Our spending habits and financial planning, more than anything else, determine whether we will be trapped in bad debt or have a good credit rating. Most people can avoid bad debts by following these simple rules.

Pay bills on time

Payment history is an important element that affects your credit history. Hence, you need to be aware of bills that you are required to pay every month and diligently pay them on time. If you have missed any payment for 30 days or more, it can have a devastating effect on your credit score. A single late payment can bring your credit score down by several points and if there are several consecutive late payments, you need to prepare yourself for worse things like repossession, foreclosure, collections, and charge-offs.

This also applies to accounts like your mobile phone bills or electricity bills that are not usually reported to the credit bureaus. If you fall too far behind in payment of utility bills, your account may get transferred to a collection agency and that will get listed on your credit score.

Do not take too many loans

Taking quick cash loans in Singapore might be the easiest way to deal with tough financial situations but do not make a habit of taking fast cash loans every now and then. When you have many debts, it is difficult to make repayment of each loan every month and you are more likely to miss loan repayments which will affect your credit score. If you find yourself trapped in multiple debts, you need to approach legal money lenders for a debt consolidation loan.

A debt consolidation loan is a good financial tool to prevent your multiple loans from turning into bad debts. The big amount that you get through the debt consolidation loan can be used to repay multiple loans and then you need to only plan for faster repayment of the debt consolidation loan. Debt consolidation loans have lower interest rates and money lender would be happy to reduce the interest rate further if you offer some collateral against the loan.

Pay your credit card debt at the earliest

Credit card debt has one of the highest interest rates and you should focus on getting it cleared at the earliest. Many people fall into the trap of paying “minimum amount due” every month and the result is the credit card debt increases significantly. The truth behind “minimum amount due” is that the credit card company does not levy any late payment fee in that case. The credit card company still charges interest on the unpaid amount.

If it is difficult for you to pay credit card debt, consider taking a loan from a licensed money lender to get rid of credit card debt. The loan offered by money lenders have may lower interest rates than the interest rate charged by the credit card company.

Prevention is better than collection

You need to take a look at your monthly earnings and spending closely. Make a list of essential expenditures and non-essential spending.  If you have accrued debt, you need to reduce non-essential spending and focus on allocating more funds every month to clear debt.

First-time investors should do a lot of research before they actually invest in anything. Such a decision can be very intimidating if made without research or even purely relying on the advice of friends and family. It is therefore very important to understand what the experts say before diving into the investing scenario. This is especially so if you are considering to get a cash loan in Singapore from legal money lenders to fund your investments. Here are some pieces of advice from experts to help you navigate the investing world out there.

Hire an expert

The first step to becoming an investor without much knowledge is to hire an expert. A financial advisor can advise you regarding where to invest, what the market trends are, and assist you in making buying and selling decisions. Getting expert advice is critical for a first-time investor, particularly someone who may not have much knowledge about the market. However, it is important to choose them carefully, because many financial advisers may just want to earn a commission for unbiased advice. A good way to incentivise them would be to give them performance-based incentives.

Assessing your goals

The first step before actually investing your money is to figure out your short-term and long-term goals for the investment. List down why you may want to invest, e.g. for your retirement, and figure out what is the final value you may want at maturity. This helps you get an idea of what you may have to contribute to your investment every month or each year, and what sort of a return you should be looking at.

Diversification

It is crucial to diversify your investment portfolio. Diversification helps in hedging the risk of the investment and allows for the investor to make greater profits. A good idea would be to go to a financial advisor or a bank to get some idea about the available options. You can also invest in a mutual fund or a hedge fund to minimize your involvement in the investing process while maximizing profits and returns.

Risk tolerance

Determine your risk tolerance before investing. A good idea would be to take an online risk tolerance quiz or go to a financial adviser to help you find yours. Identifying your risk tolerance is very important because once you know how much risk you are willing to take, it is easier to identify what sort of an investment you should make. People with a lower tolerance for risk should ideally go for mutual funds or bonds, while those with a greater tolerance can invest in higher risk instruments, such as options and futures contracts, to make greater profits.

Being Rational

It is very important to keep emotions at bay when making investment decisions. Being emotional and irrational can cause you to suffer significant losses. It is possible that, on days where the market may be falling, many emotional investors end up selling their stocks, hence suffering great losses. Keeping cool in such situations and staying patient is essential because it can make all the difference for your investment portfolio.

Make sure you follow these tips as a first-time investor to help you out with your investment decisions and to make sure you achieve your goals.

If you are thinking of borrowing money, then there are certain precautions that you need to take to ensure that you are. Read on as we discuss some of the significant precautions to consider before applying for fast approval loans in Singapore.

Are You Eligible to Borrow?

You should start by asking yourself if you can afford to borrow money. Most people don’t understand the importance of this question. An answer to the question “Can I afford the amount I am borrowing?” is pretty simple. First of all, make a detailed budget and include all your household expenses in it.

For example, utility bills, monthly expenses for food, educational expenses and transport expenses etc. Also, you can have a look at your previous months’ expenses by getting your bank statements. This will help you to calculate an amount of money that you can save each month. Therefore, you will be able to know very well about the amount of money you can borrow from a fast cash loan in Singapore.

Be Aware of Hidden Charges

Next up is ensuring that your instant cash loan contract does not have any hidden charges. People often borrow money without knowing about any hidden costs that are associated with it. This risky action leads them to regret their decision, and in fact, some are even forced to go into further debt.

To save yourself from getting into such dire financial crisis, do get your money lender to educate you about all the charges that you have to pay, something which legal money lenders have to disclose. Firstly, you should make sure that you return the borrowed amount of money before the due date. This is because if you don’t, you will have to pay a considerable amount of late fees.

Secondly, a fast cash loan from legal money lenders in Singapore can charge a maximum of 10% of the total percentage of the loan as upfront fees. You should know that upfront fees should not exceed 10% of the original loan, if someone is charging more, then don’t bother dealing with that money lender as he or she is probably unlicensed. Lastly, no fast cash legal money lender in Singapore can charge more than 4% interest on the whole amount of loan monthly. If you think you can afford to pay all these charges each month, go ahead and borrow the money.

Consider Borrowing from Relatives

Think thoroughly and decide if you can borrow money from one of your relatives. This can be a difficult choice, but it can save you from high-interest charges, late fees charges and other money lending charges. And if it is okay with your relatives, you can repay them after a long time without denting your relationship with them. In other words, you can borrow money from your relatives on your terms.

Apart from this, there is just one thing to consider before doing so, and that is making sure if your lender is in a financially sound position. Don’t ask family members who themselves are running on a tight budget to lend you money as if you don’t repay them on time; things can get ugly. This can really frustrate your relatives, and it can easily hurt your relationship with them.

Can every moneylender in Singapore help you sort out your personal finances? Well, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, because all moneylenders will offer you a loan to help you handle your financial needs. However, it is not every money lender that will be beneficial for you. Only a licensed money lender will process your cash loan in Singapore with proper administrations and contracts that will protect both the borrower and lender. Unlawful money lenders may offer attractive loans with the lowest interest rates and easy repayment schemes, but the borrower is often unprotected.

Achieving your financial goals is easier only if you plan well for your present as well as future financial needs. The term “Financial Planning” may sound boring to many, but it is essential if you are truly serious about meeting your financial goals. A licensed money lender in Singapore can help you avail a loan at the right time and at appropriate interest rates.

The cash loan in Singapore can turn into a huge financial burden if you do not manage your personal finances properly. However, if you plan well and know when to apply for loans along with a well-thought repayment plan in place, it would make financial management much easier. Here is a list of financial goals that you can easily meet with tacit support from a legal money lender Singapore.

Availing financial loans at lower interest rates

Though this is not a financial goal, it is an important benefit if you want to avoid paying higher interest rates. Any reputed money lender in Singapore will offer you consultation on the loan amount, eligibility and also help you chalk out a proper repayment plan. Many unlawful money lenders will inform you only about the loan eligibility criteria and the loan amount you can apply for; however, they may only provide fuzzy details with regards to the repayment and the consequences of not being able to pay on time. This is what separates an unlawful money lender from a legal money lender in Singapore.

Get quick approvals for urgent financial needs

There is always a waiting period attached to every loan but this will be a problem if you have to wait a long time for an urgent financial need. Paperwork is often cited as a reason behind the delay in loan disbursal. However, this can be avoided when you approach a fast cash loan legal money lender in Singapore as everything, from loan application to disbursal, is carried out quickly and you can even get the quick cash loan on the same day in Singapore. This definitely is a huge advantage when you need money urgently and do not want to wait for too long.

Take care of your child’s education

Taking a loan to fund your child’s education is really easy when you approach the legal money lender Singapore. Only a little paperwork or documentation is needed before you can have the requisite funds disbursed. Even the interest rates on these loans are lower, so you can actually get your child’s education funded without worrying about burdening yourself with an expensive loan.

Getting loans post retirement

Most of the money lenders shy away from providing cash loans in Singapore to retired people as they are not quite sure of the repayments. However, legal money lender in Singapore will always find an affordable loan for retired individuals as well. Thus, if you are retired and need to meet some contingencies, a reputed money lender in Singapore can come to your aid.