Are You Being Overcharged on Your Auto Insurance?

Every one of us need to have our auto Insurance if we own a car, this is needed because the law made it compulsory for all car owners to get auto insurance to protect the driver and others while on the road. However, auto Insurance can be pretty expensive and you can be over-charged if necessary attention has not being paid for when you select your auto Insurance policy or company.Under many circumstances, people complaint about being over-charged on their Auto Insurance. How can we tell if we have been over-charged soon enough for us to pull back from the current insurance plan and seek for alternative insurance policy which is reasonable?There are several ways to tell if you have been over-charged on your auto insurance:You may be a reckless driver and used to get summons for your bad driving or wrong parking a few years ago, at that time, let’s say your insurance premium is at USD1200 per year when you started the policy in 2006. Since then you have turned over a new leaf and did not offend any driving rules at all, but yet you are still being charged on the same Insurance premium in 2009.You should get an auto loan insurer who is always there ready to reward their good customers by providing discounts to reduce their premium amount if their credit score improved.Other than the premium amount, every month you are entitled to pay for some additional fees which you have not being informed of earlier by your insurance agent, such as maintenance fees, administrative fees and some type of maintenance fees which you do not think that you ought to be charged in addition to because you have been informed that all processing fees have been included into your premium cost when you enrolled for the plan.You are found to be paying a much higher monthly payment as compare to some friends of yours, within your circle of friends, who own the same car model which were manufactured in the same year too.If you came to be aware on any of the above lately, it is about time for you to “fire” your insurer and get yourself a better insurer who are concern and place high priority on their customer’s needs and conditions. A good insurer will always be there to look after your policy and to ensure your benefits are well -managed and focus on.That is why it is so essential for one to take their time searching around for the right type of auto insurer ahead of time who places their customers’ benefits above all other things and who are there readily to help you whenever their assistance is required. The internet is a good place to search for your optimum auto insurer.Other than that, you can take initiatives to ask around for advice, feedback, sharing and recommendation from your friends, family members or business associates in terms of their Auto Insurer and explore each of the pro and cons of the insurers.By the end of the day, the key thing is that you need to make sure you get the right insurance plan from the right Insurance company from the beginning as ending the contract with them later might cause you certain penalty cost because most of these contracts can only be renewable on yearly basis.

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Stock Investing: Best Investment Strategy for 2014 and Beyond

Stock investing is the growth engine of your investment portfolio, but in 2014 and beyond your best investment strategy could be to cut your investment exposure in stocks (also called equities) and stock funds (also called equity funds). Face it: equities and some stock funds have run up 150% in the past four to five years and this run could be about over. Why invest money here (more money) now?Stock investing has been very profitable in the past few years. The truth of the matter is that stocks and stock funds have been the best investment for the average investor for questionable reasons. In this extremely low interest rate environment, who wants to invest money in bonds, bond funds or any other interest-paying investment vehicle? In the world of stock investing, investors want to see a growing economy, rising corporate profits and growth in corporate sales. In recent years corporate profits have been a product of cost cutting vs. increasing sales. Corporate America has been reluctant to hire employees.Our government has, by design, kept interest rates artificially low to stimulate the economy and bring unemployment down. They’ve done this by BUYING longer-term debt securities, like their own Treasury securities… to the tune of $85 billion a month in 2013. This made stock investing the best investment game in town, and kept interest rates low. In 2014, many economists expect that this will unwind and interest rates are likely to increase. At that point stock investing could be a whole new ball game. Equities might not be your best investment.Invest money in stocks or stock funds if you believe that our government’s efforts will create a new wave of growth in the economy, in jobs, and in corporate sales. Do not rush out to invest money (more money) if you think higher interest rates will follow and choke economic growth. Remember, higher interest rates can hurt sales as purchases bought on credit (cars, homes, credit card purchases in general) decline. Higher rates can also hurt corporate profits because they increase the cost of borrowing money. Corporations borrow a LOT of money.That’s one view of stocks for 2014 and beyond, based on a fundamental view of stock investing. The other approach is the technical viewpoint. With the stock market on a four to five year roll, near all-time highs and up 150%… it could be due for a correction. If you invest money in stocks or stock funds now, you could be arriving at the party late. This is not rocket science, but consider 2000-2002, and 2007-2009. These were brutal bear markets that handed investors losses in the neighborhood of 50%. Only after these bear markets ended were stock funds the best investment for the average investor (for about 5 years).Well, it’s been about 5 years now since the recession (financial crisis) was officially put to bed. High unemployment is still with us and economic activity and growth is nothing to write home about. The real dilemma for investors in 2014 and beyond is that there appears to be few (if any) good or best investment prospects on the horizon. The only cheap asset class around is CASH. To earn even 1% on a CD you must shop around. Why invest money in a money market fund when they pay virtually nothing in return?When investors look at the apparent lack of investment opportunities out there and see equities going up they tend to want to jump on the band wagon and invest money in stocks and equity funds. History tells us that stock investing in an inflated market can be dangerous to your financial health. Sometimes your best investment is a safe and boring one like a short-term CD, savings account or money market fund. In 2014 your best investment strategy may be to cut back on stock investing and opt for more safety.

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5 Reasons Why a Secured Visa Credit Card is Better Than Prepaid

Many people assume that a prepaid Visa card is the same thing as a secured Visa credit card. This actually couldn’t be further from the truth. A prepaid Visa credit card is significantly different from a secured Visa credit card. Here are five reasons why.1. The Credit FactorIf you’re trying to decide between a prepaid credit card or a secured Visa credit card, chances are that your credit isn’t exactly spotless. If you want to improve your credit rating, understanding the differences between prepaid cards and secured cards is critical.If you opt for a prepaid credit card, you’re not doing anything to improve your credit rating. This is because prepaid credit cards typically aren’t reported to the credit bureaus. On the other hand, when you are issued a secured Visa credit card, your account activity is reported to the credit bureaus, improving your credit.By managing your secured Visa credit card properly, you aren’t just gaining access to a credit card and the benefits that go along with carrying one, but you’re also increasing your credit score and rebuilding your credit history.2. The Money FactorThere is one thing that prepaid credit cards and secured credit cards have in common. Whether you open a secured credit card or a prepaid credit card, you’re going to have to send in money. That, however, is where the similarity ends.When you give money to a prepaid credit card company, they credit the amount to your prepaid card and then you can spend the money you’ve put on it. That’s it — end of story. When all the money is spent, you either add more or throw the card away.When you send in money to open your secured Visa credit card account, the money is put into a savings account and you earn interest on that account. Then the credit card company extends you a revolving line of credit equal to the amount of that account.3. Monthly StatementsWhen it comes to a prepaid credit card, there aren’t monthly statements to pay. With a secured Visa credit card, however, you receive a monthly statement that must be paid on time (or it will affect your credit). You will have the choice of paying the minimum amount due, the balance in full or anything in between. This activity is then reported to the credit bureaus.4. Hotels and CarsNowadays when you check into a hotel they ask you whether or not you are using a prepaid credit card and many hotels and car rental companies won’t even accept prepaid credit cards as a form of payment. However, there is nothing differentiating an unsecured credit card from a secured Visa credit card, which means you can use your secured card to book hotels and car rentals without any hassle.5. Moving ForwardIf you carry a prepaid credit card, there will never be a chance of it evolving to an unsecured credit card. However, it is not uncommon for a secured Visa credit card to evolve into an unsecured credit card once you have established a payment history and have proven that you can be trusted with the card.So while a prepaid credit card may look a bit like a secured Visa credit card, the fact remains that they are very different in many ways. If you want to rebuild your credit, then a secured Visa credit card is really the only way to go.

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