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There are three faithful friends — an old wife, an old dog, and ready money–Benjamin Franklin
Online savings accounts are a great place to stash your cash. Also called high yield savings accounts, you earn some of the highest available interest rates for a savings account, and you get the convenience of online account management and easy transfers to and from your existing bank accounts. Recently, a reader e-mailed me asking where to find the best online cash accounts. So here is my list of the top paying online savings account offers. Read the rest

The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Have you or someone you know ever experienced a financial miracle? Do you even believe in miracles, financial or otherwise? I’m going to tell you about a financial miracle I experienced as a child; at least, it seemed like a miracle to me. It wasn’t a $1 million miracle. In fact, it was only a $5 miracle. But to a child of about 10 with very little money, the memory has stayed with me now for a very long time. Read the rest

You’ve decided to invest in your future. You’ve picked the perfect mutual fund. You’re ready to go. Now what? How do you actually go about buying shares of a mutual fund? The good news is that buying shares of a mutual fund is quick and easy. If you’ve never invested in a mutual fund outside of your employer’s 401(k), however, the process can seem overwhelming. But the truth is that for DIY investors there are only two options to consider, and both options are inexpensive. I’ll cover them both in this article. Read the rest

Should you ever sell investments to pay off debt? That’s the question I’m facing right now. I have about $40,000 on 0% balance transfer credit cards where the introductory rate will soon expire. While I could transfer some of that debt to my home equity line of credit, I could also sell shares of mutual funds held in taxable accounts to pay off the debt. Selling investments to pay off the debt is tempting, in part, because I would never borrow to invest in the stock market. Yet as a practical matter, that’s exactly what I’ve done. So let’s take a look first at the various options to handle this situation. Then we’ll list some of the factors to consider when making the decision. And finally, I’ll let you know what I’m going to do. Read the rest

Whether it comes to investing, making money blogging, or just about anything else in life, popularity can come with a hefty price tag. With investing, following the crowd is a surefire way to lose a lot of money as you repeatedly sell low and buy high out of fear of market losses. With blogging, sometimes the rush of a “popular” article can keep you writing content that while popular with social media like Digg or Reddit, generates little income or lasting readership. And with spending, keeping up with the Joneses can drain your bank account faster than a Kevin Trudeau infomercial. So what follows are nine ways to become the least popular, most profitable, person you can be. Read the rest