Do you know what the real foundation of investing is? It has nothing to do with stocks, bonds or mutual funds. It has everything to do with emergency funds.
How much time will your car, your mortgage, and retirement saving cost you?
When my father lost his once-lucrative business, I had to start working in order to earn the dollars to buy the things I wanted.
Knowing where your money goes is the first step to being liquid. Recently we had a post about creating a savings plan. In order to do that, you need to start with a spending plan; today we'll delve more deeply into the necessary steps of creating a spending plan so you can live the life of financial freedom.
While new credit only accounts for 10% of your FICO score, it really can't be ignored. If you're young and don't have a lengthy history, opening up a new account can hurt your score as too much credit is generally considered risky. If you have what might be construed as too many accounts, then the thought is that it's too much to keep up with, especially all those different payment dates.
More than ever, with new banking regulations, banks want to pitch their products to college students. It seems that a college student's account has a major impact on the bank's earnings.
Cleaning the house is a chore; it falls in the category of yard work. It HAS to be done, the question remains: who will do it: you, or will you pay someone to do it for you?
Before stepping onto campus for the first time, there are three things every Freshman should know about finances. It's important to get aquainted with a these three financial instruments; they'll not only be important throughout college, but the rest of your life. They'll serve you well if you serve them well, but before you can begin to serve them well, you must understand them.
Although the length of your credit history only weighs in at 15% of your score, it is still vitally important. Don't confuse this with your payment history; your payment history is the quality part, while your payment length is the quantity part.
Today is a day to stop and take pause remembering September 11th. Ten years ago our country was attacked and nearly 3,000 victims were killed that day. Like other moments in our lives, we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we received the news.
Social responsibility takes many forms; in general, it means acting to fulfil the obligation to benefit society at large. This could mean going green, doing chores for the elderly neighbor or simply picking up trash in a public park, especially if you weren't the perpetrator. This reminds me of a prayer I recite at Friday night services: "Pray as if everything depended on G-d, Act as if everything depended on you."
So many folks are rethinking the value of a college education. As a matter of fact, we've recently had a post on the pros and cons of a college degree. I've always felt, no matter where the education comes from, it's something that can never be taken away from you.
Today, more than ever, consumers are using debit cards; as a matter of fact, they are swiftly becoming the payment of choice over checks (so 1900's), cash, or credit cards. They have the advantages of credit cards as you don't have to write checks all over town (increasing your exposure to identity theft) or carry a ton of cash. They also have the advantage over credit cards in that they won't put you into debt, unless, you overdraw your checking account and incur overdraft fees.
College tuition is increasing at a rate double that of general inflation. In 2010 the annual tuition for a public four-year college was $16,000, which was up 6.1% from 2009. The cost of a private four-year college was up 4.3% from 2009 to 2010, coming in at a staggering $37,000.
Perhaps your parents took you to work when you were a child; if they did, hopefully you learned from that experience that money doesn't grow on trees nor does it come from the ATM. You have to trade your time and talent for dollars.
In today's unstable market environment, it's too easy to let our pre-historic brains take over and follow the herd; that's what fight or flight is all about. When this happens, the investor typically has a tendency to sell when investments are beaten down, and buy when they've been too high for too long. For instance, you sell your stock at a loss, keep it in a money market account where it's not keeping up with inflation, then go back into the market when it's been high for a long time.
Access to student loans has been the path, and the only path, to higher education for many students, escpecially those who want to attend prestigious private universities. In 2008, 60% of college students carried some form of student loan and low-interest student loans from the federal government have been a huge source for funding; however, with the upcoming deficit reduction, this could be an area that is cut.
More than 50% of the 50-somethings surveyed now say they won't be financially prepared for retirement. If you're 20-something and reading this, then let this be your wake-up call. You can never start too soon. The earlier you start, the better off you'll be, and you'll be grateful you won't have to work until about two minutes before you die.
As we mentioned in a previous post, the Federal Reserve prohibited banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection which took effect in August, 2010. Despite this, for those who do opt-in to the program, there's no limit to the amount of the fee and number of fees PER DAY can vary from bank to bank. According to the Consumer Federation of America, some banks have tacked on additional fees.
When stores moved from downtown to the suburbs it became easier to make purchases, as the retailers were just around the corner. Now, with the internet, they're next door...literally...in the next room. In a previous post we talked about saving money online. Now we'll give you some tips to keep from spending online altogether.