Financial Advisor Locator

Trade Extra Pounds for Extra Dollars

Lucille Pierce — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:08:37 +0000

Were not talking about currency conversion, here either.

Unless you live under a rock, you know that being overweight is unhealthy; fact is also, that it also can be unhealthy for anyone’s wallet. There are several definite economic disadvantages to having extra pounds around your waist. The economical impact includes direct and indirect costs.

Now, that quick stop at some fast-food joint will not just affect your personal budget but has a trickle down effect on various other factors. For one, loss of productivity at work. They way you eat will reflect the way you feel. Sick days causes overweight women to lose $106 per year and men see a loss of $212. You will not only be missing money on your paycheck for sick days but the employer isn’t getting work done. From the employer perspective, you as the employee are an investment and missed days are a loss in productivity.

Not only will the days lost take toll on your income, it can even limit what you could be making. Obese women can get lower wages, anywhere from 1.5 – 15% since many potential employers view them as lacking self-discipline or even as emotionally unstable.

The extra poundage also means that life insurance premiums go up. Premiums can

Read full post…

Major Indices Flat on Poor Retail Sales (BAC, GT)

Sherry Barker — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:43:40 +0000

Major indices closed unchanged today as perceived stability in Europe was offset by poor retail performance. US retail sales increased by 0.4 percent in January, but this was well short of economists’ projection of 0.9 percent. In most positive news, Standard & Poor have revised the state of California’s outlook to positive from stable. Bank of America (BAC) was downgraded by Citi (C) to neutral, explaining that the bank’s strong performance has been due to market conditions rather than fundamentals. Goodyear (GT) meanwhile reported an $18 million profit in Q4, contrasted against a $177 million net loss the year before.

Read full post…

I disagree with The Sunday Times’ call to ban savings bonuses

Olen Phillips — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:27:57 +0000

Once, introductory savings bonuses were rightly called a scourge. Yet with UK interest rates at 0.5%, these days they effectively provide a cast-iron rate guarantee. So while the sentiment of the Sunday Times call for banks to stop offering them is fine, I worry the timing is dire.

The papers money section front page was emblazoned with the headline Banks: give us a fair deal on savings, (this link goes to a paid firewall) with a five-point plan for savings providers. Most of the points are the type weve supported for years, like “dont limit withdrawals” and “make accounts simpler”.

But the first point concerns me. It calls on banks and building societies to…

Offer clean easy-access savings rates that do not include an introductory bonus that will be withdrawn after a set time.”

Why this could be dangerous right now

It assumes clean accounts pay consistent rates. Yet

Read full post…

Trading has started in Facebook Stock at IG Index and Spreadex

Olen Phillips — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:47:44 +0000

Facebooks upcoming IPO is causing some excitement in IG Index and Spreadexs grey market trading after the spread betting providers started a market in the stock.

Facebook is readying to go public following the floating of technology companies LinkedIn and Groupon. In particular Spreadex has started quoting a market allowing spread traders to trade on the percentage change of Facebooks stock on its first days trading.

Read full post…

Greece Not Feeling The Love

Sherry Barker — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:05:56 +0000

The sovereign debt crisis is a high stakes game for the Eurozone. Failure to find a credible way out of the morass could scupper what confidence remains in the Euro leading, in the worst case scenario, to a break-up of the currency bloc. Should this happen, the world would find itself in an economic version of a nuclear winter where the cataclysm throws up enough debris into the atmosphere that the warming rays of global recovery are blocked out. Hopefully, as in the Cold War period, the certainty of mutually assured financial destruction will be enough to concentrate the minds of politicians and investors alike and we will move back from the brink.

The second Greek bailout must be finalised quickly to avoid a Greek default on €14 billion of obligations falling due next month. Without the agreement being in place, Greece will trigger a disorderly default and the consequences of such an event were last faced by a lady called Pandora. T

Read full post…

How Important is a Budget?

Lucille Pierce — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:28:21 +0000

The first thing we did when we decided to get out of debt was reevaluate our budget. We knew that we had to change the way we spent our money before our financial situation could change.

The amount of information out there on budgeting is overwhelming. There are lots of trite and obvious articles out there (like this one) that give such groundbreaking (and condescending) advice as “Incurring debt is easy but getting out of debt is not.” or “Reducing the luxuries will always be the best place to start for you to make some real savings with the least impact on your lifestyle.”

I’ve even read articles recently discouraging people from budgeting because, “You know you should budget, but you also know you’re not really going to do it.”

I vehemently disagree with this logic. The NUMBER ONE reason people are in so much financial trouble right now is that they are not willing to put in the work and sacrifice needed to save money, wait for purchases, or do without some things altogether. The simple act o

Read full post…

Smart Steps to Consolidate Your Credit Card Debts

Sherry Barker — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:07:02 +0000

A credit card is a life support system for a shopaholic! Everyone is now taking advantage of credit card these days. It is made of plastic and has magnetic stripe. The purpose is to facilitate its customers by lending money to them when they are out of cash for their expenditures on the behalf of promise of future payments. Whether it’s shopping or for some emergency purpose, customers can always take advantage of this plastic money. It has simplified the transactions in every walk of life. As the name implies, the banks and private organizations give credit to customers.

Credit Card! A Big Responsibility

Where credit card is helping people in many ways on the other hand credit card debt payments is a big responsibility for everyone. Credit card has surely made our life much easy as we just need to show the card to the intended person and we are done with our work.

Read full post…

What are credit cards for bad credit?

admin — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:54:43 +0000

Today there are many credit card offers available for people with different credit score. For example, credit cards for bad credit are created for people who, because of their damaged credit status, can not get a normal credit card. Credit situation of some people can be damaged, because of unavoidable financial requirements or if they being attracted to luxurious lifestyle borrow from different sources and can not repay the loan. Such people are marked by outstanding late payment, less payment, defaults, bankruptcies etc. Credit cards for bad credit are the option left to them.

The great disadvantage which the holders of credit cards for bad credit may find is interest rates. Read full post…

Stay Out of the 401k Penalty Box

Olen Phillips — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:31:26 +0000

The Penalty Box

High sticking in the NHL will get you a minimum 2 minutes in the penalty box.

Same rules apply for cross-checking. In more severe cases, the penalty can be doubled that.

The bright side to all that is after the penalty time expires, you are allowed back on the ice to play again.

Hopefully, with no harm to the team.

In retirement planning, this is often not the case, especially when it comes to your 401k.

If you find yourself in a financial emergency, you might consider withdrawing money from your 401k.

It might seem logical to use your own money to help yourself out of a financial bind, but there are penalties and taxes to be paid on money withdrawn from a 401k before retirement age.

Before considering this option, it is wise to be familiar with the taxes and penalties that will be charged.

The government considers a 401k strictly for retirement funding.

Read full post…

2012 Detroit auto show: Check out this baby from…Craftsman?

Sherry Barker — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:37:01 +0000

You wouldnt think a vehicle that tops off at 8 miles-per-hour would be displayed anywhere near the North American International Auto Show, an annual event characterized by one of our car editors as known for its musclebound bravado and over-the-top stunts. But in the lobby of Detroits Cobo Center, attendees there to see cars like the 190- to 200-MPH Falcon F7 were nevertheless impressed.

Only the vehicle in question wasnt exactly one youd drive to impress your dateor stuff with family for a jaunt to the shore. It was the Craftsman CTX, a new, high-end line of yard and garden tractors that range from the $3,000 model 25004 (42-inches) to the $6,500 25007, a 54-incher.

One feature the tractor line shares with autos is traction control, which powers the rear wheels independently for greater stability.

Read full post…

Debt Acknowledgement Letter Sample

Lucille Pierce — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:05:19 +0000

This document basically outlines what you owe, to whom and why and how this debt will be settled. You will most likely be familiar with some of the contents from several forms you may have filled out for a personal or home loan or whatever type of credit.

This agreement is a sample template and is of a universal temperament.

Read full post…

The Friday Podcast: The Secret Document That Transformed China

Olen Phillips — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:46:06 +0000

In 1978, a group of farmers in a Chinese village called Xiaogang wrote a secret contract and hid it in the roof of a mud hut. They were afraid the document might get them executed. Instead, it wound up completely transforming the Chinese economy.

On today’s show, we travel to Xiaogang, and hear the farmers’ story.

Subscribe to the podcast. Music: 陈慧琳’s “希望.” Find us: Twitter/ Facebook/ Spotify.

What debt consolidation could do for you

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:04:32 +0000

Debt consolidation is one way to simplify your debts if you have them with more than one lender. Credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans – many people borrow money at some point or another. However, having debt in too many places can be a real headache, as can dealing with lots of different lenders.

A debt consolidation loan consolidates all of your unsecured debts into one, leaving you with one monthly payment to make. It can be an ideal solution to the problem of complicated debt repayments if:

Your credit record doesn’t prevent you from taking out a loan large enough to cover all your unsecured debts.

Your debt consolidation loan has a lower APR (Annual Percentage Rate of interest) than your current debts.

Your earnings are stable and you can afford the monthly repayments for the full length of the debt consolidation loan.

You aren’t struggling to keep up with repayments at the moment.

Read full post…

Nothing New Under the Sun

Lucille Pierce — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 04:12:28 +0000

For some reason, I had presumed this was a modern phenomenon. Apparently not. From Bastiat in 1848

But, by an inference as false as it is unjust, do you know what the economists are now accused of? When we oppose subsidies, we are charged with opposing the very thing that it was proposed to subsidize and of being the enemies of all kinds of activity, because we want these activities to be voluntary and to seek their proper reward in themselves. Thus, if we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in religious matters, we are atheists. If we ask that the state not intervene, by taxation, in education, then we hate enlightenment. If we say that the state should not give, by taxation, an artificial value to land or to some branch of industry, then we are the enemies of property and of labor. If we think that the state should not subsidize artists, we are barbarians who judge the arts useless.

I get to teach one class a year in the senior economics class at my kids school.

Read full post…

Starbucks Price Hike: Could Debit Interchange Be the Culprit?

Sherry Barker — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:06:06 +0000

action datsun/flickr

The ubiquitous coffee shop you love to hate, Starbucks, recently raised their prices on certain coffee drinks in certain regional markets, citing rising costs in commodity and fuel prices as an explanation. The most notable price hike falls on the head of the Tall, or small, brewed coffee which will cost 10 cents more than it did before.

Starbucks explanation, that commodity prices forced their hand, seems a bit specious.

Slates economics writer, Matthew Yglesias, used the example of Starbucks price hike as a way of explaining why we need commodities speculators. S

Read full post…

Strong Economic Data Leads Markets to Beginning of Year Rally (BAC, GS)

Sherry Barker — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:50:53 +0000

Major indices were up more than 1.5 percent today as good news about the state of the economy came from several fronts. The Institute for Supply Management said that the manufacturing sector was up from November, while the Commerce Department saw construction spending up 1.2 percent in November from October. Germany also hit its lowest unemployment rate in decades, and an all time lowest rate since the unification between East and West. In the financial sector, Bank of America (BAC) was up 4 percent and Goldman Sachs (GS) was up 5 percent. Read full post…

“Detroit Knows Cars” Automobile Fine Art Show

Olen Phillips — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:02:08 +0000

“Detroit Knows Cars” automobile fine art show is making its premiere in Detroit! The exhibit will open January 7 at 6 p.m. in the Chase Tower Building lobby (611 Woodward Avenue). This free fine art show features members of the Automotive Fine Art Society and artists who have exhibited at Concours d’Elegance, the finest classic and collector car events in the country.

Focusing on the aesthetics, beauty, and significance of automobiles, these collective works illustrate many different art styles and techniques including painting, photography, and sculpture. The exhibit will be open from January 7 until January 28 from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and coincides with the North American International Auto Show, which opens to the public at Detroit’s Cobo Center on January 14.

Why do we write about Detroit? We believe in Detroit’s future.

First Deals of the Week in 2012!

Lucille Pierce — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:20:20 +0000

Deals of the Week January 3rd 9th

Welcome 2012! Do you have many new resolutions for the new year? Do you want to make this the best year ever? Let’s start by saving money with our weekly specials:

Aldi

Is kicking it off focusing on health & fitness. This week you can get all the gadgets you will need to look and feel your best!

Crofton Juice Extractor with a 2-quart pulp container for $34.99
Crofton Extreme Blender $17.99
Electric Mini Food Chopper $7.99
Digital Kitchen Scale $9.99
Welby Body Fat Scale + $14.99
4-count Fit & Active Breakfast Sandwiches $3.99
10-count Fit & Active Multigrain Waffles $1.29
32 oz. Froze

Read full post…