Personal Finance and Investing

By now, some folks may be thinking: “I haven’t got my share of the $787 billion dollar stimulus money yet!”  The smart reader wll notice the different ways that  individuals and families can benefit from the stimulus funds.  Cash is important and money is available, but that is only one way to benefit from the Reinvestment Act.  There are a lot of ways to prosper from this provision, as you’ll see as you continue reading.

Why The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Was Signed

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed in February 2009, by President Obama.

Read more…

I haven’t traded options before and don’t necessarily advocate this as an investment strategy for the average investor, but I’ve been always curious about more complex investment plays. Tim Parker, who runs Elementary Finance, has offered us a guest post about his experience entering the world of options trading.

Image from eHow

Now that I’m feeling fairly comfortable with stock market investing, I’ve decided that I’m going to expand my horizons into more complicated investment instruments.

Read more…

The terms “credit card” and “charge card” have often been used to describe the same thing but, in reality, they are two very different things.

A credit card is a standard card in which you can charge purchases and then pay them back over a period of time. A charge card, however, is card on which you can make purchases, but they must be paid off when your bill arrives.

Charge cards have been primarily issued by American Express, while other companies, such as MasterCard, Discover and Visa, have offered their customers credit cards.

The Benefits of a Charge Card

The premise behind an American Express card has always been liberal spending limits and no accrued interest rates, mainly because the card balance is paid in full each month.

Read more…

The official government reports have been issued for November 2009 and interpreting the statistics is a challenge in terms of what it means for 2010. For ten straight months consumers have borrowed less on their credit cards and taken out fewer loans. In fact, the amount of money borrowed in total on credit cards has fallen more than it has in 70 years.

The falling credit numbers generate mixed feelings though among those responsible for stimulating the economy. Consumer spending makes up a whopping 70 percent of the economy. When consumers are not borrowing…they are spending less which hurts factory orders and retailers and financial institutions are earning fewer profits.

Read more…