Category: Finance

3 Things To Remember About Making Changes

April 1, 2019

3 Things to Remember when it’s time to take action as make big changes.

1. It will cost you in the beginning.

It will absolutely cost you! Money, time, energy and sacrifice will be inevitable in order to see progress and success. Taking action is not easy but it is necessary for self development. Positive action adds positive value via increase of knowledge, wisdom and experience.

2. If you don’t take action things will stay the same for you but continue changing around you.

If we are not willing to take action we are subjected to watching things change around us and nothing big ever changes for us. The risk in that, is experiencing how changes in our career, family and life will either slightly benefit us or cause damage forcing us to change anyway. Don’t wait to see what happens, make moves to create changes that will benefit you!

3. Everyone will not approve or agree.

It is absolutely ok that people won’t or don’t get what you are doing. It may be someone you expected to support you like a best friend or a spouse. But develop an “oh well” mindset. Oh well, thanks for listening. Oh Well, this is still something I have to do. Oh well, it’s risky and I might lose in the beginning or I know it’s going to cost me in the beginning but I’m going to do it anyway.

Aquila T Carmon

The Necessity of Change – Introduction

March 6, 2019

I woke up on Sunday Morning and my son busted into my room, his little wet body shivering, wrapped in a towel saying, “daddy where are my clothes.” I woke up from my sleep as I heard the door open and half way surprised asked him, “Did you already take a shower?” He replies “Yes I did”! Both of us were proud as I told him “Awesome…Now go back downstairs and find some underwear!”

Wow….only six years ago I was changing pampers on him and his twin brother. Most of us do this but when did you last think about how much time changes things? Seasons are in and out seemingly faster as we age, almost as if seconds tic faster on the clock nowadays.

Time isn’t waiting for you is it? Nope, so what are you waiting for. Opportunity is not only telling you to find it but opportunities are searching for you.  Open your eyes and see the chance to do something you haven’t done yet. Change!

For too long, our days become so routine and predictable that we could feel the need to change in our heart, soul, even in our bones. Change is calling us out! When we feel there has to be more, like we have to do better and begin to sense there is more for than this, guess what. There is! This feeling of unsettling means we have now engaged with the necessity change.

Why? Because purpose and destiny are on the line! Who you become, who you are becoming, depends on the steps you are taking to improve, develop, build, learn and grow. You don’t have time to waste or to procrastinate. The Almighty Phrase “I’ll do it tomorrow” or “I’ll start on Monday” is a life snooze that will put you late for your appointment with purpose. Don’t WAIT!

Start the business, ask her to marry you, set up the budget, get your Credit fixed, go to the beach, read the book, take the classes, apply for the grant, build the church, move to the other state, MAKE A POWER MOVE and watch God be faithful when you act in faith!!

Aquila T Carmon

5 Reasons To Have Good Credit

February 26, 2019

Here are a few reasons to have good credit:

1. To purchase a home you will need to be approved for a mortgage and acquire a suitable interest rate. 

Many people have made a long list of things they will need to purchase a home but in making this list do not forget to add good credit to the list. The lender will need to verify that you will be a responsible borrower before approving you for such a large and long contract.

2. To save money on purchases by being offered lower interest rates. 

Having good credit will determine whether a car loan has a 5% interest rate or a 28% interest rate. During my time in the financial industry I have seen cars drive away with both. Repair your credit to avoid the latter percentage rate.

3. To receive lower insurance rates

Insurance companies will check your insurance score and partially base your insurance rate your Credit score also know as you FICO score. This score is compatible to your credit score. The lower the score, the higher the rates.

4. To be considered for employment for employers that use credit reports as a part of their background check. 

Employers use a credit report to judge your ability to make sound decisions. They want to get an idea of how you manage something that should be highly important and determine if they can trust you with it or maybe even around it, money that is. If your credit report is more negative than positive that doesn’t give them a good sign.

5. For some reason you don’t have the cash needed on hand, you have the ability to borrow at a reasonable amount of interest that will allow you to pay back the loan quicker. You just never really know when life will happen. Hopefully you have an emergency fund or you are working on saving it up. But it’s always good to have options in place.

Bless You,

Aquila T Carmon

Get your credit repaired today:Contact me at (919)904-6960

5 Principles of Progress

February 1, 2019

There are quite a few principles that drive us in the direction of progress and success in our lives. It’s wise to reflect and see if we are putting those principles in place. Today I’ll share five of those values with you that caused a huge difference in my life and catapulted me from literally a place of depression and distraction to determination and desire for greater achievement. These principles are relevant for spiritual, financial, career and personal growth. Let’s jump into it.

The first one is PRAYER. What is one of the secrets of having great focus? Having direction! Having a really good sense of destination sets our sails on course for an amazing and purposeful journey. Like any journey though, Inevitably,  we get lost or sometimes even lose ourselves. Prayer brings us back to a proper head-space, heart-place.  Prayer keep us grounded and in connection with God. Praying for God’s guidance, strength and peace essentially aligns us with God’s will. Through our convictions, His grace and gives us clarity even through the clouded and crowded times. Jesus spent hours praying because He understood that not only external but also his internal needs came from a Spiritual source, His Father in Heaven. It is wise to consult with the Lord about where we are headed and what we should accomplish before consulting with men.  God knows the ultimate purpose for our lives and there could be unnecessary frustration when we allow our intentions to supersede God’s divine direction for our life.

The second is PERSPECTIVE.  How do you see where you are? We should see our challenges like a weight lifter sees a weight that is too heavy and consider how we will build up to clearing that weight. Problems can make us better problem solvers, trouble can build patience, tragedy can push us closer to our Source of strength, pain builds our ability to endure greater pains, hurt and broken trust wises us up. You get the idea. Don’t see a wall as a wall, but a teaching objective that will force you to reach, stretch and think more critically or trust God more consistently.  See your problems from the perspective of every problem has a solution. Remember that God will never put more on you than you can bear.

Next is PLANNING. Yes, strategy is vital in this game of life. I hear you….” Things never go as planned” I’ll say that is True and False. The wrong perspective may tell you this, simply because the whole plan didn’t go as planned. Get this. If you create a plan to meet your goals and only 10% of your plan worked out, then the plan is working because the plan was really to make progress.  A plan is a safeguard. It’s like putting the bumper rails up at the bowling alley to keep you from rolling a gutter ball. Planning may not get you a strike, but it should at least help get you some points on the scorecard.

Fourth is PERSEVERANCE. The ability to move forward when you are ready to quit. Perseverance is the internal characteristic that you can train yourself to put in action. Deciding to walk when you cannot run, crawl when you cannot walk and stopping only to catch your breath, to re-strategize, to pray, to reflect on your perspective but never stopping because you quit.

Lastly to Acknowledge and Celebrate PROGRESS. Seeing and realizing that even though this was small progress that this is a BIG moment. If your plan is laid out and you have made progress toward that goal, then you must realize within every goal is the goal of making progress. If your church didn’t grow by 20 members but it grew by five, celebrate the progress. If your business income didn’t grow by $5,000 but it grew by $1,000, celebrate the progress.

Remember that “The race is not given to the swift but to those who endure to the end.” Your life doesn’t need to be in competition with anyone else. So, kill all those comparisons and work towards your goals. Stay focused, stay positive, plan every aspect of your life and Celebrate along the way.

There is Hope,

Aquila T Carmon

The Other Side of the Door: Credit Tips

January 17, 2019

So, what happens on the other side of the door? You know, while you’ve went to a car dealership, applied for a loan online or anytime you are waiting for someone to run your credit and make the approval decision for your loan.

First your personal information will be pulled and placed into a system that will scan and analyze your credit report. Then it will provide the creditor some feedback based on your score and general items on whether you should be approved.  This system will analyze items such as credit scores from Equifax, Transunion and Experian, the number or accounts, how many are delinquent accounts, how long have you had the accounts open, how many late payments and your debt to income ratio based on the income information you decided.

Depending on where you apply would determine if an automated decision will be the final factor for you.  However, some creditors will take the next step, put human eyes on your credit report and begin to discuss with the finance manager if there are things that must be considered. You wondered while the salesman was probing? he was trying to get to know a few things about you to include in that “credit conversation.” Quick insert: If you have bad credit, please don’t be nasty and rude to the salesman. His opinion of you might play a part in whether the lender wants to work with you or not if your credit is already bad.

So, on the other side of the door they take a deeper look into the credit report with human eyes to determine, did it all go bad at the same time? Did a life event bring about this problem such as job loss or relocation?  Someone may even come sit with you to ask additional questions about your credit report. Trust me, I know because I am the guy that has sat across on both sides of the table. Once with bad credit and later to ask the questions.

Here are some tips before applying.

Know your credit situation:

  1. Know where you stand: Pull your credit report, know your scores and what is helping or hurting on your report and be ready to talk about it. Hopefully you are working on a plan to resolve any issues.
  2. Prepare mentally: If you have bad credit, prepare yourself for the result and remember that NO could mean, Not until a few things are fixed on your credit report. Meaning negative items removed or paid.
  3. Decrease some Debt: Pay down all credit card balances to less than 30% of use and wait for this to reflect on your report before applying for any credit.
  4. Understand that it may be best to struggle a little while longer and commit to getting your credit improved before even walking into to submit an application.

No matter where you stand in the credit world, know that you have or can take control of your credit situation. It may take some time and it is a process but by educating yourself, understanding how credit works and develop certain financial disciplines you can change how you experience as you sit on the consumer’s side of this process.

If you or someone you know has less than perfect credit. Let’s talk. Give me a call at (919)904-6960 or email me at aquilacarmon06@gmail.com. Go to www.myfes.net\acarmon1.  I am connected with a team that can help.

Aquila T Carmon