Personal Finance Tips

If you are a student, you probably have limited or no credit (or perhaps even bad credit) but still yet you need a car to get your from Point A to Point B and back again. Walking everywhere is time consumptive and sometimes not weather-permitting. Having a car is definitely a great luxury for a student, but getting the car loan you need is probably something that you do not think can happen – but you are in for a surprise! There are lenders willing to loan money to students just like you to get the car they need today – even if you are unemployed.

Paying For Your Car

Most lenders are educated people. They know that students have some source of income, whether it be in the form of student loans and grants, or if its work-study or income from your parents. That means that there are lenders who will help you get the car you need to make your way around your campus and beyond – without any employment record. And since your government loans and grants are for use for education purposes, its perfectly okay to use them to help make your car payments.

Possible Cosigners

To obtain your student car loan, you will need to have a cosigner. A cosigner is simply someone who agrees to step up and make the payments on your car if, for any reason, you fail to do so. Most typically, students who take out student car loans have their parent or parents sign with them on the application as a cosigner. If your parent(s) are unwilling or unable to cosign for you, you can always have another relative or a friend with good credit to cosign the loan alongside you. Many lenders also offer to release your cosigner from liability once you have made a number of payments on your student car loan – generally one year of good payment history will result in cosigner release.

Build Good Credit History With A Student Car Loan

Other than the obvious benefit of having transportation at your fingertips while on campus, taking out a student car loan carries other benefits with it. You will be building positive credit history when you make timely payments on your student car loan. This will be a great advantage to you when you need loans for other purposes, or when its time for you to buy a home in the future. Your responsible credit behavior now will greatly influence future lenders when you need loans of other types.

When you receive your student car loan, be careful to always make your payments on or before the due date. Never agree to a monthly payment amount that you cannot reasonably afford or know that you cannot meet.

You can find additional savings on the amount of interest that you will pay on your student car loan by going through an online lender to service your loan. Online lenders have greater rates of approval for borrowers of all credit types and with various credit histories.

Insurance is a complicated business, and it can be unpleasant to talk about because no one likes talking about death… especially their own death! Because of those two reasons, many people do not think about insurance very much. However, most people should have some kind of insurance.

But how can you tell what kind of insurance you need? It is such as specialized industry, with insurance brokers requiring licenses in order to understand it and sell it, so it can sometimes make you feel like you are at the doctor and you have no idea what the doctor is talking about! What makes matters worse, is that insurance brokers (the only people who know what they’re talking about) are usually paid by commission based on the amount they sell. So, while you are likely to get an insurance broker who is a good, ethical person, you might still be concerned that they are overestimating your need.

So how much do you need?

There are two secrets to knowing how much insurance you need:

1. Determine the need. The first is to identify the costs that will be incurred at your death and the expenses that will go on after your death. Cost that will be incurred at your death include estate taxes, funeral costs, and wages that your loved ones will lose as they take time off of work to mourn for you. Costs that will go on after your death are things like, the mortgage on your house, as well as car payments, saving for the children’s education, the wages you’ll no longer be able to provide to your family.

2. Determine the period. The second step is to identify whether these expenses are short-term expenses are long-term expenses. Temporary expenses are ones that will only cost you money if you die within a certain period of time. Temporary expenses include your children’s education and your house and car. It is possible, that these may be paid off before you pass away. However, if you die before they are paid off, it is good to have insurance to cover the rest of the payments. On the other hand, permanent expenses are things that will always be around. For example, your estate taxes, funeral costs, and the wages that your loved ones will lose when they mourn for you are all costs that occur once and they can be paid off… but it doesn’t matter when you die, those costs will always be there.

Once you have done these two steps you will have a pretty good idea of how much insurance you need and how long you need it for. Now you are ready to talk to your broker and you’ll have a pretty good idea what they’re talking about. Bring the list with you and ask them to address each one. They may suggest the more coverage (and sometimes they may suggest less coverage) but having a little bit of knowledge before you make the appointment will give you an advantage and helped you know how much insurance you actually need.