Tell my audience about yourself. What made you want to start your website thefreefinancialadvisor.com?

I’d been a television personality for 9 years on local Detroit tv (I was the “Money Man” on WXYZ Channel 7 News. When I left the financial planning business, I missed talking about money. The site was a way for me to stay in touch with an area that I love.

I also think there are lots of practices going on behind the scenes that people needed to know about AND there are ways good financial advisors think about money problems that are different (and more effective) than the way the average person with debt thinks. I called myself “Average Joe” on the blog because I’ve always been an average guy who had to teach himself about money.

Please name some quick and easy ways for a person to improve their credit even if they’ve recently been through a divorce or some type of financial calamity?

The largest driver of your FICO score is to pay bills on time. So, either pay on time or get in contact with creditors quickly to try and keep negative statements off your credit report.

You know a calamity is coming at some point, right? The best move anyone can do right now is to create a small emergency fund. Sock away at least $500 so that when your muffler’s dragging behind the car you don’t have to tap your credit.

When a person walks into a car dealership what are some credit questions you recommend that consumer ask the salesman or finance manager?

Much of the process should take place BEFORE they talk to the finance manager. First, I want to know how my credit looks before the finance manager runs it, so I’ll order a free credit report and make sure it’s clean.

When I’m talking to the salesman I need to have already looked up how much the car is really worth, what my resale value will be down the road, and I should have already looked at my budget to know what payment I cal live with.

The last time I bought a car from a dealer I went to the web first and found out what car I wanted. Then, I test drove one to make sure by visiting a dealer. I told them upfront that I wasn’t interested in buying. I just wanted to drive one.

Then, online, I asked five of the closest dealers to give me their best deal. I was amazed when the quotes came in $1,500 different from each other for the same car! Make sure you don’t give anyone your phone number until you’re ready. Two dealers didn’t want to give a quote unless I came in.

By the time I walked into the dealership, I knew the price of my car, the loan amount, the monthly payment and the duration of the loan. I wasn’t going to ask the salesman or finance manager anything until we arrived at loan fees (there should be no fees and no prepayment penalty. I also received a better interest rate because I signed up for automatic payments out of my checking account.)

How long does the credit restoration process take?

It depends on how bad it is. If your credit is horrible it can take years. If there are two or three miscues but not much else, you could clean it up in hours.

If a person can’t purchase a vehicle in cash, what’s the ideal down payment you recommend they have? Does a larger down payment mean a shorter loan and APR?

If you can’t pay cash, you want to either have as much money available to pay off the car as possible or put down as much as possible. At that point it’s all about interest rates to me. If I can grab as low an interest rate for a four year loan as I can a two year loan, why wouldn’t I take the four year loan? Then, once I have the longer term, I make bigger payments to pay down the loan quickly.

I can hear people asking….why don’t I just take the shorter loan? Here’s a question back: Why do businesses figure out their own debt structure and THEN ask the bank for a loan based on the terms they want? Why do people make good decisions for a company and then make emotional decisions with their money at home? Logically, I want to make sure that if I’m disabled or have an emergency, that I don’t lose my car. Take out the longest loan possible at a low interest rate and then pay it back quickly on your own terms.

If you don’t think you can do this because you don’t have the discipline, you’ll need to solve that problem quickly so that you can start dictating your own financial terms instead of relying on others to babysit you.

In your a first time car buyer and you’ve never shopped for insurance before, what are some tips to get the lowest payment possible? What are some questions you should ask your insurance agent?

Ask about discounts! Agents know some great discounts but often won’t volunteer information…you have to ask. Also, remember that price isn’t everything. People want low cost (and so do I), but I also want to know that when something goes wrong, that insurance is going to be there for me and my claim will be handled quickly.

Besides thefreefinancialadvisor.com what are some of websites/blogs you would recommend our visitors visit while trying to improve their credit?

My friend Dominique Brown at Your Finances Simplified talks about credit a ton. He has a good video series on the topic. He’s on our 2 Guys & Your Money podcast every week and is a blast to work with. It’s a funny podcast, but he makes it funnier.

I also like a number of the blogs about how you think about money. Tie The Money Knot is a nice site for married people to think about money and relationships. I like Budgets Are Sexy for good discussions on earning a little extra income. I Heart Budgets is a good blog about tightening the belt.

Thanks Joe. Please visit Joe’s website and friend/follow him on his below social media outlets.
The Free Financial Advisor
Facebook

This is our seventeenth interview in our “1000 Interview Challenge” If your interested in an interview, please contact me.

This interview was conducted by Shane McC. Shane currently is attending RISD studying computer programming. He enjoys traveling and plays hockey. He played for the Boston Junior Bruins of the EJHL during the 01-02 season. You can follow him on Google+

Tell my audience about Home Security Store?

Home Security Store is an online retailer of home security equipment. We sell thousands of products, including wireless alarms systems, camera security systems, home automation devices, GPS units, survival gear, and much more. We carry only the best products from manufacturers such as DSC, GE Security, Honeywell, Elk, Visonic, Lorex, and Winn Security. We have over 2,000 different products, which we sell on our website, www.homesecuritystore.com. In addition, Home Security Store is a great place to work. We just purchased a new building in Southern California, where we are based, and we continue to grow.

What are some of the products HSS specializes in?

We specialize in a variety of home security products – mainly Do-It-Yourself (DIY) products such as wireless and hardwired alarm systems, driveway alarms, surveillance systems, and spy gear. We offer Lifetime Tech Support with every item we sell. Therefore, if the end-user runs into any issues during installation, they can call us and we will talk them through the installation process.

Tell us about some of the GPS products a dealer can purchase? Do you have any products coming online soon?

GPS units are of much interest today. That is why we carry a variety of real-time GPS and tracking products found here: GPS & Tracking . One of our top sellers is KJB Security’s H6001 – SleuthGear iTrail Passive GPS Logger with Magnetic Case. Another is a real-time GPS SecuraTrac SecuraPAL GPS Child Tracking Device. GPS units can be used for fun applications such as logging an aircraft’s journey, or more serious applications such as tracking a fleet of work vehicles (and their speed) or even knowing the whereabouts of your child.

2014 is coming very quickly. Where do you see sales in 2014? Are you rolling out any new products in 2014?

Nowadays everyone has a smartphone and its applications are many. 2014 will be no different. We have cameras which you can easily setup to view remotely from your smartphone as seen in one of our online commercials.

Moreover, we have systems that use your smartphone as your virtual keypad which can control your home security and home automation system. This means you can turn on your hallway lights from your smartphone while say, still sitting in your car in the driveway to help guide you through your house at night. Again, the possibilities are endless.

Since the last time we spoke, what are some of the changes the industry has gone through? Where do you see the industry going in five years time?

Again, a lot of it will have to do with smartphone applications. Right now we are working on a deal with Schlage to sell their Nexia line, which allows homeowners to even lock and unlock doors with their smartphone.

For a car dealer or average consumer on a tight budget, which GPS tracking device do you believe would best suit their needs?

The best unit depends on what the consumer’s exact needs are. If it is to track in real-time, the unit will cost at least around $200 and will require a third party service (most likely with a monthly fee) which helps track the unit live. If you are looking to record the speed and whereabouts of your car without live tracking, you can buy a GPS tracking unit for a little over $100. However, you must retrieve the unit before you can know where it’s been. In addition, most GPS units nowadays will have some sort of magnetic device to attach to even the outside of a car for discreet applications.

Where do you see the home security business 10 years from now?

It’s hard to tell exactly where the home security business will be 10 years from now. I think the industry will follow suit with technology’s latest trends in general, and right now that is all about the smartphone. Real-time alerting, people want to be on the know and in the go! They want to be able to check in on their property and control devices at a moment’s notice. I also think gun laws will have a lot to do with where the home security market is 10 years from now. Stricter gun control, or fear of taking guns away, usually pushes home security sales even higher.

Annie Blanco – eCommerce Marketing Manager
Home Security Store
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
YouTube
Wikipedia

This is our sixteenth interview in our “1000 Interview Challenge” If your interested in an interview, please contact me.

This interview was conducted by Shane McC. Shane currently is attending RISD studying computer programming. He enjoys traveling and plays hockey. He played for the Boston Junior Bruins of the EJHL during the 01-02 season. You can follow him on Google+

Tell my audience about yourselves. What made you want to start your website controlyourcash.com?

Pure frustration. Every personal finance website we read seemed to fall into one of 2 categories: a) Frugality tips for the pathologically cheap, e.g. how to save money by brewing your own laundry detergent, and b) first-person confessionals about how the authors fell into debt and are now making miniscule and pointless steps to get out of it. The market seemed to be screaming out for sensible, practical education and advice.

Please name some quick and easy ways for a person to improve their credit even if they’ve recently been through a divorce or some type of financial calamity?

Cut, cut, and cut some more. It sounds like a cliché, but you’ve got to want it (improved credit, that is.) We wish we had a nickel for everyone we know who got rejected for a loan because of outstanding revolving credit balances, yet who thinks nothing of dropping money on alcohol, tobacco, tattoos, vacations, children and/or performance automotive parts.

It’s like peeling off a Band-Aid. Sharp, brief pain beats dull and ongoing pain every time. Live like a religious ascetic until you’ve paid your obligations. Yes, it sucks, especially when your friends are spending money that you don’t seem to have (which assumes that their credit is perfect, which is a big assumption.) That’s not the point. The point is to get up to zero first before you can start taking advantage of credit, instead of it taking advantage of you.

Also, don’t think that accounts you ignore will just go away. The credit agencies have more robust data storage than you do.

When a person walks into a car dealership what are some credit questions you recommend that consumer ask the salesman or finance manager?

None! You might as well ask the salesman how much rust proofing you should buy. Always negotiate on price and nothing else. Price, never terms. Get a dollar figure out of the salesman, and don’t even talk to the finance manager. The way to avoid that is to make it clear to the salesman from the start that he won’t be getting a sale if he introduces anyone else into the negotiations at any point.

Once you get the dollar figure, shop around for a loan elsewhere. Your bank. Other banks. Credit unions. Bankrate.com. The dealership is already making money by selling you a car. They don’t need to sell you financing, too. Then again, if the dealer offers you 0% financing over x months, ask how much less they’d take it you were to pay cash then and there.

How long does the credit restoration process take?

Unfortunately, the cabal of actuaries at Fair, Isaac & Co. (creators of the infamous FICO score) don’t divulge the formula they use. So our only hope is to use observed real-world data. We’ve observed that paying off an account and then closing it can improve one’s credit score by a few points in as little as 3 months.

If a person can’t purchase a vehicle in cash, what’s the ideal down payment you recommend they have? Does a larger down payment mean a shorter loan and APR?

The ideal answer to the 1st question is “as much as possible.” If you can’t pay cash, pay 99% cash and finance the rest. If you can’t pay 99%, pay 98%, etc. The answer to the 2nd question is “Yes.” It stands to reason that the less you borrow, the less time it should take to pay it off. However, a smaller loan will likely mean a higher APR, not a lower one.

In you’re a first time car buyer and you’ve never shopped for insurance before, what are some tips to get the lowest payment possible? What are some questions you should ask your insurance agent?

Insurance is a pretty indistinguishable commodity. There’s little difference between Allstate’s comprehensive coverage and AAA’s.

You don’t want the lowest payment possible; you want the lowest practical payment possible. It’s easy to buy too little coverage and end up screwed.

That being said, figure out what you want first, then shop for it. Doing it the other way around is stupid. Look at each type of coverage offered and buy accordingly. For instance, you probably aren’t going to need more than $100,000/$300,000 for bodily injury coverage. Property damage coverage should be $50,000, enough to cover the cost of most any car you decide to crash into. Get $15,000/$30,000 worth of uninsured/underinsured driver coverage, and get a $500 deductible for both comprehensive and collision insurance. Rental reimbursement coverage is worth it, too, unless you know you’ll have access to another car should yours ever be in the shop for a month.

Forgo uninsured property damage and medical payments coverage (assuming you have health insurance), which are unnecessary.

Besides controlyourcash.com what are some of websites/blogs you would recommend our visitors visit while trying to improve their credit?

Len Penzo
Afford Anything
Financial Uproar
Timeless Finance

Greg McFarlane of Control Your Cash
Facebook
Twitter

This is our fifteenth interview in our “1000 Interview Challenge” If your interested in an interview, please contact me.

This interview was conducted by Shane McC. Shane currently is attending RISD studying computer programming. He enjoys traveling and plays hockey. He played for the Boston Junior Bruins of the EJHL during the 01-02 season. You can follow him on Google+