September 2009

How and Why to Buy Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)

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With double digit inflation looming on the horizon thanks to the extraordinary increase in the money supply from all the government spending on stimulus and bailouts, many investors are rushing into purchasing “inflation protection” via Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS). These securities are essentially government-issued bonds whose principal grows with rising inflation and pay a fixed [...]

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Job, Home and Stimulus Tax Breaks and Traps in Difficult Financial Times

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In these tough economic times with many families struggling to make ends meet and the threat of unemployment looming the last thing people want to think about is taxes. However, it is precisely at the this time, with all the government subsidies on offer covering unemployment to housing that people need to realize what tax [...]

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2009 versus 2010 Federal Income Tax Bracket Tables and Standard Deduction Changes

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2010 Federal Income Tax Rate and Brackets and various tax benefits will remain unchanged or change only slightly over 2009 levels as shown in the table below. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), used by the IRS in calculating 2010 tax parameters, has been reviewed by many tax [...]

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Successfully Buying my Home – A Real Life Journey

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Like me, a good friend of mine recently bought a house after a long and arduous search. In talking with him I thought his journey to buying a house would provide some timely advice for those in the market to buy a house (hurry before the new home buyer credit expires), or for those who [...]

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Updates & Taxes on the Economic Stimulus Credits and Payments

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[Updated Jan 2011] : No New Taxes with Tax Extensions Approved. President Obama has now signed into law a bill that covers a temporary extension of all the bush-era tax cuts. The new bill also contains extensions to some of the 2008 stimulus tax breaks, and even has some new tax cuts. You can see [...]

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5 Blue-Chip Stocks Warren Buffet Would Buy – GE, MSFT, GS, CAT and Disney

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Could the economy and stock market be recovering faster than we expect? In terms of the Economy, Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the worst U.S. recession since the 1930s has technically ended and cited various signs of a recovery. Even President Obama has said that the embattled US economy is recovering spurred on by [...]

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Rising Gold Prices – Fundamentals, Speculation or a Dollar-Inverse Play Driving Gold Futures

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Gold futures surged to $1,013 an ounce last week, the highest closing price on record and the first above $1,000 since February. The advance resulted in another weekly gain with gold prices having climbed for four straight weeks. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), a huge ETF that holds more gold than many nations have in their [...]

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The Power of Compounding – $1 Million Now or Penny Doubling for a Month

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MSN had a very interesting video that asked a number of regular people if they would rather have a million dollars now or take a penny now and double the amount for 30 days. As expected, 90% of people chose the million dollars now option. I would have made this choice myself a few years [...]

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Getting Help with Home Foreclosures as Filings Continue to Rise

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Foreclosure filings in the U.S. exceeded 300,000 for the sixth straight month as job losses that boosted the unemployment rate to a 26-year high left many homeowners unable to keep up with their mortgage payments. A total of 358,471 properties, or one in 357 households, received a default or auction notice or were seized last [...]

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How to Invest in Stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds

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With the economy showing signs of improvement and financial markets making a strong recovery (example: Wall Street exec’s are back to paying themselves big bonuses), many would be investors are more willing to invest in the stock market in order to earn higher than average returns. Investing in this day and age is easy and [...]

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