Does Rick Santorum Have A Chance?

January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment


People all across America are wondering, “Does Rick Santorum even have a chance?” The answer to that highly debatable question is a resounding, “Most likely not”. The reason for this, and critics and viewers may disagree, is that Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich will be the ones who will take the Florida primary. Currently, Romney is ahead of all of the other candidate’s especially Gingrich. Romney gain a stronghold when early voters voted for him first. Gingrich was not so lucky, therefore he is about 17% behind in hopes currently at this time. At this time, Santorum is trailing in the polls big time and it will take a lot for him to come back and be a candidate that has a chance. Our opinion is that if he loses Florida, then he may as well hang it up. He fought a good fight, but it is clear that he does not have a chance if he does not get this Florida primary. It is possible that Santorum can win and other upcoming states such as Missouri in March.

It’s possible that Santorum can win Missouri, but only time will tell. In fact, the Associated Press had this to say about Santorum, “Santorum is the first Republican candidate to appear in Missouri in advance of its Feb. 7 primary, which will essentially be a statewide public opinion poll. The Republican Party plans to award its presidential delegates in Missouri through a series of caucuses that begin in mid-March. Gingrich didn’t get on Missouri’s primary ballot while others who have since dropped out of the race will be listed alongside Romney, Santorum and Ron Paul.

Santorum said he still considers Missouri’s primary to be important. Because of Gingrich’s absence, it could allow Santorum to test his political strength more directly against that of Romney, who has been building a network of prominent Republican endorsements in Missouri.”

Who ever wins these upcoming primaries, one thing is certain: someone needs to be strong enough in order to beat Barack Obama and get him out of the White House as soon as possible before he does further damage to our economy and our national defense.

Filed Under: Political News

Payday Loan Company Wonga Targets Students

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment


A payday loan company in the UK called Wonga, was recently attacked by the public for initiating loans to students. Recently, the U.K. Coalition’s reforms of higher education has imposed a 9000 pound increase in student educational cost for the year 2012. This has caused a lot of students and people in the public just to panic. Also, people feared dead companies just like Wonga.com, will continue to take advantage of students who are in debt and need educational assistance.

Before the page was taken down on Wonga, it stated:
“Student loans are usually far cheaper than your standard personal loan. But there can be a downside — you potentially end up borrowing more than you need, while a nasty debt accumulates for your graduation that could take years to repay. With a Wonga loan, the interest rate is much higher, but you only borrow it for a month and pay the loan back on a date that suits.”
Once this scheme was brought to light, many students and charities were calling for the page to immediately be taken down. People were obviously very upset that this was taking place.

The page was removed within 24 hours, and the company stated the reason that each page existed is from search engine optimization, and that the page itself is very old.

Martin Lewis who is part of the website moneysavingexpert.com, tweeted the link to over 82,000 followers, calling the company a moral disgrace.
Since then, Wonga has taken a page down from their site stating:

“We listen to our customers and public opinion, so it was clear the old article here gave rise to misunderstandings. [ .. ] We make decisions based on thousands of pieces of public data, not someone’s educational status. A student would need to have a regular income to be considered for a loan and students represent a miniscule proportion of our customers.”

If you ask us, Wonga.com possibly was in the wrong by offering payday loans to students who were in need of financial assistance. However, the government is not offering student loan alternatives, nor easy payback options as well. The sad fact of the matter is that 90% of students and up more and dad after going to college, then they were in debt before they went college.

What are your thoughts?

Filed Under: Finance

How Dangerous Are Reverse Mortgages?

November 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment


Many older folks who were looking to generate more income because they have retired and they do not have any savings, are looking more into reverse mortgages every single day.However, before you jump the gun and sign those papers, you must know the reverse mortgage pros and cons.That many seniors are willing to look into the issue any further because all they know at this point and that the an additional revenue stream coming in immediately, and they will do whatever it takes in order to get that revenue stream. When we are talking about the Brewers mortgage pros, the good things about this type of loan is that the senior citizen gets an income stream coming into their lives whereas they normally would not have one.

But can they just obtain a home equity loan?

No because these two types of loans are completely different. A home equity loan will require the homeowner to pay a monthly payment to the lender every single month, whereas the reverse mortgage lenders will pay the homeowner for the equity in their home every single month.
However, the reverse mortgage lender will also set up a lump sum payment for the homeowner, set up monthly payments to them, give them a line of credit, or combination of them in order to satisfy the homeowner. If it makes sense for the lender to be able to get the equity in the home, then they see no reason why the homeowner can I get the money you when they need it the most.

So this type of loan sounds great!

But wait…

What’s the catch?

The answer to that question is that the downside to these types of loans is the homeowner is still responsible for the property taxes as well as keeping the home up maintenance wise. This has caused a lot of senior citizens to default on their loans and in many cases be left without a home, and in worst-case scenarios they have been put in nursing homes because they had nowhere else to turn to.
We do not want this to happen to you, so when you start researching and risk mortgage process further you need to speak with a HUD approved reverse mortgage counselor in order to ensure that you know all of the required steps, procedures, and bad things that may be associated with this type of loan program.

Another downside is that the person who is obtaining the reverse mortgage will not be able to leave the home to a loved one in there will, unless it is a spouse who is still living in the home. A lot of senior citizens don’t mind this however.

Filed Under: Loans, Real Estate Tagged With:

Finding Pell Grants For Single Mothers

November 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Pell Grants for Single Mothers


One of the sought-after and widely known educational grants for single moms is Pell grants for single mothers which are need-based educational college grants. The Pell Grants are granted to college students who come from low-income households, which include single mothers, whose income is categorized as falling below a predetermined income level.

Pell Grants for single mothers like all other federal educational grants are not similar to loans since they are considered as gifts in the form of grant money for aiding college students in paying for their tuition fee and other school related expenses, and they do not need to be repaid.
Typically, Pell Grants are granted to undergraduate students or single mothers who intends to earn either a professional or bachelor’s degree. However, there are instances wherein students going through post-baccalaureate certification for teachers are eligible to obtain a Pell Grant.
Pell Grants for single mothers are ideal for single moms because other financial assistance for education whether from non-federal or federal agencies can be supplemented with it.

Pell Grants for Single Mothers Eligibility Requirements

Aside from coming from a low-income household, for all students and single mothers to be eligible for a Pell Grant, they must meet the eligibility requirements as set forth by the Pell Grant foundation. Applicants of Pell Grants should be a legal citizen of the United States and should be an undergraduate student. Those who have already earned their bachelor’s degree are not qualified for Pell Grants. This is an important aspect of financial aid for single mothers.

Grant Denomination Awarded by Pell Grants for Single Mothers

In general, the minimum Pell Grant that can be awarded is $400. During the school year 2009 to 2010, the maximum Pell Grant awarded to qualified applicants is $5,350. In the school year 2010 to 2011, the maximum denomination went up to $5,550.

The highest Pell Grant denomination is provided for all qualified students who have parents or guardians who passed away because of military service in Afghanistan or Iraq as implemented after September 11, 2001 or 9/11. Pell Grants for single mothers also follow this policy. To avail of this, eligible students should not be older than 24 years old or at the least, enrolled in college part-time around the time of their parents’ or guardians’ deaths.

Prior to the school year 2011-2012, qualified students can receive two Pell Grants in one award year, but at the start of the 2011-2012 school year, qualified students will only be able to get a single Pell Grant during one award year.
Each eligible student is awarded different denominations of Pell Grants which will be highly dependent on the following factors:

• EFC or Expected Family Contribution – EFC is defined as the amount of money college students or their family can contribute for college expenses as determined by the federal government. The EFC will be based and then calculated from the specific information you supplied in your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form.

When calculating a qualified student’s EFC, the federal agency will take into consideration your family’s average income, the size of your family, financial assets if any, as well as if you have other family members also currently enrolled in college.

• COA or Cost of Attendance – COA is the overall amount of the expenses that comes particularly with the school you wish to attend. This will include of course, your tuition fee, as well as all associated academic fees. Likewise, other non-academic fees that are involved when you attend school such as housing expenses, transportation and IT charges will also be calculated in your COA.

• Status of Enrollment – If eligible students are full-time students or part-time students.
For students qualified for Pell Grants, your school will be the one to decide on how they provide you the Pell Grant money. In general, schools will give you the grant money by directly applying them to your school-related expenditures, by handing it to you in check form or by combining the two methods.

Your school is required to officially inform in writing the amount of your Pell Grant award, as well as the time and methods they’ll be using to pay you. Schools that implement quarterly, trimestral, or semestral term periods are likewise required to disburse Pell Grant money once on every term. On the other hand, schools that do not use the above mentioned term periods are required to pay off grants twice in an academic year at the least. Also, look into scholarships for single mothers.

Does FAFSA Equal a Pell Grant Application?
Once you have accomplished your FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, it will equal and serve as your application for a Pell Grant. Likewise, because granting federal grants have a first come first serve policy, you should ideally send in your completed FAFSA form with the appropriate accompanying documents as soon as possible such as your state or school’s deadline date for financial aid application.
Avoid sending in your accomplished FAFSA form on the deadline set forth by the federal government because it is much later than the deadline determined by states and majority of schools. When you’re FAFSA has been processed, you will receive a SAR or Student Aid Report that will contain information regarding your EFC and if you are successful in obtaining a Pell Grant. Additionally, your FAFSA is not automatically renewed annually so remember to file a new FAFSA yearly.

The benefits awarded by Pell Grants for single mothers, and other federal grants for that matter, are truly of great help to all single moms out there since for them, finishing a degree, diploma or certificate can increase their chances of securing jobs with higher wages in order to make a better future for their family.

Filed Under: Education

Are Loan Sharks Online Legal?

October 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A lot of people are asking lately are loan sharks online legal? The answer to that question is it depends on who you get your loan from to be honest with you. A lot of people have varying opinions on this matter and are very lighthearted when a commons to these types of ordeals because a lot of people have been entrapping themselves and excessive debt from a licensed loan sharks. However the simple answer to that question is that unlicensed loan sharks are in fact illegal and you should avoid them at all cost because they will trap you and dance and harass you and your family, or perhaps even cause your demise.

We all realize how badly you need money and your credit score is not great right talent that is the exact reason why no one is allowing you to borrow money, however money is not everything and you should realize this and it is not the end of the world if you are not able to get the loan that you need. Tare other options out there available to the user that you do not have to go through it and lacks loan shark such as payday loan companies, and bad credit lenders who will work with you and loan you a small amount until you pay the loan back so that they can begin trusting you and once they do this then they are able to grant you even larger loans so make sure that when you do get loans from these companies which are licensed, that you do in fact pay the loan back because this will be your ticket to getting a larger loan in the future. During the real estate heyday and when the real estate market was in its prime make excessive amounts of money, and many people obtain hard money loans and also loans from loan sharks that would enable them to purchase properties and other real estate so that they can make a profit on it by flipping it. With the economy in shambles and the real estate markets seriously depressed, the hard money lending process has slowed down a lot as well as the real estate market because not many people were making that much money in real estate anymore.

These hard money lenders are unlike unlicensed loan sharks in most instances because a loan shark of today will often heard a person if they fail to pay. You can check to see whether a lender is licensed in your state or government by going to mblr.dc.gov/.

Filed Under: Uncategorized