RECENT ARTICLE
How to Invest in a Closed-End Fund
CDs & Investments:
There are two types of mutual funds — open-end funds and closed-end funds. Imagine they’re twins who share the same DNA but go through life doing things very differently.
Both of these funds sell shares to investors and use the money invested to buy securities that match their investment missions. But that’s where the similarities end.
When people say “mutual funds” they’re usually referring to open-end funds. Open-end funds can sell an unlimited number of shares to investors. The price per share — also known as the net asset value (NAV) — is calculated by dividi...
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How to Choose a Financial Planner
Bank Insider:
Financial planners advise clients on how best to save, invest, and grow their money. They can help you tackle a specific financial goal—such as readying yourself to buy a house—or give you a macro view of your money and the interplay of your various assets. Some specialize in retirement or estate planning, while some others consult on a range of financial matters.
Don’t confuse planners with stockbrokers — the market mavens people call to trade stocks. Financial planners also differ from accountants who can help you lower your tax bill, insurance agents who might lure you in with co...
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Credit Unions: A Better Bet Than Banks?
Bank Insider:
Interest rates are low and could be heading lower. Bank failures are on the rise. And credit unions couldn't be happier.
With their fatter yields and lower fees, credit unions are having little trouble attracting depositors these days. Many also are positioning themselves as a more wholesome alternative to Wall Street bailouts, bank seizures and predatory lending scandals, offering trustworthy advice and good customer service.
Samantha Johnson and her son Jeremiah at home in Madison, Wis., She recently switched her checking and savings accounts to a credit union.
As with banks, credit...
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Recasting or Shortening Your Mortgage – Pros and Cons
Mortgage & Refinance:
What would you do if you had a little windfall come your way? Would you spend it all, or would you look for ways to improve your finances, such as paying off some of your debt? Right now, many people are struggling with this question as they decide how to use their tax return and/or their $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.
Some fraction of these people will (like us) be looking to pay down their mortgage loan with their tax refund. Instead of simply paying extra principal toward their mortgage, however, there’s another option to consider… They could recast, or re-amortize, their mo...
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Why You Need an Emergency Fund
Money Saver:
In life you should expect the unexpected, and this is why you need an emergency fund. The best you can do is to prepare for emergencies that require access to additional money and having an emergency fund is the ideal solution.
Financial emergencies can come in the form of a job loss, significant medical expenses, home or auto repairs or something you’ve never dreamed of. The last thing you want to do is be forced to rely on credit cards or a loan which could simply compound the problem.
How Big Should Your Emergency F...
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Top Reasons Banks Reject Short Sale Offers
Mortgage & Refinance:
Unless the bank has agreed upfront to accept a short sale, which is rare, no one knows for certain -- not the buyer's agent, not the listing agent nor the seller -- if a short sale offer will be accepted or rejected by the bank. Simply because a listing is advertised as a short sale does not mean it is a short sale. It means the listing agent and seller hope it will sell as a short sale and the bank will take the offer.
Short Sale List Prices
The list price of a short sale home generally has very little bearing on the actual price a bank may accept. The list p...
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Mortgage Rates Steady As Tax Credit Fades
Mortgage & Refinance:
For the first time in two years, the housing market will have to do without aggressive federal incentives. But so far, mortgage rates have remained low.
For the third straight week, mortgage rates went nowhere fast.
The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged down 1 basis point this week, to 5.21%, according to the Bankrate.com's national survey of large lenders. (A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point.) The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.45 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 5.2%; four weeks ago, it was 5.23...
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Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money
Money Saver:
Brad Klontz knows all about the dumb things that smart people do with their money: He's a smart guy (with a doctorate in psychology) who lost half of his assets in the technology stock bubble.
A financial psychologist, Klontz says that when it comes to money smarts, size matters: The logical part of your brain is so much smaller than the emotional side that it's like "a circus performer riding an elephant." To make smart decisions about your finances, you need the logical side to dominate. But once you get tweaked by greed or fear, that elephantine emotional brain is likely to run amok.
...
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Get The Best Rates On Your Savings
Checking & Savings:
Americans are saving more since the economic downturn started in 2008. But interest rates are frustratingly low, and many economists expect them to stay that way until at least later this year. In the meantime, here's some advice on finding the best yields available now.
Compare bank yields
Online banks generally offer the best rates on savings and CDs. You can earn 1.5 percent to 1.7 percent on a savings account at Colorado Federal Savings Bank, Capital One Direct, Bank of Internet USA, Ally, and FNBO Direct, based on a recent search of Bankrate.com. Some online banks pay about 2 p...
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Best Bank Perks
Bank Insider:
As the economic rebound continues, banks now find themselves in a position where they must attempt to win customers back. Therefore, many retail, community and online banks are vying for your business. While some institutions will no longer even offer you a free toaster, these banks are handing out cold, hard cash. Here are a few of the banks that are offering the best perks for new accounts.
• Bank of America
The nation's largest bank is offering $100 to new customers that open a MyAccess checking account online. What's the catch? The account must be funded with a min...
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Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving
Money Saver:
Follow These Tips to Spend Less and Pocket the Money You Save
If cheap is chic, then saving is suddenly sexy. America Saves Week (February 21-28) takes on new meaning when the U.S. savings rate, which had dipped into negative territory, headed up to 4.6% last year. The savings rate could climb as high as 6.5%, according to Allianz Group Economic Research.
You know you're on to something when investing icons such as Burton Malkiel and Charles Ellis jump on the bandwagon. Malkiel and Ellis are authors of a nifty little book called The Elements of Investing. The bo...
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How to Self-Diagnose Your Financial Health
Money Saver:
You probably get an annual physical. Your doctor will ask about your concerns, take your blood pressure and 30 minutes later you're out of the paper gown and off to work -- maybe with a new prescription for Lipitor.
A similar annual checkup takes place in another type of practitioner's office: financial planners. But instead of analyzing your good and bad cholesterol levels, a planner may evaluate your good debts mortgage and bad debts (credit card). And instead of testing your reflexes, they may look at your savings and assess your ability to respond to a financial emergency.
"A lot can...
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Chase To Add 90 Bank Branches in California in 2010
Bank Insider:
LOS ANGELES, (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chase announced today that it will continue its investment in California by opening about 90 new branches and adding more than 1,200 new jobs to better serve California bank customers in 2010.
The new branches will extend Chase's network to more than 800 bank branches and almost 3,000 ATMs across California.
Chase will open more than 35 new branches in Northern California and almost 50 new branches in Southern California. This breaks out to more than 10 branches in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego counties while adding a significant n...
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Indexed CDs: More To Gain, Less To Lose
CDs & Investments:
With interest rates on traditional CDs so low, why not take a chance on an indexed CD?
By taking a chance, we don’t mean taking a chance with your principal.
That’s still FDIC insured.
We mean take a chance on how much you might — or might not — earn.
The return on indexed or market-linked CDs isn’t fixed as it is with traditional CDs.
It’s tied to a stock market index like the S&P 500, although it can also be dependent on everything from commodity prices to Treasury bill rates.
If the index is higher on the maturity date than on the purchase date, you make mo...
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5 Mortgage Costs to Watch Out For
Mortgage & Refinance:
This article comes from Smartmoney.com
Faced with plunging property values and rising defaults, lenders are charging borrowers higher mortgage rates and adding fees. Not all of these added costs are set in stone, however. If you're looking for a loan, vigilant shopping and a little haggling can go a long way toward landing a better deal.
Here are five fees to watch out for and how to avoid paying them:
Application fees
Just because an ad says "no application fee" doesn't mean there's no fee at the time you ...
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