23 Mar
Posted by: Bruce Solorio in: Financial Articles
Not this again.
I found myself on another looong Chicago bus ride, on my way to present a proposal (AKA spend an hour of my time without getting paid) to yet another hesitant prospect. By all measures my web design business was doing incredibly well – I was 23 years old and had hit just over $60,000/year.
But I was already getting drained, frustrated and burned out.
Every time I wrapped up a project I was back at zero – the song and dance of getting new clients was never-ending. The most frustrating part was that there didn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel – the only way to grow my business was to spend MORE time getting new clients and spending MORE time working on their projects. None of my marketing was leveraged – I had to start fresh with every new prospect.
And truthfully, working with clients was hard. I felt li Read full post…
Are you an optionsXpress customer?
If you are, then you probably have already heard the news coming out yesterday that optionsXpress is to be bought by Charles Schwab for $1 billion.
I opened an optionsXpress account a few years ago when they gave $100 for a new account (you can still get $100 bonus now with optionsXpress), but I have never actively used the account to trade because its commissions for stocks and ETFs were much higher than what other discount brokers charge for the same online trades. Though optionsXpress has recently cut commission from $14.95 to $9.95 per trade, it’s still too expensive to make it an attractive broker in my opinion. That said, I do like optionsXpress’ website and their research and trading tools in general. Amo
Everyone experiences a financial emergency at least once in their lives, but not everyone is fully prepared to handle one. Whether it’s an unavoidable car repair or costly trip to the hospital, an unexpected cash need can sometimes require a personal loan to cover expenses until payday. However, what do you do if your credit score isn’t very good and it’s hard to secure a personal line of credit? You’ll likely need a no credit check personal loan to obtain the emergency cash required.
Generally, obtaining a personal loan requires the borrower to submit to a credit check. This allows the lender to judge the amount of risk involved in lending money to an individual. Someone with poor credit presents a high risk of default, so a lender will probably not extend a loan in this circumstance. A no cr
19 Mar
Posted by: Renetta Rust in: Financial Tips
The country’s still sluggish economy has changed the way lenders operate. Banks and mortgage lenders, even auto lenders, are more cautious about to whom they lend money. This makes life difficult for those consumers seeking personal loans for bad credit customers. The simple truth? A growing number of banks and lenders are no longer passing out personal bank loans to consumers with weak credit scores.
Three-digit credit scores have always been important for consumers looking to borrow money. Lenders passing out everything from home equity loans to second mortgages to car loans have long relied on these numbers to determine who is and is not a risky borrower. Those consumers with low credit scores have always had to pay higher interest rates to borrow money, and they’ve always struggled to qualify for the best loan products.
Today, though, lenders who were burned by the bad economy – too many of the loans they passed out to credit-challenged consumers have gone bad – have sworn off no credit check personal loans. This me
19 Mar
Posted by: James Pease in: Financial Tips
Savings Accounts and Money Market Rates provided by 18 March 2011 The price of attending college has soared over the past few decades. Columbia University, Boston College, Vanderbilt University and Tufts University are all over $50,000 per year when costs like room and board are factored in – and they’re the norm, not the exception. Nonetheless, the costs students incur often vary, with some receiving financial aid and scholarships, and others paying full price.
EduLaunchPad.com announced it has created a Net Price Calculation to its college search engine to help students ascertain the exact costs they’ll pay at the college they choose to attend. The program is helpful because instead of the one size fits all model that shows the highest total cost a student would pay, the tool lets students compare and contrast various schools. Read full post…
The Federal government kicked off the official start to National Consumer Protection Week on Sunday with hopes of educating consumers about the many ways to avoid identity theft, financial scams and more. While many individual states are hosting local events to celebrate the week, the government is providing resources consumers can take advantage of as they learn more about how to protect themselves.
National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW) is a coordinated campaign presented by government and non-profit entities that encourages consumers nationwide to protect themselves by making informed decisions regarding purchases they make as well as guarding their identity.
Some government entities participating in the events of the week include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), United States Postal Service, Social Security Administration and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Non-profit organizations offering their insight include AARP, National Urban League, National Council of La Raza, National Consumers League and the National Futures Association.
Now entering its 13th year, NCPW plans to offer a number of events nationwide through Saturday, March 12, as well as free online resources.
Some tips offered by the campaign include how to:
Specific resources offered by the campaign include FTC’s consumer newsletters and education videos as well as information from the Better Business Bureau.
To find out what activities are being offered in your area, visit the NCPW’s events page, which allows you to browse activities according to the state you live in or date you’d like to participate.
19 Mar
Posted by: Bruce Solorio in: Financial Articles
My wife and I put it off for as long as we could. Our friends teased us about it. We had visions of the both of us crouched over on our hands and knees scrubbing the floors all day. Potty training was the one aspect of parenthood that my wife and I absolutely dreaded. Unfortunately, we had to bite the bullet sooner than we wanted to because our preschool forced us to take action. In order for our daughter to advance to the next class level, she had to be potty trained or be held back with the younger kids. And to make things worse, we recently had brand new carpets installed. (Bad timing. I know)
Yet in many ways, what instigated my wife and I to start our business and to potty train our daughter were very similar.