Investing and Personal Finance
From the category archives:
America is still hurting from the recession. Unemployment is high and the economy is not doing well. The country is just not growing fast enough to handle the large numbers of unemployed people. People who don’t have jobs, tend not to have much money. People who don’t have much money, don’t spend much money. The [...]
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It was announced recently that the closing deadline to be eligible for the $8,000 tax credit was extended from June 30, 2010 to September 2010. This will be a big benefit for people with new construction who are having trouble getting the house completed in time. Originally, first time home buyers were eligible for an [...]
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This page will contain the latest information on unemployment benefits extension information in 2010. How the current unemployment benefits tiers work Currently, Americans can qualify for the following unemployment benefits: 26 weeks of benefits offered by their state. Tier 1 – 20 weeks – paid by the government via the stimulus bill. Tier 2 – [...]
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TradeKing Customer-driven TradeKing is an award-winning online discount broker that charges a flat commission for any kind of equity order – be it market, limit or broker assisted. TradeKing only charges $4.95 per trade; Zecco is slightly lower at $4.50 per trade but has pricing tiers for different types of trade including $19.95 for broker-assisted [...]
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When making decisions about your financial future, it can be confusing and frustrating trying to understand the ins and outs of financial planning for retirement. Many people can’t afford to make a money mistake. Understanding IRA’s may be one of the more difficult aspects of planning for retirement savings goals. But gaining the knowledge of [...]
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ShareBuilder is a subsidiary of ING Bank and is consistently rated as one of the top discount online brokerages. If you have an ING Direct account, you can connected it with your ShareBuilder account which makes the entire process of investing simple – and creates the opportunity for ShareBuilder’s most notable feature of automatic investing. [...]
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One of the immediate changes which will result from the historic 2010 health care bill will be a $250 payment to help with prescriptions. There are quite a few Americans who have a drug coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole”. This gap in Medicare D Drug benefit program means that assistance from Medicare for different [...]
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On March 3rd, President Obama signed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 HR4691 after it was passed by Senate with a resounding 78-19 vote. This bill only creates extensions for one month – until the end of March but it will provide much needed relief for many unemployed Americans. There were two main sections of [...]
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It looks like the proposed $250 Social Security stimulus check which was announced by President Obama late last year is unfortunately not going to be sent out. On March 3, the Senate voted down the proposal for a $250 bonus check by a score of 50-47. The reason that the plan was voted down was [...]
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Purchasing a home is likely the biggest financial endeavor you will take on in your lifetime. It is vital that you understand the options and the consequences for owning a home upfront; otherwise, you can end up facing foreclosure or other personal financial difficulties. Understanding your options for a zero down payment is essential if [...]
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A common question for most Americans is “Will there be another stimulus check in 2010?”. This is a valid question since there was a general stimulus check issued in 2008 for the amount of $600 (maximum) for each person. There was no general stimulus check in 2009 although there were some $250 stimulus checks for [...]
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Ally Bank is the old banking arm of GMAC, rebranded with a new, hip vibe and a minimalist approach to banking. It is not just the people’s bank, it is the people’s “ally” and so far it seems to have succeeded. It is strictly an online bank, and it pays the highest interest rates in [...]
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President Obama has proposed another $250 stimulus check for all recipients of Social Security as well as a $250 check for people on SSI. This stimulus check was given out in 2009 and he has suggested that since SS and SSI payments are not increasing in 2010 because of low inflation, this check will help [...]
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A new government program was announced today which would provide “cash for caulkers” or more appropriately “cash for remodeling”. The idea behind this program is to help improve the economy by encouraging home owners to spend money improving their homes by remodeling. The improvements would have to fall under the “efficiency” category. Things like insulation, [...]
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California currently has an unemployment rate of 12.5% which is one of the highest in the country. Given that it is the most populous state it also stands to reason that California has the highest number of unemployed people living there. Like every other state, Californians have benefitted from the numerous unemployment benefit extensions that [...]
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Michigan has the dubious honor of highest unemployment rate in all of America. At 15.1% as of October, it leads the pack by a full 2 percentage points. Nevada (13.0%) and Rhode Island (12.9%) are the next highest state and California is the next large state at 12.5% unemployment rate. The reason the unemployment rate [...]
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When will the $250 Social Security stimulus check be mailed? This is not known at this time but if the bill passes Congress then it is expected that the checks will be mailed sometime in the first quarter of 2010. Will there be a stimulus check in 2010 Yes, there will be a $250 stimulus [...]
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Long term unemployment is not something that anyone should have to deal with. Unfortunately in today’s economy there are more and more unemployed people everyday. The economic slowdown has been going on for a couple of years with mounting job losses to show for it. One of the tragic byproducts of an increasing unemployment rate [...]
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Like most states, Kentucky has been hit hard by the financial meltdown of 2008 and subsequent economic slowdown and recession. Many jobs have been lost and for some unlucky people – it will be a long road back to employment. The national unemployment rate has been rising steadily over the last few years and has [...]
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In 2010, President Obama will be paying out a $250 stimulus check to all eligible recipients of SSI which is stands for “Supplemental Security Income”. This $250 payment is part of his ongoing efforts to stimulate the poor economy out of recession. Who is eligible for the $250 stimulus? Anyone who is currently receiving SSI [...]
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