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9 Steps to Get Out of Debt – Part 3

Step 3 – Analyze Your Debt

The next step is to figure out exactly how much you owe. First, make a list of every debt you have. Not just credit cards, everything. Credit cards, department store credit, mortgages, car payments, unpaid past-due bills, student loans — everything.

You do not need to count items such as recurring bills like electric, gas, cable, etc. These are not debt, they are recurring expenses. At any time you could shut these off and not owe any additional money, although it may make life unpleasant, to say the least.

Once you have a list of what you owe, you need to determine what your remaining balance is on each item, the current interest rate and your monthly payment for each debt. On most loans you’ll be able to find this information on your monthly bills. However, you may have to make some phone calls to get this information for other debt. Add the remaining amount on each of these items together, this is your total amount of debt. Also, add together your monthly payments for each of these debts to determine the total monthly cost of your debt.

Now, you need to determine how much this debt is going to cost you if you continue making the payments you currently are. You can do this by completing an amortization table for each debt. Don’t worry, we’re not going to make you do this yourself, you can use our amortization calculator located at destroydebt.com. This will tell you two key pieces of data: how much each debt is going to cost you, and when it will be paid off. Add the total cost of each loan together; this is the total cost of your debt. This number can be scary at first, but don’t get too worried yet, this should be the last time you see this number.

If your total monthly debt is greater than 50% of your net monthly income, or you have found yourself in a situation where you are unable to pay your bills and have fallen behind by several months, I would suggest you stop here and seek the advice of a professional financial counselor. Otherwise, continue on.

By: Jeremy Zongker

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Posted in Finance · July 29th, 2010 · Comments (0)

Loan Calculators

Loan calculators are tools on the Internet that are used to help you calculate the monthly installment you will have to make to repay a loan. By using a loan calculator, you can determine which loan provides you the best value by comparing different rates and loan amounts. You can also find out the other additional fees and costs that are associated with getting a loan.

The data that the loan calculator requires includes the loan amount you intend to apply for. To determine the loan amount, you have to subtract the down payment for the house or property you intend to make from its actual cost. If you intend to pay a negligible down payment, then you might as well enter the cost of the home itself in this part of the loan calculator. The interest rate of the loan is the next piece of information required. This is the periodic charge for the money you intend to borrow from the financial institution. The interest rate changes according to the term of the loan and also depends on your credit history. However, for the sake of calculations on the loan calculator, you may enter the estimated current market rate. The next piece of data required on the loan calculator is the term of the loan. Loans are usually fifteen or thirty years long. Shorter loans mean larger monthly payments, as you have less time to repay the loan. Using all this data, you can very well calculate the different monthly installments for different terms and rates of the loan and compare them to find out which loan proposal is good for you.

Another use of the loan calculator is to find out the payment amount that will be required to make payments on debt consolidation loans. With this calculation, you can compare your potential monthly savings against your traditional loan. There is also an amortization schedule present on the loan calculator wherein you can obtain information to figure out a payment plan to reduce your debt gradually through monthly principal payments.

By: Steve Valentino

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Posted in Finance · December 28th, 2009 · Comments (0)

Negative Mortgage Amortization, Things You Must Know – Do Not Take a Home Loan Before You Read

A negative amortization loan is a loan where the monthly payment does not decrease your loan principal. In other words the payment being made doesn’t pay back the principal on the loan. In fact the payment being made doesn’t even cover the minimum monthly interest payment. As a result your home mortgage will increase overtime.

How does it work?

Well, your monthly payment is composed by the loan amount, interest rate, and the years that the loan will be paid back. Normally a mortgage payment will include sufficient money to be applied towards interest and principal, in order to effectively reduce the balance on the loan. In a negative amortization, you don’t even pay enough to cover the interest being charged by the bank.

What does negative amortization mean to you?

Since the payment in a negative mortgage doesn’t even cover the minimum interest charge, the amount that wasn’t paid gets attached to the principal balance (loan balance will increase with every payment). In other words, every time you make a negative amortization payment it’s like you’re taking out another loan on your home. When you amortize a loan it simply means that you’re paying it off, therefore the name negative amortization is given to this particular situation.

What is the practical use of a negative amortization?

The main purpose of this type of amortization is flexibility in payments. This type of amortization was designed with a certain type of borrower in mind. Normally this is a type of payment that is suggested for people without regular income, such as commission employees and business owners. The idea is that people without regular income might have a down month where making a full payment is not likely to happen, instead of missing a payment they would have the option to apply the minimum amount, avoid missing a payment, and add the rest to the back of the loan. On the opposite side, if they have a good month then making a bigger payment is also possible in order to catch up on the negative amortization months, thus allowing the borrower to pay off the principle balance.

Keep In Mind:

This type of amortization is not for every home owner, as time goes on and more negative amortization payments are made, the larger the amount of money that will be owed by the borrower to catch up the loan.

By: Alberto W Garcia

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Posted in Real Estate · September 25th, 2008 · Comments (0)

Loan Amortization Defined

Amortization is a term associated with mortgage loans and is mainly used in relation to loan repayments. Technically defined, amortization is an accounting method in which expenses are accounted for over the useful life of the asset rather than at the time they are incurred. Amortization is similar to depreciation in that the value of the liability (or asset) is reduced over time.

Simplified in terms of a mortgage, amortization is a payment each month that combines both interest and the principal amount and is paid over a specific period of time. The concept of amortization can seem complex and understanding the process is essential to becoming an informed borrower.

The simplest way to explain the difference between amortization and depreciation is understand the type of the financial events that they are associated with. Depreciation is a term used to define an asset (cash or non-cash) that loses value over time. Mortgage amortization is the periodic reduction of the principal balance of a home mortgage that is usually fixed in the terms of the loan.

For the purposes of a home mortgage, amortization is the reduction of the principal or capital on a loan over a specified time and at a specified interest rate. Interest is the fee paid by the borrower to reimburse the lender for the use of credit or currency. At the beginning of the amortization schedule a greater amount of the payment is applied to interest, while more money is applied to principal at the end. In other words, a borrower will start out paying mostly interest and in the end the majority of the monthly payment goes toward cutting down the actual loan amount.

A mortgage is amortized when it is repaid with periodic payments over a defined term. The goal is for the mortgage to be fully amortized, an elaborate way of saying paid off, at the end of the term of the loan. As more and more of the principal is paid down, the interest declines, leading to greater mortgage amortization in the later years of the loan and a subsequent increase in the borrower’s equity in the property.

One thing to consider when taking out a mortgage is the amount of money which will be paid out over the life of the loan. A mortgage calculator which provides an estimate of monthly payments and amortizations can make it easier to see the entire schedule and impact to the borrower. Negative amortization, which can occur in financing instruments like a balloon loan, exists when the monthly mortgage payment is not big enough to cover the full amount of interest due.

The process of amortization is an easy one to understand once you know the basics and get the idea of how it all works. Mortgage amortization, as used in real estate, is when the principal balance on a mortgage is reduced over time as the home owner makes monthly payments. Amortization describes the process of paying off a loan in regular, typically monthly, installments. As a general rule, amortization is desirable, because if a mortgage is not amortizing, it means that the borrower is not making any headway on the loan.

By: Bill McKenna

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Posted in Real Estate · July 17th, 2007 · Comments (0)

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