Welcome back, friends to wake up a chat and
wake up Machado. And now for your right,
whether it's your gym membership, a cell phone contract
or an extended warranty, getting locked into those back
contracts are frustrating and it's very, very costly.
So we wanted to share some advice to avoid some
potential risks involved. Take a look, a contract
is a legally binding agreement and a recent study found
that 13% of people don't even fully read the agreement
before they sign it. And if you don't know
what you're signing, you could lose money on your
home. And so much more what I call a
toxic contract is something that has the potential to derail
your life. If you sign it without reading it
, no amount of clever lawyering can get you out
of a bad contract if you sign it without reading
it. And Margaret Krosa is an asset protection attorney
. She says even your cell phone and gym contract
need to be read carefully. We all sign small
contracts myself included without really reading it. And we
think that it's not really a big deal. Well
, it can be a big deal at the very
least. It can be annoying reading the fine print
on how to cancel or if money is owed is
key and could save you hundreds down the line.
It could also save you time speaking with a customer
rep about issues later and when it comes to financial
or home loans, make sure you understand how it
may impact your credit. If you co sign any
type of loan including a student loan, the entire
amount of that debt goes on your debt to asset
ratio and it will immediately reduce your credit score.
So at the very least, if you decide to
co sign the loan, know what you're getting into
bottom line. Don't feel pressure to sign if you're
filing a joint return with your spouse, make sure
you know what you're signing and don't leave a lot
of blank spaces in a contract, mark it with
an X initial it to make sure that no one
can add extra content later on. I'm Janice Lieberman
and that's the real deal. All right, thanks
to Janice Lieberman for that report. Now, it
is astonishing how many of us unknowingly find ourselves trapped
in unfavorable contracts. And it's a reminder that we
need to be aware. We also be proactive when
we're entering into any agreement out there. Let's talk
about the figure in the story that 13% of people
don't read a contract before they sign it. I'm
actually surprised that number is that low. I know
, uh, do you read every single contract?
I would say yes. Yes. I mean,
even if it's not the smallest detail, I will
at least comb through it and make sure I know
exactly what's going on. But even, I mean
, even think of the Apple ones that you do
, for instance, when apple sends you new terms
of agreement and you just click it and you don't
even know for all, you know, I mean
, I obviously like all of us click it,
but it just goes to show none of us are
reading a lot of the fine detail on those things
. And it's important to understand that not all contracts
are created equal and something like that seems like a
simple agreement can have major consequences if you do find
yourself in a bad situation. There are some things
you can do like the report said, always advocate
for yourself, speak up, discuss the terms of
the contract with the uh customer service representative and never
forget that some contracts will allow you to modify them
. And this can be an opportunity to negotiate those
high fees. Absolutely. Indeed.