Just Say No!
Telemarketers call and say I need credit card loss protection insurance. They just need my approval and they will send out the free trial – no risk kit. Sometimes they offer the first year free, but the renewal payment is automatic. The “free kit” for credit card loss protection is a place for [...]
Ya Gotta Eat
There are a lot of costs involved in going to college. Besides tuition, books, and housing (which we will get to in due course), you are going to want to eat – some, at least. Some scholarships are set up to pay for expenses beyond tuition, and even without financial aid, you [...]
In response to the economic crisis, Congressional Democrats unveiled H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the Stimulus bill. After several weeks of debate, a $787 billion package filled with an array of funding for government healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure programs was agreed upon.
The Stimulus bill passed on a party line vote, with all but three Senate Republicans opposing the bill, and was signed into law on February 17, 2009. I strongly opposed H.R. 1 for three primary reasons.
My employer sponsors a 401k plan with investment options in company stock or selected mutual funds. There are good reasons to not put all of your retirement investments in company stock, but the mutual funds offered in the traditional plan may not cover all the investment vehicles you want to use. Please be aware that this traditional “Prototype” fund may not be your only choice.
For example, Fidelity’s “Non-Prototype” BrokerageLink™ program allows investments in stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and more, depending on your experience and expertise.
If you haven’t priced life insurance lately, you probably want to take a fresh look. Mortality experience has improved and rates have fallen. The most common need for life insurance is to replace lost earnings that would have supported your family. If you plan to retire (and who doesn’t?), your need for life insurance will reduce over time – the closer you get to retirement. While there are purposes for other kinds of life insurance, consider term products to meet temporary needs. If you truly have a decreasing need for life insurance, you may be interested in annual renewable term life insurance and gradually reducing the death benefit over time.
If you have high interest debt, have quit using charge cards irresponsibly and have started working the debt snowball, but want to see even faster results toward being debt free, here are some less common suggestions for ways to deal with the high interest debt. Some of these just exchange one kind of debt for [...]
Investors look for ways to make money in return for use of their money. There seem to be no limits on the kinds of investments that can be thought up. Business cycles show up in interest rates, economic growth (Gross Domestic Product [GDP]), unemployment, monetary growth, and inflation. In the U.S. our banking system is regulated by the federal government which delegated much of the oversight and administration to the Federal Reserve (the Fed) central banking system. Rest assured, the government is taking care of things for you.
