9 ways to keep your New Year's resolutions

With the start of a new decade, let's make sure you stick to those New Year's resolutions. If your New Year's resolutions from last year have gone unresolved, you're not alone. Now a new year offers another opportunity to achieve your goals, and these nine tips should help you keep to your New Year's resolutions. 1. Make it something you really want. Don't make it a resolution that you "should" want or what other people tell you to want. It has to fit with your own values. "Put some thought into it," says Richard O'Connor, author of "Happy at Last: The Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy." And avoid knee-jerk New Year's resolutions, he says. "I encourage people not to make cheap resolutions, but to save it for something meaningful." 2. Limit your list to a number you can handle. "It's...

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It's now 2011 Happy New Year Everyone!

Hello there, this is Andy wishing you a very joyous new year! May this 2011 brings you great health, prosperity and plenty of opportunities! I am just about to set new goals for 2011, how about you?...

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6 excuses for not saving for retirement

Do you need an excuse? Like the proverbial grasshopper, some people neglect to save for retirement and have plenty of excuses to justify their lack of foresight. Every year, the Employee Benefit Research Institute conducts its retirement confidence survey to gauge how prepared Americans are for retirement. The 2010 survey, released in March, found that 54 percent of workers have less than $25,000 saved, excluding the value of their home and any defined benefit plans. The justifications are endless and investment advisers have heard them all. While some excuses are grounded in reality, others defy logic. Excuse #1 I'm paying for my kid's college education Higher education costs money, as does retirement. Though it's a noble goal to fund Junior's college education, it shouldn't come at...

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10 sweet saving tips for 2011

It might be the right year for you to start saving money for a variety of reasons -- emergencies, retirement, health care or a possible job loss. If you're already saving money, 2011 may be the year to revisit the return on your checking, savings and other accounts. These tips will get you moving in the right direction. Tip #1 Start an emergency savings account The biggest barrier to saving is not being in the habit of saving. The best way to get in the habit is to pay yourself first by having money directly deposited from your paycheck or even your checking account into a dedicated emergency savings account. This can be done concurrently with other goals such as paying down debt or saving for retirement, not instead of those goals. You won't miss what you don't see, and putting your savings...

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Believe It or Not, These $100+ Stocks Are Cheap

Everyone loves a $5 stock that doubles, including me. But right now I'm finding some of the biggest gains are coming from stocks trading in the $100 range. Don't make the mistake of thinking a $100 stock is expensive. With growth rates going through the roof and strong buying pressure, these stocks should prove to be bargains at current valuations. I'm here to help you make money year in and year out and right now there's money to be made in the five stocks I'm going to tell you about today. Let's start with Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN). Both of these companies have been on my favorites list for more than a year. I first recommended APPL in October of 2009 when shares were nearly $190 apiece! I'm sure there were people out there who thought I was crazy, but with the launch of iPhone...

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Goldman-Sachs Makes a $500 Million Bet

Investors who hate Goldman-Sachs (NYSE: GS) have one more reason to despise the former investment banking giant. The firm recently laid a $500 million bet on Facebook - the pre-IPO social networking website with over 500 million users worldwide. And they've valued it at $50 billion, meaning they have a one percent stake. So why hate Goldman because of this deal? Part of the untold story is that in exchange for the $500 million in up-front cash, Goldman obtained the ability for their clients to buy up to $1.5 billion in equity. It's these kinds of back-door, pre-IPO deals that completely let big "banksters" and institutional traders jump in...

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Top 6 Stocks for January 2011

Technical strength should make these picks winners Best Buys for the New Year - Top Stocks to Buy Stocks had one of the best Decembers in recent years, and the internal and sentiment indicators are now very overbought. But with an enormous inflow of cash into the system from pension, profit sharing and 401(k) plans, and other sources that generally put money to work early in the year, we are unlikely to see a correction before mid-January. A pullback later in the month would be welcome, though, since it could provide an excellent opportunity to jump on some of our favorite growth and cyclical stocks. The following technical picks represent...

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Opening View: DJIA Futures Plunge 80 Points Ahead of ADP Jobs Data

Falling commodity prices provide fuel for Wall Street sell-off Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are trading sharply lower this morning, pointing toward a potential opening loss of about 82 points. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) is also on the rocks this morning, with futures trading about 9.4 points below fair value. Yesterday's modest bump, following the release of minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, has faded quickly, with a sharp drop in commodities and anxiety ahead of today's ADP employment report taking center stage. Technically, short-term resistance at the 11,700 level looms large for the Dow, with the blue chip barometer closing a hair's breadth below this hurdle on Tuesday. Look for the DJIA to struggle here today, while support should...

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Three Reasons to Buy Stocks in 2011

Despite bearish and neutral reports from the financial media, you should expect the market to move higher to begin the new year. In fact, 2011 could very well be the best year for stocks in recent memory, according to several important sentiment indicators. Don’t get me wrong — 2010 was a great year for the stock market. Stocks finally reached levels not seen since before the 2008 financial crisis, and it was the second straight year the market had posted gains. Now, it appears that the market’s steady climb from its 2009 lows could be the beginning of a much bigger move higher. The bears have expressed concern that soggy unemployment numbers and a decimated real estate market will kill any chances of an extended stock market run. These, and other concerns regarding QE2 and a weak Eurozone,...

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Buy a house...then buy another

Renting in the City: All the Cool Kids Are Doing It * The trend is favoring a lifetime of renting * But buying a house may still be a great hedge against QE3 through QE6 * For the sake of your finances please forget that suburbia ever existed Gary Gibson, Baltimore, Maryland… It’s getting more expensive to live in Baltimore….at least if you’re a renter. According to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun rents are up more than 6% over what they were last year in the Baltimore metro area. If you count the drop in various concessions — like waived application fees or initial free rent — then the increase is even more. There is a drag on the rental market, however: the regretful buyers who now need to rent out the homes they can’t sell. Lois Foster, a Baltimore real estate agent who helps...

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Welcome to FINANCE-EXPLORER

Hello there, this is the admin of FINANCE-EXPLORER Blog. :) I have keen interest on various aspect of FINANCE, PERSONAL FINANCE, INVESTMENTS and more. I shall be posting relevant articles and information regarding FINANCE in this blog to share with you dear readers. Do spare some time to explore my blog and I hope FINANCE-EXPLORER.BLOGSPOT.COM quenches your thirst for information related to FINANCE. ;) Best regards, A...

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