Personal Finance and Investing

I have recently read a number of articles about the businesses which are being hit the hardest by the current downturn in US and well as the global economy.

This got me thinking about the businesses that should be affected, even though apparently some of them aren’t.

Giant Gas Guzzling SUVs: Not only are they excessively expensive up front, but then there is the cost of the copious amounts a petroleum based fuel that they regularly consume. With all of the advancements in the world today, one of the car companies should be able to make a vehicle that seats eight, has room for a few suitcases, and still gets decent fuel economy. T

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Americans give up 459 vacation days every year

According to data released in a 2009 vacation study, US adults who only receive an average of 13 vacation days per year, typically leave three days unused. When considering that the US Bureau of Labor & Statistics has recorded approximately 153 million employed Americans, this means that each year an average of 459 million vacation days are going unused in the United States.

The fact that people are not using all of their vacation days is well documented and the statistics are staggering.

“Vacations are not a luxury, they’re a necessity,” said John de Graaf, executive director of Take Back Your Time, a nonprofit organization that studies issues related to overwork.

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Your credit score is a vital number that determines how businesses and financial institutions treat you. Everything we do financially has an effect on our score, for good or bad. What surprises many people is how seemingly minor or harmless activities can have a big, negative impact. Described here are how a few can drop your score.

Firstly, the one action that people underestimate the impact of is asking around. Asking for a loan rate gets reported; too many of these will hurt your score. The thing that masks this is the fact that it is so very easy to get quotes online.

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A fire is not only emotionally devastating and life threatening, it can be financially devastating, as well.

Even with great insurance you may find yourself having to pay out of pocket for things you didn’t have covered or for unexpected expenses. If you don’t have insurance, or not enough enough insurance, you could be out hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, in the worst case, if a fire you cause injures someone else or damages their property you could be liable for millions of dollars. The best way to prevent these losses is with simple fire prevention. Most actions that prevent a fire are either free or very low cost. Her

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