How to shop for a loan – an article that can save you thousands

My good friend Ossie needed to buy a dress for a forthcoming wedding.  Since I am not buying any clothes this year (due to my year of mourning) I asked to join her in her quest to search for the perfect dress.

Ossie was quite clear what she wanted.  She did not want a black dress or a dress with sleeves and could not decide between a cocktail dress or an evening dress.  So on a Friday morning we entered a shopping mall and started the hard task of finding the perfect dress.  Four hours later we exited the mall with no success. We returned the following Friday and we were more successful.  The only snag was that the dress was slightly above the price that she wanted to pay so she wanted to bring in her a partner for the final OK.

I will explain later in the article why I am mentioning this story.

On average we make 6-10 financial decisions everyday from simple decisions like, what yoghurt to buy to which pension to take.  Most of these decisions are based on instinct or on what information we receive from the person trying to persuade us to part with our hard earned cash.  So it is not surprising that 76% of people feel out of control when it comes making financial decisions.

From my experience as a family financial advisor one of the major decisions that people take without batting an eyelid is to take out a loan.  So many of my clients have taken loans without even knowing what rate of interest they are charged.  One of my clients had 3 loans with rates of interest ranging from 5-12% which when consolidated to one big loan amounted in savings of NIS 30,000 in interest rates over the period of the loans.

While cleaning the house, the radio was on and in every break there were ads blaring how quick and easy it is to receive a loan from a credit card company.  BEWARE: So many people are tempted to alleviate their financial stress that they impulsively phone the credit card company to receive a loan.  Their marketing strategy works sophisticated that when you call them, and before you even hear the extension directory, you hear an ad explaining how you can acquire a loan.  WHAT A MISTAKE!!

We have to act like my friend Ossie, we need to go shopping and see which bank gives the best rates and what type of loan best suits our situation.   I do not necessarily recommend moving banks, but one must understand what other banks are offering.  One of my clients did shop around at various banks and found that one bank was prepared to give them an interest free loan, so they moved banks.  However, when you are armed with the information you have collected, you are then in a better position to negotiate with your bank for the rate of interest and duration to receive a loan with fits your needs perfectly.

TIP: Take time to work on your finances it can save you thousands.

Download my FREE booklet on HOW TO SAVE MONEY IN ISRAEL link to the booklet  http://suzykahati.com/l/