Novated Lease Myths Dispelled

Novated leasing is fast becoming the number one way for people to own a new car in Australia. However people are a little sceptical of choosing this type of lease arrangement over traditional car finance. Let’s look at some of the top 5 myths and shed some light on the real facts!

 

Myth 1 – I earn too much for a novated lease to be worthwhile

Fortunately, this is incorrect and many Australians would benefit greatly by leasing a car in this fashion. Some people think a figure of $70,000 automatically cuts them off. In fact, if the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) rate is higher than your marginal tax rate, you’ll make some great savings on tax!

 

Myth 2 – It’s too complicated to work out what I need to repay

Again, not true. Any good novated lease company worth their salt will do the hard yards for you. In fact, they often provide a calculator on their site to help you see how much money you could save over the term of the lease. All car repayments are made in one low monthly charge which covers running costs as well.

 

Myth 3 – I need to travel a lot of kilometres for it to be of any benefit

There are a new set of FBT rules associated with vehicle leases and there are savings to be had even for drivers who clock up less than 10,000km per year.

 

Myth 4 – I’m young, novated leases are risky and I don’t want to be locked in

Young people are really taking to these types of car salary packaging arrangements and given the fact you can choose just about any new car you like, you can choose a car to fit your lifestyle and budget. Don’t be worries about only being able to choose between a few bland base model vehicles!

 

Myth 5 – I need to use the car for business use

This is one of the biggest myths people believe. It’s certainly not true. Novated leases are specifically for people who don’t use their car for a lot of business driving if at all. Forget worrying about keeping a log book, receipts or other records because you’re worried about the tax man.

 

There are many advantages in going with a novated lease including getting a fuel card you can use across over 90% of Australian petrol suppliers, one low monthly repayment made out of your pre-tax salary covering rego, servicing and other running costs. Speak to Fleetcare or try their novated lease calculator to see how much you can save.

12.03.2012

In this post I’d like to share the impact of the US job market on the foreign exchange rates, and how you can use this information to get better rates.

Why Is The US Job Market Important to Foreign Exchange?

It’s no secret that the United States is the backbone of the global economy. In spite of the rise of China, it remains the biggest economy power in history, and therefore an essential barometer of the health of the global economy as a whole.

For instance, the 2008 Great Recession was preceded by the collapse of the housing market in the US, which caused shocks to the financial system in Europe and elsewhere. Given this then, the workforce of the United States is crucial, as it comprises the engine of this towering economic power. If the US workforce is in bad shape, chances are the global economy is not doing great either.

How Does This Affect The Foreign Exchange Rates?

How then does this affect the foreign exchange rates? Because the strength of the US dollar (and risk appetite in general) is connected to the health of the US economy, and the US job market in turn makes up the US economy. In short, if the job market is doing well, chances are the US dollar will be performing strongly too.

For example, just last Friday the Department of Labor released the latest Non-Farm Payroll figures (indicating the monthly number of jobs created in non-agricultural sectors) telling us that 227,000 total jobs were created in the US last month. This is a great performance, and the US dollar immediately jumped against rivals including the UK pound following the release, indicating just how important Non-Farm Payrolls are as an economic barometer to the US. Similarly, if the Non-Farm Payroll next month were to disappoint, it’s quite possible the US dollar might dip.

How Can You Us This to Get Better Foreign Exchange Rates?

Knowing the importance of US job creation figures can help you get better rates, because it has such a huge influence on the rates. For instance, if the Non-Farm Payrolls are predicted to increase one month, that could help you get a better rate in the ensuing jump in the US dollar.

Similarly, if you’re concerned you might lose out, you might set up a forward contract prior to the release of the latest figures to protect you. It’s about being more aware, and therefore getting a better rate rather than jumping in blind!

It is very important to know what bank you should be choosing for a specific financial purpose. There are banks that are suited for business concerns while others cater those of a personal touch. Regardless of what type of bank you choose, it is best to know the important things about banking and here are some of them.

Understand the services offered
Every bank offers the same services yet with different approaches. This would mean that they may have the same type of service for your financial needs yet the content may be different in terms of interest rates,business loans, online bill payments, benefits like rebates or deals. Credit cards would even vary in their credit interests in different banks including their limits and time period of payment. This is a very important consideration especially in determining financial sources to be tapped.

Awareness of the bank categories
There are different categories in banking and each category is suited for a specific purpose. Business transactions are often catered by commercial banks and they have very high bank transaction fees compared to banks that cater savings and loans. Credit unions are perfect for processing loans and they have the lowest interest rates. There are banks that tackle paying market funds which are ideal for those who are into the stock market and financial investment.

These are some of the important things to know about selecting a bank order to prevent any possible financial problems and regrets in the future.

Housing is a huge market in the developed nations of the world. Australia is among the most developed nations today with a fast rising population primarily due to the influx of immigrants. This is why Bankwest is improving its home loans and loan calculators. You can check these in
http://www.bankwest.com.au/personal/home-loans/home-loans-tools-and-calculators.

Home loan calculators are used to compute for a lot of important aspect of a home loan. These includes the amount of payments you are going to make every month and how much the total amount you have to pay to completely pay off your loan. This makes it a very good tool to use and Bankwest is offering it online in their own website. This will help a lot of Australians who need to loan to buy their dream homes in the land of fair go. It is a simple online tool which can also let you compute for how much home loan you can afford. Now this one feature is really helpful since everyone just about guesses how much they can afford. It also takes into account the combined income of couples.

The calculator makes it easier to consider getting a home loan. Houses are not cheap these days and would normally cost around a year’s worth of salary. This type of loan is suppose to give you what you can achieve in a year in just a few days, allowing you to buy a house with sacrificing much of what you earn a month.

Debt consolidation - or balance transfer?

Debt consolidation loans have given many borrowers a good way of simplifying their budgets and making their finances that bit easier to deal with. But these days, a lot of people are using balance transfer credit cards to do much the same thing.

At a basic level, the two are quite similar: they both allow people to consolidate multiple debts into just one debt, whether that’s a new loan or a balance on a new credit card. They also both give borrowers a chance to rethink how quickly they’ll be able to repay their debt.

But in other ways, they’re very different. A few things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of taking out a debt consolidation loan or transferring your credit card debts to a single card…

Debt consolidation loan

You could pay all your debts off in one go if you took out a new loan and used it to pay them off. As with loans of all kinds, you should only do this if you’re sure you can afford to stick to the repayments all the way through, right up to the day the last one’s been made.

A lot of people consolidate their debts like this so they can reduce their monthly payments as well – if they can arrange a longer repayment term, each monthly payment can be a fair bit smaller, since they’re repaying the debt more slowly. It’ll cost more in the long run if they do this, though, as interest will have longer to build up. If you want to know more about debt consolidation loans and other approaches to debt, you could visit DebtAdviceNow.

Balance transfer credit card

If you’re carrying a few different credit card debts, it might make sense to transfer them all to a single card. A lot of balance transfer credit cards give people quite a lot of time (up to two years, in some cases) in which they’ll pay no interest on the transferred debt at all.

Even though it comes with a balance transfer fee, this can still save people a lot of money. It can also give them a real incentive to make larger monthly payments than just the minimum, so they can be confident their debt will be gone before the interest starts accruing again.

Doing things for the first time places you in a mistake prone position. There are instances that this is okay. However, when it comes to buying a home you cannot afford to make mistakes even as a first timer. To help you avoid them here is a list of the common mistakes of first time home buyers.

Underestimating Actual Expenses
Knowing how much you actually need is important. But it is much safer to think of a value much higher than what your research tells you. There is always a possibility of additional expenses. So take this into account. Use a home loan calculator if you want an accurate base to start with.

Not Hiring an Agent
As a beginner it is important to accept that there are a lot of things that you do not know. Hiring an agent means additional cost but it will save you the hassle to trying to learn all the important aspects of buying a home.

Not Checking your Mortgage Qualification
Mortgage qualification is important. This is the way for you to know if lenders will more likely approve your home loan. Stable income and a great credit score increase you chances of qualifying for a home loan.

These are the most common mistakes made by first time home buyers. Now that you know them you can know work your way into avoiding these mistakes and clear your way towards your own home. You will need to memorize these to make sure that you do avoid them in the future