Consumer Confidence Index Effect on the Economic Activity

The markets react instantly to variations in the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) that is used for measuring the level of consumer confidence in the economy. The index takes into account the consumer expenditure and savings. It is an important economic indicator as it depends on activities that account for more than two-thirds of the total economic activity. [Read more…]

Greenspan Acknowledges Beginning of Turnaround

As everyone cheers the news of the biggest jobs creation in three years, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve has acknowledged and acceded that the economy is indeed on the mend, as indicated by these improvements. The 9.7% unemployment rate has been the cause of concern in the recent months even as the activity in most sectors showed signs of revival. [Read more…]

Stocks Show Heartening Rise as Consumer Optimism Grows

As signs of improvement on the employment scene become evident, the optimism in the stock market appears to be growing too. Increased demand in the service industry is contributing to confidence among investors.

A government report, which was released late last week showed how the employment scenario was finally witnessing a change for the better after a long haul of three subdued years. In March, the biggest job gain in the year was recorded. Although more private employers were seen adding to their employee roll as opposed to the government affiliated organizations, optimism has not been dampened by this fact. [Read more…]

Foreclosure Prevention Gets New Impetus with HAFA Plan

The Government’s Making Home Affordable plan gets another makeover with the addition of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives or HAFA. Though many have benefited from the affordable home incentives and provisions, the program has not really met expectations and it has largely failed to revive interest in the housing market.

The Obama administration is still fervently making policy changes and bringing in new schemes to make it easier to own a home. [Read more…]

Understanding Hidden Costs of Credit Cards

Credit cards can prove to be very expensive if you do not handle them cautiously. When you take a card, there would be various hidden costs that you need to understand. Most people ignore the terms and conditions document that they get with the card, but this could prove to be quite costly. [Read more…]

Spending Your Tax Refund Wisely

You could be among the 90% of American taxpayers who are going to get tax refunds this year from the IRS. Although you might be tempted to blow the money on a shopping spree or a holiday, don’t forget that the economy has still not recovered fully. Spend your tax refund wisely so that you get maximum benefit out of the money. Here is some advice on spending your tax refund money. [Read more…]

The Truth About Free Credit Reports Offered Online

You would have come across many tempting advertisements of websites that claim to offer free credit reports. Be cautious before you sign up for any such service as it may not be the credit report that you are looking for.

Only the Federal Trade Commission gives three free credit reports every year. You can get one credit report each from the three main credit reporting companies, Transunion, Experian and Equifax without any charges once in a year. These free credit reports are available on annualcreditreport.com. [Read more…]

Geithner Optimistic About Chinese Currency Policy Shift

Following heated debates about China’s suppressed currency value, the US government seems to have arrived at some sort of truce with the trading partner for now.

Treasury Secretary Geithner recently made an announcement placing China’s currency policy in a favorable light. The announcement comes after President Barack Obama’s meeting with the Chinese President Hu Jintao, leading to the impression that the outcome of the meeting may be positive to some extent. [Read more…]

Bankruptcies Spike in March

The National Bankruptcy Research Center recently released data that showed 149,268 personal bankruptcies filed in the month of March this year. The American Bankruptcy Institute points out that this figure is the highest ever since the Bankruptcy Code overhaul in 2005. [Read more…]

Filing Your Tax Return Need Not Be a Taxing Task

As every tax season draws to a close, most Americans inevitably find themselves stressed out about filing their returns and getting them done in time. Many a time last minute tax calculation and filing can cause oversight and error, and the taxpayer may end up paying more than he or she needs to or vice verse. To make tax filing a less painful experience, a few tips can help. [Read more…]

The Three Basic Mortgage Options for Home Buyers

There are three basic types of house mortgage loans offered by lenders. Understanding these basic mortgage types will help you choose the best option for financing your purchase.

Fixed interest mortgage is the traditional mortgage loan in which the loan is amortized for the entire loan period using a constant pre-decided interest rate. You have to pay equal monthly installments for the loan period. For the first few years, the interest payments are front-loaded and only a small fraction of the principal is paid from these payments. [Read more…]

Building Your Retirement Kitty Using IRA

Before you retire, you should build some funds that can last your life after retirement. After all those years of hard work, who wouldn’t a comfortable and hassle free life. That is why I highly recommend that you give financial planning for retirement a serious thought and plan well for the sunset years. [Read more…]

Is Inflation Your Friend or Enemy?

Most people consider inflation as a big problem and high inflation does have a bad impact on the overall economy. However, there are some financial benefits that you get either indirectly or directly because of inflation. Knowing the positive and negative effects of inflation can help you in adopting an investment strategy that will give you good returns irrespective of inflation. [Read more…]

Corporate Bonds Explained

Companies often borrow money by issuing bonds when they need funds for a new project or for expanding their business. Any purchaser of a corporate bond is merely lending to the company for interest, which is paid at the end of the specified period. It is usually a low risk investment as compared to stocks, though the failure of the company may lead to non-payment. [Read more…]

New to Investing Do Trial Runs Using a Mock Portfolio

Various sites such as Yahoo! Finance and AOL allow users to build a mock portfolio online. In a mock portfolio, the user makes imaginary investments in various stocks. These site tools map out the losses and gains on the stock investment of the user, which can later be used for analysis of the investment strategy by the user. It gives an idea of how the investment would have done in the real stock market. [Read more…]

Retirement Planning for Late Starters

For those who have ignored the fact that at some point of time they will no longer draw a monthly paycheck, a looming retirement date can give nightmares. While it is certainly not advisable to leave retirement planning until the last, it is also true that it is never ‘too late’ to start doing something about it. After all, some retirement fund is better than none at all. [Read more…]

Financial Considerations for the Most Expensive Years of Your Life

Retirement is inevitable. There will be a time in your life when you wouldn’t be working any longer in your regular job. But did you know that the post retirement period can be quite expensive, especially because of medical costs? [Read more…]

Understanding Interest Rate Fluctuations

In order to invest your money in the right instruments, it is important to understand what rate your investments will grow at. Financial institutions offer interest rates based on numerous factors. Knowing about how interest rates are fixed can help you in making sound investments and in estimating the returns that you will get by investing in a particular instrument. [Read more…]

Hedge Fund Managers Make Billions

Hedge find managers seem to have benefit from the strong recovery in the financial sector and the government coming to the aid of large banks on the brink of collapsing. According to industry reports, managers of leading hedge funds raked in billions as fees and capital gains last year. [Read more…]

Are You Living on the Edge of a Financial Disaster?

When I see people around me making huge expenses despite their mediocre income, I always worry about how close they are to a financial disaster. Although many people have become more conservative after the financial crisis, others simply refuse to learn. [Read more…]

Do You Know What Your Saving Goals Are?

We are often told that we should allocate some of our income to savings. Some financial experts even come up with how much that allocation should be, and arbitrary numbers like 10% or 15% are recommended.

I have to say I don’t really understand this. How can they create a general rule about savings when all of us have a unique financial situation. And unless you know exactly what you are saving for, how can you decide how much to save? For all you know, you may just be better off spending some of that money now instead of keeping it for future. [Read more…]

Manhattan Housing Market Shows Signs of Recovery

After almost two years of deep cuts in both sales and prices, there are signs that the housing market in Manhattan is finally stabilizing. The sales numbers are much higher as compared to what they were a year ago, and the increasing demand is ensuring that the price remains stable. [Read more…]

Payrolls Rise in March as the Economy Starts to Recover

There is finally some good news on the employment front. Data from the Labor Department showed that payrolls rose steeply in March, the third increase in the last five months.

Data showed that Payrolls rose by 162,000 last month as the economy recovery picked up pace and employers showed more confidence. This is the largest increase in payrolls since March 2007, and the report was welcomed by President Obama, who said it was the best news in the last two years. [Read more…]

Can You Rely on Online Bank Statements?

Gone are the days when you had to retain every single record of your dealings with financial companies, utility companies, your employer, and countless other entities. In today’s world most of the data is stored online and you can be much more selective about which paperwork you have to retain and which you can throw away. [Read more…]

Can Canceling Credit Cards Damage Your Credit Score?

Canceling credit cards seems like a great idea to curtail all the impulsive shopping and splurging. When these pieces of plastic are adding unnecessary dollars to the monthly bills, many think of getting rid of the temptation by canceling their credit cards. But canceling credit cards can impact more than just the spending patterns. They can affect how the card holder would be perceived by future lenders. [Read more…]

Saving Money for an Anxiety Free Retirement

The recession has perhaps hit retirees the worst as they were forced to sit back and watch their life savings dissolve right before their eyes without being able to do anything about it.

The typical problems faced by retirees- decreased mobility, more likelihood of debilities and many others are hugely exacerbated when an additional stress factor is added to the mix – that of worrying if there is enough money left to handle basic needs such as being able to attend to emergencies. These anxieties can be taken care of to a large extent by tweaking the retirement savings plan during the earning years. [Read more…]

Benefits and Disadvantages of Roth 401(k) Plan

Roth 401(k) is a retirement savings plan which combines the features of Roth IRA and a traditional 401(k). If you are expecting an increase in tax rate when you retire, then Roth 401(k) plan is likely to be beneficial as the tax distributions after the maturity age will not be taxable. Also while switching employers, Roth 401(k) plans can be rolled over to a Roth IRA or to another Roth 401(k), which is a great flexibility that you can use. [Read more…]

Choosing a Good Short Term Investment Option

If you are considering a short term investment, then you need to look at various factors such as ease and mode of accessing the money, interest rate and the penalties attached to early withdrawals. You should compare advantages and disadvantages of different short term investment options before you settle for one. [Read more…]

J.P. Morgan Boss Criticizes Regulation

J.P. Morgan Chase chief executive, Jamie Dimon, said in his annual letter to the shareholders that the credit card regulations that came into effect recently have negatively affected the company. He said the regulations hurt the company’s ability to offer credit to a large number of its customers. [Read more…]

No Consensus on Financial Reform

After the health care reform, the next major item on the agenda of the Obama administration is reforming the financial system. With the catastrophic events of the last two years fresh in the memory, no one can disagree on how important it is to make the financial system more robust and avoid future crises. [Read more…]

Mortgage Market to Remain Stable with New Investors Filling the Fed Void

Investors are wary of the direction that the housing market may take, now that the Fed is no longer supporting it. However, analysts believe that the sector will not be subjected to much turbulence in the form of soaring interest rates because other investors who have been waiting in the wings for sound investment opportunities will fill in the void. [Read more…]

Basic Guide to a Certificate of Deposit

A certificate of deposit is a low risk investment and gives higher returns than saving accounts. It operates by taking a certain amount as investment for a fixed period that can be anything from one month to even more than five years. CDs are issued by banks and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures them up to $250,000, which means they come with a guarantee from the U.S. government. [Read more…]

It May be Time to Change Your Investment Strategy

The old wisdom about investing your money included avoiding touts, looking for low cost investments, being consistent, and keeping a diversified portfolio. However, there are certain changes that you should bring in your investment strategy to adapt to the changes in the economic situation. [Read more…]

Avoiding Common Mistakes when Filing Tax Returns

Filing tax returns is a laborious and complicated task that we have to perform every year. There are some simple mistakes that are often made by people while filing tax returns, which can lead to delays in refunds, extra procedural formalities, hassles and stressful meetings with an IRS representative. The good news is that you can avoid this headache by following some simple guidelines. [Read more…]