financial institutions

Economies develop and move forward under almost any conditions. Mankind can adapt, survive and even make a living in the totalitarian economies of Chavez and Castro to the laissez-faire, free market economies of Canada and Hong Kong. In a manner of speaking, free market is alive and well wherever people live. Sometimes it is a [...]

Forex trading is becoming more popular in the recent years due in part to the fact that it is more accessible to the general public. It used to be that the currency market was the province of institutions and the wealthy, but technology and other factors have made forex investing, like other types of investing, [...]

Everyone knows that healthy personal finances requires debt reduction. However, paying down debt can become discouraging when you have a great deal of it, from a variety of sources. Paying a little bit extra every month on each of your debts doesn’t seem to make a dent, thanks to high interest charges. Instead, you can [...]

I have been a Discover customer since 1996 — right out of college — and for good reason. I believe that Discover is one of the very few financial institutions that put their customers first and continue to innovate. As of today, Discover Bank announced their Penalty-Free 12 Month CD. Despite the added feature, the [...]

There’s a lot to be said for personal responsibility, but now and again a round of the Blame Game is well-deserved and even necessary. In fact, a series of Time Magazine articles from earlier this year, that includes: In Defense of the Recession Blame Game, The Financial Crisis Blame Game, and 25 People to Blame [...]

This is one of those times that I wish my money were in a 5-year certificate of deposit instead of a high yield savings account.  About a week ago, I got news from WTDirect that they lowered their savings account interest rate to 2.81% APY.  Then HSBC Direct followed suit and lowered their online savings [...]

When saving money for college education, you should be aware of your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). EFC is how much money your family is expected to contribute to your college education — the lower your EFC, the more financial aid you will receive.
A Brief Note From Plonkee
One of the great things about not having children [...]

Until recently, Intuit’s Quicken Online costs $2.99 per month after a 60-day free trial period. Beginning October 13th, 2008 there is no longer a fee to use the Quicken Online program — yes, it’s free!  Since I like free stuff, I signed up yesterday to get some first hand experience.  In short, I liked it.  [...]

I recently came across Steven R. Selengut and his book, The Brainwashing of The American Investor. After reading all the reviews on Amazon, I decided to buy a used copy. The following is a review of the book and a brief overview of the Working Capital Model as outlined by Steven Selengut.

The Premise
Selengut starts the [...]

The first Presidential Debate was terrific.  Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama shared their thoughts about The Financial Crisis of 2008.  I was ecstatic when Obama clearly articulated other crises that also require our attention, but I also have to give McCain a credit for using the word GREED to explain our current dilemma.
10 Day [...]