Financial Tips

More often than not, students find themselves neck-deep in debt and unable to make their student loan payments. Out of the blues, a supposed debt relief company reaches out to help ease this loan burden or claims that the loan has been forgiven.

Their offer might sound tempting and too good to be true. Trust me, It probably is. This is one classical instance of student loan scams that is constantly on the rise and which every student must beware of.

The recent rise in incidences points out to the urgent need to inform students on how best to avoid these scams. For this reason, we had a sit-down with the directors of F.H. Cann and Associates. There, they shared various tips and pointers on how best students can avoid student loan scams.

• What was your reaction to the recent rise in student loan scams?

We initially underestimated the issue of student loan scams. We felt with time, it would die a natural death.

Shockingly, the reverse has been the case. As a result of this, we have decided to take steps to painstakingly enlighten people, most especially students, on how to identify scams when they suspect one, as well as what to do after being scammed.

• What are the best ways to spot a student loan scams?
  

For starters, We believe you should never underestimate or overate any circumstance revolving around loan payment. It’s best that you are alert and that you stay cautious every time. Having established this, some of the primary ways we feel you might be able to tell a scam is when;

-The supposed debt relief company promise that your loan would be forgiven or even make some promises that are too good to be true.

-Also, they may request that you give them your account details or some other sensitive credentials.

• How can you best avoid student loan scams?
  

Having established how you can identify a scam, we at F.H. Cann and Associates have come with some key steps you should follow to make sure that you avoid student loan scams at all costs. They include;

-Ensure that you verify the email address used in getting across to you. All you need do is head to the existing servicer’s website rather than clicking the link in the email. This way, you would be sure that the email address is legitimate.

-Furthermore, do not for any reason give out your account details or any other sensitive credentials. This is a widespread practice among scammers. Be at alert not to fall prey.

We've partnered with other student advocacy agencies to launch the national #DontBeFooled campaign with all the information you need to spot and avoid a scam that could cause you to lose money for services you can get for free.

Learn more today: https://t.co/KpM7oy3S6C pic.twitter.com/x2vbvCRGCS

— FH Cann & Associates (@fhcann) April 7, 2021

• What do you advise can be done after being scammed by debt relief companies?

For one, we would advise that once you discover that you had been scammed, make sure you change your account credentials, especially your FSA ID. This would revoke the access granted to the scammers.

Also, get in touch with your loan servicer and ensure that all external authorization to your loan service is revoked.

Most importantly, please report to the authorities in charge, so that they can take all necessary actions to stop the scammers.

• Do you have any additional information to give?

We certainly do! In all your dealings with student loan payment service, always bear in mind that you do not need to pay the federal body to help you with student loans. You can also visit https://studentaid.gov for more information about student loans.

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So, you have been researching current events and stock trading software. Good for you! Just jumping right in and familiarizing yourself with the stock market is one of the best things that you can do to begin learning how to successfully invest. With that being said, there is a lot of information that is being rapidly thrown at you that it can be difficult if you aren’t a seasoned investor to make sense of it. One of the main tools that investors use to predict the direction that a company’s value may go within a specific time period is to use a stock chart. But there are so many. Below, we have listed the main charts that investors use, what they show, and some of the pros and cons of using them.

Line Stock Chart

Perhaps the most elementary chart. It is just a solid line that either moves up or down. Each point (wherever the line moves) is at a fixed interval, which can be set to whatever amount of time has passed whether it be minutes, hours, days, or even months. At the end of the time period that it represents, you will be able to draw a line from the beginning of the graph to the end and either have a line that is pointing upward (increasing in value) or downward (decreasing in value).

This is great for a quick look at whether the company is increasing or decreasing in value over a certain period of time. However, it will not show the opening price, highs, or lows which are helpful in determining if that time period the market was bullish or bearish.

Candlestick Charts (Japanese Method)

This is a highly visual method of looking at the overview of a stock’s behavior over a set period of time. Each stick will look like a candlestick and some will be filled and others will be open. They give a quick look at what the price opening, high, low, and closing prices are as well as volume. This is a great way to get a lot of information really quickly about a particular company, but there are multiple kinds of candlestick charts, which can be somewhat intimidating to the new investor by displaying too much information.

High Low Close Bar Stock Charts (HLC)

These are somewhere between the line chart and candlestick. They will show the stock’s highest point, lowest, and the price at which it is closed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t show the opening price which is an essential frame of reference when determining if the stock’s price has increased or decreased. However, it will show a greater range of days that the stock was being traded and if it is closing near the high, it will help identify if it the marketing is being bullish, or bearish if it is closing near its low.

Open High Low Close Bar Chart (OHLC)

This adds the opening price that the HLC stock chart left off. It will give the frame of reference so it will indicate if the value of the stock is increasing or decreasing, and the height of the bar shows the volume at which it is trading. It doesn’t show as much information as the candlestick charts and others that incorporate it, but it does give a more informational look at a stock’s behavior than just the simple line chart so you can make a more educated guess on whether the stock is going to increase in value by the time that you want to sell. This one is also popular among professional investors.

Conclusion

There are many different types of stock charts and, at the end of the day, each have something that is good and something that could be better, but the best one is the one that gives you the information you need to make a good decision. If you work better with looking at a simple charts and making sense of the news, then that is the right one. If you need the information presented more visually than reading, then you may find the candlestick charts to be better for you. At www.abovethegreenline.com, you can have access to a wide array of technical analyses to help you make a wise choice whether to buy or sell. This is mostly personal preference. So, you will be best served by learning the one that you work best with and learn it as well as you can.

As it’s a smart move to continually increase your finance knowledge, continue reading to discover a couple of financial tips that everyone should know!

Wise financial tips everyone should follow:

1. Don’t give out your pin numbers or bank account login details to anyone

It may seem self-explanatory but you may be horrified to discover just how many individuals share their pin numbers for their debit and credit cards or their online bank account login details with their friends and family members.

While in the perfect world you would be able to trust your loved ones unconditionally, in reality even someone who you trust unconditionally such as a spouse could use your pin number or log in details to withdraw money from your accounts, without your expressed permission.

So do yourself a massive favor and keep your pin numbers and your bank account login details to yourself.

2. Don’t use the same pin numbers on each of your cards

Again, you would be surprised to discover the percentage of individuals who use the same pin number for all of their debit and credit cards. Which is a serious security risk as if one of your cards becomes comprised, all of your cards will effectively become compromised. Which is a scary thought!

3. Don’t allow your laptop or smartphone browser to save your bank account’s login details

Whatever you do, don’t allow your laptop, tablet or smartphone browser to save your bank account’s login details. As you don’t want another individual to use your electronic device and to have access to your hard earned money!

4. Make sure that your bank accounts offer competitive interest rates

While most people are loyal to a single bank, it’s a far wiser move to put yourself first and to do your banking with the bank which is willing to offer you the most competitive interest rates available.

Just think if you’re able to switch your long term savings account to a bank that offers an interest rate which is 2% higher than your current long term savings account, what a difference moving banks will have 10 years down the track. Especially when you factor in compound interest into the equation.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask your bank manager to consider giving you a higher interest rate on your long term savings account

The more money you have in your long term savings account, the more clout you’ll have with your bank manager and the more likely they’ll be to offer you a higher interest rate. Than the interest rate which their bank commonly grants clients.

6. Also, make sure that your bank account doesn’t charge you fees for taking money out of your chequing account

Not all banks charge fees when you take money out of your chequing account to pay for everyday purchases using your primary bank account card. So if your current everyday chequing account does incur such fees, it’s definitely the right time to change the bank which you currently deal with.

Remember that there’s no time like the present to adopt the wise financial tips listed above into your everyday life.