Money and savings

Paying attention to your financial situation is extremely important. Here are several tips regarding financial issues. Subprime credit cards are one of the worst credit card products. These credit cards are geared toward applicants who have a bad credit history and these cards typically have high interest rates and fees. While approval is often quick, even for those with bad credit, the terms are often confusing. The Federal government has made rules regarding the amount of fees subprime credit card issuers can charge, but the card issuers often look for loopholes and ways to skirt these rules. Despite the unattractiveness of subprime credit cards, some consumers continue to apply for the cards because they cannot get credit elsewhere. This is a situation where you have to proceed at your own risk.

Payday Loan Interest: Payday lenders charge borrowers extremely high levels of interest that can range up to 500% in annual percentage yield (APR). Most states have usury laws that limit interest charges to less than approximately 35%; however, payday lenders fall under exemptions that allow for their high interest. Since these loans qualify for many state lending loopholes, borrowers should beware. Regulations on these loans are governed by the individual states, with some states even outlawing payday loans of any kind. In California, for example, a payday lender can charge a 14-day APR of 459% for a $100 loan. Finance charges on these loans are also a significant factor for borrowers as the fees can range up to approximately $18 per $100 of loan.

Terms: A guaranteed loan is a loan that a third party guarantees, or assumes the debt obligation for, in the event that the borrower defaults. Guaranteed mortgages, federal student loans and payday loans are all examples of guaranteed loans.

Cash flow: The cycle of money coming into and out of an account according to income/revenue and expenses. Negative cash flow is when expenses fall due before income/revenue is available and the account experiences a shortfall. Positive cash flow is when income/revenue outstrips expenses and there is excess cash in the cycle.

For our finnish readers here is a resource that you might find useful : Credit Card Types. Unencumbered security: An asset or property that is not encumbered by creditor claim or liens. A house without a mortgage is an unencumbered security. An encumbered asset is one with a registered interest against it, for example a property for which you have a mortgage.

EPS: Finally, earnings per share is one of the most common things highlighted in an earnings announcement and provides investors insight into a company’s earnings health and often affects its stock price after an announcement. EPS is calculated by taking net income, subtracting the preferred dividends (for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume Hemlock Incorporated doesn’t pay dividends on preferred shares), and taking that difference and dividing it by the average number of outstanding shares. In the case of Hemlock, its current quarterly EPS is calculated by dividing its net income of $250 million by the company’s 37 million outstanding shares. When reported, EPS is typically compared to earnings from either the previous quarter or the same quarter in the previous fiscal year (year over year, or YoY). It is also used in basic valuation calculations like the P/E ratio.