Financial Dictionary

The $200,000-A-Year Nanny

April 13th, 2012

I met Zenaide Muneton in the offices of the Pavillion Agency in New York, which specializes in hiring house staff for some of the richest folks in the country. Muneton says she knows how to make everything fun for kids, even homework, and that’s why she is one of the better paid nannies at the agency. I asked her what that means.

“It means over $150,000 a year,” Muneton said.

Actually, I learned later, it means even more than $150,000 a year. Her last job paid $180,000 and included a free apartment on Central Park West, a generous food stipend, and enough perks and benefits to bring her total income closer to $250,000 a year. That’s eight times the salary of an average nanny.

Cliff Greenhouse, who runs the nanny business for Pavillion, says they interview hundreds of potential nannies to see who can meet the requirements of the wealthiest families. Their standards are, of course, exacting. “We only place maybe 3 or 4 percent of those that we interview,” Greenhouse said.

That selection rate makes the Pavillion Agency a notch choosier than Harvard.

New Credit Card Processing Option from PayPal: PayPal Here

April 4th, 2012

Many online business owners rely on PayPal for credit card processing, but it’s not as convenient for a business that also has a storefront location or one that meets with customers in person. In order to become more convenient for cab drivers and small merchants looking to accept credit cards through PayPal, the company has created a card-swiping device called “PayPal Here,” that works with smartphones, to accept payments from American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Discover cards. The reader is a great option for individuals who sell direct sales products at in-home parties, or craft fair vendors and similar sales professionals.

Many small business owners who already use PayPal to process payments from customers will find the new PayPal Here card reader extremely convenient, as it won’t require another merchant account or bank account. They ca

Posted in Financial Dictionary | No Comments »

Ten Effective Ways to Boost Your Credit Score in One Day

March 26th, 2012

Increasing your credit score may be a bit challenging but following several tips to keep those high scores coming will be all worth it. Here are guaranteed tips to increase your credit score which you would want to try:

1. Knowing where to start is very important as it gives you direction on what to do. Begin by ordering individual credit reports with each agency so you will have access to initiate a dispute online. It is more ideal to do it in isolation to keep you more updated with your credit reports information, ordering by bulk may take some time. Ordering in groups may be cheaper but keeping a close eye to your credit reports on time will definitely keep you out of trouble.

2. Credit card agencies give the best customer service to their clients, so take advantage of this. Call them to increase your credit card lines so you can have the chance to earn up to 60 points which will improve your credit to more available ratio amounts on your bank account.

3. Rearrange your debt in order to get the most economical debt-to-available-credit ratio which is 25%-35%.

4. Pay down the cards immediately as soon as you can until your credit reports recognize your desired ratio.

Tags: Credit Score, Score

Posted in Financial Dictionary | No Comments »

Mortgage rates climb uphill

March 16th, 2012

Mortgage rates jumped alongside a positive employment reports and increasing bond yields last week, Freddie Mac said in its most recent mortgage report.

According to Freddie Macs Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending March 15, 2012, both fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgages saw average interest rates move higher.

In this latest data, average rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 3.92 percent from 3.88 percent the previous week.

An upbeat employment report for February caused U.S. Treasury bond yields to increase over the week and mortgage rates followed, Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.

Despite the week-over-week increase, this average sits much lower than one year ago at this time, when the 30-year fixed averaged 4.76 percent. In addition, Freddie Mac said, 30-year fixed mortgages have now averaged below 4.00 percent for 15 straight weeks, which is doing wonders for homebuyer affordability.

Northaft thinks that the strengthening job market could help to stabilize these near-record-low mortgage rates.

Job growth over the last six months was the strongest since 2006, he said.

Tags: Mortgage Rates, Rates

Posted in Financial Dictionary | No Comments »

Should the Government Ban Banks’ Payday Loans?

March 9th, 2012

When we think of predatory lending practices, the first thought that often comes to mind is the payday loan industry, catering to people barely, if at all, living paycheck to paycheck. Payday loans service communities with an aversion or without a need for or trust of the mainstream financial industry. Offering short-term loans designed to help people survive until the next paycheck arrives, payday lenders charge fees, $16 per $100 borrowed on average, that would be considered usurious if measured by annual percentage rate standards.

Eager not to let non-banking lenders take all the best opportunities for profiting off families struggling the most, mainstream banks are in the payday loan business as well. They dont call them payday loans, though. The name has a negative connotation. Instead, they use names like Wells Fargos Direct Deposit Advance, and tout their lower fees. The average fee for a mainstream payday loan is $10 per $100 borrowed, and the average duration of the loan is 10 days; the result is an annual percentage rate equivalent of 365%.

Despite the slightly lower fees, these products are likely more profitable for banks than payday loans are for independent lenders.