Shopping for a mortgage can be intimidating. There are thousands of mortgage lenders and hundreds of ways lenders can tweak home loans to distort their real costs. You’re also facing the excitement of buying a new home and you may feel vulnerable … [Read more...]
The New Credit Card Rules and You
February 23, 2010 by
The CARD Act—a set of new regulations designed to limit credit card trickery—went into effect this week even though Congress proposed the act over a year ago. Since then, there’s been a lot of talk about what this all means for people like you … [Read more...]
Four Common Investing Mistakes
February 17, 2010 by
Savvy investors know that a single mistake can wipe out months—even years—of solid returns. And beginning investors often make their share of the same four common blunders. In fact, tactics for identifying and avoiding these investing missteps … [Read more...]
Watch Out For The Alternative Minimum Tax
February 16, 2010 by
Picture this: You’ve just completed your tax return for the year. You’re stoked because you qualified for a ton of deductions this year, so you’re getting a huge refund. You are about to send of your tax return and sit back and wait for a hefty … [Read more...]
The Secret to a Lower Credit Card APR
February 12, 2010 by
Do you have a credit card that raised your interest rate within the last year? You’re not alone. Credit card companies raised nearly everybody’s APRs because as of this month, the CARD Act prohibits them from doing so again without jumping … [Read more...]
Itemized Deductions: A Beginner’s Guide
February 11, 2010 by
Have you ever wondered if you can itemize deductions on your tax return? Actually, have you ever wondered what, exactly, itemizing means? If so, you’ve come to the right place. I’m going to teach you the basics of itemizing: What itemizing is, … [Read more...]
Economic Bubbles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and Why You Should Care
February 10, 2010 by
You don’t need a Ph.D. in economics to know that economic bubbles---and their ensuing POPS!---can take us all for a wild ride. Bubbles occur anytime asset prices appreciate unrealistically; and they happen more often than we think. In the … [Read more...]
Is Investing Gambling?
February 8, 2010 by
There is a thin line that differentiates investing and gambling. We might consider professional gamblers---poker players, for example---a breed of speculative investors. Of course, we might also call investment professionals who take wild risks … [Read more...]
When to Sell a Stock
February 4, 2010 by
To make a successful investment, you must know when to buy and when you should sell. The reality is that there are only a handful of companies worth holding onto for long periods of time—and there are very few investors who are perceptive enough to … [Read more...]
