Money Under 30

Whether you’re just starting your first “real job” or have been in the workplace for a few years but haven’t gotten around to saving for retirement yet, listen up: it’s never too early to start building a nest egg. Statistically, young workers are the least likely to contribute to a 401(k) or IRA. But the sooner you start saving for retirement, the more compounding interest will help you grow wealthy with time. [...]

Any traders out there? Open an account with Zecco before 9/13/09 and get 20 free trades. [...]

Has a friend or family member ever asked you for a loan? Or, have you ever considered lending money—perhaps through social lending—in order to earn better returns than you can with your savings account? If so, you have probably worried about the risks involved in lending money. For one, you always risk losing some or all of the money you lend. And, if you lend to family or a friend, you risk letting the loan get in the way of your relationship. But if you’re considering lending money (either to help out somebody you trust or for your own financial gain), there are ways to mitigate your risk and ensure a smooth transaction. [...]

When it comes to investing, my advice is simple. Buy index funds and no-load mutual funds and ignore the stock market (and the endless media analysis and speculation on individual stocks). It’s easy enough to understand, but where should starting investors turn for guidance on which funds to choose? Kiplinger’s maintains a list of its favorite 25 mutual funds. Fifteen of those funds are “no-load” (i.e., they don’t charge a sales fee to invest in them). Here they are: [...]

If you, like most Americans, are fed up with the banking system, then social lending might be for you. I believe social lending is the way of the future for both borrowers and investors. And today, when bank savings rates are tiny, the stock market is up and down, and few banks are making loans to even well-qualified borrowers, there has never been a better time to look at social lending networks like LendingClub, Prosper, and Pertuity Direct. [...]

Today is April 1st. And that means you have 15 days left to file taxes if you haven’t already! It also means you still have until April 15th to make individual retirement account (IRA) contributions that can be counted, for tax purposes, as being made last year (2008). Why does that matter? [...]

I have written a lot recently about my strong belief in the concept of social lending—including my own experiences as a borrower with Prosper.

Now that my Prosper loan is almost paid off, I decided to get some experience on the other side of the social lending coin as a lender. Since Prosper is temporarily not accepting new accounts as it awaits SEC registration, I decided to open a lender account with another big player: Lending Club. For those considering doing the same, here’s a step-by-step look at what it takes to open a Lending Club lender account. [...]

You need to be contributing money to a Roth IRA! If don’t have a Roth IRA, aren’t sure, or simply don’t a clue as to what a Roth IRA is—please read on. [...]

Pertuity Direct is a new social lending site where consumers can lend and borrow money directly without the involvement of a traditional bank. In this Pertuity Direct review, I’ll take a look at some of the features and explain how Pertuity compares to other social (or peer-to-peer) lending networks like Lending Club and Prosper. [...]

There is already speculation that this past Monday will mark the bottom of the stock market in our current recession. What do I think? I don’t care. And, if you want to consider yourself a savvy investor, neither should you. In fact, when asked recently where he thinks the stock market will go over the next few years, investor demigod Warren Buffet retorted that he didn’t know, and that it doesn’t matter. [...]