The following are the five best free Web sites for personal finance:
1) MSN MoneyCentral - http://moneycentral.msn.com
2) Yahoo Finance! - http://finance.yahoo.com
3) CNN Money - http://money.cnn.com
4) WSJ's SmartMoney - http://www.smartmoney.com
5) Morningstar - http://www.morningstar.com
Up and coming - Google Finance - http://finance.google.com
Top for-pay personal finance sites:
+ www.investors.com (some free content, but all the good stuff requires payment)
+ www.fool.com
+ www.barrons.com
Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investing. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
More Methods to Start Saving...
Here are some additional tricks to get your saving in gear -
Did you know that the U.S. savings rate has been negative for most of the past two years? (Commerce Department Bureau of Economic Analysis) Did you know that, on average, U.S. households now owe more than they earn in a single year? Isn't it about time you got more serious about saving?
+ Check Pennies - this is a great little method if you are one of those who still balance your checkbook...everytime you write a check, round the balance down to the nearest dollar; whenever you balance your checkbook, you'll find a small surplus in your checking account - transfer it immediately to some sort of savings account. If you have an interest-bearing checking account make sure to trim off those interest payments at the end of every month and transfer them to a savings or investment account as well.
+ 401k's - max out your contribution every year; there are a couple of potential benefits to this: tax-deferred savings and growth maximizes the advantage of compounding, and matching employer contributions are kind of like a bonus that you simply won't get if you don't use your 401k option.
+ Round Up Mortgage Payments - make sure to allocate the surplus to principal; two benefits: less interest payments over the lifetime of your loan, and earlier payoff (over the course of a 30 year mortgage this little trick could easily knock 2-3 months off your mortgage)
+ Sock Away Windfalls - make a point to save and/or invest any extra money that happens to fall into your lap e.g. a surprise inheritance, a bonus at work or a tax refund.
+ Budget - instead of saving whatever is left over, determine ahead of time what you intend to spend and immediately set aside the difference.
Do you know of any additional savings tips and tricks? Leave a comment!
ragingacademic
Did you know that the U.S. savings rate has been negative for most of the past two years? (Commerce Department Bureau of Economic Analysis) Did you know that, on average, U.S. households now owe more than they earn in a single year? Isn't it about time you got more serious about saving?
+ Check Pennies - this is a great little method if you are one of those who still balance your checkbook...everytime you write a check, round the balance down to the nearest dollar; whenever you balance your checkbook, you'll find a small surplus in your checking account - transfer it immediately to some sort of savings account. If you have an interest-bearing checking account make sure to trim off those interest payments at the end of every month and transfer them to a savings or investment account as well.
+ 401k's - max out your contribution every year; there are a couple of potential benefits to this: tax-deferred savings and growth maximizes the advantage of compounding, and matching employer contributions are kind of like a bonus that you simply won't get if you don't use your 401k option.
+ Round Up Mortgage Payments - make sure to allocate the surplus to principal; two benefits: less interest payments over the lifetime of your loan, and earlier payoff (over the course of a 30 year mortgage this little trick could easily knock 2-3 months off your mortgage)
+ Sock Away Windfalls - make a point to save and/or invest any extra money that happens to fall into your lap e.g. a surprise inheritance, a bonus at work or a tax refund.
+ Budget - instead of saving whatever is left over, determine ahead of time what you intend to spend and immediately set aside the difference.
Do you know of any additional savings tips and tricks? Leave a comment!
ragingacademic
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Finance 101 - Markets are NOT efficient...
One of my famous pet peeves is that - contrary to prevailing academic opinion - markets are not efficient. Kahneman and Tversky are far more "in the money" than Sharpe could ever hope to be... (witness the dismal failure of Long Term Capital Management and the ensuing bailout...)
In my own investing as well as in the finance classes I teach I've taken a "nishtahin nishtaher" approach - i.e. neither here nor there, but rather as a compromise which allows the century long battle between fundamentalists and technical analysts to subside into something manageable. One must carefully analyze the fundamentals - yet make trading decisions based on the basic precepts of technical analysis. Why? Because technical analysis reflects the psychology of the market.
I was glad to come across a series of articles from Investopedia that serve to support my own theory; they are:
Brumley (2006) What can traders learn from investors?
Brumley (2006) What can investors learn from traders?
and...
Vonko (2006) Fundamental analysis for Traders.
In my own investing as well as in the finance classes I teach I've taken a "nishtahin nishtaher" approach - i.e. neither here nor there, but rather as a compromise which allows the century long battle between fundamentalists and technical analysts to subside into something manageable. One must carefully analyze the fundamentals - yet make trading decisions based on the basic precepts of technical analysis. Why? Because technical analysis reflects the psychology of the market.
I was glad to come across a series of articles from Investopedia that serve to support my own theory; they are:
Brumley (2006) What can traders learn from investors?
Brumley (2006) What can investors learn from traders?
and...
Vonko (2006) Fundamental analysis for Traders.
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