Latest Articles
Weekend Reading for February 3, 2012
You may not know the name Heather Peters, but perhaps you soon will. Peters sued Honda because her hybrid car did not get the 50 mgp it advertised it would get. Surprisingly, the judge awarded her $10,000, the estimated amount she paid in additional gas since buying her car in 2006. Honda is appealing, but [...]
How to Choose an Online Broker
The Internet has made it easy for just about anyone to begin investing. An online broker can provide you with the ability to trade stocks and funds, as well as open some types of retirement accounts and even engage in options trading.
Capitalism is NOT a Zero Sum Game!
Capitalism is about expanding the economic pie, not trying to divide a static pie equally. Quite frankly I am getting tired of socialist writers, and progressive politicians implying the economic pie is static, and we must divide it equally. They claim everyone deserves their “fair share” of the pie. Life isn’t fair, nor will it [...]
Morningstar Ratings — Are They Meaningful?
One of the resources that many investors turn to when evaluating funds is Morningstar. Morningstar has built an entire business on rating funds, using the famous five-star system that many of us are familiar with. But, while funds like to tout their ratings and investors rely on them to determine what constitutes a “good” fund, [...]
Weekend Reading for January 27, 2012
Mitt Romney continues to be under fire for his high income and how little taxes he pays in comparison to that income. Yet, is it really that terrible that he uses the tax code to his advantage? He may come under even more scrutiny now that Warren Buffet’s secretary was at the State of the [...]
Why Your Small Business Should Offer a 401K
A recent survey by the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index showed that about 50 percent of small business owners are concerned that they wonít have a sufficient amount of money in savings to retire. If these owners are worried, what about their employees? They need a comfortable nest egg as well. Helping your employees build [...]
Recent Reviews
Rich Dad, Poor Dad Review – Revisited Ten Years Later
I recently reread Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad book. I read the book when it first came out in 2000, and I was still somewhat of a budding entrepreneur. I figured I would re-read the book now I have more experience under my belt. I also wanted to see if it’s held up to [...]
Lending Club Review. How to Become a Bank.
Did you ever wish when applying for a bank loan, that you were the loan officer sitting on the other side of the table? Well now you can with Lending Club. Lending Club is a peer-to-peer lending (P2P) service. They offer a higher rate of return (over 9.6%) than many other traditional fixed income investments. Compared [...]
Mint.com Review – Should I Use Mint?
Mint is a FREE online personal finance (web 2.0) service similar to Quicken. Mint was recently acquired by Inuit for a… mint. I decided to review Mint.com financial software to see what the buzz is about. For over two years now, I’ve taken mint.com for a test spin with my personal finances. With Mint you have no [...]
TradeKing Review
TradeKing is an online discount brokerage firm that was started in 2005. The reasons why I choose TradeKing were simple. As much as I like and use Fidelity for most of my trades, I felt it was a great way to get experience with another discount stock broker. I also wanted to find a broker [...]
tradeMONSTER Review
TradeMONSTER is a fairly new company, having just opened for business in 2008. In just the few short years the company has been in business, tradeMONSTER has become a recognized name and a front runner in the personal investing industry. Founded by industry experts Dirk Mueller, Jon Najarian and Pete Najarian, tradeMONSTER’s philosophy is to [...]
optionsXpress Review
For just over a decade optionsXpress, now a recent subsidiary of Charles Schwab Corporation, has been serving the needs of millions of investors nationwide. Over the last ten years optionsXpress has worked to gain recognition in the industry and that is exactly what they have done. Now considered a top pick for on line trading, [...]
