节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-11
难易度:High
关键字:alternatively, repayment, cosigner, liability, mortgage, credit rating
It is often said that money problems are the leading cause of breakups and
divorce.
But I'm not so sure that that is actually true.
I think that it is the breakdown of communication and trust that are the real
problem.
So make sure that you establish clear lines of communication with your
significant other about money before you get into a serious relationship.
OK. Now let's take a look at page 25, line 15 at the solution of yet another
problem.
Friends, Family and Money.
The Solution:
There are many reasons to be a cosigner.
Parents often help their children establish credit by cosigning for them.
But there are risks.
Limit your risks by talking to the lender.
Find out how cosigning will impact your credit rating, and have the lender agree
to notify you of any late or missed payments.
That way you can deal with problems before they get out of hand.
You can even try to limit your liability to the principal and not the interest
owed.
Money talks, but make sure it doesn't stop your relatives and friends from
talking to you!
OK, so we've seen the problem before the break.
You are asked to be a cosigner for someone's loan or mortgage.
Now let's take a look at the solution.
Well, the solution here.
There are many reasons to be a cosigner.
So don't think right away that it's not a good idea to cosign on anything.
There are good reasons to be a cosigner.
Right. There are both good reasons and bad reasons, and we'll take a look at
both.
There are many different reasons.
But parents often help their children establish credit by cosigning for them.
Now Ryan, when we say establish credit, what does that mean?
Well, credit is referring to the number it could possibly be that suggests how
able you are to pay money back.
That's right. So you need to establish that number.
You don't just get to pick that number or create that number.
You have to earn that number.
And as a young adult, it's hard to do that.
So often parents help their children by cosigning so they can maybe get a credit
card so they can start building that number up.
Exactly. So it's actually a very good thing to do.
You can help your children.
And children, you can get a lot of help from your parents whether starting a
credit card or getting a loan.
Now there are other reasons.
Um, parents do help, but there are definitely risks in doing this.
Even though it's good to help your kids, it's good to encourage them and help
them build their credit because you need credit in the future.
If you're ever going to buy a home or buy a car, any large purchase, you do need
good credit for.
Right. So you definitely want to make sure that you're in control of it.
And that's why having a cosigner can definitely help.
But you want to limit the different risks that are involved.
And you can do that by talking to the lender.
OK. So the risks are the problems that might be there.
So you can "limit them." That means you could keep them to a smaller amount,
or you could just be aware of what the risks, the problems could be by just
talking to the lender.
Right. OK. So the lender is the person who is giving the money.
They are making the loan.
And you can talk to them to find out how to avoid any kind of trouble.
How here's... how can you actually do that, Kaylah?
Well, when you talk to the lender, find out how cosigning will impact your
credit rating.
So that's a great piece of advice.
First is you want to help your child or maybe establish their "credit rating."
And that is the number that we were talking about.
Right. We were talking about establishing credit.
And like we said, that could be a number.
If you're talking about a credit rating, that is definitely a number.
That is the number that says how able you are to pay back money.
Right. So you want to help your child establish their credit rating.
But at the same time, you do not want to ruin yours because it takes years and
years to build up good credit and one mistake to completely erase and go to bad
credit.
So you need to make sure this won't affect your credit rating.
Right, because if you are cosigning something, all it takes is one person to do
something wrong and both people get in trouble.
So there's also something you should talk to the lender about. What is that?
That's right. You should have the lender agree to notify you of any late or
missed payments.
Now when you have a loan, you should pay them on time.
They should never be late, and you should never just skip them.
That earns bad credit.
So have the lender let you know if your child or whoever you are cosigning with
is not paying back on time.
OK. It sounds complicated, but trust me, it's really not.
If you talk to the lender, then you can deal with problems before they get out
of hand.
Then that's great.
You want to deal with them before they get out of hand.
And when we use that phrase "out of hand," that means out of control.
Maybe we cannot control it anymore.
We don't know where it started or how to fix it.
Right. And you can even try to limit your liability to the principal and not the
interest owed.
OK. First, let's talk about the meaning of the word liability.
Now "liability" is when you are legally responsible for something.
So if you sign a contract, your liability means you are legally responsible for
whatever is in that contract.
Exactly. And we are talking about words like principal and the money owed.
The "principle" is the money you've paid.
And of course, you want to make sure you don't owe too much money too.
That's right. You want to make sure that you're paying it back on time and not
taking too much in the first place.
Now these have been some wonderful tips.
I think these are great if you're going to lend money or cosign.
Or really, if you're just... you own a business and want to help your friends
and family out, these tips are very great.
Right. These are great tips to avoid problems not only with money but also with
relationships.
All right.
Now we end off by saying: Money talks, but make sure it doesn't stop your
relatives and friends from talking to you.
OK. Make sure you use these tips.
For right now, let's visit the Chat Room.
Yeah, I like Dave.
But they've been talking about marriage for so long.
I mean, he really needs to put his money where his mouth is.
OK, we'll talk about this later.
Goodbye.
What a mess!
Who were you just talking to?
That was my friend Rick.
His daughter Cindy has been dating this guy Dave for years.
She wants to get married, and he says he does too but he keeps putting it off.
That must be really frustrating for her and her father.
Yeah. She's a great girl.
And if he doesn't put his money where his mouth is, he's going to lose her.
Bryan, what does money have to do with this?
Oh, nothing.
I was just using an idiom.
"To put your money where your mouth is" means to act on what you've been saying.
It's easy to talk about doing something.
But when you put money into it, that's more of a commitment.
So putting his money where his mouth is, in this case, means getting married?
That's right.
Hey, Bryan, I've also heard the saying "money talks." Does this saying have a
similar meaning to put your money where your mouth is?
Not really.
When we say "money talks," we're not saying that it proves something or makes a
statement.
We mean that you can use money to get people to do things.
Oh, so "money talks" is sort of like the saying, money is power.
Right.
They both mean that having money makes it easier to influence other people.
Well, even if that's true, I hope money isn't what's stopping Dave from marrying
Cindy.
I hope so too.
I think it's more likely that he's just worried about making such a big
commitment.
Well, let me know how the situation turns out.
I will. Thanks.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And time really flies.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Friends, remember, if it isn't done carefully, dealing with money can spoil even
the strongest of friendships.
That's exactly right.
But that doesn't mean you should never talk with your friends and family about
money simply because you're afraid of disagreeing with them.
You're right, Ryan.
Communication is important in any relationship.
You should make sure you communicate with your friends and loved one, and make
sure you share an understanding about money.
And always keep in mind that while sharing money is a nice thing to do, be wise
and communicate about it.
You'll be glad you did.
So, Ryan, I have to ask you.
Is your business still in trouble?
Well, I actually don't have a business anymore.
I sold it so I could repay my friend.
Wow! Well, I think that was a wise decision.
It's always better to not be in debt, especially when it's to a friend.
Yeah, you're right.
Besides, I found an alternative way to invest my money.
I'm going to buy a house!
Hmm, I just need a cosigner.
Hey, Steve, you could be my cosigner!
Uh oh... friends, we have to go now.
Have a lovely weekend and laugh with us on Monday as we talk about Funny
English.
See you then.
But... Steve, aren't you going to...