Tax Rules for Selling Your Home
Until recently, if you purchased a home, you were required to keep track of the original cost and the cost of improvements to the home for tax purposes. Then, when you sold the home, if you made a profit [more…]
How to Fix Air Leaks around Your Home
Air leaks mean excessive energy loss — and cost. Summer or winter, you don’t want your house to leak air, especially when you spend your hard-earned dollars warming or cooling it. [more…]
529 College Savings Plan Contribution Limits
Contributing to a 529 plan may seem quite simple — you write the check or get the money automatically withdrawn from your checking account, and those funds get deposited into the 529 plan. [more…]
How to Plan Meals Economically
Whether you’re feeding yourself or a family, mealtimes present a challenge when you want to be economical without sacrificing your favorites. You want tasty meals that everyone will enjoy and that won’t [more…]
How to Stay Warm during Winter for Less Money
If your heating bills are getting you down, consider these suggestions for keeping your home warm without breaking the bank. Stay cozy-warm and still save money on your heating bills: [more…]
How to Get Out of Debt
If you’re living with a large debt, putting together a budget — an itemized account of income and expenses — is only the first step to getting your financial house in order. You may need to take some bold [more…]
Buying an Owner-Occupied HUD Home
First-time buyers often finance their homes through the federal government, primarily by way of FHA-insured loans. When the property owner fails to make mortgage payments on the property, FHA initiates [more…]
How to Use Quicken to Track Your Loans
Quicken has the ability to keep track of all of your loans — not just how much you owe, but how much you pay each month, how much of that payment is interest, and how much of that payment reduces the amount [more…]
The Types of Bankruptcy
If you’re filing for bankruptcy, your basic choice is between a bankruptcy that doesn’t involve any type of repayment plan (Chapter 7 bankruptcy) and one that does [more…]
Taking Steady Investment First Steps
Before you invest in anything, you first must make sure that you have a strong economic foundation. If you don't, your situation is like building a brick house on shifting sand. You need to ensure that [more…]
How to Travel on the Cheap
All travel seems to have the same basic expenses: food, accommodations, and fun activities. What you spend on these travel costs can amount to a lot or a little. The difference depends on where you go, [more…]
Foreign Exchange Markets: 24-Hour Trading
The foreign exchange (forex) market is open and active 24 hours a day from Monday morning in New Zealand through Friday night in New York. At any given moment, currency trading desks in dozens of global [more…]
Liquidity and the Foreign Exchange Market
The foreign exchange (forex) market is often described as the world's most liquid financial market, and that's true. But it doesn't mean that currencies aren't subject to varying liquidity conditions that [more…]
Savings Bonds Pros and Cons
Returns on savings bonds are so low that they’ll never make you rich. In fact, returns are so low that large pension funds and other big investors don’t purchase savings bonds. However, for many individuals [more…]
The Evolution of Day Trading
With the advent of the telegraph, stocktraders could receive daily price quotes. Many cities had bucket shops — storefront businesses where traders could bet on changes in stock and commodity prices. They [more…]
How to Expand Your Wardrobe on the Cheap
You can add to your wardrobe without going into debt. With these simple wardrobe-expanding tricks, you can keep your entire family stylishly clothed and stay in the black. [more…]
What Is a Trust?
A trust agreement is a document that spells out the rules that you want followed for property held in trust for your beneficiaries. Common objectives for trusts are to reduce the estate tax liability, [more…]
How to Develop Good Shopping Habits
Shopping can often feel like a black hole on your finances. To keep your shopping trips from turning into a spending frenzy, use these habits and think about how you can spend more thoughtfully. [more…]
Considering Annuity Investments for Retirement
As baby boomers enter retirement age, estate planning and sound investing loom large as they plan for a happy retirement and for leaving their children a legacy. Annuities offer a way to invest your money [more…]
Examining Fixed Deferred Annuity Investments
A fixed deferred annuity is the insurance industry's version of a savings account. It helps you earn a modest rate of interest safely and allows you to postpone the payment of income taxes on your earnings [more…]
The Art of Short Selling
Traditionally, investors and traders want to buy low and sell high. They buy a position in a security and then wait for the price to go up. It's not a bad way to make money, especially because if the country's [more…]
Stick to Investment Basics in a Down Market
Market turmoil causes investors to question their own judgment and seek different approaches, but the only thing investors really need to do is follow some fundamental principles. Consider the following [more…]
How to Save Money in the Kitchen
Every tip helps when you’re trying to save money in the kitchen, so here’s a list of easy ideas to help cut the cost of family meals. [more…]
How to Save Money by Cooking at Home
Eating out often can zap your budget, but busy schedules make it difficult to find the time to cook healthy, tasty, and economical home-cooked meals. The suggestions here can help. [more…]
The Cost of Bad Credit
Bad credit costs you in more than the extra interest you have to pay. Bad credit can lead to reduced opportunities, family stress, and having to associate with lenders who see you as a mark. Here are some [more…]
