inflation

If you have kids, you probably know that only health care cost increases can compete with the inflation seen by education costs. This means that you are probably going to need to do what you can to help your child get the college financial aid that he or she needs. Even if you have been [...]

Given recent economic news, more and more investors are turning to gold as a way to preserve the value of their financial portfolio. Gold has traditionally been considered a safe haven for investment, since it tends to maintain its value during times of economic crisis and upheaval. Gold is an especially good hedge against inflation [...]

When it comes to long term investing, I believe that you should focus more on dividend yields and cash flow versus speculation and share price appreciation. While this might mean avoiding sexy names like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), there is nothing unsexy about constant cash flow with regards to your assets.

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Dividend Income [...]

The first-time home buyer tax credit extension cleared a hurdle in the Senate today with a 98-0 vote, and it could be a done deal if approved by the House this week. All over the U.S., there is an increasingly heated argument over the benefits of the First Time Home Buyers Credit and this extension. [...]

I’m a firm believer that your 20s is the most important decade of your life financially.  This was a driving reason on why I chose to start my blog 20smoney.com.  This is a crucial decade; unfortunately, it is often the most abused decade as well.  Rather than saving, investing, and building a career, many 20-somethings [...]

With the recent stock market crash, many people are understandably wary about investing. Concerns about the volatility of the stock market, and the prospect of losses during downturn, have convinced many that stock investing is not for them. However, “safer” investments like cash and bonds may not provide the needed returns for your portfolio to [...]

One of the leading news this week is about the health care reform that President Obama is trying to push forward. The overhaul is estimated to cost somewhere around $1 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. Sounds like a big number, but when you consider the 42 million uninsured Americans, the price tag becomes [...]

During the huge bull, too many of us got too caught up in considering the implications of the first important reality. If stocks offer better returns, then investing in stocks gets you to retirement faster. That really is so and that really is important. But to make investing choices that will work for the long [...]

The following article contains information about the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s officially released 2009 federal income tax brackets. You’ll need this information to prepare and file your 2009 tax return in early 2010. To the extent that the information in this article helps summarize the changes in Federal Income Tax, you should consult the official [...]

There are two rules often cited by investors that sound similar but that in fact make very different claims. In this article, I’ll describe the differences between the two rules — the Multiply-by-25 Rule and the 4-Percent Rule.
The Multiply-by-25 Rule
The purpose of The Multiply-by-25 Rule is to tell an investor how much he needs to [...]