Beyond Salary: Knowing Your Benefits Congratulations! You will soon be graduating from college and negotiating your various job offers. You have worked hard to graduate and you deserve a great paying job. But as you start to negotiate your offers, keep in mind that you really should be considering the overall compensation package. Salary is Read More…
Credit Card Minimum Payments Did you know that with most credit cards, if you pay the minimum required monthly payment you will end up paying more in interest than what you paid for your original purchase? THAT is exactly how banks make money and that is why the retail industry promotes the use of bank Read More…
How Your Credit Card Interest is Calculated Have you ever wondered how the interest that is charged on your credit card is actually calculated? If you understand a little of the credit card company’s math, you can save yourself lots of money over your lifetime by realizing EVERY DAY counts. Click on the video image Read More…
Building Credit & Keeping it Healthy Once you have established credit with a bank or credit card company, it is important that you continue to build your credit history and that you keep it healthy. Click on the video image below to reveal 5 things you can do to help build a healthy credit score Read More…
How To Build Credit from Scratch It seems like a Catch-22. How can you start building your credit if you don’t have any credit to start with? Well the truth is most banks will give college students and young adults a credit card with a very low credit limit. Then, if payments are made on Read More…
Tips for Planning an Affordable Vacation Everyone needs to take a vacation every now and then. Or at least travel to visit family and friends. But for most people who aren’t full-time sales people who travel every week, travelling can be an expensive ordeal. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. If Read More…
7 Facts About Credit Cards Most studies show that over 70% of Americans own at least one credit card and carry it with them when they go shopping. Other studies show that most Americans carry an average balance of $6,200 on their cards and pay interest every month, but they DON’T know what the interest Read More…
Pay Down Debt or Save? Here is one of the most common questions that people who are trying to get control over their finances ask: If I have a little extra cash, do I pay down debt or do I put the money in my savings account? On one hand financial advisors tell us to Read More…
10 Online and Mobile Security Tips As you learn to save and become more aware of your personal finances, you will find yourself accessing your checking, savings, credit cards and other accounts online or via your mobile phone. This means bookmarking your banks URLs, installing their mobile apps on your phone, and inevitably the hassle Read More…
Need Emergency Cash? What are your Options? At some point in your life you might find yourself in a situation where you need some cash quickly. For example, you might have a doctor bill you need to pay. Or you might need to get your car repaired so you can get to work or you Read More…
8 Simple Ways to Save Money We all know that we should be saving money. We have all heard the saying from Benjamin Franklin that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” But it seems that it is just so much easier to SPEND money than it is to SAVE money. So how do we Read More…
Savings Account or Certificate of Deposit (CD) Once you get in the habit of saving money each month, the next question is where exactly to you put the money you are saving? The obvious choices are to keep it in cash in your piggy bank at home or put it in a bank account. Well Read More…
7 Common Bank Fees Explained As you learn to save, become more aware of your personal finances, you will find yourself accessing your checking, savings, and credit card accounts more and more. While most banks and credit card companies are willing to open up accounts for you for free, keep in mind that every company Read More…
10 Questions To Ask When Opening a Bank Account Now that you are getting used to managing your checking, savings and credit card accounts as part of this virtual platform, it is time you think about opening real banking accounts. But where do you begin? What questions do you need to ask a bank to Read More…
8 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Checking Account Hopefully by now you have a real checking account that you use to manage your monthly cash inflows and outflows. But are you really using all the features that your checking account offers? While there are lots of negatives associated with a checking account, Read More…
Credit Card vs Debit Card: What’s the Difference? Over time, our society moved away from paying for goods and services with gold and silver to paying for things with cash. In the last two decades, we have been transitioning from paying for things with cash to credit and debit cards. While these 2 cards may Read More…
Options for People Who Don’t Like To Budget Creating (and staying on) a budget is easier for some people than others. Watch this video to get more ideas on how to simplify your budgeting process and make it easier for you to reach your financial goals. Click on the video image below to get started. Read More…
How to Save Money Every Day Saving money is a lot easier than you think. The first question you have to ask yourself when you are thinking of making a purchase is: “Do I NEED this or do I just WANT it?” Stopping at your local coffee shop every day and spending $2.70 for coffee Read More…
The table lists the final ranking of all participants in the 2021 Biggest Winner Trading Competition. Rank Username Portfolio Value 1 Alpha_Male_Capital $125,674.90 2 Wintrade $124,403.02 3 Vix $124,313.33 4 akim13 $122,069.57 5 Gabby $119,590.75 6 lasalleguy $117,739.97 7 Grisou $117,247.56 8 ETHEREUM TO THE MOON $116,788.70 9 LongOil $116,417.21 10 CoelhoHero $116,279.19 11 fdlavoie Read More…
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10-00 Chapter 10: The Investors’ Guide to Success In the last 9 Lessons we have covered lots of key topics and provided you with the wisdom of our trading experience, but keep in mind we have merely scratched the surface of a complex world. You now have the foundation to understand the vocabulary and jargon Read More…
9-00 Chapter 9: Introduction to Options Once you feel like you have a good understanding of how the stock market works and are getting comfortable trading them, understanding how to trade options is the next step in your journey. Options appear to be complicated at first glance, but with a little reading and a little Read More…
8-00 Chapter 8: Current Hot Topics in Trading In the last 5 years, many “hot topics” have been dominating the personal investing landscape. “Short Squeeze”, penny stock bubbles, cryptocurrency spikes and crashes, insider trading, and other major waves might be what first attracted your attention to investing in the first place. So far in this Read More…
7-00 Chapter 7: Technical Analysis – Common Charts and Terms There has been a long debate between technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Is technical analysis necessary? The answer is YES!! A price action is always a technical short-term decision. Not long ago, technical analysis was considered the opposite of fundamental analysis. Rather than looking at Read More…
5-00 Chapter 5: Now That I Own It, What Should I Do? By now, you should have started building your first portfolio – hopefully you were able to use a combination of “Buying what you know” and a stock screener to build a portfolio that you believe is in line with your larger investing goals. Read More…
4-00 Chapter 4: Building Your $100,000 Portfolio Now that you are familiar with some of the different order types and made a few trades of your own, it is time to start working on building a proper Portfolio. Whether your first Portfolio is $500, $25,000 or even $100,000, the same principles apply – the only Read More…
3-00 Chapter 3: Making Your First Trade Now that we covered the basics of different types of investments and why prices move, it is time to start “Learn by doing” and make your first trades. Best of all, you have your practice brokerage account to use, so you can try out your first investing strategies Read More…
2-00 Chapter 2: How the Stock Market Works and Why It Moves Now that we are introduced to some of the basic types of investments, we can look into how the stock market actually works, and why prices move. To understand the basics of the stock market, we need a quick refresher on some core Read More…
1-00 Chapter 1: Introduction To Investing Whether you have $1,000 or $1,000,000 in savings, education is the key to empowering yourself to take charge of your financial future. In this course you will learn about the different broad investment choices you have available. Specifically, you will learn how the stock market works, how to evaluate Read More…
6-00 Chapter 6: Fundamental Analysis – Understanding Earnings and Cash Flow Fundamental analysis is the process of evaluating the worthiness of a stock by looking at its basic reason for being. Is it making money now, and how likely will it continue to make money in the future? Fundamental analysis looks at a company’s financial Read More…
Assignment 2: You are in the game. Now what? For each of the stocks you now own do the following: 1. What is the company’s industry? Will the industry do well in the current economy? Airlines, restaurants, and entertainment stocks are doing poorly due to COVID These stocks should recover as the economy gets going Read More…
Assignment 1: Get Started What is a stock? Part ownership of a business Example: lemonade stand You and your friend each put in $5 to start the business ($10 total)—you each own half of the business Shares might cost $5 each—you each own one share; or maybe $1—you each own 5 shares What determines the Read More…
Elementary Assignment 2: You are in the game. Now what? For each of the stocks you now own do the following: 1. What is the company’s industry? Will the industry do well in the current economy? Airlines, restaurants, and entertainment stocks are doing poorly due to COVID These stocks should recover as the economy gets Read More…
Elementary Assignment 1: Get Started What is a stock? Part ownership of a business, like you and a friend having a lemonade stand. You would each own half of the stand and split the income. What determines a stock price? Stock prices are based on how much money investors think the company will make. If Read More…
A student loan is exactly what it sounds like – a loan given to students to finance their studies. This is most common for college or university students, but also works for trade schools and other vocational studies.
The cash flow statement allows company management to see where the company’s money is coming from and how it is being spent. Most companies will complete a cash flow statement at least quarterly because it the best financial report to show how well the company generates cash to pay its debts and fund its operating expenses.
Balance Sheet Businesses keep financial records to understand how their company is performing financially. For publicly traded companies (a business that sells shares of stock to the public on stock exchanges), these records are also shared with investors. The three main financial statements companies use are the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow Read More…
The income statement primarily focuses on the company’s revenue and expenses (what they’ve earned and what they’ve paid for) during a particular period of time. The bottom line shows a net profit or a net loss depending on the company’s performance during that time period. Companies may complete an income statement whenever they want, but typically they are completed quarterly (every three months) or annually.
An investing strategy is a plan for how to save money and help it grow. Sometimes an investing strategy can be as simple as “plan for trading stocks,” but it really means a lot more.
Starting A Business Building the next “big thing”. Being your own boss. Getting the full rewards for your work. There are a lot of reasons to start a business, but taking the plunge is a step entrepreneurs have to face if they plan on striking out on their own. Why Do People Start Their Own Read More…
Planning for Retirement You may think that retirement is something that only old people must worry about, but that’s not true. Retirement is when you stop working and live off your savings and other sources of income. It may seem like a long way off, but the sooner you start planning for it, the better. Read More…
Building Wealth Building wealth is a long-term financial goal that provides financial security, and sets the stage for a comfortable retirement. Although there is no secret formula for becoming wealthy, the process involves developing a solid financial plan, sticking to it, and creating a sustainable strategy that grows your wealth over time. This typically requires Read More…
Family Planning Before starting a family, you have to know how to manage a household. You probably have an idea about how to be a good housemate from the things that you like and don’t like about living with your family. There’s more to it than who will wash the dishes or who will take Read More…
A mortgage is a type of secured loan, with real estate or a house used as collateral. This means you will make an agreement with your bank, credit union, or savings & loan institution to borrow a large sum of money, with a piece of property as collateral.
Buying a Car Buying a car is usually the first big purchase a person will make. There is also no shortage of horror stories of people immediately regretting the decision, either by buying a new car and later struggling to meet payments, or a used car with hidden mechanical problems demanding costly repairs. When you Read More…
“Spending Shocks” are large, irregular expenses. According to CBS, more than 60% of Americans cannot absorb a $500 spending shock: spending shocks are the #1 reasons why budgets end up abandoned, and being prepared for large spending shocks is the best thing you can do to keep your personal finances healthy.
Unemployment and Other Assistance Programs Building your personal finances from the ground up is something most of us face. You may already have faced times when you had very little or no income, and you were just trying to get to a point where you felt like you didn’t have to worry about paying your Read More…
Budgeting and Spending Strategies Building a budget or a spending plan is tough. Sticking to the plan is even tougher. Thankfully, there are a few strategies designed to help you develop positive habits. These strategies will help you learn to save, stick with your budget, plan for emergencies, and control your impulse spending. Budgeting Strategies Budgeting strategies refer to Read More…
On every payday, start by taking out money for savings and put it directly into your savings or investing account. Most banks have accounts that will let you do this though automatic transfers. This is one banking service that you should definitely take advantage of.
Once your savings is taken care of, use the remaining cash to pay your bills. Any money remaining can be used for fun and leisure. This method is a no excuses savings approach. No matter what else is happening in your life, you are paying yourself by contributing to your savings. This habit ensures that your savings and investments experience a steady growth rate.
Income and Compensation To be self-sufficient in our economy, everyone needs some type of income; which is money to pay the bills and other living expenses. This comes in many shapes and forms. When you have a job, the total compensation from your employer consists of more than just the paycheck you get. Different employers offer Read More…
Bankruptcy is a type of forced debt settlement, and it is a legal procedure. When you declare bankruptcy, the court will gather all your unsecured creditors together to hear about the debts you owe. They will then examine all your assets and determine a plan to pay out as much as they can to settle as many debts as possible.
Debt Management Services If you find yourself over your head in debt, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Credit counseling agencies, both for-profit and non-profit, exist in every state to help people build a clear, workable path back to a healthy personal financial situation. If you do need the help Read More…
Consolidating your debt means taking out one big loan and using that money to pay off all outstanding balances from your previous loans.
Debt Negotiation Most adults have faced a financial emergency, when an unexpected event has broken their budget or spending plan into pieces. Sometimes more than one emergency has occurred in a short period of time, causing debt balances to spiral out of control. Even in extreme circumstances, it is still possible to keep your personal finances under Read More…
Juggling Bills Financial emergencies happen to everyone; like your car breaks down and it drains your bank account to pay for the repairs. However, that doesn’t mean your bills will be put on hold while you catch-up. They will continue to be due, even though you won’t have enough money to pay for them this Read More…
Researching Purchases Every person makes hundreds of purchase decisions every month. Think about how many individual items you choose when buying groceries. Which fruits or vegetables will you buy? Which cleaning product will you pick up? What if you need new batteries… An important step in managing your personal finances is to understand the reasons Read More…
Work Versus Study Every high school student makes a choice when they are about to graduate – enter the job market right away, enter a trade school, or enroll in a university? Everyone will make the same kind of choice many times throughout their lives. If you first choose to work, the option is usually Read More…
Protecting Against Fraud In the past, information about your bank transactions, credit card transactions, investment statements, and other financial paperwork came through paper documents. People were told to keep these documents safe or shred them when they were not longer needed. Today, the majority of our financial records can be accessed online. Apart from a Read More…
Planning Long-Term Purchases When evaluating how to spend your money, most people make a fairly simple comparison. If the benefit they believe they will receive from the purchase is greater than the cost, then most people go ahead with the purchase. To master your personal finances, you need to start thinking long-term. There are many Read More…
A contract is a legally binding agreement between two parties (people, companies, or both) in which something of value is exchanged. One party promises to do something in return for a something else. Since a contract is legally binding, if one party does not do what was agreed upon, the other party can sue them in court to either enforce the contract or receive compensation. Contracts are involved in personal and business dealings, so it is important that you understand the rules governing them.
Consumerism – Rights and Responsibilities Every time you buy something, you are considered a consumer. The noun consumerism refers to the idea that spending money and consuming goods is good for our economy. Because you are willing to spend money on goods and services, businesses can produce items, people can have jobs, money can flow, and our Read More…
Health insurance is usually the most complicated and expensive insurance you need. Unfortunately, it’s also usually the most important, making it very difficult to avoid the cost. With very few exceptions, health insurance is mandatory for all citizens in the United States, but the way you become insured will change drastically based on your age, income, and the company you work for.
Life insurance is an insurance policy designed to pay out if the insured person dies. These policies were created so that if the main income holder of a household died, the payout from the policy could be used to support his/her family. Over the last 50 years, life insurance policies have greatly expanded in both form and function. Sometimes they look more like investment vehicles than simple insurance policies.
Homeowner’s Insurance is a broad type of insurance coverage designed to cover a home, its contents, and the property it sits on. This insurance is very broad, wrapping many different types of coverage into one package.
Renter’s Insurance is taken out on property you rent to insure against damage or loss. Renter’s insurance works in a similar fashion to homeowner’s insurance. Homeowner’s insurance is designed to cover damage to a home’s interior and exterior, the theft of possessions, and personal liability for harm to others, for example if someone fell down your porch steps and sued you.
Car Insurance If you drive a car, you need to be covered by some sort of automobile insurance. You have probably seen dozens of advertisements from insurance companies claiming to help lower your rates, improve your coverage, or just encouraging you to compare rates, but before you buy your first insurance policy or change insurance providers, Read More…
Wall Street” is a street in New York City, near the southern end of Manhattan Island. It is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, and the biggest center of stock trading and finance in the world.
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Insurance The idea behind insurance is that random bad thing can happen to just about anyone, and sometimes those random things are expensive to resolve. Car crashes, medical emergencies, and flooding can destroy your personal saving and investing accounts if they happen to you and you’re not prepared to deal with them. How Does Insurance Read More…
Once you file your income taxes, the IRS will review all the forms you submit (your tax return) and either accept your submission or reject and return it to you for a correction, usually with very little turnaround time. This can happen whether you are paying what you owe or receiving a refund. However, occasionally the IRS will decide to “audit” your tax return, asking you to provide some supporting documentation before your tax return is accepted.
When to Hire a Tax Professional Most young people are perfectly capable of filing their own taxes using the IRS Form 1040. However, as your personal finances grow more complex and you become eligible for tax credits, have multiple sources of income, or need to report common tax additions, filing your own taxes becomes more Read More…
Tax Additions: Situations Requiring You to Pay Extra Income Tax Everyone loves getting tax breaks, but what can really impact your finances is forgetting about tax additions – extra taxes and fees you owe for income that should be reported when you file your income taxes. Forgetting to include this income and not paying the Read More…
Tax Credits and Deductions When you file your income taxes, you can “write off” certain expenses, and get extra tax credits based on your living situation. This means that if you had a qualifying expense over the course of the year, you basically get to subtract that expense from the income you report to the Read More…
Income Tax Filing and the Form 1040 What is income tax? Income tax is the tax you pay on your income, usually directly taken out of your paycheck. Everyone who works in the United States should be paying income tax on their earnings. Income is more than just wages and salaries too. If you earn Read More…
“Sales Tax” is a tax that is charged on goods sold to end customers, the final user of that product. The sales tax is a set percentage of the sale price of the goods sold, and individual states set their own sales tax percentages. Most states use sales taxes to generate revenue to pay for the state’s operations, but some charge no sales tax at all.
Credit reports contains your credit history – both the good and the bad. If you watch late-night TV, you may have seen a few commercials offering free credit reports, so you might know a little about them. Most people don’t know how important a credit report can play in their financial lives.
Short-term financing means taking out a loan to make a purchase, usually with a loan term of less than one year. There are many different types of short-term financing, the most common of which are “Buy Now, Pay Later,” “Unsecured Personal Loans,” and “Payday Loans.”
A credit card is a form of unsecured credit (meaning a loan without collateral) that you can use to make everyday purchases. All credit card purchases are made using a loan. You borrow money from your credit card issuer to make the purchase and pay it back later, plus interest.
Good Debt, Bad Debt Beginners trying to tackle their personal finances for the first time see debt as sort of a boogeyman. A specter that looms overhead trying to trap people into inescapable cycles of minimum payments and late fees. Or at the very least, something to be avoided whenever possible. Deep down, we all Read More…
To be “in debt” means to owe money to someone else, usually making fixed payments to pay back the amount over time, plus interest.
Credit is when you use borrowed money with a promise to repay it at a later date. Credit comes in many forms from credit cards to mortgages. There is a wide range of ways to use credit, which means that it is often a challenge for beginners to learn all the ins and outs of using credit wisely.
Debit – Credit Cards Without Credit Can’t view on YouTube? Click Here Before Debit Cards Before the 21st century, if you wanted to buy groceries or visit the mall, you had 4 options that you could use to pay, all of which had their own drawbacks: Cash, checks, credit cards, and short-term financing. Cash is Read More…
Can’t view on YouTube? Click Here Money – Types of Stored Value Many years ago, before the concept of money existed, if an individual needed something they couldn’t provide for themselves, they would exchange something they owned with someone who had it. This was called bartering. Every item would be traded for a different item. For example, Read More…
Automatic Payments – Blessing Or Curse? That title may be a bit hyperbolic – Automatic Bill Payments can be a huge time saver, and do help make sure your bills get paid on time (avoiding late fees and general headaches). This does come at a price, though – when your bills are automatically paid, you Read More…
A “Spending Plan” is exactly as it says – a plan of what you will be spending each month. There are usually two parts – your “fixed” spending and your “variable” spending. The fixed part is usually the same every month, with things like rent/mortgage payments, grocery bills, insurance, and car payments. The variable part changes a lot from month to month, and can include things like Christmas shopping, buying new furniture, and paying for repairs.
Fractions, Ratios, Percentages, and the Stock Market Fractions What is a fraction? A “Fraction” means one piece of a whole. You can use fractions in any case where it might be useful to look at something in parts, rather than the whole thing at once. The most delicious fractions are slices of pizza. If the Read More…
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Budgeting When learning about managing your finances, many experts will recommend you begin with a budget. A budget is a tool that tracks your income and expenses, and it allows you to set goals and make plans for the future. Developing a budget for a specific project, a special event, or to help you with your monthly Read More…
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Financial Records and Receipts When you organize your financial records, it’s important to keep track of your spending, and with your spending comes receipts. When going on a typical shopping trip, it’s easy to accumulate multiple receipts quickly, as you may visit several stores, grab a meal, and fill up your car with gasoline. Beginner budgeters may find Read More…
Reconciling Accounts Your parents probably have experience reconciling their checkbook by comparing your own written records with their bank statements. In today’s world, reconciling your checkbook isn’t a common activity for two reasons: This does not mean you can skip the account reconciliation though. In fact, the way instant payments and other conveniences work probably make Read More…
Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings & Loan Institutions When talking about Banking, people generally group Banks, Credit Unions, and Savings & Loan companies all in one group. They do provide similar services, but they each have specific differences that might make one a better fit for your financial needs than another. What They Have In Read More…
“Wealth” means having an abundance of something desirable. This can be tangible, like money and property, or intangible, like good health or freedom.
What are Financial Records? As you begin working with financial institutions to secure your money and process your financial transactions, it is important that you learn to keep good financial records. These records, both on paper and electronic, will allow you to know where your money and assets are and exactly how much you have Read More…
Finding Stocks In Specific Sectors If you’ve started buying a few stocks, you will probably be interested in diversifying your portfolio between various sectors. This sounds easy, but it can be very challenging finding stocks from a wide range of sources that fit what you’re looking for. Thankfully, our Quotes Tool has all the information Read More…
Building Case Studies At some point in your business career you will likely be asked to build a case study. Whether it’s for school or for work, building a case study is a very methodical task. While case studies will differ across companies and sectors, your process should remain the same. When conducting a case Read More…
Risk Management Controls Risk management is a very important part of any business because it allows for the matching and identification of risk and the associated losses (loss exposures). Practically, this means managers put in place Risk Management Controls. Most business operations are concentrating on maintaining a customer base and building growth. The Risk Management Read More…
Internal Risk Management Risk Management is when a manager tries to organize his company (or business unit) to prepare in case of, and try to prevent, something going wrong. Risk management is one of the most complicated branches of management, as it requires managers to be able to assess unknown situations and try to be Read More…