There are countless financial issues faced by college students, and I could talk about it all day. However, let’s keep it precise and discuss some of the most common debt-generating habits adopted by college students these days. Being trendy: No, I am not asking them to walk like a scrub in their colleges. However, they don’t realize how much they spend just to keep up with the trend. Quite similar to the trend, their money fades away, quicker than expected. Instead, they can focus on wearing and buying what’s convenient, rather than what’s in. Going out and eating out more than required: We all know college students consume alcohol when they say ‘going out’. It’s hardly a secret. Reducing the number of times they go out, however, can save them enough to meet next month’s [...]

Since the time there has been cash on earth, there always have been people who wanted to invest it. And it was safe until corporations came it to existence and introduced stock market. Thousands earned, millions lost, and millions earned again. Today, millions of people all around the world from Tokyo to New York and from Paris to London, buy and sell shares worth trillions every day. A share price of a company can determine it’s financial condition and it’s future plans like will it be merged, taken over, blossom, or just wind up. Hence, along with deciding the fate of the company, the stock market has the potential to destroy or make someone rich overnight. This phenomena, though sounds similar, is not a casino. Money invested in a stock of a company contributes to the capital of the [...]

Few months ago I was terribly infected by the ‘Next Month’ disorder. Not many people believed it’s a fatal disease, as most were infected by it. Every time I received my credit card statement, I would look at the amount and promise myself, next month I will try to reduce it. I thought of dealing in cash, yet whenever I pulled out a card from my wallet to make ends meet, I would stare somewhere between the sky and the mountains, and think, next month onwards I wouldn’t use these cards. When I hear people talking about budget, I promise my self, next month I would definitely plan out a budget. Once I was talking to Ms. Smith, my neighbor, we discussed various aspects of personal finance. I, however, realized she was younger than me, yet she had perfectly planned for her retirement. [...]

Recently, I got a mail from my colleague, Chris, who retired a couple of years ago. Once, I met him at the grocery store and we discussed frugality. Though he didn’t open up much, he sent me an email a week later. He says: “Quite often, I feel frugality is detaching me from the society. And every night, started this since past couple of weeks, I ask my self “Is frugality depleting my social life?” With days, I find myself not being interested in the mainstream society. I have disconnected my TV cable, so I can’t really tell if who won the American Idol, or is it still on. Daily headlines, too, is just a glance on the internet. So, I don’t know much beyond the headline. I don’t eat out much, though I have perfected cooking, I haven’t had a look at the local menus since many months. [...]

Several corners, or at least one corner, of our mind is busy calculating income and expenses. And this corner becomes busier than Bill Gates or Barack Obama during the pay day. In short, all of us think a lot about how to manage our finance, which is widely known as personal finance management. Some people sit down with their family and derive a plan, some suddenly announce decisions at dinner table, and some are always confused. Professional advice helps you to avoid this confusion and chaos to much extent. This, however, is a big decision and must be taken only if one is pretty sure what he needs. Hence, before you hire professional service or personal financial advisor, I would suggest you to do some homework. It’s important to understand, quite clearly, your current financial status and [...]

I know most of the people with mortgage are confused and are stuck with the question “When should I consider refinancing my mortgage?” Today, prevailing interest rates are much lower than the time we purchased the house. And we can easily refinance through the existing lender without any closing costs. If you have, however, decided to refinance your mortgage, I would recommend you to pay attention to few factors mentioned below. Interest Rates Ask your self, what is the interest rate you are paying now? What would it change to, if you consider refinancing it? Is the difference quite considerable? Is the interest rate expected to rise in near future? However, it should be noted that even 1% of change in rate can affect your payment quite radically. Type of Loan One of the factors that have [...]

Services like credit cards, saving & checking accounts, loans, etc., are provided by banks and hence we choose to use their services. However, the services level ranges widely with every brand in the US. However, the decision of switching a bank or a bank account is influenced by number of factors. Higher Interest Rates This doesn’t necessarily mean only interest rates. I am talking about general monetary benefits offered by a bank. Though interest rate given by banks, which is 0.5% currently, is governed by the Fed to a larger extent, other benefits are not. Frugal people select a bank that offers $100 with every new account, or something like that. However, monetary benefits remain to be the most influential factor in switching a bank. Service level Most of us love exceptional customer [...]

One of the popular questions that haunts people in middle ages of life is “How much do I need to save as life insurance?” Although the answer to this question isn’t quite difficult, it’s requires some basic explanation. Or rather, the answer to this question depends on the answers of many other interrelated questions, such as: What is the kind of lifestyle you want you family to live after you are gone? How will your death impact your family, financially? Is there any other earning member in your family? Do you want them to be extremely rich? Or, would they be financially impacted if you pass away? However, along with these preferences, the right amount of life insurance you need also depends on your existing financial standing. Most of the people, commonly, want their debts to be cleared [...]

Whenever there is an economic blow, one of the first ones to get affected is the local economy. The hotel and retail industries are very vulnerable to bad economic conditions. But when a big event, like a sporting event, takes place in the affected country or city, it is expected to create some wealth for the city as there are more visitors to the city which is expected to boost business. Here are some ways in which the increased visitor traffic during a big sporting event, such as a World Series or a Super Bowl is going to boost up the economy of the host city. Hotel Bookings The first industry to see an increased business during a big sporting event is the hotel industry. The players, celebrity guests and outstation spectators will all need places to food and lodge and they book hotels and [...]