FINANCIAL HOUSEKEEPING | Shop for auto-loan rates
Many consumers purchasing a car will look for payment amount rather than seeking the best deals on loan rates and terms. They’re forgetting that a clever salesman can fit just about any car into the budget, provided the repayment period is long enough.
To get a good look at some of the best auto-loan rates in your state – on loans ranging up to six years on new cars or five on used cars – check out the auto section at
www.bankrate.com. There you can get an idea of rates available in your state, and you can use the calculators on the site to help determine which deal might be best for you.
By looking at payment terms over different time periods, you can find the best fit between your car and your budget and see whether a deal makes sense for reasons beyond the simple amount of the monthly payment.
SHORT COURSE | Turnover ratio
A term with different meanings depending on its use, turnover ratio is most commonly used in mutual funds, but it also applies to business inventories.
In mutual funds, turnover represents the percentage of a fund’s assets that have changed over a year. High-turnover funds tend to have higher expenses, as well as higher hidden costs – the trading fees associated with that portfolio movement – and are often less tax-efficient than low-turnover funds.
On the inventory side, turnover ratio is the cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory during a given time period. The result is the number of times a company’s inventory is replaced during that period. The higher the number, the better the signal that the company is producing and selling its goods quickly.
