Lead Your Bank from Sub-Prime Greed to Meeting All Your Credit Needs

Editor

---

» About this writer

You need to be a trained sculptor, or an art critic, to appreciate the frail figure at Dupont Circle, Massachusetts Avenue & 21st, in our capital. However his writings of nearly 100 years ago continue to inspire Obama today, as much as they have Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in the past.

Mahatma (Great Soul) Gandhi once said:
“Earth has enough to meet all our needs but not our greed”.

Present your bank a plaque with this saying, so that they never foreclose assets again to recover credit that was not needed in the first place. But what will work even better is for you to make a structured action plan to boost your credit rating, and to meet emergency cash needs, without losing the roof over the family’s head.

Here are some starter tips:
1. Use your credit card instead of cash for every minor purchase, and pay off the debt in time, no matter what. Credit rating agencies give you points for every debt that you retire in time, no matter how small it may be.
2. Shave your monthly budget, and set up a fund to invest in top stocks. It will not just grow but help you meet unexpected expenses.
3. Make professional business plans to back any proposal for a loan from your bank to buy a productive asset. Sensitivity Analysis must be a part of this plan. Have it checked by an advocate of the Devil. Back out if your bank gives you the money, no questions asked!
4. Ask your bank for no more than 80% of the value of a non-productive asset (like a home). Scrape the bottom of your piggy-bank to fund as much as you can on your own. Turn your back on long pay-back options; sacrifice to clear the loan so fast that it hurts! (You can always upgrade to a better neighborhood or to a ranch later!)
5. Negotiate the interest rate and invest in sound legal opinion on the fine print.

Join our forum and ask for help on point 3 above. Bookmark our earlier article entitled ‘Who Should Pay Stock Doctor Bills?’

Do also share your ideas on how to build a sound credit rating. We would love to know if you have done well in 2007, or if you have a plan in place for 2008. Join and start posting today. You can also post in the space below.

Markets