Wealth Finance

Credit Card Types

Admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:29:57 +0000

Credit cards are a part of most people’s financial lives and understanding how they work can provide you with several benefits. When it comes to understanding credit cards, you have many different types of cards to examine. With so many different types of credit cards, it is possible to find the right credit card for you, regardless of your situation.

Rewards Credit Cards

One type of credit card put an emphasis on rewards programs. With a rewards credit card, you can use the points that you earn to make purchases on items that you need to buy anyway. This can offset some of the costs of doing business with the credit card company and give you an added bonus for making purchases with your card. Some credit card rewards programs give you one point per dollar that you spend on the card while others give you two points per dollar spent. Read more…

Australian Stock Market Leads – 02/15/2012

Admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:16:34 +0000

The Australian stock market on Wednesday will try to put away the lacklustre sentiment generated by the U.S. and European indices overnight with a focus on a few earnings reports due to be released today.

Reports from one of Australia’s biggest banks, the Commonwealth Bank, is due and preliminary data indicating a cash earnings increase will likely beat expectations.

“Commonwealth Bank. The bank’s cash earnings rose 7% to $3.576 billion, beating expectations of $3.526 billion. However, its dividend was a slight miss coming in at $1.37 (+0.4%) versus forecasts of $1.41. CBA’s results will likely dictate trading in the financial space today,” IG Markets analyst Stan Shamu notes.

Australian mining companies led by Fortescue (ASX: FMG) and OZ Minerals (ASX: OZL) are also set to report their end-year results, with FMG’s solid earnings most likely to track well with its production.

Would fuel credit cards help my budget?

Anthony Walker — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:12:04 +0000

Any discounts that you receive on goods or services that you purchase throughout the year can be helpful in maintaining your budget. Fuel credit cards are no exception to this rule. However, you will need to just the right credit card to increase your discounts and rewards, thereby maximizing your purchasing power and stretching your family budget.

Compare all the best gasoline credit cards side by side with the FREE credit card chaser!

Some gas credit cards only offer a discount of four or five cents per gallon for every gallon of gas purchased at their stations.

For consumers who don’t drive much during an average year, this may not add up to more than $20 or $30. O

8 Massive Ways to Save at Bulk Stores

Admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:39:44 +0000

Bulk stores like Costco and Sams Club do have some great deals, but that doesnâ??t mean youâ??ll always save money shopping at one of them. If youâ??re like me, three things are working against you while you push that ginormous cart

You assume everything is a good deal because its bulk pricing.
You really believe you wonâ??t let it go to waste.
You greatly overestimate your love for one type of food.

Fall prey to those pitfalls and you might end up wasting money. Shop smarter and youâ??ll not only stop wasting money â?? youâ??ll start saving a lot of it. Here are some tips for bulk-food shopping that really helped me

Having multiple bulk-store memberships ensures you get deals on different products â?? since they all carry slightly different stuff â?? but you could end up paying more than $100 each year just to get inside the store. As of De

Adam Smith Talking About Debt: Who is He?

Anthony Walker — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:43:30 +0000

Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and broke new ground for political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish, Smith wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The second, typically given a shorter title of The Wealth of Nations, is regarded as his work of genius and the primary contemporary work of economics. It earned him a massive reputation and turned out to be one of the highly significant works on economics ever printed. Smith is extensively quoted as the father of modern economics and capitalism.

Smith took up social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford. After graduating, he released a booming chain of public lectures at Edinburgh, which brought about his collaboration with David Hume in the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith acquired a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy, and at this time he authored and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He later embraced a tu

Nielsen: Americans Spends More Time on Faceboook Than Any Other Site

Thomas Taylor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:17:01 +0000

Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other destination on the Web, Nielsen said in its latest social media report.

In fact, American Internet users now devote more time to Facebook than any other site, spending a total of 53.5 billion minutes a month using the social network at home and at work. Thats more than Yahoo (17.2 billion minutes), Google (12.5 billion), YouTube (9.1 billion), Blogger (724 million), Tumblr (624 million) and Twitter (565 million) combined.

The study found that social media use was growing on mobile devices as well. Social networking app usage is up 30 percent from last year, and more than twice as many people over 55 visited sites like Facebook and Twitter on their smartphones in May 2011 than May 2010.

Nielsen also revealed that heavy social media users were more social in real life than their unplugged counterparts, too.

Chinese New Year: has the fire gone out of the dragon for investors?

Anthony Walker — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:48:56 +0000

Tens of thousands of British investors will be wary of any bullish noises coming from fund groups championing China.

With Chinese New Year celebrations about to start this week, several groups are encouraging investors to keep faith with China despite some dismal returns of late.

China has been the phenomenal growth story of the 21st century and investors who caught the bug early will have reaped handsome rewards. But as the story unfolded, more investors jumped on board hoping to make a quick mint from the world’s fastest-growing economy. However, growth has slowed and many investors will be cursing their move east.

Last year one of the most popular unit trusts, Jupiter China, had a torrid time, falling by 23pc, while investors who ploughed millions into Fidelity China Special Situations, managed by Anthony Bolton, have seen similar losses.

So what next?

Observers are split into two camps – those forecasting a soft landing and others who fear a major crash. B

HHS to allow some organizations extra year to comply with contraceptive benefits

Admin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:08:56 +0000

WASHINGTON – Despite efforts by some religious organizations to be exempt from its provisions, the Obama Administration announced Friday that employers must offer health benefits that provide coverage for contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible.

In issuing the final rule, however, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that it would grant non-profit religious organizations an extra year – until Oct. 1, 2013 – to comply with the new law. All other employers must have insurance plans that include these services by Oct. 1 this year.

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in statement announcing the final rule. “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

The rule still exempts churches and other employers whose main purpose is the practice of religion and whose employees are of the same faith. But religious

ClearView launches integrated platform

Thomas Taylor — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:56:49 +0000

ClearView has launched a private label platform that incorporates life insurance products and wealth management.

Called LifeSolutions, the platform will offer a full suite of life insurance products including income protection, total and permanent disability (TPD) as well as business expenses cover.

An Introduction to the Positive Payment Hierarchy

Admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:15:10 +0000

If you have never given much thought to how your credit card balance is paid off then you are not alone. It’s definitely worth knowing a bit about it, however, as how your outstanding balance is paid off can have an effect on how much you end up paying in the long term. Luckily for consumers, credit card issuers are now required to adhere to something called the positive payment hierarchy.

But what is this and how does it work? Essentially, the positive payment hierarchy exists to make sure that any credit card debt that is charged at a higher rate of interest than the rest of your balance is paid off first. The idea behind this is to help to limit the amount of interest that is paid on purchases.

For example, this often applies to balance transfer cards. If you transfer a balance from an old card to a new one, you will usually be able to pay off the transferred balance at a 0% rate of interest. H Read more…

Keeping house prices down by making sure people can afford mortgages is a wise idea

Admin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:32:25 +0000

‘Sorry, you can’t have a mortgage.’ Those are not the words anyone cultivating a homebuying dream wants to hear, whether they are a first-time buyer or a family moving up the ladder.

And for a heady few years, they were not the words a bank or building society liked to say either – instead preferring lines such as: ‘would you like to borrow some more to cover arrangement fees, pay stamp duty, buy some carpets etc?’

Now, just four years after that great credit boom started to spectacularly unravel, and took world economy with it, we have the British arrival of prospective tougher new homeloan rules in the form of the Mortgage Market Review, and people will be hearing the dreaded ‘no’ a little bit more often.

Can I refinance credit card debt?

Anthony Walker — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:56:59 +0000

Yes, frequently you can refinance credit card debt. Once someone has amassed a certain amount of credit card debt, the situation can quickly become overwhelming. Many people might feel like they will never be able to get their credit card debt under control, but there is always something the cardholder can do.

Use the credit card finder tool now and start getting more out of your credit cards!

Online tools like the credit card chaser are a great way to find the perfect credit card, but some people need help with the debt they have from the credit cards they already own. There are many ways to control credit card debt. Refinancing is a great way to deal with credit card debt. Refinancing combines all of the cardholder’s credit card debt into one bill that is easier to manage. S

Addiction to Gambling: Getting Out of Debt

Anthony Walker — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 00:19:53 +0000

Gambling debt is not only a pecuniary responsibility; it is also an early sign of an addiction to gambling. There are a handful means to get by the financial problem of gambling debt, yet you may want to look into your gambling lifestyle to steer clear of a further upsurge on debt as well.

1. Speak with the casinos where you gamble to learn about how much you exactly owe them. Such circumstances also deem accounting for whatever loans you put your name down for to fund your gambling.

2. Create a list of supplementary resources of funding that you utilized to compensate for gambling. A number of gamblers obtain money out of family savings accounts and college funds. You will want to strive to return the money into such funds past the repayment to loan companies and casinos.

3. Establish a payment timetable in order to cope with paying off gambling establishments. Interest rates differ from casino to casino, but you can perhaps try to reach a deal for lower rates if you concur to pay higher sums.

SEC Asks Banks to Reveal More on European Debt Exposure

Admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:20:40 +0000

In guidance issued on Friday, the regulators Division of Corporation Finance said disclosures by publicly traded financial institutions have been “inconsistent in both substance and presentation.”

It said this could make it harder for investors to discern how much risk the banks are taking, both individually and relative to each other, and how the exposures will affect operating results or financial health.

The SEC urged that banks reveal direct and indirect exposures “separately by country, segregated between sovereign and non-sovereign exposures.”

It said they should also provide more details on hedging, and the sums they might need to raise if forced to close out their positions.

“In determining which countries are covered by this guidance, registrants should focus on those experiencing significant economic, fiscal and/or political strains such that the likelihood of default would be higher than would be anticipated when such factors do not exist,” the SEC said.

An SEC spokesman declined to comment.

2012 Forecast: Stocks, Housing, and Oil Prices

Admin — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 00:49:31 +0000

By Brandon Ballenger | Jan 04, 2012

On Monday, we told you how random people on the street routinely outsmart experts on Wall Street, at least when it comes to market predictions. Their secret? Wild stabs in the dark.

If you read that story, you know we’ve been doing this experiment for the better part of a decade, and we aren’t stopping in 2012. In the video below, Money Talks News founder Stacy Johnson collects the predictions for this year’s stock, oil, and housing prices from the pros and average Joes. Check it out and take a moment to think about your own guesses.

Here’s a recap of what Wall Street and Main Street are expecting:

Stocks: The average of Business Insider’s 16 strategists’ 2012 predictions is about an 8 percent increase. The man on the street says: down 2 to 3 percent.
Oil: The federal government’s U.S. Energy Inform