There are numerous loan products available in the market. However, it is important to choose the type of loan which suits your needs and fits your ability of repayment. A personal loan is a loan that is taken by an individual from lenders, banks, or credit unions. The amount borrowed may be used for any purpose. It is paid in a lump sum and is supposed to be repaid over a period of time. The loan may be secured by an asset or it could be unsecured. Your credit score will have an impact on the way the loan is processed. There are multiple repayment options for you to choose from. The loan may also be customized based on your requirements. The most important feature of the loan is that the amount may be used for whatever purpose you feel like such as paying your home rentals, paying the school fees, clearing any outstanding debts, and so on. The interest rate, as well as tenure, will depend on your creditworthiness. Process to apply for personal loans After you have made a decision to apply for a personal loan, you need to understand the procedure for the same. The entire process of application is simple and straightforward.

Personal loans are great for people who do not have savings and need emergency funding. There are various providers of online personal loans and following is a list of trusted lenders who offer great rates: Discover One of the fastest sources of personal loans online, Discover offers a great deal because it does not have any origin fee. You may plan monthly fixed payments for up to 84 months and the annual percentage rates (APR) vary between 6.99% to 24.99%. Another great feature about opting for this lender is that you may pay your previous creditors, if any, directly. Lending Club Being one of the most popular peer-to-peer lending platforms, Lending Club has a lot of satisfied customers who have opted for personal loans online. With an attractive APR of 6.16% to 35.89%, you may definitely consider this option for any financial shortcoming in your life. Be it a house furnishing, marriage expenses, travel escapades, or even an expensive purchase, you may log on to their portal and get your application approved within two to three days. SoFi With a varying APR of 6.58% to 14.87%, SoFi has come up as one of the most popular options for online personal loans.

Home loans or mortgage loans are considered as commercial paper in the country. This leads to a situation where institutions bundle mortgage loans into securities and allow people to invest in the same. Most home loans have a fixed rate of interest. Read on to get an insight into the home loans. Applying for a home loan When you apply for a home loan in the country, you will have to deal with an underwriter for the same. You can either chose to work with a brokerage firm or a bank. A broker cannot directly provide you with a loan, but they have professional relationships with the lenders who help you with the same. In order to apply for a home loan, you will have to undergo a credit check, provide information about your income and employment, and provide the details of your bank account. You will also have to list the places of your residence and provide a copy of the sale or purchase agreement. The documentation requirement varies from one financial institution to another. There are loans known as no-doc loans where you do not have to provide any statements. However, they are more expensive. Home loans require a significant down payment of about twenty percent of the value of the home.

When it comes to financial planning, people tend to assume that the term only encompasses a systematic method of saving money. While saving money is one of the aspects of financial planning, there are some of the other factors such as investing wisely to improve returns on investments, protecting these returns from taxation, providing for one’s funeral expenses to be covered etc. Here are some of the FAQs on financial planning that are useful to understand how can you plan your savings: Does financial planning involve only saving money? Directing a portion of your income towards saving is important in financial planning, but equally important is wise investments that fetch good returns and also risk protection in the form of life insurance and health insurance. Should I invest in debt funds or equity funds? Making a choice to invest in debt funds or equity funds depends on how much you wish to invest and what degree of risk you are willing to take. Generally, if your financial planning requires you to be very prudent with your investments, then you would do well to opt for a debt based fund, where the firm is legally bound to pay the investors. By contrast, equity funds are very closely tied in with the market and rates of interest could vary when the stock market is volatile.

Getting a thorough understanding of the process in which the online payment services work is difficult. But it is simple once you follow the transaction from start to finish. This will help you to understand the working style of online payment services a lot better. By this, you can see how your website, your member or donor and your payment service provider all work together hand in hand to facilitate the smooth running of every online payment that is made. You will typically need the following to get started with online payments: A merchant account An account with a payment service provider A web page designed to initiate the transaction process. The online payment process begins as soon as the customer clicks on the button thereby agreeing to pay online for purchasing something from the online store. The customer enters his credit card information on the online payment form that appears and then submits the transaction. The form may appear on your website or you may be redirected to your payment service provider’s website, depending on your online payment service provider. The payment gateway operated by your payment service provider then receives the transaction details entered by the customer. The customer’s payment details are then encrypted so that no one can view their personal and financial information.

Choosing the right mutual fund can be tricky. An elongated process with multiple screens, lists, and calculation might leave you drained. Screening out mutual funds can be a tedious process, especially, when you find out that there are 18,000 mutual funds for you to choose from. The following is a list of five best mutual funds to invest in. The screening process for this list included the cheapest 20% of mutual funds by fund category and an investment of at least $1 million by the management. Moreover, the returns provided by all these mutual funds are above the benchmark set by the fund manager. American Funds The Growth Fund of America ® American Funds had more than one mutual fund on the initial screening of mutual funds. The Growth Fund of America ® is at the top of this list as it is a combination of low expenses, depth of management experience, and returns in relation to risk. Any mutual fund with a low risk and a high return will be among the top mutual funds. This mutual fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250 and expenses of 0.66%, which comes to $66 a year per every $10,000 invested. It is not the most aggressively growing mutual fund, but it promises to produce above-average returns from time to time.

An annuity is a lump sum invested by the policyholder with an intent to receive regular payouts after retiring until they pass away. If a person exceeds their estimated life expectancy, they are entitled to receive attractive returns on their annuity investment. The rate of return for every investor varies and is determined by some crucial factors such as deposit amount, current and expected tax rate, age, gender, investment term, withdrawal age, and minimum guaranteed interest. There might be additional factors based on the company you’re buying the plan from and the type of annuity chosen. Usually, an annuity is split into two categories, fixed and variable annuity. The former delivers a uniform rate of return for the entire term, whereas the latter adjusts the rate of return based on market conditions such as inflation. Comparatively, fixed rate annuities are preferred over the variable kind as they ensure guaranteed yields. Here are some companies offering the best fixed annuity rates for the year 2018. American Equity An investment life holding organization, American Equity offers annuity solutions in all the 50 states. Some of their plans like the Guarantee Series, RateShield Series 7, RateShield Series 10, and RateShield Series 10+ offer the best fixed annuity rates.

In simple terms, target date funds are investment options for your retirement. You save your money in a fund of your choice which concentrates on a growth pattern in the initial years and gets rebalanced by shifting to conservative options as the retirement date approaches. Here are the top three reasons to invest in target-date funds: Simplification of management These funds are great options for investors who want to save for their retirement but do not want to undergo the hassle of finding the best opportunities to keep reinvesting as per the market condition. This kind of an investment adjusts as per your goals, and you would not need to open a portfolio with a variety of investments. These funds are goal-oriented and give you returns as well as savings for your retirement. Portfolio rebalancing as per age The primary fundamental of target date funds is that it takes into consideration your retirement year and adopts an aggressive approach in the initial years. Depending on the age of your retirement, the rebalancing of the portfolio is undertaken, and safer assets are added to the portfolio. While the returns are of higher risk in the initial years, the risk factor considerably reduces in the years advancing towards retirement.

Remember the last time you shopped at eBay right from the comfort of your home? Thanks to technological advancements and facilities for making online payments possible, e-shopping has been widely accepted by people across the globe. There is nothing more comfortable and convenient than making payments and receiving money without going to the bank. Online payments are faster than manual payments and do not require you to wait for the check to clear. The entire process of online payment is quick, convenient, and hassle-free. It reduces the time and efforts required in making or receiving a payment. Online payment services immediately inform you if the person who is making an online payment has enough funds to cover the transaction or not. It also saves you the trouble of visiting a bank to deposit your check and recording the same manually. After you have set up the online payment accounts for your business, they will be easily processed. You will not be required to provide any credit card information or update any business information. Online payment services are available at a fee for every transaction you make. There are monthly fees as well as fees per transaction. Hence, it is best to compare the fees before registering for such services.

Most borrowers wanting to buy a house are always on a lookout for the most-suited mortgage. They look for lenders who offer them the lowest rates of down payments. Although there are lenders who offer mortgages at extremely low down payment requirement, a no down payment home loan is rare to find. Following are the three providers of loans who do not require any down payment: Department of Veteran Affairs Qualified veterans, specific members of National Guards and Reserves, as well as duty service members are eligible for a house loan from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Apart from getting a no down payment home loan, the borrower does not need to obtain additional mortgage insurance either. This is covered by the funding fees which is paid by the borrower and further added into the loan amount itself. As a first-time borrower, there is a varying funding fee of 2.15% for veterans or the current members of the military as well as 2.4% for other eligible members of the National Guards and Reserves. Navy Federal Credit Union Known to be the largest credit union when it comes to the membership as well as assets, the Navy Federal offers no down payment home loans with 100% financing to primary members.

Gold and silver have always been considered the ideal investment options. However, it is natural that an investor will wonder if it is worth the money. Silver does not carry the same gravity as gold which is why most people remain doubtful about the investment. Nevertheless, there are many reasons why you need to add silver to your portfolio. Silver coins are the best bet for first-time investors. They are convenient to store and sell. Apart from this, the three primary reasons why you should buy silver bars or coins are discussed below: It is real money Silver might not be a part of the currency market, but it is real money. Physical silver has as much value as gold. When you sell silver, you are going to make money on it. There is no risk associated with the investment and it has been used as money for years together. It is cheaper than gold Gold and silver are two commodities which appeal to most investors. However, buying silver coins is much cheaper than gold. It is affordable for an average investor and will help you build your portfolio. If you consider holding precious metals in your portfolio, you should begin with silver.