PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your
PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your child's education costRising. Soaring. Skyrocketing. These are the words that seem to begin every article about college tuition costs ? and they are words guaranteed to make every parent cringe. According to the College Board, costs for the 2004-2005 school year at four-year private colleges are up 6%, while costs at four-year public colleges are up 10.5%.
Scary? Yes. Impossible to handle? No! The good news is that there is more financial aid available than ever before. One of the most interesting financial aid options is the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS Loan. What is a PLUS Loan? PLUS Loans are federal loans taken out by parents to help pay their children's college costs. PLUS Loans offer several advantages: ? Interest rates are adjusted each year, but are consistently kept low.
For the 2004-2005 school year, the interest rate is 4.17%. It is capped to never exceed 9%. ? Financial need is not a determining factor in receiving a PLUS Loan. ? No collateral is required. ? There is no penalty for early repayment.
? Loans can be consolidated. ? If you are eligible, up to $2000 in interest may be tax-deductible under the Hope Education Tax Credit.
Who is eligible for a PLUS Loan?If you are a parent with dependent students attending college at least part-time, you are eligible to receive a PLUS Loan. You do need to have a good credit history. The following credit issues will reduce your chances of getting a PLUS Loan:
? Bankruptcies ? Defaulted loans ? Payments overdue by 90 days or more ? High debt-to-income ratio
If you are turned down for a PLUS Loan because of poor credit history, you can find someone to co-sign the loan with you and then apply again.
How much can I borrow with a PLUS Loan?You can borrow up to the total cost of undergraduate education expenses, minus other financial aid already received. Expenses can include tuition, room and board, supplies, lab expenses, and travel. How do I apply for a PLUS Loan?You can apply for a PLUS Loan through the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program. FFEL loans come from private lenders or loan servicers, such as your bank.
PLUS Loan applications are available from your school or your lender. To apply for an FFEL PLUS Loan, you complete the application and then submit it to your school. The school completes its portion of the application and sends it to the lender for approval. Direct loans come from the U.S. Department of Education's Direct Loan Servicing Center.
To apply for a Direct PLUS Loan, you complete a Direct PLUS Loan application and promissory note and submit it to your school's financial aid office. This form is available from your school's Financial Aid Office. You can take out one loan per enrollment period for each eligible student in your family. PLUS Loans do require an application fee of up 4% of the principal of the loan. These fees are deducted from the loan principal, so no up-front money is required.
The fee includes a 3% origination fee charged by the federal government and a guarantee fee of up to 1% charged by the guarantee agency. However, most guarantors waive the guarantee fee. How are PLUS Loan funds disbursed?Funds are sent directly to the school's financial aid office for scheduled payments over the course of the academic year. As with other federal loans, there are usually at least two disbursements, one for each school term.
The funds are first applied to tuition, fees, room and board, and other school charges.
If any money remains, you can receive it as a check or you can put it in your student's school account. This remaining money must be used for education expenses. When do I repay PLUS Loans?You start paying back PLUS Loans 60 days after the final disbursement of the school year. So, if the final disbursement is made in January, as is typical, repayment generally begins in late February or early March. PLUS Loans are the financial responsibility of the parents, not the student.
If the student agrees to make payments on the PLUS Loan but fails to make the payments on time, the parents are held responsible. What is the difference between PLUS Loans and other student loans?The other student loan generally available to students is the Stafford Loan. The table below illustrates the similarities and differences between these two loan programs: PLUS Loan Federally guaranteed Made to parents of dependent students Interest rate is low, but not as low as a Stafford (currently 4.17%) Repayment begins 60 days after final disbursement for the academic year Loan borrowing can be up to 100% of college education costs Stafford LoanFederally guaranteedMade to students themselvesInterest rate is lowest available (currently 3.37%Repayment begins six months after graduation or leaving schoolLoan borrowing is capped:?
$2,625 for first-year undergraduates?
$3,500 for second-year undergraduates?
$5,500 for third- and fourth-year undergraduatesLoan can be needs-based and requires a FAFSAInterest charges do not begin until repayment begins, after graduation This article is distributed by NextStudent. At NextStudent, we believe that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and we're dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. We invite you to learn more about PLUS Loans at http://www.NextStudent.com..
Do Commodities Belong In Your Portfolio?
Copyright 2006 Rafael Velez
Although it may sound frightening and risky to many investors, if handled correctly, commodities could be the missing piece of an investor's portfolio. What exactly are commodities? Commodities are any mass goods traded on an exchange or in a cash market including: cocoa, coffee, eggs, lumber, orange juice, soybeans and sugar just to name a few. Industrial metals are also included with copper, aluminum, zinc, nickel, silver, and lead ranking among the most popular industrial metals holdings.
Finally, the most widely followed commodities include oil, natural gas and gold.
The diversification benefits equal or surpass those of other asset classes like fixed income and real estate. The primary reason for this is their correlation, or lack thereof, to the stock market as represented by the S&P 500 (Correlation describes how similar the price movement is between two investments).
Commodities have historically exhibited...
Do Commodities Belong In Your Portfolio?
Hedge funds > Do Commodities Belong In Your Portfolio?
OnGaia.com - One of the Leading Real Estate Information Service Providers in India
(ContentDesk) May 19, 2006 -- OnGaia.com understands the need for Builder / Real Estate firms to advertise. The company offers an efficient and cost effective way to market properties online. If you have properties for sale or lease anywhere in India, expose them to a global audience.Marketing your Commercial / Residential property worldwide with no limitations on listing or search areas. Provide a simple and smarter way for clients to pick you out of the crowd. A level marketing field based on performance and customer service, not the most marketing funds.
OnGaia.com has selected very few Builders and Real Estate firms for listing in the Premium Business list special page for more visibility.
We invite you to post as many number of properties as possible and avail a special offer for 45 days of listing in the Premium Business list or Featured Properties in OnGaia.com home page. Looking forward to hear from you to explore together an opportunity that facilitates and increase...
Hedge funds > OnGaia.com - One of the Leading Real Estate Information Service Providers in India
Financing a Business
The financing of a business is a relatively straightforward process, if you are aware of what lenders are looking for and generally what they will and will not do. The will be looking at your credit, your experience and the sort of down payment you have and information about what sort of note the seller is willing to take back when selling you the business.As has been stated, the down payment on a business can be anywhere from 25% to 100% of the selling price. Lenders will not lend you this down payment money on the business itself. You will usually need to get this money from other sources, such as your personal savings, a family member, a retirement plan or other.Your credit should be sorted out well before you start on buying a business. You want to handle any negative reports on your credit fully.
You do not want anything that is negative showing up when a lender is checking your qualifications. Negative credit reports make them nervous.Once you decide on the business you...
Financing a Business
Hedge funds > Financing a Business
Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
(ContentDesk) March 26, 2006 -- In my recent travels I have been reviewing the results from past sales in a few different New Jersey counties. Two counties in particular showed that some properties are selling for less than the advertised judgment amount in the Public Notice.This is a very different story than what we were seeing just a few months ago. Now I am not talking about 20-30k less, but a few thousand is enough to notice a change in market conditions. Not to mention the recent proactive effort by most lending institutions. Did you know that most banks, for one of the first times in history, are calling up the homeowners and trying to make a deal with them before it gets too bad? In fact GMAC has just funded an entire organization to assist with homeowners in trouble.
It is called http://www.995hope.org/ . Press Releases say that GMAC contributed about 20 million in seed capital funds to get it going.What does all this mean? Well Im not actually sure at the moment, but...
Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
Hedge funds > Lower Upset Amounts at Some New Jersey Sheriff Sales
PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your
PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your child's education costRising. Soaring. Skyrocketing. These are the words that seem to begin every article about college tuition costs ? and they are words guaranteed to make every parent cringe. According to the College Board, costs for the 2004-2005 school year at four-year private colleges are up 6%, while costs at four-year public colleges are up 10.5%.
Scary? Yes. Impossible to handle? No! The good news is that there is more financial aid available than ever before. One of the most interesting financial aid options is the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, or PLUS Loan. What is a PLUS Loan? PLUS Loans are federal loans taken out by parents to help pay their children's college costs. PLUS Loans offer several advantages: ? Interest rates are adjusted each year, but are consistently kept low.
For the 2004-2005 school year, the interest rate is 4.17%. It is capped to never exceed 9%. ? Financial need...
PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your
Hedge funds > PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your
DREAMS ABOUT MONEY
Dream One. I was on a curvy road that led to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Beside the road, were several people who shouted "go on, go on" and gestured for me to go on down the road. Suddenly, at a bend in the road, I encountered several huge men, dressed to the teeth in knives and guns, with bandoleers of ammunition around their chests. I began to battle these demons, all the while calling on the name of Jesus to help me.
The batttle raged, I was getting weak, and then, the Lord gave victory. Immediately afterward, huge sums of money started falling out of the sky. I then woke up.Dream Two. I dreamed I was by a bank. I could clearly see this bank; the name was Deutches Bank and I was in Germany.
The entrance was barred but then, a man came up to me and handed me a huge gold key. He said, "This key unlocks the door of that bank where the money the enmey has stolen is located." I then unlocked the giant door to this bank. (Note, shortly thereafter, retribution of stolen funds from...
DREAMS ABOUT MONEY
Hedge funds > DREAMS ABOUT MONEY
CHEAP LOANS : REAP THE BENEFIT OF CHEAP
Isnt it we all are looking for ??..... Most of us desire to take up a loan when our means to spend are beyond our desired expenditure therefore a loan is expected to match budget and expectation. now the question arises what are loan expectations? , and the first thing that comes to our minds is it has to be a cheap loan to make it fit into our already constrained budgets.
Finance market is at peak reaching for new heights. Increasing number of lenders in the finance market...
Hedge funds > CHEAP LOANS : REAP THE BENEFIT OF CHEAP
ringtones PLUS Loans ? it's never too late to subsidize your Hedge funds