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1. Kiplinger's Best-Of Lists. For the first time ever, Kiplinger.com lists their "picks for excellence" for banking, credit cards, holiday gifts, insurance, investing, retirement tools, shopping, travel and web sites. 2. Buy Mutual Funds Whose Own Managers Invest In Them. When you invest in funds when the managers have millions of their own personal wealth invested, it's a good sign: such funds outperform their counterparts by 2.5%. You should consider that along with past performance, fees and management tenure. To check up on this, you'll need to page through a fund's Statement of Additional Information, or consult Morningstar Funds. 3. 10 Alternatives For Cutting College Costs. You can (1) do well in high school to get college credit, (2) get up to $7,000 in federal tax credits, (3) join various programs such as Americorps or the armed services to get educational service awards, (4) get a job working for the college you attend, (5) go to a cheap community college for two years before going to a big-time college, (6) pay in-state prices at out-of-state schools using the Academic Common Market, (7) get a low-interest home equity loan, (8) get a federal grant if you are low-income or even middle-class, (9) go to one of six "work colleges" that give you a student job, and (10) pay in-state prices at out-of-state schools by establishing residency there for one year before attending. 4. Financial Advice For Armed Service Members Facing Deployment. Servicemen and women should notify their creditors beforehand, get certain legal documents, take care of recurring bills to protect your credit rating. The military offers a free handbook to cover it all, the Personal Financial Readiness and Deployability Handbook. It also has Legal Assistance Offices to help deal with pre-deployment legalities. Financial matters include making sure you can cover expenses, having an emergency fund for unexpected bills, updating your Servicemembers' & Veterans' Group Life Insurance beneficiary or coverage amount, and safeguarding your second job or part-time business. 5. Top Eight Places To Stash Your Cash. Bankrate lists the pros and cons of (1) passbook savings, (2) certificates of deposit, (3) money market accounts, (4) 529 accounts (for college savings), (5) christmas/vacation clubs (these are savings accounts with a set payoff date usually in October), (6) savings bonds, (7) money market mutual funds, and (8) treasury bonds. Click their comparison tab first to get a good feel for what each account type pays. 6. How To Winterize Your Home and Car (Video). A cold winter is expected this year, but fuel prices should be lower. To save money: schedule a home-heating inspection, seal up your home, buy a programmable thermostat, compare prices for home-heating oil, close off and cool off unused rooms, and use your fan to circulate heat. In your car, check your battery and inflate the tires. 7. 10 Government Breaks That Save You Money. (1) Traditional IRA earnings are tax-deferred, (2) Roth IRA earnings are tax-free, (3) 401(k) contributions are tax-deductible, (4) Roth 401(k) distributions are tax-free, (5) medical spending accounts and (6) dependent care accounts are both virtually tax-deductible, (7) Health Savings Accounts are tax-deductible with tax-free earnings, (8) prepaid tuition plans allow you to buy a future education at today's price, (9) college savings plans allow tax-free distributions, and (10) savings bonds are exempt from state/local taxes while federal taxes are deferred until you cash them in (and they might be tax-free if used for education.) Read the article for the drawbacks to each type of account. 8. Smart Money's Life Event Center (Video). When you make a major life change, this is a good page to check out. There are online videos for starting out, raising kids, college, job-hunting, homeowning, long-term care and more. 9. Money Can Buy Some Happiness. Studies show some correlation between money and happiness. Understanding your core values is the key: once you figure that out, "Use money as a tool to maximize happiness." 10. How To Maximize Your Employer's Benefits Plan. For those employers who have a flexible benefits plan, open enrollment is here again (October through mid-December). Consider a plan that rewards regular exercise; try to use pretax dollars to help pay for the costs of health care, transportation and childcare; consider maxing out Your 401(k); and search for company-sponsored special discounts. 11. 10 Cheap Ways To Boost Your Home's Sale Price. You can: (1) make your kitchen look more attractive, (2) give your appliances matching colors, (3) give your bathroom a cheap makeover, (4) add storage racks to your closets, (5) convert a room to a bedroom by adding a closet, (6) fix any electrical, plumbing or heating glitches, (7) have your carpet professionally cleaned, (8) add an inexpensive chandelier, (9) paint your door and get a better knob-and-lock, (10) improve "curb appeal" by cleaning the driveway, landscaping, and mowing the lawn. 12. 32 Ways To Save On Groceries. You can cut your food costs in many ways, including shopping at different stores, avoiding prepared foods like TV dinners, buying in-season, buying generic or "house" brands, buying markdowns and day-old, clipping coupons, using online coupons, finding rebate offers, shopping stores that honor competitor's coupons, not purchasing non-grocery items which are usually higher-priced, and checking receipts for errors. 13. How To Find The Best Air Travel Deals Online. New travel sites are available: Bankrate.com suggests shopping a lot of sites to find the lowest fare, including the new "travel search engines", the airline's site, and perhaps PriceLine if you don't mind bidding. 14. Walmart and Target Offer Cheap Drugs. Walmart has announced plans to expand its discount drug plan to 27 states (with other states to be included by year-end), and Target is following suit. You can read Wal-Mart's complete list of eligible drugs. Some other low-cost options for drugs are wholesale club stores like Sam's Club and Costco, your insurer's mail-order program, generic equivalents, "preferred" medications that have lower co-payments, and a Flexible Savings Account (FSA). 15. How To Buy Long-Term Care Insurance (Video). A nursing home now costs about $71,000 annually, while assisted living averages $32,000. Consider buying long term care insurance because Medicaid only pays if you have few assets left. For peace of mind, make sure you buy insurance from a financially healthy company that includes an inflation rider.
Best Anti-Virus Software: Avira or Avast!Many people use AVG Free Antivirus, but some people experience glitches when installing it. Probably the best choice is Avast! 4 Home Edition. It offers fairly wide protection, including shields against worms, email viruses and malicious web pages.If you want a lighter antivirus program, Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition is small and makes a tiny demand on your system resources. Automatic updates occur daily (their manual actually recommends that you update at least once every six hours, but it seems you can only do that if you buy the commercial version.) There's a nice tabbed user-friendly interface that's very easy to use. However, it lacks email protection so we suggest you use an email service that has this protection (such as Yahoo! Email). If you can't do that, resolve to not open email attachments (unless you trust the sender AND you know they have email antivirus protection). A window comes up daily reminding you to buy the Premium edition, which does have email protection. We experienced a JavaScript error in this window but it wasn't caused by the actual antivirus program. Download at: http://www.free-av.com/, http://www.avast.com/eng/programs.html (~15 MB)
Would you like to know what the risk of an earthquake is in your area? As a former Geology major (and as a survivor of the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964 that measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale -- the largest in North American history), I can speak from first-hand experience. An 8.0 or bigger earthquake happens about once every 20 years in Alaska, but the last time such a severe earthquake happened elsewhere in America was around 1700 when an approximately 8.5 - 9.0 earthquake rocked Indian villages throughout the Pacific Northwest. Understanding the risk is the first step in making your home more earthquake-resistant, and deciding whether to add an earthquake rider to your home insurance. There are three ways to judge the risk of an earthquake to your own home. First, you can get a rough estimate of what could happen from this earthquake hazard map:  This map shows the severity of earthquakes that may occur. The type of earthquake that has hit America in the past century is unlikely to topple well-built modern homes: earthquake codes require them to withstand quakes up to about 7.8 in magnitude, or even 8.5 for specially quake-proofed buildings. Older buildings would have trouble standing up to even a 7.5 quake. Structural damage can range from falling pieces to general collapse. An 8.0 quake could occur along the Pacific rim or near Yellowstone Park, while a 7.5 quake might occur in the orange-colored areas of the above map. A 7.5 quake near a major city might cause tens of thousands of fatalities. Then again, the biggest earthquake this century -- the 9.5 1960 quake in Chile -- killed only 2,000 people, largely because foreshocks caused most people to run out into the street beforehand. The northwest coast is a special case because while quakes are less frequent there, a very intense 8.5 - 9.0 quake in the deep Cascadia Subduction Zone occurs about twice in a millennium. The next big quake in this zone is thought by some experts to be due to happen 100-300 years from now, but it could come sometime this century. To get a more accurate estimate from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) including a map of your local area, fill out the form below. A new window will open after about 15 seconds with a map showing the probability that an earthquake will happen. The probability is stated as a fraction: for example, "0.220" means a 22% chance. If you live near the Cascadia Subduction Zone, check for the possibility of an 8.0 or 9.0 quake because it's a separate check in the USGS computers. Finally, history is often an excellent guide to the future so here's a USGS map of past earthquakes. The red circles mark quakes measuring 7.3 or higher on the Richter scale, while the smaller yellow circles mark quakes ranging from 7.0 to 7.2:  What can you do about the danger of a quake? That's covered in the Home Disaster Prevention Report, which is free to the public.
Earthquakes can strike without warning, and being prepared for such a disaster can mean the difference between life and death. Here are some tips to help you and your loved ones make it through a quake.
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1. Healthy Living for a Busy Family
2. Ultimate Techniques for Time Management
The awe-inspiring Ancient Wonders were long ago lost to the sands of time -- most were destroyed by earthquakes! The one exception is the Great Pyramids of Giza (photo). But talented artists have reconstructed their appearance, based on the descriptions of ancient historians. Click the pictures on the map below to open up a new window and take a trip through time...  Images courtesy Bill Munn, CG Society, VirtuHall, Remus Brailoiu. Notes: (1) For best viewing, press the F11 key to switch to and from full-screen mode, and press [ALT]-Tab to switch between this window and the viewing window. (2) If images are slow to load, you can read other parts of this page while you wait. (3) If you're interested in their history and construction, visit http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/list.html.
Robert Kiyosaki: Invest Like a Pro: For Cash Flow. Kiyosaki reminds us about something very basic but is often ignored -- we should make sure we look hard to find investments that give us a solid cash return, rather than just capital gains. Suze Orman: Avoid Four Costliest Lending Mistakes. About 14 percent of loans to friends and family are defaulted upon. Suze's advice is (1) inquire deeply about why they need the money and be incredibly cautious about their answers, (2) don't lend more than you can afford to lose, (3) overlooking the fact that new businesses are risky, and (4) not getting it signed and witnessed. To ensure accountability, you should charge interest and keep a strict repayment schedule that starts immediately. Liz Pulliam Weston: 8 Money Moves To Make At Age 50. Weston shows you how to (1) reconsider your current career if feasible, (2) make careful calculations for your retirement, (3) pay your debts, (4) don't pay your kids, (5) make sure you've got enough life insurance and (6) other insurance, (7) get all the health checkups you need and (8) join the AARP to take advantage of the discounts they've negotiated for you on many products. Sandra Block: Life Insurance Is Getting Cheaper. Life insurance has dropped about in half in the last 12 years, especially for very healthy people. The standard rate is $615, and the extra-healthy rate is $340. Buy term insurance to save money, don't assume you're uninsurable just because you have health problems, and shop around Kimberley Lankford: Not Earning Much? Get A Tax Credit For Saving Money. The saver's tax credit is frequently overlooked. It was due to expire at year-end, but the new tax law extended it beyond 2006. If you earn $25,000 or less (or you're married with an adjusted gross income of $50,000 or less), you absolutely should check this out. Gary Foreman: How To Get A Work-at-Home Job. Five million Americans work at home, about 3% of all workers. Gary shows how you should begin by knowing yourself well, and research telecommuting jobs comprehensively. Consider any job offers carefully, and be alert to scams.
Home-Buying GuideThe Fannie Mae Foundation will send you a free 27-page guide that lays out the steps consumers should take when buying a home. It's available in nine languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Polish, Portuguese, and Haitian-Creole. It can be downloaded as well as received through the mail.Order or download at: http://www.homebuyingguide.org/book.asp (1.4 MB) Send/Receive Faxes For FreeFaxZero.com lets you send a fax anywhere in America for free, in exchange for putting an ad on the cover page. You can fax twice per day, maximum of three pages per fax. And if you want to receive faxes, eFax has been giving people their own free fax number for many years now: click here to compare their free service with their two paid services.
Shopping: Car sales Great American Smokeout Week Spend Flexible Spending Account monies Spend expiring frequent flier points Shop early Christmas sales Taxes: Reduce estate taxes with gifts Plan year-end tax moves Make charitable donations for tax deductions Home: Inspect the furnace filter Clean gutters and splash blocks Inspect for possible water damage Lubricate locks Financial: November 1: "Halloween Effect" Begins. College Preparation: Take SAT exams Obtain financial aid applications Start preparing college applications.
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106 Pages.
Type: .pdf.
Author: Lucie Brisson.
Published: 2001.
60 Pages.
Type: .pdf.
Author: Brad Gearhart.
Published: 2004.
Success Quotes 
