Personal Finance and Investing

I’ll be honest. When I started my first job, I had to look up what a 401(k) was online. I’d like to think that as a college graduate, I had a good idea of how a 401(k) worked; in reality, I had no idea what the mechanics are behind a retirement savings plan.

Rest assured Credit Karma members! I did the research on 401(k)s and came up with a simple guide, which will hopefully save you from making the same aimless exploration around the World Wide Web.

401(k) Basics

Named for the section number (401) and paragraph (k) of the Internal Revenue Code, a 401(k) is a retirement savings plan offered through an employer.

A traditional 401(k) allows you to regularly defer part of your pre-tax income into an account. In Read more…

Our previous analysis in May examined unemployment data from March 2005 to March 2011 and found strong evidence of persistent poor local job prospects, with London being one of the worst hit areas of the country. Four London Boroughs including Hackney, Haringey, and Lewisham have been in the top ten employment blackspots in Britain for five of the last seven years.

The analysis found that West Dunbartonshire and East Ayrshire had overtaken London boroughs to become the worst employment blackspots in the country however there were still five London boroughs in the top ten.

The unemployment data released today shows that while West Dunbartonshire and East Ayrshire still rank highly in the top 10 employment blackspots, Haringey is now the hardest place in Britain to find a job, where there are almost forty dole claimants chasing every vacancy. Read more…

O2 to carry Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray Heading for Blighty in September.

External story.

Research shows charges using debit and credit cards abroad Holidaymakers have been warned about using their debit and credit cards while abroad, after research from financial research company Defaqto showed the charges imposed on payments and using ATMs. Read more…