Category Archives: Finance
What Are the Advantages of Using A Credit Union?
Credit unions are member-based financial institutions that offer their services only to the people who share the common bond – the feature, quality or affiliation that stands at the base of the credit union, such as employment with a particular company, a particular profession, registered address in a particular geographical area or membership in an organization or association. An account held with a credit union offers many benefits over banks, payday lenders and other financial organizations – here are some.
Friendliness and Attention
The relationship between account holders and branch employees might seem cold and impersonal with banks, one of the benefits of credit unions being a much more personal relationship between union members and the union’s employees, such as branch managers. Credit unions in Littleton provide customized consultation and educational programs about the management of personal finances – a great opportunity for people who have a poor credit history or difficulties repaying loans.
Credit unions in Littleton focus on community enrichment, offering financial education for free and other types of help to the members of their local community.
Working for the Benefit of the Members
Credit unions are not-for-profit organizations owned by their members and run by their members, which means that these organizations work with the best financial interest of their members in mind. Any profit that a credit union makes is redistributed to its members in the form of annual dividends, which means a credit union membership actually gives the member a yearly income.
Credit union members being the owners of the union as well, they get to vote on important matters that affect the union’s operations. Credit unions also organize yearly meetings in which the union’s results are presented to the members and important issues are discussed.
Lower Fees and More Attractive Rates
While profit-oriented organizations, such as banks, are interested in charging fees and interest rates that are as high as can be in order to maximize their profit, the vision of credit unions does not include profit-making, therefore they can afford to charge lower credit card fees, lower fees on transactions and they can also offer more attractive interest rates, lower on loans and higher on deposits, than banks. The minimum deposits are also lower with credit unions.
A Wide Range of Services
Credit unions usually offer the same types of services as banks, credit lines, checking accounts, savings accounts, deposits and a wide variety of loans being equally available. Like banks, most credit unions also provide internet banking through various apps and have ATM networks and branch offices as well.
Security for Deposits
Federal credit unions and some state unions are insured through the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, offering the highest level of security for personal deposits up to $250,000. However, you must know that not all credit unions provide such insurance coverage – some unions are privately insured, which also means that they are not backed up by government, so before choosing a credit union, find out about the union’s insurance and security status.
Fleet Leasing Financing vs. Buying Cars for Your Business: Which Is Best?
When considering the differences between buying cars for your business and services offering fleet leasing financing, there are many concerns that have to be kept in mind. First of all, you can’t make your decision on a whim, since there is far too much at stake, and the risks involved can be quite high. Secondly, not all businesses are the same. While for some businesses it makes more sense to buy cheap vehicles, you might have to consider the alternative version of leasing, even if you’re more comfortable with the idea of buying.
Circumstances don’t have to lead your decisions, however. Depending on your business and your specific goals, you can make the best decision for your business and even wait to implement it, if your finances or other factors don’t allow you to go through with your plans for the time being.
The Advantages and Drawbacks of Buying
Whether you run a maintenance service or a delivery company, buying the cars or trucks you need for your business can make a lot of financial sense long term. Aside from the fact that you’ll own your vehicles, and won’t have to pay a lot of money for them long term, you also get rid of issues such as covering interest rates and other expenses that would come with fleet leasing.
On the other hand, buying has its own drawbacks. Depending on the size of your business and the extent of your budget, even purchasing one car can be a stretch at first. Also, some businesses don’t start offering real returns until much later, and you might end up being stuck with almost a million dollars deficit, while the stress related to the risk that your business might not recover those funds will remain quite high.
Under the circumstances, buying your vehicle fleet is a risky endeavor. Of course, if you already have additional investments, and you don’t necessarily have to get a lot of money from the bank to finance your new cars, then it makes sense to try it. However, even so, you’ll practically be tied to minimizing your business’ expenses, and you won’t have any control over how your investments will turn out over the long haul.
Fleet Leasing: A Viable Alternative
Fleet leasing comes as an excellent alternative for smaller businesses that don’t necessarily have the ability to come up with the huge amounts of money required for large vehicle investments.
By leasing cars at about $300 to $700 per month, for a reasonable amount of money, you can get your complete fleet of vehicles and have complete control over your gradual, monthly investments. If your business isn’t going too well, you can always cut down on the number of vehicles you lease. Also, if you aren’t yet making enough money during the first couple of quarters after starting your business, you’ll find it easier to compensate for the costs, and you can always pull out partially, without worrying about losing large amounts of money.
The safety and security of fleet leasing has led many business owners to adopt this approach for their services, delivery companies, contractor services and transportation services throughout the country. Moreover, fleet leasing financing is cheaper than ever, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best value for your investment.