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Offset mortgages and intelligent finance loans were first introduced in 1997 and were an import from Australia. Simply put, an offset mortgage or intelligent finance loans is where you use your savings in a bank account to lower the interest you have to pay on your mortgage. It is easier to explain intelligent finance loans and offset mortgages by using an example.

Jack Jones has savings of $163;40,000 and a mortgage of $163;240,000. To save money Mr Jones opts for an offset mortgage. He therefore pays interest on $163;200,000 rather than $163;240,000. If Mr Jones wanted to finance $163;20,000 for his daughter’s wedding next year, he could ask when he set up his mortgage for a borrowing limit of $163;260,000. That’s $163;200,000 for the mortgage, $163;40,000 in savings + $163;20,000 for wedding. He would then have a debt of $163;260,000 however due to the offset feature of his mortgage and his $163;40,000 savings he would only pay interest on $163;220,000 rather than the $163;260,000 owed after the wedding. The main point to remember with offset mortgages is that you only pay interest on the money you actually owe. In Mr Jones’ case prior to borrowing for his daughter’s wedding this figure would have been $163;200,000 and after the wedding $163;220,000.

During the credit boom of the late nineties and early millennium, banks started to expand the offset principle to include credit cards and current accounts. The lenders who offer offset mortgages and intelligent finance loans usually offer two types of offset mortgages.

They say finding a good home loan is like finding needles on a haystack. To some degree, that premise holds true. However, preparing for the task of securing the best mortgage for your circumstance should lessen the difficulty when it comes to finding the best mortgage the market has to offer.

When you are looking for the best mortgage, there will be several choices that you need to make. Consequently, you have to stick to the outcome of your decision because once you have a loan, you have no choice but to commit yourself to it.

When you stumble upon different mortgage types, you ask yourself if the home loan you choose can help you save money or allow you to settle your mortgage as quickly as possible. Finding the best home loan could simply translate to finding the best home loan rates. Aside from the fees and other mortgage costs, the overall price of your loan as well as your monthly repayment will depend primarily on the mortgage rates that you will be given.

One way avoid high mortgage rates is to save up for the deposit requirements. If in case you fail to present a downpayment, your lender automatically considers you as a high-risk customer. To compensate for this, they have no choice but to give you a high mortgage rate.

Another way to ensure that you get the most affordable mortgage rate is to choose the most suitable mortgage term. The usual mortgage term is 20 to 30 years. If you wish to repay your loan within the span of 20 years, you can’t choose a mortgage term of 30 years. That’s because most lenders will forbid you to make extra payments. In that case, the only way to repay your mortgage faster than the original mortgage term is to pay the penalties so you can make additional payments. Remember, it’s not that hard to find lender who will not charge you for making excess payments. See if you can work this out with them before you sign up for a loan.

Comparing home loans will also help you find the best mortgage rates. It’s understandable that the abundance of mortgage brokers, lenders and home loan products can confuse a lot of borrowers. This doesn’t need to be the case for you. If you seek the help of a broker, comparing loans would be a lot easier. Brokers know their way around the market, not to mention they have the skills and tools to help you out. Different kinds of mortgage calculators can help you choose the loan with the lowest interest rate.

Finding the best home loan rates is one of the goals of every borrower. It takes due diligence, knowledge and a little help from professionals to ensure that you are heading in the right direction.
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2011 wasn’t a great year for savers. The historically low Bank of England base rate, held at 0.5% since March 2009, has meant that saving account interest rates have come crashing down and meant that many savers may have found themselves losing out in real terms.

There was a time when if you had a lump sum in capital you could put it in any one of a wide range of savings accounts, sit back and watch it grow, but not anymore.

Why does the Bank of England base rate affect my savings?

The Bank of England base rate is the interest rate at which it will lend to financial institutions. This in turn influences the interest rates offered by those financial institutions themselves, to both borrowers and savers alike.

The Bank of England sets its base rate at a particular level in order to try to influence spending. A lower rate of interest will discourage saving and encourage spending and borrowing which the Bank hopes will kick-start the economy after the slump.

But at least my money will be earning, whatever the rate, right?

Any rate of interest may be better than no interest, but in real terms you could actually be losing money. How so? One word: Inflation.

Inflation is the measures the cost of living across time, taking into account the price of goods and services. Rising inflation will reduce the spending power of a unit of currency. The rate of inflation across recent months has been unusually high, and well above interest rates offered by the banks, meaning that saving are often losing value in real terms.

Is there any way to get my money working for me?

It’s a tough one. High inflation and a low base rate do make life more difficult for savers, there’s no doubt about that, but there may be some ways in which savers can hope to keep up with inflation, and even possibly get their savings earning a little to.

First things first: Keep shopping around for the right savings option. Don’t let you money languish, in tough times it takes a little more work to get your savings earning. Some high street banks offer special fixed period deals and it’s a good idea to make full use of these, moving your money between accounts accordingly. If you can make a commitment for a certain time period, sacrificing easy access, you can also often get a better deal. Some high street lenders do still offer inflation beating rates.

By putting your money into a tax-free wrapper such as an Individual Savings Account (ISA) you can protect you capital from Uk Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax giving you potentially higher returns on your money.

You might also want to consider some slightly more risky options for your savings such as investing in bonds or other types of low risk investment in pursuit of higher returns. Before venturing into investment you should be fully aware of any risks that may be involved.

Will the situation get better?

Some analysts forecast that the Bank of England base rate will remain the same until at least 2015. Inflation is more difficult to predict but is likely to remain fairly high throughout 2012, in the meantime make use of the available resources, even if it takes a little extra time out of your day.

There are many things to consider when you are thinking of buying a car, whether used or new. Here are the Do’s and Don’ts of Auto Finance.

DO know your budget -

One of the first things the dealer will want to find out from you is how much you can afford. It can be difficult to answer that question unless you do some homework. Before you head to the dealer take a close look at your budget. You will definitely want to know how much you can afford to pay monthly. It is also important to consider the future. For example, let’s say you can afford to pay $400/month currently. However, you know that in 1 year you are planning on leaving your current job to go back to school full-time. You would absolutely want to plan for this and not bite off more than you can chew in the future.

In other words, plan accordingly if you think your car budget may change in the near future.

DO Get The Facts On-line

Before you visit the dealer, we give you three words: free car fact. There are plenty of those free car facts on-line. You can even find out how to get a free car fact report on the exact vehicle you are interested in. The internet will provide you with all the info you need—models, colors, prices, options, you name it. All car manufacturers now have websites. On most of these websites you can create your vehicle by picking out the model and all of the options you want. At the end of building your virtual vehicle, you will be given an MSRP. (Sticker Price) You can and should take this to the dealership with you. This will save much time and energy because you will know exactly what you want and will know the approximate price.

And if you are buying a used vehicle…

Again, do as much research on-line as you can. Know what you are looking for. Since you are buying used, you may have to have a little more flexibility on the options and specs. But it still helps immeasurably to have an idea of what you are looking to buy. Go on-line and look at consumer reports and other car websites that will give you the objective information you need to make a wise decision.

DO Take Advantage of On-line Pre-arranged Financing

For this service, we currently have recommendations posted on AutoFinanceReview.com [http://www.autofinancereview.com]. We can’t stress enough just how helpful it is to arrange your financing on-line before you actually find the car you want.

And now for the Don’ts:

Don’t Buy More Than You Can Afford

As mentioned above, you really want to know your budget. It can be easy to get caught up in the excitement about owning a new vehicle, and this can cloud judgement. So your best bet is to do your homework, or due diligence, before you actually have a shiny new car in front of you. Otherwise, you have the fresh carrot dangling in front of you and you are likely to reach out for it. The last thing you want to do is over-extend yourself. If you end up having to get rid of a car that you overspent on, you may end up “upside- down” and lose money. To be “upside-down” simply means that you owe more than the asset, in this case the car, is worth or will sell for. Obviously this is not a position you want to be in. You end up having to pay, sometimes thousands of dollars, just to get rid of the car. We don’t want to see you in that position. So, know you budget, and do not over-spend.

Don’t Be Hasty

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Be patient and take your time when selecting a new or used vehicle to purchase. This is exactly the opposite of what either the salesman at a dealership or a private seller of a used car wants. Don’t be forced to give in to what either of them want. This is your life, your money, and your decision to make. Know your own interests. Interests are simply your needs and desires. Get very well aquainted with them and do not concern yourselves with those of the other party. If you are in touch with your interests, and act on them, then the end result will be much better for you.
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