101 Ways to Get Out Of Debt and On the Road to Wealth E-Book

Ashley Ormond

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 258

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

101 Ways to Get Out Of Debt and On the Road to Wealth is the ultimate handbook for anybody who wants to get out of debt and stay out of debt. This book will provide you with an insider's knowledge of how to beat the lenders at their own game. Inside you will find 101 practical and proven methods that anybody can use to master their debt. Best-selling author Ashley Ormond shows you how to conquer all types of debt, including mortgages, credit cards, car loans, personal loans, investment loans and small business loans. In this book you will learn how to: * save a fortune in interest * get out of debt years earlier * decide which debts to attack first * find the best lending deals for your needs * manage repayment problems. Ashley Ormond's common-sense approach will get you debt free and on the road to wealth in no time -- and that means more control over your life, less stress, and greater long-term security for you and your family.

Leseprobe

Contents

About the Author

Part I: The Household Debt Explosion

Part II: First Things First

Chapter 1: Work Out How Far in the Red You are

Chapter 2: Compare Debts With Income

Chapter 3: Work Out Your Total Loan Repayment Bill

Chapter 4: Get The Facts on All Your Loans

Chapter 5: Check Your Interest Rates

Chapter 6: Add up All Those Extra Fees and Charges

Chapter 7: Sort Your Debts

Chapter 8: Prioritise Your Debts

Chapter 9: Check Your Credit Rating

Chapter 10: Make a Calendar and Set Targets

Part III: Mortgages

Chapter 11: Do the Numbers

Chapter 12: Increase Your Mortgage Repayments

Chapter 13: Make One-Off Extra Payments

Chapter 14: Use Pay Rises to Increase Your Loan Repayments

Chapter 15: Shorten the Life of the Loan

Chapter 16: Use Your Income Patterns to Pay Off Sooner

Chapter 17: Pay Fortnightly Instead of Monthly

Chapter 18: Shop Around For a Lower Rate

Chapter 19: Keep Repayments Flat When Rates Fall

Chapter 20: Don’t Keep Switching Loans

Chapter 21: When Refinancing, Stick With Your Existing Lender if you can

Chapter 22: Always Choose Principal-and-Interest Loans Over Interest-Only Loans

Chapter 23: Stick With Floating Mortgages

Chapter 24: Avoid Redraw Mortgages

Chapter 25: Be Careful of Offset Accounts

Chapter 26: Don’t Use Line-of-Credit Mortgages

Chapter 27: Beware the Honeymoon Rate Nightmare

Chapter 28: Don’t Capitalise Loans

Chapter 29: Upgrade Your Subprime Loan

Chapter 30: Consolidate Debt at Your Peril!

Chapter 31: Don’t Pay For Features You Don’t Need

Chapter 32: Take into Account All Fees

Chapter 33: All Fees are Negotiable

Chapter 34: Don’t Count on Your Partner’s Income to Borrow More

Chapter 35: Mortgage Brokers — Spot the Double Take

Chapter 36: Check That You are Getting the Correct Rate Changes

Chapter 37: Let a Tenant Pay the Mortgage

Chapter 38: Consider Long-Term House-Sitting

Chapter 39: Plan a Mortgage-Burning Party in Advance

Chapter 40: Pay Off the Mortgage Before Investing

Chapter 41: Don’t Bank on Your Superannuation Fund to Pay Off the Mortgage

Chapter 42: Let Grown-Up Kids Pay Part of Your Mortgage

Chapter 43: Consider Mortgage Contributions Instead of Presents

Chapter 44: Downsize — Smaller House, Smaller Mortgage

Chapter 45: Trade up Houses, But Trade Down Debt

Chapter 46: Try the Payout Two-Step

Chapter 47: Avoid Complex Mortgage-Reduction Schemes

Chapter 48: If You Have to Sell, Stay in Control

Part IV: credit cards

Chapter 49: Find Out How Much You Spend on Credit Cards

Chapter 50: Choose the Right Card For Your Needs

Chapter 51: Avoid Credit Card Surfing

Chapter 52: Never Use Cash Advances

Chapter 53: Cut up Your Store Cards

Chapter 54: Never Pay Just the Minimum Amount

Chapter 55: Keep Payments Flat

Chapter 56: Use Direct Debits

Chapter 57: Check Every Item on Statements

Chapter 58: Once You’ve Paid it Off, Cut it up

Chapter 59: Consider Changing to Charge Cards

Chapter 60: If You Have a Charge Card, Don’t Take up the Credit Option

Chapter 61: Reduce Your Credit Limits

Chapter 62: Do Leave Home Without it!

Part V: Car Loans, Personal Loans, Boat Loans and Store Loans

Chapter 63: Renegotiate, Don’t Refinance

Chapter 64: Always Pay a Cash Deposit

Chapter 65: Never Buy New

Chapter 66: Don’t Self-Insure

Chapter 67: Don’t Use Store Loans

Chapter 68: If You Fall into Arrears, Tell Your Lender as Soon as Possible

Chapter 69: Get the Credit Bureau to Limit More Lending

Chapter 70: Celebrate Each Win

Part VI: Investment Loans

Chapter 71: Use Principal-and-Interest Loans For Investment Properties

Chapter 72: Avoid Fixed-Rate Loans For Rental Properties

Chapter 73: Avoid Lines of Credit For Investment Properties

Chapter 74: Use Your Tax Refund

Chapter 75: Don’t Use Deposit Bonds

Chapter 76: Don’t Borrow For the Holiday House

Chapter 77: Borrow in the Same Currency as Your Income

Chapter 78: Beware the Margin on Share Loans

Chapter 79: Use Dividends to Pay Off the Principal on Share Loans

Part VII: Small Business Debts

Chapter 80: Get Your Personal Finances Sorted Before Starting a Business

Chapter 81: Keep Business Finances Separate

Chapter 82: Use Your Business Plan

Chapter 83: Don’t Make Capital Purchases Using the Overdraft

Chapter 84: Don’t Extend Your Lease Term too Long

Chapter 85: Avoid High Lease Residuals

Chapter 86: When Buying a Business, Do Your Research

Chapter 87: Don’t Borrow to Buy a Franchise

Chapter 88: Be Careful of Line-of-Credit Mortgages For Business

Chapter 89: Use Supplier Terms and Customer Terms Sensibly

Chapter 90: Sell Your Debtors

Chapter 91: Maximise Depreciation

Chapter 92: Never Pay Full Price For Business Equipment

Chapter 93: Business Succession to Reduce Debt

Part VIII: Avoiding and Minimising Debt

Chapter 94: Maintain an Emergency Cash Fund

Chapter 95: Use Separate Accounts For Savings Goals

Chapter 96: No Deposit, No Mortgage

Chapter 97: Renters, Get a 10 to 15 per cent Discount on Your First Home

Chapter 98: Don’t Borrow to Put Money into Superannuation

Chapter 99: Avoid Tax-Based Schemes

Chapter 100: Be Careful if Guaranteeing Other People’s Debts

Chapter 101: Beware the Lender Who Says You Can Afford a Loan

Part IX: The Final Pay-Off

Part X: Useful Resources

Top 10 Ways to Control and Minimise Debt

Top Five Ways to Win the War on Debt

Index

First published 2009 by Wrightbooks

an imprint of John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

42 McDougall Street, Milton Qld 4064

Office also in Melbourne

Reprinted 2009

Typeset in Berkeley LT 11/14pt

© Ashley Ormond 2009

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Author: Ormond, Ashley.

Title: 101 ways to get out of debt and on the road to wealth/Ashley Ormond.

ISBN: 9781742169361 (pbk.)

Subjects: Finance, Personal—Australia.

Debt—Australia.

Saving and investment—Australia.

Dewey number: 332.02401

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All enquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Microsoft Excel screenshots reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation

Cover design by Brad Maxwell

Cover image © Alhovik, 2009, used under license from Shutterstock.com

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this publication.

Personal debt is the devil for people trying to build wealth. In this very practical book Ashley Ormond shows us many ways to beat the devil and get on the road to riches.

—Pam Walkley, Editor-in-chief, Money magazine

Debt can be a great servant, but a bad master. In this book Ashley will show you simple ways to take control of your debts, and make debt a tool you can use and not something to fear.

—Noel Whittaker, Best-selling author and finance columnist, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Australians have been living beyond their means on a diet of cheap debt for too long. This is a must-read book for all those who want to get out of debt and back in control of their finances.

—Chris Cuffe, Former CEO, Colonial First State

Many Australians live beyond their means and take on too much debt. Ashley Ormond’s book is by far the best account yet available on understanding the details of debt, the problems that arise when debt becomes excessive and how we can manage and reduce debt to achieve better financial security and happiness for ourselves and our families

—Dr Don Stammer, Economist and journalist, The Australian and BRW magazine

About the author

Ashley Ormond was one of Australia’s first PC-equipped ‘mobile lenders’, starting out in the early 1980s with a financial calculator, a dual-floppy drive Compaq portable PC and a portable Epson thermal printer in his car. This was before the age of mobile phones, the internet, Windows, Excel, or even hard drives. It was back in the days when:

lenders actually analysed each borrower’s ability to repayborrowers actually had to have a job or other source of incomeborrowers actually had to have proof of a savings record, proof of income, proof of assetslenders had to actually think about how each debt would be repaid, instead of just shovelling money out the doorlenders actually retained the credit risk and retained the ownership of loans, instead of just selling them to unsuspecting bond-holders on the other side of the world.

His banking and finance career included several senior executive roles at major Australian and international banking and finance groups, including running branch networks, lending operations, product development, pricing and financial control. His formal qualifications include a Bachelor and Masters in Law, a Bachelor of Arts in Economic History and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment. He has also lectured for the Securities Institute of Australia. Since ‘retiring’ at 40, he has been a director of several companies, including listed, private and not-for-profit companies and a charitable foundation.

Ashley is the principal of Investing 101 Pty Ltd, a specialist investment research firm that holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. He is a sought-after speaker and commentator on financial markets and has written two best-selling books on finance: How to Give Your Kids $1 Million Each! and $1 Million for Life.

Ashley lives in Sydney with his wife and two children. He may be contacted at <[email protected]>. Visit his website for access to newsletters, updates and other useful articles: <www.investing101.com.au>.

Disclaimer

This book is intended to provide general information only, to assist readers to make their own decisions and choices. This book is intended for educational and instructional purposes only, and is not intended to constitute personal financial advice or taxation advice. It does not take into account each reader’s individual objectives, financial situation or needs. Readers should obtain their own financial, tax and legal advice to determine whether the information contained in this book is appropriate to their particular objectives, financial situation and needs.

The author is the principal, owner and authorised representative of Investing 101 Pty Ltd, which holds Australian Financial Services Licence 301808 issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission under section 913B of the Corporations Act 2001. Neither the author or any related company or entity receives any fees, commissions nor any other benefits from any product provider. Nor are they involved in selling or promoting any seminars, courses, trading systems or marketing schemes. A current financial services guide is available from <www.investing101.com.au>.

Part I

The household debt explosion

Between 1992 and 2008, Australians experienced a 17-year-long economic boom that handed us a golden opportunity to get into financial shape — but we blew it. With an unprecedented run of uninterrupted economic growth following the 1990–91 recession until the 2008 credit crisis, we had the best-performing economy in the Western world. During this time we enjoyed rising incomes, stable government, no major wars and low unemployment, interest rates, inflation and oil prices. Despite this lengthy period of superb economic conditions, we didn’t get our houses in order. Instead, we went on a debt-fuelled spending binge: