Annamaria Lusardi. Ph. D., points out that financial literacy should be a main subject in school, such as math, science or history. She emphasizes that schools should offer financial literacy to their students, instead of leaving this subject to their parents. It’s proven that even many parents aren’t financial literate and hence they are unable… Read More
Investing for beginners! (as reported by kiplinger.com)
Despite the dismal performance of the stock market in recent years, over the long term investing, on average, does produce a return of 7-9%. Many people are intimidated about where to start when it comes to investing. In this article, Kiplinger outlines the three first steps to investing—setting goals and adopting a strategy, making investing… Read More
The Global Financial Crisis (via Share the World’s Resources stwr.org)
If you’re teaching economics along with personal finance, you’ll find this website to be very useful. It outlines some basic facts about the global financial crisis of 2008, and goes in-depth on the recurring problems of the world economy including debt-based consumer culture, unbalanced international trade, among other issues. Here you’ll find news updates, overviews,… Read More
Thirst for immediate gratification prevents adequate saving for retirement (as reported by Carla Fried via bloomberg.com)
This article from Bloomberg explains how Americans are wired against long term planning, and most importantly saving for retirement. Not only do people underestimate how much they need to save for retirement but they also start saving too late in life. Several strategies are outlined to help train yourself for productive retirement planning, to read… Read More
Tips for preventing credit card fraud (as reported by the Federal Trade Commission ftc.gov)
The Federal Trade Commission helps to prevent fraudulent business practices in the marketplace in part by educating consumers. In this short article, the FTC outlines some do’s and don’ts of owning credit cards. Credit card fraud costs consumers hundreds of millions of dollars every year! Read these quick tips to help avoid becoming a victim–click here! Read More
10 most common personal finance mistakes (as reported by Jennifer Leigh Parker via cnbc.com)
In this informative slideshow, you can learn what financial advisers have identified as the ten most common mistakes that people make with their money, many of which could be easily prevented! From paying too much for insurance to not checking your credit report often enough, learn what you can do to avoid these common errors. Click here to watch… Read More
Find the right savings rate for your age (as reported by Dan Kadlec via time.com)
An article from Fidelity Investments gives some age-based guidelines for successful rates of savings for retirement! For example, they say that at age 35, you should have saved an amount equal to your annual salary. The guidelines are meant more to encourage savings at a younger age, not to scare people with unattainable goals. Read… Read More
The benefits of penny stocks (as reported by smarterlifestyles.com)
Penny stocks are common stocks, which cost $5 or less. In comparison to the other stocks, which are traded in the normal market, penny stocks are traded over the counter. The special thing about penny stocks is that they have an enormous potential to raise their value. Even if the stock doesn’t increase in value, many take… Read More
Credit card or debit card? (as reported by privacymatters.com)
Probably the most popular alternative to using cash in day-to-day transactions is using a credit or a debit card. Although they almost look like the same it is important to distinguish them. Here you will find the main differences between a credit and a debit card and a few pros and cons for each. To… Read More
Where are Americans spending their money? (as reported by Lam Thuy Vo and Jacob Goldstein via npr.org)
Most of the money that the average American spends goes to housing costs–31.5% for rent and mortgages. This is followed by 8.6% in food, according to government data. For over 60 years, housing and food have remained the biggest categories. However, back in 1949 Americans spent 40% of their money on food while today that… Read More