Categories
Personal Loans

What To Do When You Can’t Make a Personal Loan Payment

When you have large outstanding debt, this could make it challenging for you to make timely repayments. And when you miss a payment, it is just a matter of time until you miss another one, and you enter a vicious cycle. Learn what to do when you can’t make a personal loan payment.

What can you do when you can’t make a personal loan payment?

Talk to Your Lender

For starters, you should consider discussing with your loan provider – whether it is a bank or a credit union, this should be the first thing on your list. Believe it or not, it is not that uncommon for people to struggle with making repayments. This can happen due to numerous reasons: it might be because of a large outstanding debt, or due to an unexpected life event, such as an illness, divorce, or natural catastrophe.

So, you should approach your lender and be utterly upfront regarding your situation. Truth be told, being transparent is critical. You shouldn’t feel ashamed to tell your lender that you’re struggling financially.

Negotiate for a Lower Interest Rate

Moving on, when you approach your lender, you should aim at negotiating for a lower interest rate. This could be really beneficial in aiding you to budget your finances more efficiently. You should assess the repayment amount you could cope with – perhaps the lender would be willing to make the arrangements to fit your individual needs.

Outline the fact that you wish to honour your outstanding debt, and the only way in which you can do that is if the monthly repayment were to be reduced. You might be required to write a letter of financial hardship, which should minutely present the reasons that caused your financial hardship. This letter should include the facts – such as job loss, divorce, illness, or other factors that determined your inability to make payments.

Nonetheless, try to keep the letter as to the point as possible. You should be upfront, yet not overly emotional, since this doesn’t portray you in the right light.

Consider Refinancing

In the case in which your current lender isn’t open to lower your interest rate, or to make the repayment plan more flexible so that it meets your needs, don’t give up. Another option might be collaborating with other providers of personal loans. This applies especially if you’re paying way too much in interest costs. This could be the case especially if you got the personal loan a while ago when loan terms were far from being convenient.

Refinancing is definitely worth considering, in this respect. Apply for a loan that would give you the funds to cover for the remaining amount on your personal loans. As soon as your application is accepted, you can use that money to pay for your existing debt.

Bear in mind..

Refinancing still means that you have the same amount of debt. The only difference is that you could save money in interest rate costs. At the same time, you could benefit from loan terms that are more suitable to your existing financial situation.

The key to knowing, for sure, that you’re actually getting a better deal is to research. Always compare various personal loans provided by distinct lenders. Australian Lending Centre can help in this respect, as well – make sure you check our website to find out more about our comprehensive offer of personal loans.

So, should you consider refinancing or not? The suitability of refinancing truly depends on your given circumstances. Ideally, you should assess how much your current personal loans are costing you, and compare that to the sum of money you’d pay for a new loan. Still, don’t forget to include one-time fees and other penalties that may apply in some scenarios. As a rule of thumb, don’t overlook reading the fine print of the loan terms, to know what you’re agreeing to.

Consider Credit Counselling

If you can’t make a personal loan payment, then it is likely that you also cannot afford to get help in the form of another loan. Perhaps getting credit counselling might guide you in the right direction.

Having an outside perspective can change everything. Counsellors are used to helping people that cope with the most difficult financial problems. Make sure you pick a counsellor that is truly reputable and willing to help – as opposed to someone that is trying to sell you something or to convince you to get another loan.

To conclude, it’s critical to comprehend your financial situation and avoid getting additional debt, if it’s possible. The key to making smart financial decisions is being aware how much money you make, and how much money you spend, and what you can do to change things for the better. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but, with a little bit of perseverance and ambition, anything is possible.

Categories
Business Loans

Business Loan Despite Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a highly dreaded word in the realm of financing and getting a business loan despite bankruptcy is a bit difficult. Even though it is dreaded, many people end up in a situation in which filing for bankruptcy is the only solution they have. Nonetheless, considering that you’ve done that in the past, a looming question is can I apply for business loans regardless of that? As you might expect, the answer to this question isn’t a fixed one – there are many factors that should be considered, which we’ll outline in the present article.

Bankruptcy Can Be a Fresh Start

Irrespective of the negative connotations associated with bankruptcy, you should note that this isn’t the end of the road – or at least it shouldn’t be this way. Even though it isn’t an easy thing to do, the most challenging process follows after filing for bankruptcy. This refers to aiming at rebuilding your finances and credit.

Generally speaking, a bankruptcy statement will remain on your credit for a few years’ time. Therefore, if you apply for business loans afterward, your capability of getting financing won’t be affected in any way. On the other side, if the bankruptcy statement still is still present on your credit report, which will, inevitably, impair your creditworthiness and reliability as a borrower.

Can I Apply for a business loan despite bankruptcy?

Yes. But bear in mind that your options will be limited. Generally speaking, the longer you wait after you have filed for bankruptcy, the more likely you are to get convenient loan terms and interest rates. At the same time, there are some lenders that are more open to working with you, as opposed to traditional banks whose lending criteria are rather stringent.

Nevertheless, the downside is that the interest rates and additional fees will be significantly higher than they normally should. Therefore, before you apply for business loans, make sure that you can afford to make repayments. If you can’t, this will imminently worsen your financial situation. Evidently, applying for a loan when you’re struggling financially is a decision that requires a lot of consideration and in-depth thought.

The Differences Between Personal and Business Bankruptcy

Considering that you own a business which has established credit, you might have the option of applying for business loans. In this scenario, your firm’s credit rating will be taken into account. In other words, your personal bankruptcy file won’t affect your ability to get business loans in any way.

Your personal credit score is a major constituent for most lenders. That is to say, your credit rating and personal finances are of major significance, even though this is to your disadvantage. Hence, depending on the state of your finances, you might be unable to get financing. Or, your only option could be getting business loans with unfavourable terms and interest rates.

What Steps Can You Take?

Separate Business and Personal Finances

Before anything else, you should strive to distinguish between your personal and business finances. The thing is that, if your business is new, this might not be a possibility. But, if you’re an established business owner, you should definitely separate your personal finances from your firm’s finances. Otherwise, you are inevitably taking unnecessary risks.

Apply for Secured Business Loans

If you really need a form of financing, your only option could be using your valuable assets as collateral for new loans. By adding collateral, you are instantly minimising the lender’s risk when they borrow you the money. This could increase the likelihood of having your application approved.

Be Patient

If you need a business loan despite bankruptcy, avoid requesting a $500,000 loan immediately afterwards. On the contrary, take up smaller amounts of money instead, and focus on making the repayments – this will allow you to rebuild your credit and prove that you’re trying to get back on your feet.

Explain The Circumstances of Your Bankruptcy

Talking openly about the circumstances that led to your current financial situation can be helpful when you apply for a business loan despite bankruptcy. There are situations in which unexpected circumstances can cause unwanted complications. We’re referring to health problems, divorces, or natural disasters – these could seriously mess up your financial life without any fault of your own. Therefore, by being upfront and transparent, you can increase your chances of getting financing for your business.

At the end of the day, it is mandatory to comprehend that each lender has different criteria that ought to be taken into account. Do your research beforehand, so that you don’t end up sending numerous applications all around without any results. Australian Lending Centre can help you – make sure you visit our website to find out more about our loan offers.

Categories
Financial Planning

Tips to Manage Financial Challenges

If you are in a difficult situation facing financial challenges, learning how to properly use loans, for bad credit applicants, can help.

Do you have a steady source of income which covers not only your needs but also your wants as well? If you’re one of the thousands of Australians who want secure finances but are also dealing with financial issues, you may be wondering how you can achieve that reality.

What Are Your Financial Challenges?

Like many individuals in serious debt, you are probably worried about trying to pay for your daily living expenses and outstanding debts, while wishing to buy a home, a car and probably take a vacation. If so, don’t ever think that you’re alone in this aspect. There are also many struggling parents who need to save for your children’s education while paying off debts and adults with elderly parents to support. And, things get worse when you are going through a divorce, dealing with a death in your family or probably looking for a substitute job for the one you recently lost.

The truth is that there are many events in life that test not only our ability to cope financially but to think positively and overcome these trials with a smile.

Use your financing options to manage these financial challenges

Learn how to take control of your finances, boost your borrowing power and secure a better financial life with the following tips:

Write down each of your goals

Are you really determined to pay off all your high-interest loans? Or do you just need to have a better credit rating so you can borrow even more? Sometimes, we don’t actually know what we want. We just keep on looking for solutions to our immediate problems without looking into their root cause.

For example, if you have $5,000 worth of debts, both in consumer credits and loans, do you trace back to the causes of those purchases? Or, do you simply skip the reflection aspect and look for better financing that could lower your interests so you can have more money to spend on your needs and wants?

While there is nothing wrong in looking for better deals, such as low-interest and easy to pay bad credit loans. Finding the root of the problem in your finances can help you make better decisions with regard to budgeting and balancing your sources of revenue.

Swap the present wants for future needs

Are you spending a few hundred dollars on things you can live without—such as a gym membership, magazine subscription and a trip to your favourite coffee shop? If so, think of how you could use the money to build wealth, like starting a retirement plan to secure your finances in later years.

The sooner you start saving for retirement, the more financially secure you can be when you finally stop working. These contributions are typically tax-deductible, so aside from getting a tax credit for starting a retirement plan, you can also grow your money faster because savings grow faster in a retirement plan as a result of tax-free compounding.  In the end, even small contributions can make a significant difference over time.

Diversify your investments

Do you know how to protect yourself against ignorance? Warren Buffet says that it is through ‘diversification’. Since you’re not really sure if an investment will appreciate over time, you should diversify your portfolio to ensure that your exposure to any individual asset is limited.

What are the asset classes that you currently hold?

Are you involved in alternative investments like real estate, or are you simply invested in stocks or bonds?

Instead of chasing performance for a single investment class why don’t you add a good mix of real estate, cash, bonds and stocks in your egg basket? This way, you can protect your financial portfolio from wreaking havoc when the market declines. If you put more than 15% of your money into a company’s stock, you may be heading for disaster. While you may not be thinking of the worst-case scenario, preparing for these things can help you when you lose your job and your other sources of income. Losing your investments as well, all at once is not an easy crash to bounce from.

Grow your wealth

One of the most important benefits of bad credit loans is that you can use it for wealth maximisation. Create a long-term investment strategy that requires adjustment in your personal budgeting and your appetite for risk. This helps to ensure that no major market glitch will pull your finances down. You never know what will happen tomorrow, but one thing is for sure… life goes on and with the right mindset and professional help, you can enjoy a comfortable and financially stable lifestyle.

Contact the Australian Lending Centre today and receive financial advice from our specialist loans team.