Tax Tips and Actions To Help Maximize Your Refund

With tax season around the corner it is time for taxpayers to start taking some year-end actions with their finances to get the best outcome on their taxes. Thanks to the folks over at Turbo Tax, the leading online tax preparation and submission software, and my own experience here are …

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Top Dividend Stocks in a Down Market

Like most investors still braving this market I keep trying to find a safe place to invest that provides decent returns. With a stock market that seems to have many more down days than up days, it is hard to have confidence in future growth prospects. However with interest rates …

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Bank on it: Higher Fees are Here to Stay

The WSJ personal finance section had a timely piece on how banks are passing on or increasing transaction fees for its customers to offset mounting losses from other parts of their business ravaged by the credit crisis. According to a Bankrate study, the average costs of checking-account fees, ATM surcharges, …

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How Much Money do Bloggers make Blogging?

Whether you are a blogger or just enjoy reading blogs online, you may have wondered how much bloggers earn from blogging and whether all the effort is worthwhile from a commercial or alternative revenue perspective. If so, then read on. Based on my earnings from this blog over the last …

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Is Dubai Still the Place to Be?

A few months ago I wrote a piece comparing the pros and cons of living and working in Dubai – the booming city in the Middle East most closely aligned with western norms. Perceptions were that expats could go there and earn vast sums of money while living in luxury. …

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Foreclosure Sales Suspended until early 2009

[Updated Feb 19 2008] See this recent article on President Obama’s $75 billion dollar plan to stem foreclosures and stabalize the housing market. It also covers who qualifies and when the programs start. ——– Finally some good news leading into the holidays for millions of struggling homeowners, through a plan …

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Things should get better by 2010

A very cool graphic from the Economist looking at the GDP, Unemployment and Inflation forecasts for the US, Japan, Euro Zone and OECD. As leaders of the G20 countries gather in Washington, these factors and their forecasts will be key when decisions are made. 2009 looks like a global write-off …

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Home Mortgage Refinancing Plan. Finally a Good Idea

In an attempt to help struggling American homeowners, the U.S. Department of Treasury, HUD, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and the Hope Now Alliance recently outlined a plan to avoid “preventable” foreclosures. Households that have missed three or more mortgage payments may receive assistance through refinanced …

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Bad Assets not the Problem; its the Banks and Consumers Stupid!

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced that he has shelved the original plan to buy troubled mortgage assets via the recently approved $700 Billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Instead he will use the remaining funds to assist non-bank financial institutions and promote consumer finance initiatives. In a striking admission, Paulson …

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An Introduction to Trading Options Effectively

This the second part of a series looking at understanding and trading options. The first post in this series looked defined key option terminology and ideas, while here I go into some basic trading strategies and patterns to improve your odds when trading options. You can see some of the …

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