5 Tips to Improve Credit Health

April is Financial Literacy Month in the US, but it is always a good idea to maintain best practices on your credit.

The article by Erin El Issa on April 25, 2016, at 12:25 p.m. covers 5 Tips to Improve Your Credit Health.

We review those 5 Tips to Improve Your Credit Health.

1. Understand Your Credit Card Options

"If you have good or excellent credit, you'll qualify for 0 percent introductory interest offers and cards with the best rewards. If you have fair credit, you'll likely qualify for cards with lower rewards rates and fewer perks. And if you have bad or no credit, you might qualify only for secured cards – which are backed by a cash deposit – or need a co-signer to get credit." 2. Know the Impact of Getting New Cards and Closing Old Cards

"Opening a credit card account triggers a new credit penalty on your score. The longer your credit history, the smaller the impact, but you'll likely lose at least a few points. That's why we recommend spacing out card applications by at least six months."

Closing credit cards will negatively impact your credit utilization. Paid off credit cards are great because the increase your available credit and reduce your overall credit usage. 3. Reduce Your Balances Faster

Paying off your debt sounds like a no-brainer, but it can be difficult for many people. The only way you are going to pay down a credit card is by paying more than the minimum monthly payment. Significantly more. If you are serious about paying down your debt, forgo the daily latte and those wild weekends. An extra $10 a weekday and $100 dollars a weekend quickly turns into an additional $150 a week x 4 weeks = $600 extra dollars to help paydown that card. 4. Learn How APR Works

"If you do carry a balance, it's important to understand how APR works. You accrue interest on your average daily balance, not the balance the day after the payment is due. If you know you're going to carry a balance, make multiple payments throughout the month. This will reduce your average daily balance, and therefore, the interest you'll accrue."

This is a pivotal point which you should be aware of. Your due date is NOT the day you should make your payment. You should be making your payments a week early to make sure you are not getting high balances and increasing the amount of interest you have to pay. Most people cannot pay multiple times a month (although it may serve you well), but you can definitely program yourself to make your payments a week early.

Erin finishes the article with some sound advice. 5. Practice Patience

"Improving credit can take a while – but over time your credit history lengthens and old, negative marks have less impact on your score.

If you've started doing all the right things for your credit health, sit back and let time do its thing. Once you've built a good credit foundation, you'll enjoy the rewards for years to come."

To learn more about improving your credit health or to read the full article, visit the link below:
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/articles/2016-04-25/5-tips-to-improve-your-credit-health-this-financial-literacy-month

Read More

Eight Reasons Why Nevada for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

Earlier in 2016, a document leaked called the “Panama Papers” surfacing in the Wall Street Journal introduced the world to offshore corporations based out of Panama, as referenced as the “last tax shelter in the world”, and their alleged illegal practices of shielding and hiding finances from the IRS.

While the topic of tax shelters will no doubt be an ongoing red hot topic, we as organizers and incorporators of Limited Liability Companies and corporations in states such as Nevada, Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Montana, and Texas are in no way advocating illegal activity, fraud, tax evasion, or money laundering, we are simply educating you the reader as to legal avenues for safer smarter, better business tax strategies that have been and are legally available to you.

See our video with longtime Nevada and Wyoming Limited Liability Company and Corporation advocate and business and compliance attorney R. James Eckley on why you should consider this as a legitimate business practice.

---

Eight Reasons Why Delaware for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

1. State Taxes:
   There are no state taxes in Delaware for LLC’s. A simple form filled digital annual report filing is all that is required with an annual fee of $300.
2. Member/ Manager Listing in Public Records:
   Just as in the state of Wyoming, no disclosure of individual names or addresses of members or managers need to be made.
3. Delaware Business Court:
   Again as well offered in the state of Wyoming, Delaware maintains an exclusive court to serve expedite business matters.
4. Delaware Single Member LLC’s:
   Along with Wyoming and Delaware, Nevada is the one of only three states that afford single member LLC’s the same level of benefit of liability protection as multiple member LLC’s.
5. Nevada Asset Protection Laws:
   Nevada is a “Sole Remedy” State as of 2011 when the state changed its laws to specify that in the absence of cases of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, or any other illegal activities, a charging order is the only available means for a creditor to lien an LLC.
6. Assets Protection of the Wyoming LLC Against the Personal Creditors of the Members:
   A creditor cannot take any membership in an LLC nor vote in place of a member, only a charging order.
7. Creditor Distribution Requirements in the Cases of Successful Charging Order Protection Against LLC’s:
   Only in the cases of voluntary and voluntary only agreed upon in writing wherein the agreement does not conflict with the operating agreement can creditor distributions be made in Nevada.

Read More

Seven Reasons Why Wyoming for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

Earlier in 2016, a document leaked called the “Panama Papers” surfacing in the Wall Street Journal introduced the world to offshore corporations based out of Panama, as referenced as the “last tax shelter in the world”, and their alleged illegal practices of shielding and hiding finances from the IRS.

While the topic of tax shelters will no doubt be an ongoing red hot topic, we as organizers and incorporators of Limited Liability Companies and corporations in states such as Nevada, Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Montana, and Texas are in no way advocating illegal activity, fraud, tax evasion, or money laundering, we are simply educating you the reader as to legal avenues for safer smarter, better business tax strategies that have been and are legally available to you.

See our video with longtime Nevada and Wyoming Limited Liability Company and Corporation advocate and business and compliance attorney R. James Eckley on why you should consider this as a legitimate business practice.

---

Seven Reasons Why Wyoming for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

1. State Taxes:
   There are no state taxes in Wyoming for LLC’s. A simple form filled digital annual report filing is all that is required with an annual fee of $50.
2. Member/ Manager Listing in Public Records:
   Wyoming is still one of the very few states that does not require this as the state maintains no database for this record nor asks any of this information.
3. "Lifetime Proxies":
   Wyoming is the only state that allows Lifetime Proxies. The Lifetime Proxy allows for a greater level of control by way of having someone else hold your ownership while you vote by proxy.
4. Wyoming Single Member LLC’s:
   Wyoming, along with Delaware and Nevada, is extremely unique in that single member LLC’s still are afforded the very same level of charging order protection as a multiple member LLC.
5. Assets Protection of the Wyoming LLC Against the Personal Creditors of the Members:
   A creditor cannot take any membership in an LLC nor vote in place of a member, only a charging order.
6. Asset Protection of the Montana LLC Against the Personal Creditors of the Members:
   A creditor cannot take any membership in an LLC nor vote in place of a member, and instead only a gain a charging order in court.
7. Creditor Distribution Requirements in the Cases of a Successful Charging Order Against LLC’s:
   In 2010 the State of Wyoming amended the LLC Act to reflect the voluntary and voluntary only provision of creditor distributions.

Read More

Seven Reasons Why Delaware for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

Earlier in 2016, a document leaked called the “Panama Papers” surfacing in the Wall Street Journal introduced the world to offshore corporations based out of Panama, as referenced as the “last tax shelter in the world”, and their alleged illegal practices of shielding and hiding finances from the IRS.

While the topic of tax shelters will no doubt be an ongoing red hot topic, we as organizers and incorporators of Limited Liability Companies and corporations in states such as Nevada, Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Montana, and Texas are in no way advocating illegal activity, fraud, tax evasion, or money laundering, we are simply educating you the reader as to legal avenues for safer smarter, better business tax strategies that have been and are legally available to you.

See our video with longtime Nevada and Wyoming Limited Liability Company and Corporation advocate and business and compliance attorney R. James Eckley on why you should consider this as a legitimate business practice.

---

Seven Reasons Why Delaware for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

1. State Taxes:
   There are no state taxes in Delaware for LLC’s. A simple form filled digital annual report filing is all that is required with an annual fee of $300.
2. Member/ Manager Listing in Public Records:
   Just as in the state of Wyoming, no disclosure of individual names or addresses of members or managers need to be made.
3. Delaware Business Court:
   Again as well offered in the state of Wyoming, Delaware maintains an exclusive court to serve expedite business matters.
4. Delaware Single Member LLC’s:
   Along with Wyoming and Delaware, Nevada is the one of only three states that afford single member LLC’s the same level of benefit of liability protection as multiple member LLC’s.
5. Nevada Asset Protection Laws:
   Delaware is a “Sole Remedy” State that specifies that in the absence of cases of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, or any other illegal activities, a charging order is the only available means for a creditor to lien an LLC.
6. Assets Protection of the Delaware LLC Against the Personal Creditors of the Members:
   A creditor cannot take any membership in an LLC nor vote in place of a member, only a charging order.
7. Creditor Distribution Requirements in the Cases of Successful Charging Order Protection Against LLC’s:
   Only in the cases of voluntary and voluntary only agreed upon in writing wherein the agreement does not conflict with the operating agreement can creditor distributions be made in Delaware.

Read More

Google Bans Predatory, High-Interest Payday Loans from their Ads

An article in the Washington Post by Andrea Peterson @kansasalps and Jonnelle Marte @jonnelle discusses the new Google Adwords policy taking effect on July 13, 2016.

According to the article, Google’s decision to ban predatory payday loans at interest rates above 36% came in part after pressure from a coalition of civil liberties, consumer protection, and privacy groups.

Google Bans Predatory, High-Interest Payday Loans from their Ads

The world’s number one search engine and visited website took a huge step towards consumer protection when it decided to no longer display paid ads on its entire network for the payday loans providers.

The article quotes David Graff (Google Global Product Policy Director) from a blog post:

We’ll continue to review the effectiveness of this policy, but our hope is that fewer people will be exposed to misleading or harmful products.

Payday loans are generally used by low income individuals who do not have access to credit or whose credit access has reached a limit to supplement their income to pay for items they need immediately. The payday loan is a vehicle for those without disposable funds to pay for unexpected expenses.

Unfortunately, consumers of these high-interest, short-term loans find themselves in a loop which they cannot escape, continually renewing the loans or finding themselves unable to make the payments, driving them into higher debt, and minimizing their ability to obtain good credit.

Facebook already bans the payday loan ads from their network, while the ban on Google Ads starts mid-July. This means that both search and web giants are willing to take a monetary loss (albeit minimal in their grand scheme) in order to “protect” consumers from ads which they deem may be more harmful than good.

Both Google and Facebook already ban sex and guns, but this general ban of an industry has the Payday loan industry calling the ban “discriminatory.

Facebook and others are making a blanket assessment about the payday lending industry rather than discerning the good actors from the bad actors,” the Community Financial Services Association of America, a payday lending trade group, said in a statement. “This is unfair towards those that are legal, licensed lenders.”

We at Credit Pathway have always recommended to our clients that the best solution for them and their business is to take long-term, financially-wise steps that will not just help this week, but years down the road. Here is a short list of recommendations:

1. Fix your credit – it all starts here. If you don’t have a clean credit history, you don’t have access to low-interest credit.
2. Maintain your credit usage below 45%. Don’t overextend on your cards or you will be unable to obtain new credit when you need it.
3. Make you payments on time every month. Setup automatic payments and never miss a payment. Building good credit history is key.
4. Purchase what you can afford. You may need a car, but if you can’t afford a luxury vehicle, don’t stretch yourself thin just to get one.
5. Stay away from high-interest loans or rent-to-own schemes. These loans or payment plans only benefit them.

Get a line of credit. Go to your bank a get a line of credit for your business so you don’t have to use all your own personal credit to stay afloat. If you don’t have the history to get a line of credit from a bank, take a look at our application for a line of credit at 0% APR for 12 months. There are better options out there than payday loans, talk to a Credit Pathway representative to see how we can help you.

To read the entire Washington Post article visit:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/05/11/google-to-ban-payday-loan-advertisements/

Read More

Seven Reasons Why Florida for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

Earlier in 2016, a document leaked called the “Panama Papers” surfacing in the Wall Street Journal introduced the world to offshore corporations based out of Panama, as referenced as the “last tax shelter in the world”, and their alleged illegal practices of shielding and hiding finances from the IRS.

While the topic of tax shelters will no doubt be an ongoing red hot topic, we as organizers and incorporators of Limited Liability Companies and corporations in states such as Nevada, Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Montana, and Texas are in no way advocating illegal activity, fraud, tax evasion, or money laundering, we are simply educating you the reader as to legal avenues for safer smarter, better business tax strategies that have been and are legally available to you.

See our video with longtime Nevada and Wyoming Limited Liability Company and Corporation advocate and business and compliance attorney R. James Eckley on why you should consider this as a legitimate business practice.

---

Seven Reasons Why Florida for Your LLC or Corporation in 2016 and Beyond

1. State Taxes:
   There are no state taxes in Florida for LLC’s. A simple form filled digital annual report filing is all that is required with an annual fee of $138.75.
2. Member/ Manager Listing in Public Records:
   Just as in the state of Wyoming, no disclosure of individual names or addresses of members or managers need to be made.
3. Florida Stock Issuance:
   If one is considering a corporation, then the blank stock issuance provision just like in the state of Delaware is available allowing greater control and flexibility giving rise to why so many Fortune 500’s elect the state for incorporation.
4. Florida Multi-Member LLC’s:
   Florida amended its laws in 2011 following a Supreme Court case to clarify and specify with certainty that a charging order is the exclusive sole remedy for multiple member LLC’s after the matter became vague and unclear.
5. Florida Asset Protection Laws:
   Florida as previously mentioned is a “Sole Remedy” State that specifies that in the absence of cases of fraud, tax evasion, money laundering, or any other illegal activities, a charging order is the only available means for a creditor to lien an a multiple member LLC.
6. Assets Protection of the Florida LLC Against the Personal Creditors of the Members:
   A creditor cannot take any membership in an LLC nor vote in place of a member, and instead only a gain a charging order in court.
7. Creditor Distribution Requirements in the Cases of Successful Charging Order Protection Against LLC’s:
   Only in the cases of voluntary and voluntary only agreed upon in writing wherein the agreement does not conflict with the operating agreement can creditor distributions be made in Florida.

Read More