The major chunk of the driving population comprises of senior citizen and retirees. Some require a car to fuel their leisure needs, while others acquire it as a reward for the long years of hard work. Auto loans help you not only in saving your substantial fixed income, but they also act as a medium to procure your car faster as against buying a car with cash. However, the benefits of car financing are far greater than that.
What is the Key Benefit of applying for an Auto Loan?
Enables you to buy a newer car
Whenever any amount is spent on repair of an old car, it usually burns a hole in your pocket before it needs mending again. With the help of an auto loan, you can quit spending on repairing and invest the same money into a newer car that will run for a longer period. The best part about it is that the cost is spread over a longer time frame, making it easier to pay. Also, to add to it, planning of finance is in check so you know exactly the amount of payments left for the loan to be repaid.
How can you obtain an Auto Loan if you are a Senior Citizen or a Retiree?
Down payment as a means to shorten the repayment period
Down payment refers to the initial payment on acquisition of an automobile and the remaining amount is paid through monthly payments. That way when the down payment is made, the overall amount on the loan gets reduced substantially. Thereby, the amount charged on interest is decreased and the monthly payments are mitigated at the same time. It surely reduces the financial burden in the later years, for the senior citizen. In the end, a big down payment points towards one thing – an early mortgage free life.
Advantage of a good credit score
A good credit score can be the decision maker that determines whether a loan will be approved or rejected. Many a times during an application for an auto loan, credit score and repayment history can pose to be a challenge. Due to absence of a fixed income, senior citizens may not be the most preferred group of customers. However, a constant inflow of social security income and other retirement perks prove to be credible documentation for acquiring an auto loan. A good credit score can be a strength in not just establishing goodwill but also negotiating a lower interest rate overall.
Debt-to-income ratio
Once a senior citizen applies for an auto loan, they may discover that a creaseless credit history and growing retirement accounts are not sufficient. More often than not, lenders look for customers with a steady income. This is to maintain equilibrium between the debt owed to the lender and income earned by the senior citizen. Thus, disclosing income records becomes essential in obtaining an auto loan. With multiple incomes that are healthy, getting approval for an auto loan becomes easy.
Fixed APR
As in any other loan, variable and fixed rates are the parameters on which the interest rate of an auto loan is based. When compared to other loans, one of the major advantages of car financing with a fixed rate APR or Annual Percentage Rate will be that the amount will be constant throughout the term of the loan. This ensures that you will be shielded from any fluctuations in the interest rate. Therefore, the uniform repayment including the fixed APR induces more confidence in opting for an auto loan than other type of loans. Moreover, in your retirement years, it seems best to go for low risk fixed rate loans.
So if you are curbing your desire to buy your dream car or simply holding back, when it actually is a necessity, applying for auto loans seems to be the ideal move.