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Auto Finance Tips - Refinancing Your Car Loan
By Philip Reed, Senior Consumer Advice Editor |
As interest rates drop, people's thoughts turn to refinancing —
refinancing their home loan, that is. What they don't know is
that refinancing an auto loan is easier to do, and it can save
you some serious money.
How much? Say you bought a new car six months ago. And say there
were a few dings on your credit so the dealer told you that your
auto loan would be 11 percent on a five-year loan for a $23,000
car. Your monthly payments are $500.
Now let's say that you surf the Web until you find a company
that offers auto refinancing. You could refinance the balance of
your car loan and lower your payments to about $400 a month.
That's a savings of nearly $6,000 over the life of the loan.
Other examples could well be more dramatic. In some cases, a
new-car buyer could wind up with an auto loan based on an
18-percent interest rate. By refinancing at a competitive rate,
the monthly payments would be slashed, and all it takes is about
10 minutes to fill out the application.
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Grand Opening – FM Global new Rhode Island Corporate
Headquarters
By Richard Bonomo |
As everyone now knows we are relocating to our beautiful new
office in the Rhode Island Corporate Headquarters! We will be
celebrating our new office with some new surprises and
promotions to encourage all employees to join the credit union!
So stop by our new office and say hello, and open a new account!
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CU
Efficiencies Drive Dividends
By Marygrace Murphy, 15 July 2009, Credit Union Times |
Credit unions often differentiate themselves from banks by
offering year-end bonus dividends to members. A number of credit
unions are finding ways to operate more efficiently so that
members can enjoy their portion of excess earnings this year.
Midland, MI-based
Dow Chemical Employees' Credit Union returned $9 million in
year-end rebates and rewards to members who used the credit
union to borrow or save money in 2008. On the other hand, Las
Vegas-based Clark County Credit Union is not expecting to offer
a bonus dividend at the end of this year.
This news comes in
marked contrast to CCCU's January announcement of a $2.9 million
dividend for 2008, the ninth year in a row it had distributed
such a dividend.
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When Lender Says NO, Turn To CUs
By States News Service, 2 July 2009, Boston Globe |
The following information was released by the Credit Union
National Association -CUNA:
Credit unions are
a good alternative to traditional mortgage financing as credit
markets overall have tightened up, the Boston Globe said in a
Tuesday article.
Credit unions were listed as the No. 1 alternative of five
options mentioned by the newspaper. "Unlike banks and mortgage
companies that sell their loans on the secondary market, many
credit unions actually keep the loans they make in their own
portfolio," the article said.
"The secondary
money market purchases bundles of loans from lenders. These
loans must meet specific guidelines such as those set by [the
Federal Housing Administration], Freddie Mac and/or Fannie Mae.
Once the primary lender sells the loan, the lender is now in the
position to make another loan to a new borrower," the article
said. Credit unions that don't sell the loan on the secondary
money market can set their own loan requirements,
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