We all need money to do important things like eating, but we don’t always have the exact amount of dough we need precisely when we need it. Society would look pretty different if we had to pay in full and out of our own pocket every time we took college classes or bought a car. Luckily, that isn’t the case. Luckily, there are ways various ways that we can loan money and pay it back over time.
There are loans available for all sorts of life events, but not every loan is going to be a good value. It’s important to know what you’re doing before you signing a bunch of forms and just assuming everything will be fine in the end. Good debt can put you on the path towards a better life, but bad debt can flat out ruin your dreams of a better future.
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Cars, Boats, And More
Trying to get somewhere? There’s a loan for that. The most common type of transportation loan involves buying a new or used car. We’re all familiar with the routine of heading to a car lot and picking out the make and model that best suits us, but after that comes the discussion about financing. Most car dealerships would rather buyers take out a loan, which works out since most people have to take out a loan. A few people can walk in with a cashier’s check, but it’s not exactly the norm.
Make sure you’re dealing with a place that’s on the up and up rather than one that wants to pressure you into signing an agreement with ridiculous interest rates and a too-long payment plan. Comparison tools are always your friend in cases like this. You can go online to compare car loans and compare boat loans before you even set foot in a dealership.
College Loan
The student loan industry has exploded in recent years. In theory, that should allow more people to receive high-quality educations, regardless of if they’re obtaining that degree in a traditional classroom or through an online college. Government-backed loans usually offer better terms to students, but not everyone can access those. That’s where private loan companies come in. You may be able to take out more loans through a private company, but private companies aren’t going to be as nice about it.
If you need to defer payments because of short-term financial hardships, private loan companies are less likely to help you out. You generally have less flexibility when dealing with companies like Sallie Mae than you would if you stuck to things like Stafford loans.
Most people who take out student loans are in their late teens or early twenties, and at that age, it’s easy to convince yourself that you can pay back $40,000 worth of loans for an English degree. Things will work out somehow. But should that optimism prove unfounded, life can get miserable really fast. You may think that you can declare bankruptcy if things get really bad, but you probably can’t.
Congressional lobbyists made sure of that by acting like scores of rich doctors were completing school and then immediately filing for bankruptcy. It probably wasn’t true, but the laws were tightened up anyway, and now you have to prove “undue hardship” before you can discharge any type of student loan in bankruptcy. The very high standard means student loan debt can ruin your life, which makes it even more important that you have a full understanding of the terms and condition of a student loan before agreeing to it.
If you are interested in even more loan-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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