Investing in Corporate Bonds
Oh sure, the strength of our economy and the vigor of our industry rely much on the progress of science, the foundations of democracy, and the labors of a motivated and educated workforce. But what [more…]
Valuation Ratios for Investment Analysis
With valuation ratios, a company's stock price enters your investment analysis. Valuation ratios include the ever-popular price to earnings (P/E) ratio, along with price to sales [more…]
Seasonal Grocery Sales
Many food items go on sale at regular times from year to year. Throughout the year, various food items are seasonally offered at discounts. For example, March is National Frozen Food Month in the United [more…]
The Benefits of Mutual Fund Investment in an Uncertain Economy
People invest in mutual funds for four fundamental reasons: professional management, diversification, convenience, and marketability. The following sections outline these benefits, which make mutual funds [more…]
What to Include in a Simple Will
Almost always, a simple will is the will of choice for you. A simple will is a single legal document that applies only to you (unlike a joint will for you and your spouse). A simple will describes [more…]
Short-Selling in an Uncertain Economy
Short selling involves selling a stock you don’t actually own in order to profit from a decline in price. So when you short a stock, you want the value to drop. [more…]
Investing for Income
Investing for income means investing in stocks that will provide you with regular money payments (dividends). Income stocks may not offer stellar growth, but they're good for a steady infusion of money [more…]
How to Defer or Discharge Student Loan Debt
Under special circumstances, you can receive a deferment on the repayment of your federal student loans. You may even get your entire student loan debt forgiven [more…]
Taxing Your Income from Day Trading
Income seems like a straightforward concept, but little about taxation is straightforward. To the IRS, the money you make as a day trader falls into different categories, with different tax rates, different [more…]
How to Use Coupons Wisely
The key to effective coupon use is to be organized about the process. Every coupon you need but can’t easily locate is cash slipping through your fingers. [more…]
Dealing with Payroll Taxes in Quicken 2005
Make no mistake. Uncle Sam wants the money you withhold from an employee's payroll check for federal income taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. Uncle Sam also wants the payroll taxes you owe — such as [more…]
Entering a Check into the Quicken 2007 Register
To start working with Quicken, head to the Cash Flow Center, which looks and works (sort of) like a Web page. The Cash Flow Center provides clickable hyperlinks to some of the most popular banking and [more…]
Examining Four Key Types of Investment Ratios
To research possible investments, you read financial reports, prospectuses, and all manner of number- and jargon-filled analyses. Investors use different ratios to boil that information down into usable [more…]
How to Use Leftovers
If you use a little creativity, leftovers can be fun, tasty, inexpensive meal starters. By camouflaging the leftovers from meal to meal, even your pickiest eaters will have trouble recognizing the roasted [more…]
Recording Credit Card Transactions and Payments with Microsoft Money
Besides leaving credit cards at home, one way to keep credit card spending under control is to diligently record charges as you make them. Watching the amount that you owe grow larger and larger in the [more…]
How to Dispute Your Debt with a Debt Collector
You’re contacted by a debt collector. You don’t agree that you owe that much — or anything at all! What to do next to save your credit from crashing?
Send the debt collector a letter disputing it within [more…]
Trading or Investing: Technical Analysis
Technical analysis is the study of how securities prices behave and how to exploit that information to make money while avoiding losses. The technical style of trading is opportunistic. Your immediate [more…]
Profitability Ratios for Investment Analysis
Profitability ratios form a core set of bottom-line ratios crucial to all investment analysis. Profitability ratios are typically based on net earnings, but variations will occasionally use cash flow or [more…]
Computing Simple Interest and Annual Rates of Yields
Calculating interest can seem complex, especially when the terms "rate" and "yield" are involved. Right next to the annual percentage rate (APR) you often find the annual percentage yield [more…]
Ask Debt Collectors for Proof of Your Debt
When a debt collector contacts you about a debt, he must send a written statement of your right to request written verification of the debt and your right to dispute the debt. [more…]
Look Closely at Your Credit Card Finance Charges
Some credit card companies offer lower interest rates if you transfer balances from another credit card to a new account. And if you write a check to borrow cash against your credit card, that amount can [more…]
Requirements for Using Savings Bonds for College Expenses
To save for college tax-free using either Series EE or Series I savings bonds, the owner needs to be at least 24 years old on the first day of the month when the bond is issued. There are no exceptions [more…]
Setting Up a Credit Card Account in Quicken 2006
If you want to track credit card spending and balances with Quicken 2006, you must set up a special credit card account. (In comparison, you use bank accounts to track other things, such as the money that [more…]
Covering Top Ways to Invest in Commodities
Because the commodities markets are so wide and deep, you have a number of investment vehicles to access these markets. A common misconception among investors is that you can only trade commodities by [more…]
How to Manage Your Money by Setting Financial Goals
The best way to avoid financial problems is to establish financial goals and a household budget to help achieve them. Your financial goals should be specific, realistic, time based, and flexible. As you [more…]
