Investing money in fluctuating products like stocks and currency today is quite risky. Hence, most investors have switched to high-interest savings accounts, checking accounts, and Certificate of Deposits, which are comparatively safer. The returns, however, are not so high. They are low, in fact (below 2%). Interest rates are low, and they aren’t expected to [...]

Most personal finance blogs would advise you to start investing today, which is certainly the best piece of advice in most cases. However, your investment decisions must be based on other factors including your personal goals, current financial status, and so on. You cannot start investing simply because your broker informed ‘buy this, it’s a [...]

For most of us, especially Americans, saving even 10% of our income seems to be an impossible task. This doesn’t mean we don’t try. We try hard, but there are many forces working against out his goal. These forces are inflation, job loss, not enough opportunities, unpredicted circumstances, and so on. Saving is a difficult [...]

Most of us are done with filing our income tax returns. Some have done it electronically, some via post. However, each one of us can check our tax refund status on the IRS official website. On the top of the page, the link ‘Where’s My Refund’ directs you to the area where you can check [...]

There are probably many reasons to hate BP, but we missed the most important one. No, I am not talking about spoiled beaches, death of birds, environmental damage, or wastage of natural resources. I am talking about the way we have been used to overreacting due to the spill. How much, I wonder, we would [...]

The Fed government is trying hard to boost retail sales. There are discount tags on all the items, and loans are easily available (except mortgage) to make purchases. However, thanks to the recent economic crisis, people have started realizing the importance of money. Many lost their jobs, many were downgraded, which helped people to learn [...]

I have written enough about gold investment. ‘Gold is good’, ‘Gold can bean inflation’, ‘It’s a good investment to diversify your investment’. So, why do I write it over and over again? Because the value of gold changes over time, with change in related factors, and the effect should be visible in your portfolio. The [...]

When you bet against stocks’ upward movement, it’s short selling. In this method, you must borrow stocks from your brokerage company, sell them at a higher price, and buy back at lower price. You (short selling traders) can benefit only when the market or a stock declines due to unexpected consequences. The method is of [...]

One of the best ways to save money on credit cards is by doing a balance transfer to a 0% interest credit card. What’s a 0% Interest Credit Card? Many companies introduce credit cards with 0% interest rate on new purchases and balance transfers. These offers, however, are valid only for a limited period (usually [...]