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Archive for January, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Bitten by the bear one too many times and uncertain about their jobs and the economy, investors have avoided stocks even after the market’s rapid ascent. Indeed, the market’s strong rebound over the past 10 months only makes many sidelined buyers more afraid to get on board. Their mantra: We won’t get fooled again.

Uncertainty, mistrust, cynicism — this is what we feel when we feel taken. And investors are right to be suspicious. “This time it’s different” was Wall Street’s mantra for a bull market that had lost its compass and later, a housing market flush with cheap credit. Nothing was different, of course. The booms ended badly, and many investors are still paying a high price. This time, you can be different. The 1990s market is gone, along with its wild double-digit yearly gains; plan instead how to make your money last into your 90s. Act decisively, learn about financial matters, and put knowledge into practice.

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You may think that you can make more money by investing outside of your 401k, but that’s not necessarily true. If you are eligible to contribute to your company’s 401k plan, then your first investment dollars should go toward making the maximum contribution. Don’t be tempted by short term gains elsewhere until you have contributed fully in your 401k. Here are three reasons why:

  • Tax Savings. You contribute money into your plan with pre-tax dollars. That is a huge advantage in investing because more of every dollar you earn goes into your plan for your benefit.
  • Tax Deferral. All the investment income (interest, dividends, and capital gain distributions) is not taxed within your 401k plan. That means your money will grow much faster without taxes on your investment earnings. This compounding effect over time is huge.
  • Automatic Increase in Contributions.

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If you are like most health insurance agents, then you are no doubt always hunting for new methods to increase your clientele by finding more online health insurance leads. It does doesn’t take long in the business to understand that the more leads you have, the more business potential you have. Once you have a pile of health leads on you desk you can begin closing sales and putting money in the bank. But you can’t make any sales until you have quality health insurance leads. There are lots of ways to get new leads, but by far the best option is to utilize the Internet.

The Internet offers tremendous gains over other lead generation methods. First and foremost, it is much more convenient. Everything you need is right there at your fingertips. You don’t have to deal with paperwork. You don’t have to transfer a potential health lead’s information to your computer; it is already there.

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I would like to recommend two more articles on the growing move to greater regulation. Both appeared this Saturday morning. The first by John Authers, “Politicians look to enter another Faustian pact,” appeared in the Financial Times. The second by Jason Zweig, “Will New Rules Tame the Wall Street Tiger?” appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Both articles discuss the unfolding drama in Washington, D. C. concern

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22
Jan

Why Credit Cards 0 APR Are Offered

It can be expensive to find new customers who want to apply for a credit card, and offering credit card 0 APR is a way to get new customers faster. This saves credit card companies money on their advertising costs because the zero APR offer is one that will be acted upon by potential customers more quickly than many other types of offers. Credit card customers know how much money they can save by paying no interest. Many customers actively seek out these credit cards in order to save money on their monthly credit card bills.

Saving money on advertising for new customers and getting new customers to sign up for new credit cards also saves money for new customers. New credit card holders who pay no interest on their new credit card will have lower monthly payments than if an interest charge was included in each bill. This is incentive enough for many people to switch cards in order to pay zero APR.

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