| A Loan at Home
Lending money to family and friends is a timeworn tradition--one that probably has worn out more relationships than it has helped. Still, if you've been fortunate enough to sock away some cash, can you say no to a child wanting to launch a business or a close friend who has run into temporary problems? You can. But if you decide otherwise, consider that most business start-ups fail and that temporary problems have a way of becoming fatal ones. In other words, a lot of these loans go bad. About 14% of personal loans end up in default, according to Circle Lending, which formalizes loans between family and friends. That compares with about 1% of bank loans. So don't be surprised if your largesse ends up lost. That may be fine if the borrower is in your will anyway and the wealth transfer doesn't run afoul of federal limits on tax-free gifts.
Borrowers and lenders share blame
Many in Congress have declared the growing number of foreclosures a crisis -- one that government needs to address, although no one is clear on what it is government should do. Those of us who live in Indiana, and Tippecanoe County in particular, may have a hard time understanding why so many people across the country were surprised when housing markets -- new and existing homes -- turned down after interest rates went up. Did people really think that housing prices would continue to increase by double-digit percentages forever? Did people really think that adjustable mortgages -- or teaser rates -- would never be adjusted? Did people really believe that lax financing policies -- in some ways encouraged by the federal government as a means to increase home ownership -- wouldn't lead to more home foreclosures? As a region that has been struggling with stagnant housing prices for more than five years, Tippecanoe County perhaps understands better than most the financial problems families face.
Britons 'clueless over credit card cash withdrawals'
Consumers are largely unaware of the true cost of making cash withdrawals via their credit cards, according to new research. One million Britons wrongly believe that using ATMs with credit cards is free, as with debit cards, uSwitch says. The price comparison website claims the confusion arises from the way in which credit rates are determined following legal changes? to the display of interest rates. In May 2005 ? the month the Consumer Credit Act was reformed by the government ? the average APR for cash withdrawals was 20.8 per cent, but today stands at the equivalent of 27.1 per cent. This increase could have added up to 334 million to Britons' credit card bills, uSwitch says. "Consumers could be forgiven for thinking that they are being treated as the banking industry's personal ATM," said Nick White, director of financial services at the website.
It's back to school for these young mothers
CHENNAI : Teaching pre-nursery children can be difficult, according to young women graduates from the Teachers' Centre of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School. The homemakers-turned-teachers joined the centre diffidently a year ago to sharpen their communication skills to handle youngsters. But what they have since discovered is that they can handle a large classroom of noisy and mischievous children. On Friday, at the 17th valedictory of the training programme, they paraded their newly acquired communication skills in front of the faculty, family and friends. The women underlined the significance of inculcating Indian values such as praying in children. Their tableaux explained that children should be taught values such as being accommodative, non-violent and honest. From the coming academic year, 16 mothers will be admitted to the course though the Centre has the capacity up to 30, said Y.G.
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