlos Ott and high-end appliances, just a couple of the details that the penthouses in the Echo Brickell building will offer. Prices go from 4.8 M and higher.

5 Ways to Save Tax for Salaried Employees

It is the duty of every citizen of India to pay taxes. As a diligent taxpayer, it is imperative to know about the various deductions and exemptions allowed under various sections of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Besides, there are numerous other methods to reduce your tax liability largely.

Following are five most popular and common ways to save tax for salaried employees in India.

1. Submit medical bills to your employer on time

Most salaried individuals are eligible to receive medical reimbursement of INR 15000 as part of their Cost ToCompany (CTC). Therefore, you may claim a tax deduction for all your medical expenses up to this amount. For this purpose, you may submit all your medical bills, medical reports, lab test bills, or doctor’s consultation bills to your employer. It is important to note that such a tax benefit may be claimed only through your employer, and hence you may submit such bills to your employer on a timely basis.

2. Save tax through House Rent Allowance

House Rent Allowance (HRA) is a common component for many salaried individuals. The rules of tax deduction on HRA are stated in Section 10 (13A), Income Tax Act. The amount that may be claimed as exemption is a minimum of –

a) Actual HRA amount received

b) 50% of the salary in case you live in a metropolitan city or 40% for a non-metropolitan region

c) Excess of rent paid annually above 10% of your salary.

In order to claim deductions on House Rent Allowance, you may submit rent receipts to your employer.

3. Claim deductions under Section 10(14)

The good news for salaried individuals is that they may avail of numerous deductions as per Section 10(14) of the Income Tax Act. You may avail of deduction on children’s education allowance up to a maximum amount of INR 100 a month, per child, up to two children. Besides, you may seek deduction on hostel expenditure allowance of INR 300 a month per child up to two children. You may also claim an exemption on helper or assistant allowance as well as uniform allowance up to the amount of expenses incurred.

4. Invest in medical insurance

You may claim health insurance tax benefits on your health plan. A medical insurance plan is indeed an integral part of financial planning. Besides providing a great degree of financial security during a medical contingency, it also provides tax benefits. You may seek health insurance tax benefits on the premium paid towards your policy. You may claim health insurance tax exemptions on premiums paid for yourself, spouse, parents, and dependent children. According to Section 80D, medical insurancepremiums are exempted up to a maximum of INR 25000. In an event that you or any of the covered members are senior citizens, you may enjoy a higher limit of INR 30000. You may, therefore, avail of such health insurance tax exemptions and reduce your tax liability.

5. Maximize utilization under Section 80C

Section 80C of the Income Tax Act allows a maximum deduction of INR 1.5 lakh. You may claim a deduction on investments made in various financial vehicles such as Public Provident Fund (PPF), Unit-Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs),National Savings Certificate (NSC), andEquity-Linked Savings Scheme, among others. You may also avail of this section to reduce your taxable income through premiums paid on life insurance plans. Besides, you may claim deductions on tuition fees paid for the education of two children.

The Income Tax Act allows for numerous such deductions and exemptions for salaried individuals. You may, therefore, avail of health insurance tax exemption, numerous investment vehicles, and HRA component of your salary, among numerous others. You may take advantage of them and lower the amount paid towards income tax.

How refinancing student loans frees up money for investing or to start your own business

Where can I get more capital? For the investor, startup, or entrepreneur this question is on your mind constantly. In some cases, the answer might be reducing your cash outflow. Plus, the benefits extend beyond just having more money to invest. Let’s find out more.

Monthly expenses

What if you could cut your utility bills in half? What would you do with the savings? While reducing energy consumption is always a good idea, there are limits to how much you can cut back. One of the biggest checks many people write each month is their student loan payment. 

If a significant portion of your monthly income is devoted to paying down student debt, that can increase your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio and make it harder to borrow money to start a business, or buy a car or house. Many graduates with student loan debt even forgo marriage or having children due to the financial strain of their student loans. 

In many cases though, refinancing can remove this limitation. If you were to reduce your monthly student loan payment, you might end up with hundreds or thousands of dollars more to invest each year. 

How refinancing works

When you refinance your student loan, you basically swap your current loan for one with a lower interest rate. The end result is a smaller monthly student loan payment. This lets you free up capital to put towards personal investments or startup projects. An alternate strategy is to keep paying the same monthly payment, but shorten the overall payment terms. This allows you to pay off your debt faster. 

What method you choose depends on your overall investment horizon. If you need the cash now, then lowering your monthly payment is probably best. 

How much refinancing can save you

In many cases, the savings from refinancing student loans at lower interest rates can be substantial. Your savings will depend on how much of an interest rate reduction you can qualify for, and how long you take to pay your loan off.

When you refinance, you may choose to:

● Lower your monthly payments, but take more time to repay your loan. This will lower your DTI, but could increase your overall repayment costs.

● Get the most savings by increasing your monthly payments, paying off your loan faster. This could increase your monthly payment, and your DTI.

● Stay on the same repayment schedule, but with a lower monthly payment and overall repayment costs. 

Borrowers who have used the Credible marketplace to refinance into loans with shorter repayment terms have reduced their interest rate by 1.71 percentage points, and are on track to pay $18,668 less over the life of their new loan, on average. 

Debt-to-Income ratio benefit

Besides freeing up cash, refinancing your student loan may have other benefits. For example, when you apply for a loan, lenders don’t look at your credit score alone. For many lenders your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is even more important than your FICO score. It’s simple to calculate your DTI ratio; just take your total debt and divide it by your total income. 

When you refinance your student loan, your overall debt burden goes down. This means your DTI improves in the eyes of lenders. So if you need to take out more credit in the future, your chances of getting approved are better after refinancing. Also, the stronger your credit profile, the higher the chance you qualify for lower interest rates. This is a great strategy if you think you might need to inject cash into a future business venture. 

What are your priorities?

For some, investing means buying a property, starting a business, or purchasing stocks. For others, it’s buying a home to invest in your family’s future. No matter what your priorities are, refinancing your student loan can give you more financial freedom.

Keeping Your Company Strong & Secure

Company security is something that matters when you hope to grow and run a firm with influence. However, keeping your company strong and secure means maintaining it with wisdom. There are many difficulties that can arise in the effort to run a competent firm, and if you’re not careful you might find yourself in trouble to a degree. It pays to be strong whether or not you might encounter difficulty in the future. The reality of you potentially facing something that could compromise your business pales in comparison to the possibility of something going wrong. What we mean by this is that it’s always best to be prepared for everything than trying to resolve the pressing and immediate. This allows you to respond in the best and fastest way possible - giving you time for a deft reaction and response. 

Fault Defense

It’s easy to become accused of something that you might not be part of. Companies are often levied with accusations from sources either legitimate or fake, and what matters is the ability to meet those well. If a legitimate accusation is cast, that might mean you need to change the reason it was cast. However, often business leaders can be thrown into a false accusation pile, and terms such as insider training, embezzlement or other difficulties can be levelled at you.

You might be thinking ‘well how probably is that to happen?’ It could be more frequent than you think. For example, a jaded ex-business partner, ex-employee or perhaps someone trying to sabotage a merger or acquisition might try to stall this or interrupt you by levelling false accusations. In these cases it’s important to have a federal criminal lawyer on hand to help you separate the wheat from the chaff and respond in the most responsible way possible.

To prevent things like this from occurring, it might be wise to begin:

Vetting Clients & Employees

You might find that many business connections are made in the process of networking your business. From clients to business to business connections to the employees you bring on the team, it could be that vetting your social connection is worthwhile. You can never dig into the full past of someone you do business with, but you can sure look for red flags from employees and businesses. 

In the case of businesses, any wrongdoing will likely be publicised. You might find this through articles published from news sources, general reputation commentary online through social media, or looking for reviews from ex-employees. Vetting clients might be in the form of a credit report, particularly if you’re in the business of lending your own credit card or selling things on finance. For employees, checking their criminal history, their working history and speaking to their old managers could be critical in truly getting the full picture of someone’s personality. After all, not everyone is who they say they are, or acts how they come across in the first instance of the interview.

With the right methodology and exacting eye, your social and legal defence could be worthwhile, but only if you take note of the previous tips and enact them wisely.

Anyone Can Make A Recovery From A Serious Injury

Accidents happen

Everyone who’s been involved in an accident knows how horrible it is to have to deal with it. You’ve been dealt a great deal of damage, and it can possibly even be life-changing, so how do you ensure you get the best recovery possible in this situation? First of all, you need to look at your situation. If you’ve been severely injured, is money going to be a concern for you? For many people, sustaining these permanent damages can mean being out of a job, as they’re not physically able to do it anymore; so finding the money to cover the medical bills and insurance is a real pain and can work out to be a stressful endeavor. However, you shouldn’t panic, as there are a number of options out there you can have a go at, and possibly secure your future!

Compensation

If you’ve been in an accident that wasn’t your fault, you may be entitled to a legal compensation from the individual or organisation who is at fault, Whether it was intentional or not, there are certain safety procedures and laws out there to prevent this kind of thing. Contact a professional like the DBA law firm to see if you could get help with your case. It might seem like a big investment to make, but if you’re going to be struggling with an income,  you should try your hardest to get that compensation money. Professionals can give you their insight on the case, and also offer a wide range of resources and connections to help you win it.

Incomes

Well, if you’ve been forced to find money elsewhere and you don’t know where to go, you might want to start looking at options you may not have considered before. Surprisingly, there’s a lot of ways to make money from your home, which means if you struggle to get around because of your afflictions, you don’t have to give up hope in surviving. First of all, it’s quite common for people to start up their own blog so that they can generate an income. The way it works is, the blogger generally keeps a public diary/journal in a sense and writes for the world to see. Typically, it’s done with a personality and pictures to entertain the readers, and sometimes they even provide tips and advice for everyday living. You can bet that you can find all kinds of information on a blog, so don’t be afraid if you feel you have nothing to offer!

You shouldn’t let an injury beat you, even if it’s had the worst effect on you. You may feel damaged and vulnerable, but there’s still a lot out there for you, you just have to look for it! No matter the affliction, people from all kinds and corners of the world are achieving their goals and dreams without letting their disabilities get in the way. It might seem harsh to look at it that way but, you can’t get through your problems if you don’t head forwards!

Personal Loans: Are They Good or Bad?

There can be many causes why you may need to go for a personal loan. Although, with the uprising in the financial industry, the decision to borrow with a loan is an issue of worry. From wanting to revamp your home or buy a new car or run your business, you can take a personal loan for a plenty of reasons.

Personal loans are surely a good way to access extra money when you run out of finances. They also favor to offering appealing interest rates as compared to credit cards and others. When you need hard cash, getting a bank loan can be an instant solution. A loan link the gap between where you are with your education savings, scholarships and earnings from part-time work to where you want to be.

Although loans and debts can be an occasional problem, personal loans can be useful when in desperate need of money. Just like anything else, getting personal loans comes with a lot of positives and negatives. Here are few reasons why applying for a personal loan and getting one is best:

1. Pay off debts: The quantity you receive from personal loans can be used effectively by offsetting any other debt that makes things hard for you or the debts that have been employed at much higher interest rates. Saying that if you have a home loan or other loan, using the personal loan to eliminate them is a perfect way as interest rates of personal loans are much better than most other loans.

2. Medical Emergencies: It is awful to note that medical emergencies are not always accessible at economical prices and that we cannot risk the lives of our beloved ones. The best choice when it comes to a medical emergency is to get a personal loan.

3. Home Redecoration & Other Requirements: When you get a feeling that your house is in need of renovation or moving from one city to another, there's no better way to handle this by getting a personal loan.

Personal loans can be useful in many scenarios and Canadian Cash Solutions is here to help you out with this, but there are still few scenarios where there are the preferred choices than a regular loan. There is no confusion that a personal loan comes with many responsibilities. With the progress and huge changes in the financial industry, many easy and safe ways to raise funds have been put in place.

1. A Substitute for Personal Loans: Crowd funding is the best substitute for taking personal loans to get your idea or start-up to stellar heights. The primary concept of crowd funding is to let a newcomer or entrepreneur meet possible investors, influence them with the idea or project and obtain the mandatory funding. It can be a single investor or a group of investors. Crowd funding happens on online platforms that provide an ideal stage for clearly informing investors about the project or idea and deciding whether to fund or not.

2. Peer To Peer loans: Peer to peer loans aka P2P loans are the brand new absolute concept of the Financial industry. A trusted P2P lending platform secure funders looking for preferable prospects than those offered by banks and individuals or entrepreneurs looking for quick and easy short-term loans. Previously, there were no appropriate guidelines for these peer loans. But now, with the evolution of the Financial industry, P2P loans are rapidly replacing personal loans.

3. Short Term Payday Loans: Each of us could have faced an abrupt and unexpected need for hard cash and these short-term payday loans are meant to help in such situations. Since they have selected for a very short period of time, they are refunded instantly, which is certainly a benefit. You can go for weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or even daily loans. These are for sure a plus on personal loans.

Fast change in the Financial industry and unconventional loans not only provide a way and approach to reach out to more customers and raise funds easily, but they also overcome geographical dissociation.

How to Estimate Your Startup Costs

Before you launch any sort of business, it is essential that you calculate how much money you are going to need during those first crucial weeks and months. So many businesses struggle because they are not properly equipped to get through this initial stage until they are properly on their feet.

Of course, it may be possible to acquire more funding through sources like smallbusinessloans.co, but you won’t be able to keep doing this forever. Even if you can’t forecast exactly how much you are going to spend launching your business in the first place, you can at least have the best estimate possible. Here are the three keys steps involved in getting the best idea of your startup costs.

List Your Asset Spending

The first thing that you need to work out is how much you will be spending on your business assets. If you are starting a physical business rather than an online one, some of the things you may need include items like furniture, equipment, and the cost of the actual premises itself. Perhaps you will be making and selling products rather than offering services, in which case you will need to list everything involved in making and selling your products. If you are starting an internet business, your asset list will probably be shorter, but there are still some vital things that you need. For every item on the list, make an estimate of what the cost will be, trying to be as accurate as you can. For example, you could contact real estate agents to find out about prices of office space. The internet is obviously extremely useful in helping you to work out your asset spending.

List Your Expenses Spending

There are plenty of things which you purchase when you are starting a business which don’t count as assets. For example, while it may seem like computers and office equipment should be on the asset list, they can be deducted from your taxable income as expenses. Other common expenses include the amount that you spend building your website, renovating your office space, and paying your employees. Your startup costs will be a combination of your assets and your expenses.

Work Out How Much You Need to Get Started

There are a number of different theories involved in working out how much you need to get started. Remember, it is always better to overestimate rather than underestimate. Some people say that it is best to cover six months worth of expenses while others think that you need to be more conservative and cover a year. You also need to come up with sales forecasts for the months ahead but don’t bind them to yourself too tightly as you may find out that you don’t sell as much as you had initially thought.

Don’t fall into the trap that causes many startups to fail, and make sure that you have enough money to give you the best possible start in business.

Do-It-Yourself Investing: Can It Be Done?

For anyone wanting to make the most of the money they have, investing is often one of the most important and lucrative ways to do so. If you are someone who is thinking of trying to get started in investments of whatever kind, then you are probably keen to make sure that you get it right. This means that you should have a keen eye for what seems to work and what works less well, do whatever you can to make the right decisions, and try not to stress too much in the early days particularly. In this post, we are going to look at this style of do-it-yourself investing which requires the use of no agents or other similar help. Can it really be done by the layman?

No Agent Doesn’t Mean No Help

It is important to remember that just because you are going for a do-it-yourself kind of investment portfolio, that doesn’t mean that you can never have any help whatsoever. In fact, there is plenty of help to be had, and the main thing is that you know which to accept and which not to. Given that you are keen on investing in this way, you will likely want to turn away from anyone who appears to be seeking to tell you what to do with your money. But that doesn't mean you shouldn’t use services like Fundrise Reviews to discover how easy investing can be. With this kind of service, you will find getting started in investments much easier and simpler, and it might even mean that you get more out of them in the long run.

Building A Portfolio Takes Time

No matter who you are or what skills you have, building a portfolio is always going to take some time. It is wise to bear this in mind from the start so that you don't start the process with any unrealistic expectations which could only end up hampering you. If you are aware from the off that you will need to invest mostly a lot of patience in your investments, then you won’t be so disappointed when the results are not immediate, and you can instead choose to continue on until you reach what you are looking for. Patience is the key characteristic of many a good investor, and one which you should definitely not overlook if you can help it.

Learning The Art Of Timing

If there is any skill which will really serve to set you apart from others, it is your ability to time well your purchases and sales. Ultimately, investing is all about timing, as you want to make sure that you get hold of those assets at a low price and ultimately sell them on for much more. Learn the art of timing, and you will be able to make the most of your investments, regardless of what actually happens in the marketplace during that time. This takes time and a certain ability to look closely, so make sure that you try to develop that ability within yourself at the same time.

Why You Should Start Investing for your New Born Child Right Away

When you have a baby, your life will completely change. Although it is an exciting time, there are certain things that you must do without any delay. One of the important things you must reconsider is your finance.

A baby brings in several new expenses today and in the future. It is important that you start investing immediately to maximize your returns. When your child is younger, you have a long time to accumulate a good corpus that may be used for his/her higher education. Here are two reasons why investing early for your child is beneficial.

1. Power of compounding

When you invest your money, it earns certain returns. By compounding these returns further, earn additional income. As a result, you are able to accumulate wealth and build a good corpus over the long-term.

2. Lower stress

If you start investments for your child as soon as he/she is born, you will need to invest a lower amount. As your child grows older, you have lesser time to accumulate the amount needed for his/her further studies. Therefore, you will have to invest a higher monthly amount to ensure you have adequate funds. This may result in some financial stress, which is easily avoidable by starting early.

Financial planning is important to ensure you have sufficient funds to take care of your child’s future. If you failed to start planning when your child was born, it is still not too late. Here are different strategies you may use for your child’s secure financial future.

1. Equity-oriented portfolio

If your child is three to four years old, consider investing in equity and related financial products. The returns on equities may not be guaranteed due to market fluctuations and volatility. However, when your child is younger, you may assume a higher risk through equity investing. Historically, equities have delivered the highest returns amongst all asset classes in the long-term. You may also invest in mutual fund equity schemes through Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). This reduces your risk of direct equity investing while giving you the opportunity to earn higher returns.

2. Balanced portfolio

When your child is older, you may have only five to nine years to save and build a decent corpus for his/her education. Therefore, you have to reduce your risk while achieving balanced growth. Distributing your investments equally among equity and debt may be a suitable option.

You may opt to invest in mutual funds through balanced schemes that invest the fund corpus in debt as well as equity instruments. If you want to further reduce your risks, you may consider monthly income plans (MIPs) offered by asset management companies (AMCs). Such funds limit the equity exposure of the fund corpus to an approximate rate of 15% to 20%. However, the returns on MIPs are lower when compared to other types of mutual funds.

To include debt in your portfolio, you may commence a recurring deposit (RD) with a maturity date around when your child starts college. However, if you are in the highest tax bracket, consider an SIP in short-term debt funds for greater tax efficiency.

3. Debt-oriented portfolio

If your child will begin college within one to four years, you should reduce your investment risk. Therefore, building a debt-focused investment portfolio is recommended. It is advisable that you assume only 10% to 15% equity exposure as your child nears college.

This shift from growth to investment protection is crucial to ensure you do not run the risk of losing your entire savings due to unfavorable market movements. A sudden downturn may significantly reduce the value of your investments or may even completely erode its value. Therefore, discontinuing your equity SIPs and shifting towards short-term debt funds is recommended.

Financial planning is not a one-time procedure. You must regularly update and modify your plan to match your changing life situations. Here are two things you must remember.

1. Regularly monitoring

It is important that you regularly monitor and review the status of your investment portfolio. You must make modifications to your holdings as and when required to ensure you stay on track to achieve your goal.

2. Increase investment amount

Just like your income increases each year, increasing your savings and investments over the years is important. This will go a long way in helping you build wealth over the long-term.

Financial planning is not easy. ARQ,the proprietary investment engine in Angel Wealth’s mobile application simplifies this procedure. It uses over a billion data points to match recommendations to your goals and risk profile. A differentiating factor of this investment engine is that all recommendations are machine-oriented and free from any human bias.

Download the Angel Wealth mobile app today and save for your child’s financial future.

Simple Switch-Ups To Save Your Business Money

Whether your business is going through a tough time or you’re simply looking to cut your expenditure, a cost-cutting exercise could be very beneficial. When people think of cost-cutting, they usually associate it with cutting jobs, but that’s not what this article is about. Here, cost-cutting refers to cutting down your business expenses by making simple switches to save money. Want to know more? Read about the switch-ups you can make to save your business money today.

Slash your utilities

Changing your utility providers should be one of the first things you do to cut costs in your business. It might take a bit negotiating, but it’s possible to cut a lot of money off your annual bill through haggling or changing providers. In addition to cutting the supplier costs, you could also find other ways of lowering your business’ utility bills to reduce those monthly outgoings.

Cut your tech spend

While your business might rely on technology to carry out day to day functions, does it need so much of it? If you take some time to analyze how your business uses technology, you might find that it’s not being used as much as you thought. Find ways you can cut your spend such as switching to a leasing company instead of buying outright and switch your phone contract providers. Even switching to a different tariff could provide you with some savings, so try exploring the different options available to your business.

Switch your external contracts

Whether you work with external marketing agencies, payroll, fulfillment companies or other external contracts, remember to review your agreements regularly to see if you could be getting a better deal elsewhere. You could save money by switching to another supplier, like Red Stag Fulfillment who could provide the same if not better service at a lower rate than your current fulfillment company. Going through a tendering process could be the best way to ensure you make savings while getting quality suppliers competing for the job. Think about your approach to choosing suppliers and whether there’s anything you can do differently to save money.

Move to online systems

There are many business functions that can now be used online to save businesses money, while also providing further security. There are many benefits of cloud computing that can make your workplace more productive as well as save on server costs, while online payroll and accounting software are also useful for your business. Price up the different costs of moving to online systems versus what you pay now to help you get the most bang for your buck.

While there are some active solutions for how you can save money for your business, there are also some proactive work you can do avoid hefty business costs. Protecting yourself against common business financial woes will help you avoid costs that could affect your business’ finances, undoing all of your other savings efforts. Give serious consideration to how your business can save money and start reducing your spend now.