Sunday, November 19, 2006

A Little Lesson on Loans

The chance to pass money is everywhere. There is no shortage of topographic points that volition take your cash. In fact, to maintain the money flowing out of your wallet, banks and merchants continually come up up with easier ways for you to pass it.

But when it come ups to borrowing money, suddenly the cash grapevine doesn't operate so smoothly. Money goes a more than composite issue with written documents and terminology that practically necessitate you to have got both an Master in Business and Law grade to fully understand.

Before you get dazed by the paperwork and lost in the legalese of loan products, here is a quick lesson on loans.

1) The Basics
When you get a loan, you are borrowing money with a promise to pay back the original amount (principal) plus an extra amount as a fee (interest) for the privilege of borrowing. The amount you pay in interest is normally a percentage of the loan amount -- the interest rate.

Example: If you borrow $100 with an interest rate of 10%, you will pay back $110. That dwells of the $100 principal plus $10 interest.

2) Loan Categories
From A wide perspective, loans autumn under one of two categories: a) Installment loans and b) Revolving Credit loans.

a) Installment loan: The installment loan is probably what most people believe of when talking about a loan. Money is borrowed from the bank in one lump sum of money and normally paid back in installments, or increments, over a set clip period of time. The sum of money paid back can include both the principal plus interest or the payments may incorporate interest only with the principal being paid all at once in the last loan installment, known as a balloon payment.

Loans that autumn under this class include mortgages, personal loans, and auto loans.

b) Revolving Credit loan: Revolving Credit (also called Revolving Line of Credit or Credit Line) is a loan where a lender allows person to borrow money up to a specific limit, called the credit limit, whenever money is needed. The borrower pulls down the credit bounds every clip an amount is borrowed. The borrower can utilize as much of the credit as he or she wants. When a repayment is made, the available credit rises by the paid amount.

Example: Borrower gets a credit bounds of $1000. $100 of the credit is used to purchase merchandise. The credit bounds now diminishes by $100 to $900. A twenty-four hours later, the borrower make up one's minds to borrow another $100 decreasing the credit bounds to $800. Next month, borrower pays back the $200 plus interest and the credit bounds travels back to the full $1000.

Loans that autumn under this class include credit cards, home equity line of credit (HELOC), and business lines of credit.

3) Rates
As you already learned, the interest that you pay is calculated as a percentage of the principal amount. Some loans have got got a fixed interest rate while others have an adjustable rate of interest.

A loan with a fixed interest rate intends that the interest you pay corset the same throughout the life of the loan.

The adjustable rate loan, on the other hand, have an interest rate that tin fluctuate from time time period to period. That agency a borrower can anticipate to pay more than or less interest as the rate fluctuates. The rate's motion is tied to indexes that path a handbasket of interest bearing investments. As the interest rates of the index moves up or down, the interest rate on your loan is adjusted accordingly.

There you have got it. You just completed your lesson on loans. Now that you have got a appreciation of the rudiments of loans, you will be better prepared to understand the minute inside information of the loan that you need.


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