by Richard Moran
How many times have you been surprised by how much you charged on your credit card in the past month? Well that is what the banks want to happen. When you use that cards very few people keep good track of their total spending.

Banks are businesses, big businesses at that, and they count on you losing track of your balances and spending during the month. They actually love you to go (slightly) over your change limits so they can tack on that over-limit fee. This little slight-of-hand can be controlled with a little effort on your part.

This can be called the Bank “Money Machine”

There are a few different ways that banks make the money that they need to operate. The first is though overdraft/overlimit fees. Many people have to deal with this kind of fee because they lose track of what they are spending. They might …

by Sam Smith

During this turbulent economic time where stock market indexes are plummeting and rising almost every day due to the crisis calls for a special investment plan so that risk is minimized. There is a need for the clever planning of investment and saving strategies so that they reflect the changing nature of the playing field.

With the stock markets being fluctuating the way they are these days many investors are not clear on what is the best approach to investing. The two basic approaches are the conservative and the aggressive strategies and while both can be fruitful the question is which one will produce the best results in market conditions like these.

The ones who utilize aggressive strategies in stock marketing investing are known as day traders. These investors buy and sell many times a day and take on relatively larger risks than regular buy and …

by Sue Calhoun

You are not alone if you’re still unsure of what to invest in in today’s market. If you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting to decide what is the best investment for your portfolio, below are a few things to consider when choosing the best investment for your portfolio. (These ideas are just to help you brainstorm some options – they are not specific recommendations. Be sure your investing decisions are based on YOUR individual financial goals.)

Stocks: When considering stocks, you may want to change your style from a “buy and hold” mentality. Those days are probably gone. The economy is still not on a completely solid footing, so when you buy, you will need to monitor whether your investments continue to meet your goals. Consider big brand name companies, the companies that continue to perform in good times and bad, because consumer …

by Paul J. Easton

A structured settlement is a form of annuity where the beneficiary of money receives payments for a set amount of time. This can range anywhere from months to years. There might come to a time when the beneficiary of the structured settlement payments may choose to sell their structured settlement payments.

If the recipient wishes to exchange lump sum cash for structured settlements at once, he must acknowledge that finalizing the transaction and actually earning the structured payments could require some time.

In best instances, it will take 60 to 90 days to actually have the cash in hand. The delay is caused by the approval procedures that should be normally observed by the courts.

The paperwork will be going through a number of government mandated hoops. To be perfectly fair, the structured settlement was with the intent to be with the public’s side.

The state and federal …

by Alan Myers

There is no disagreement about the sad state of our economy. And, the experts unanimously agree that it will, at some point, bounce back.

The big question is, what to do until then. Here are some good tactics.

1. Meet with your supervisor to determine what new skills would make you more valuable. Then come up with a plan to acquire them.

2. Enroll in an online degree or Online certificate program which will give you the edge over people in your profession against whom you may find yourself competing.

3. Have an updated resume and cover letter ready at all times. Tailor them as necessary for each opportunity that presents itself.

4. Don’t dump good stocks or investments just because they have temporarily lost value.

5. Consider regularly scheduled investments in undervalued stocks or assets. Use only funds for which you will not …