Category Archives: Home Mortgage
How To Add An Additional Card Holder
If you have someone special in your life, then it might be time to add an additional cardholder to your account. Whether this is a wife or husband, or even a child, adding an additional cardholder can be advantageous for a number of reasons. If you are unsure about how to add an additional cardholder to your credit card account, then here are some tips to get you started.
How to add an additional cardholder
Adding an additional cardholder is generally very easy to do, and usually involves calling up your card issuer to arrange it. All you have to do is give the details of the person that you would like to add to the account and then this will be arranged for you.
Who can I add?
In theory you can add anyone you want as an additional cardholder to your account. However, the most common people to add to your account are partners, spouses or children. You might want to add a partner or spouse if you are beginning to share your accounts with each other and pool your assets. Also, you might want to add a child to your account so that you can keep track of their spending whilst giving them some financial freedom.
Advantages of adding cardholders
The advantages of adding a cardholder are that you can reduce the number of accounts that you and the additional cardholder have, making payments easier. Also, it can help you to budget more effectively as a household if you all use the same accounts. Also, you can use the same pool of money but have separate cards, giving you the freedom to spend on your own whilst someone else does the same. It also allows you to keep track of both your spending and the spending of others, meaning you can make savings more effectively.
Disadvantages
Although there are some advantages, there can also be problems. If you add someone as an additional cardholder, then you are responsible for the balance that they accrue each month. The balance is part of your statement, so you are the one who will be liable. This might lead to problems if your child spends irresponsibly or if you are having relationship problems.
Cancelling an additional cardholder
If you have become separated or divorced from your partner or your children have moved away, then it is important to cancel any additional cards to stop them being used. To many people get landed with large bills after divorce because they forgot to cancel the extra card and their partner charged everything to their account. As long as you keep track of additional cards and cancel them when necessary, then you can reduce the amount of cards that you are your partner require whilst still having the freedom to spend.
Secured and Unsecured Debts
Debts do seem to be all alike, but it must be known that there are actually many different kinds of debts available. A borrower might ask what does it matter if there are different kinds of debts, as long as the payments to be made with them remain the same? But the distinction becomes all too obvious if the borrower is unable to make the payments in time and needs to find out ways and means to get rid of the debt. This can be done through consolidation or refinancing. At such times, it is necessary to know the different kinds of debts and what they entail. Here we discuss the two important types of debts secured and unsecured debts.
A secured debt is one for which the borrower needs to put some collateral. Collateral is a kind of a financial security for the lender. In case the loan is defaulted upon, the lender has the legal right to dispose of the collateral in any which way and recover some of the loaned amount through it. This is known as repossession. But it must be remembered that repossession may not let the borrower go off the hook. If the collateral is not able to compensate for the entire principal amount, then the lender would demand for the remaining amount. Then there would also be several fees to be paid for the foreclosure. Collaterals are usually needed for home and car loans. One further disadvantage with secured loans is that the borrower is not at liberty to negotiate on the interest rates later into the loan. Debt consolidation may also not be possible with such loans, since the lender has their own security. Even filing for bankruptcy may not free the borrower from the loan.
Unsecured debts are those for which collaterals are not needed. People with good credit ratings or those with credit card loans are generally the ones who get unsecured loans. Medical and commercial debts may also fall in this category. With these loans, the lenders do not have any security of the amount they have lent, but they are assured that the borrower will be in a position to pay back the loan. Despite that, if a person defaults on an unsecured loan, then it could go into collections and there could be legal action. However, this happens only as a last resort. Lenders are usually open to negotiations on such loans and borrowers can look at debt consolidation or settlement as a way out of the indebtedness. Credit counseling usually resolves the problems of repaying unsecured loans.
For all the advantages unsecured loans provide, they have higher rates of interest than the secured loans. Most borrowers in the US today have a mélange of secured and unsecured loans. Whatever be the type of the loan, its management is the most important factor. Sometimes people need to begin by borrowing and repaying some secured loans before they can qualify for unsecured loans. This would improve the credit ratings. Anyways, both kinds of loans are potentials for improving credit ratings when paid back in time.