One of the biggest expenses owners of smart phones pay each month is the cost of high speed data plan through the carrier they have a contract with. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint all require data plans for subscribers with iPhones, and the prices start at $20 a month for 300mb of data (on AT&T) and go up from there. Want to tether your iPhone’s data for use with another device, like a wifi iPad or your laptop? That’ll cost you more — to the tune of $25 per month in addition to the higher priced data plan you’ll have to purchase, since a few hundred mb won’t cut it for sharing. What if you go over on your data? It depends on your carrier, but all of them get extra money one way or another due to your overage. Continue reading
In 2009 the business I was working for was practically forced to shut its doors due to the fact that the institutions that back the industry I was in were collapsing. It was a sad day when I helped the owners prepare all of the accounting reports to prepare them to go to an attorney so that bankruptcy could be filed. I spent an entire year unemployed until finally I got a temporary position. After that was up though I was back on the hunt and had to take a retail job and work strange hours just to pay the bills. Continue reading
Financial markets took dramatic dives and soared back to lofty heights during a precipitous year of trading in 2011, but what does the future hold for 2012? It depends on which side of the money markets you’re standing on, and how deeply invested your small business is in some upward trends that might just put a little kick back into things during Q1 and Q2 of the new year. Let’s take a look at what small businesses can do to prepare for the challenges ahead. Continue reading
The 401k is a popular retirement savings product in the United States. Its name comes from subsection 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. With a 401(k) plan, a person sets aside a percentage of his income, which will not be taxed until it is withdrawn in the future. This helps workers by reducing their taxable income for each year they are contributing to the account. A contributor becomes eligible to withdraw funds upon reaching the age of 59 1/2 years. Continue reading
Forex is the world’s most active trading market, with the trading day opening in Australia on Monday, and following around the globe as the sun rises and world markets open, and it’s all about the trading of currencies, rather than stocks. The Forex market can be risky, and therefore is not recommended for all traders. There is the potential for great loss, but also for monumental gains.
The Forex trading market offers many brave investors the most exclusive and potentially lucrative investing opportunities. Helpful factors such as the Forex 24 hour open market, commission-free trading, and simple accessibility through a variety of means have all helped Forex to become one of the most popularly traded financial markets. But what is Forex? Forex is the Foreign Exchange, and deals in the trading of currencies. World currencies that are the most popularly traded are the safest bets for a beginner. Continue reading
Just one day after Rupert and son James Murdoch announced they would testify for the Parliamentary court in London, Rebekah Brooks, the long time chief executive of Murdoch’s British newspaper and media operations, announced her resignation. Murdoch’s media empire is now under serious investigation in the UK and United States over their cascading phone hacking scandal that has led to discovery of other criminal hacking activity, including snooping through the medical and financial records of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Murdoch’s company has now lost a $12 billion deal to acquire Britain’s largest satellite broadcaster and has been forced to shut down the 168 year old newspaper tabloid The News of the World. Continue reading
Millions of Americans have taken up an unlikely habit in the grip of our country’s deepest recession: they’re cutting out coupons, saving them up, then going out and using them. Some people look at using coupons as a very easy way to put extra money in the bank. One person I know has two newspaper subscriptions that come to her home, and she spends roughly 90 minutes every week sorting through her coupons; organizing, printing, and planning her shopping trips. Actual shopping time is controllable, clocking in at around 2 hours per week. It takes dedication, attention to detail, and a willingness to drive a little out of the way to save a few cents. Continue reading
Ever wonder, when looking over those confusing stock price reports on Google Finance or other web sites, what all those numbers mean and how to make even a little sense of what you are reading? How can you use this information to help you make decisions about investments? Can you tell when to buy or sell, just by looking over the Google Finance blogs daily? It is possible that these tools can help you out if you use them to inform your market knowledge and if you begin to study the ups and downs over a period of many months that are consecutive. See what you can learn by examining this video explaining how to read and understand Google Finance Stock Quotes. Continue reading
Everyone has great advice when it comes to saving money, but almost no one can explain how to get inspired, put your life in gear, and start following the advice that makes the most sense. We all have a lot of reasons — and excuses — for not saving money consistently, and for spending it too quickly when perhaps we ought to be saving it instead. If you really stop and think about, saving money doesn’t have to be mysterious, or even a real pain. It just takes a little prioritizing and commitment. Continue reading
