Author Archive for Jordan Schonig
Need a Web site? It’s as easy as 1-2-3
Need a Web site for your business, but not sure you can do it yourself? Good News! If you can create a Facebook or LinkedIn page, you can create your own Web site. Intuit Web Sites makes it easy! Intuit offers simple, step-by-step instructions for building your site, and the templates are easy to customize. [...]
How to Generate Business Ideas
So, you’ve decided you want to start your own business. You have the will. You have the motivation. You even have the entrepreneurial savvy. You need one more very important thing, though – an idea. Don’t simply give up on your business goals because you think you lack the creativity. Not all million-dollar ideas happen [...]
How to Save Money on College Textbooks
Buying college textbooks can be pretty shocking for a college freshman. Tuition and dorm fees are already pretty hefty, and you have to purchase hundreds of dollars of textbooks on top of it! Every year, textbooks become more expensive, but there are a few things you can do to save some cash. 1. Used Copies [...]
The Real Cost of a College Education
College can be expensive – that fact is clear. But when you really look at the breakdown, how expensive is it really? Here’s a breakdown of typical current costs, based on four-year schools during the 2009/2010 school year: Typical costs (2009/2010 school year): Four-year public colleges for in-state students: Tuition, fees, room and board averages [...]
Remodeling Your Home
Remodeling your home is both an aesthetic, functional, and financial decision all in one. Make sure you review the basics before you embark on such a stressful, but often rewarding, project. The first step to remodeling is balancing your home remodeling budget. You’ll have to decide if you want to purchase your materials from a [...]
Getting Your Children Involved in Saving for College
Getting your children excited for college is easy; getting them involved in saving for college is a whole different story. The truth is, your children need to learn saving strategies from you, the parents. High schools will hardly ever teach financial responsibility, so it’s your job to teach them, and teach them early. Here are [...]
College Financial Aid – Need-Based Aid
When it comes to paying for college, families have three main options. You can 1) Save enough money to cover all college expenses before your child enrolls, 2) Work to pay off expenses while your child is in college, or 3) Take out loans and pay them off after your child graduates. Option 1 is [...]
Clean Up Your Credit For Free
If you have bad credit, you may be an easy target for companies that claim to erase your credit – for a fee of course. Don’t fall for their claims. You can clean up your credit on your own, and for free. Your credit history is maintained by credit bureaus that collect information from banks, [...]
Small Business Financing: Debt vs. Equity
Small business owners must choose between debt and equity financing; if you’re just starting your business, you may be confused by the advantages and disadvantages of each plan. Simply put, ‘debt’ financing involves borrowing money to be repaid, plus interest. Equity financing involves raising money by selling interests in the company. Each plan has its [...]
Retirees and Financial Scams
Unfortunately, senior citizens are often the targeted victims of con artists. In general, senior citizens invest their savings, own a home, and have good credit; it is this high financial standing that makes them particularly attractive targets for criminals. If you know what to look out for, though, you can protect yourself from these criminals. [...]
Should You Buy a New or Used Car?
So, you’ve decided it’s time for a new car, but should you buy new or used? As the average price of new cars rises, many buyers are turning to used cars. But to offset this trend, car manufacturers are offering attractive incentives for buying new, like low interest payment plans and rebates. You shouldn’t be [...]
How to Plan for the Cost of Higher Education
College education will be expensive – you’ll have to accept that reality. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should start a college fund the moment your child is born. It would not be sound financial strategy. There is simply not enough time to save up all the money for four years of college. How, then, [...]
An Introduction to Stock Options
As a corporate employee, you may have come across stock options as a form of compensation. Many of you may be understandably overwhelmed by the idea of stock options, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the stock market. So, what exactly is a stock option? Essentially, a stock option is a contract that allows one person [...]
Back-to-College Student Budget
Amidst the pep rallies, dorm buddies, homework, and parties, the last thing an incoming college freshman thinks about is budgeting. College’s many distractions make financial responsibility an afterthought, but the reality is that college life demands careful budgeting, a skill that many high school graduates have yet to develop. First of all, the cost of [...]
Credit Cards and College Students – Dangerous?
It’s no secret that credit cards are often directly marketed to college students. Big names like Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, HSBC, and Discover are offering free gifts – from T-shirts to iPods – to entice the college-bound demographic. Recently, banks have started to form relationships with colleges. Together, banks and colleges issue co-branded credit [...]
U.S. Savings Bonds – Road to Wealth?
Savings bonds offer an equally safe alternative to bank savings accounts, but with superior interest rates. The attractiveness of both bank accounts and savings bonds comes from the insurance each provides you. The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) protects your bank deposits. Savings bonds, on the other hand, are backed by the U.S. government. Both [...]
Applying for a Loan? Start by Ordering Your Credit Report
If you are considering applying for a loan, ordering a copy of your credit report may well be the best place to start. Why? Because it’s also the first thing a potential creditor will be looking at, and even if you pay your bills on time, you will want to ensure that all the information [...]
Can Consumers Fight Back Against Credit Fraud?
In this age of information, credit fraud is not a difficult crime to perpetrate. The idea that a thief could gain access to your account information or personal data is not as implausible as you might think–social security number misuse has increased over the last two years, resulting in a variety of credit-related crimes.Fortunately, you [...]
What exactly is a Credit Report?
Whenever you apply for any type of credit or financing, a credit report is pulled from at least one of the three major credit bureaus. While there are hundreds of smaller credit bureaus around the country, virtually every credit bureau is affiliated with Trans Union, Experian, or Equifax. These credit bureaus collect and maintain information [...]
What is a Credit Score…Really?
What does your score mean? This rating system is meant to develop a snapshot of the risk you currently represent to a lender. Several parameters in your credit file, including length of credit history, number of open accounts, loans, mortgages, public records, and others are formulated to produce a three-digit score between about 300 and [...]
